Imagine sneaking up on your 8-year-old sleeping child, scissors in hand, because it's the only way you can cut his hair without him howling and squirming away. Or cringing every time you hear a loud, sudden noise when he's in tow at a store or park, knowing it could spark a total meltdown.

These are realities that parents of autistic kids face every day. Whether they are high or low functioning, children with autism may see, hear and feel very differently from the rest of us, often at unbearably intensified levels.

That can make something like going to a big-screen movie in a public theater -- especially in 3-D -- a real challenge, unless it's one of AMC Theatres' "sensory friendly" (SF) screenings. One Saturday morning a month, the chain's multiplexes in Eden Prairie and Roseville keep overhead lights on and lower the sound of a new Hollywood family-film release.

Families are also allowed to bring their own snacks due to special diets. And because it's not always possible to get autistic children to rein in their reactions, they aren't discouraged from getting up to dance, shout, sing or just move around to release tension.

A recent SF showing of a non-3-D version of "Mars Needs Moms" at Rosedale Center was sparsely attended, but Will Daily didn't mind. Sitting in the back row, he made sporadic joyful sounds in between popcorn munches, and no one shushed him or shot disapproving glares at the mother and aunt flanking him.

Daily, 19, of Roseville, has cognitive impairment and a seizure disorder as well as autism.

Star Tribune, Star Tribune
Will Daily, 19, attended the AMC Roseville screening of “Mars Needs Moms” with his mother, Theresa Daily, left, of Roseville, and aunt Jodi Connelly of Minnetonka.

"Sometimes he's not even paying attention to the movie," said his mom, Theresa Daily, who has attended nearly every SF screening with Will since they began two years ago. "But he just loves the experience of being here so much. He gets excited and makes noise, and that's OK."

Children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) not only have different sensations during a movie, but could have great difficulty processing what they feel, said Pat Pulice, director of Fraser Autism Services, the largest and oldest provider in the state. While some might find the onscreen action overwhelming, others can't get enough.

"On one end you have the sensation avoider, who is fearful of the loud noise, and on the other a craver who loves it and gets so excited, he screeches," she said.

Daily knows all about that.

"Once last year, one little boy was just running all over and somebody got a little mad," she said. "His mom was devastated and started crying in the theater."

The sensory-friendly screenings are not always completely smooth sailing, because children on different parts of the autism spectrum have different reactions and behaviors. But a happy experience is more likely, say parents.

"These films are such a boon," said Luann Quayle, also of Roseville, whose daughter, 10, and son, 7, both have autism. "It's just a much quieter, less overwhelming atmosphere. With a screen that big, and children's films being digitally animated, it can get too intense, which is why a lot of people sit farther back. And having the lights up takes away that fear factor of not being able to see what's going on around you."

AMC started the sensory-friendly program with the Autism Society in August 2008, after a family belonging to a society chapter in Maryland requested a special screening for their autistic child. Now more than 130 theaters in 62 U.S. cities participate, and the program recently expanded to Canada.

One drawback to the screenings at Roseville is that there is no obvious indication to other moviegoers that the screening is special, so other families come in without realizing the lights will be up, the sound down, and children may be running around and making noise.

But these screenings can still appeal to some families who don't have an autistic child, as long as they're fine with potential distractions. At least one father with young children at the "Mars Needs Moms" showing was there simply because they didn't want to deal with the intensity of 3-D.

"We don't do well with it," he said.

Sherrie Kenny, executive director of the Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM), thinks more families would attend the SF screenings if they were broadly advertised, beyond on autism websites.

"Also, for families like these, the trend is to get the DVD and set your own home up with low lights and the right foods," she said. "We agree with this approach, but really like the idea of having the child experience an event in the community. It not only builds on their awareness of surroundings, but helps society in general see ASD with a child attached to it."

Not to mention, kids with autism, like all kids, want to see that just-out movie they saw in a TV promo right now, and won't stop bugging Mom and Dad until they do.

The next scheduled sensory-friendly film at AMC's Rosedale and Eden Prairie theaters is "Hop" on April 2, which also happens to be World Autism Awareness Day.

Kristin Tillotson • 612-673-7046