CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Cavaliers held their annual Autism Awareness night Sunday at Rocket Arena.

What You Need To Know

  • The Cavaliers partnered with Kulture City and the Cleveland Clinic to host Autism Awareness Night

  • In 2017, Rocket Arena became the first sensory inclusive NBA arena with its sensory room. It now has two sensory rooms

  • This event continues the organization's mission to become more inclusive for all fans

"The Cavs are one of the leaders in the NBA in regards to this," Autism Personal Coach founder Doug Blecher said. 

Autism Personal Coach is an autistic-led organization that provides coaching for autistic adults in northeast Ohio. Biecher said the team giving fans the opportunity to be educated about Autism Spectrum Disorder is vital for inclusivity in the community. 

“There’s such a lack of education and a lack of support," Blecher said. "For people to be coming into the Cavs game and learn about where they otherwise might not be able to find a resource like ours, I think it’s invaluable.” 

The Cavaliers partnered with Kulture City in 2017 to install a sensory room inside Rocket Arena, becoming the first NBA arena in the country certified as inclusive.

Last year, with the help of Grammy-winning artist Lauren Daigle, the team added a second sensory room. Blecher explains the sensory pods make it easier for autistic fans to enjoy Cavalier games. 

“For autistic people to keep coming to Cavs games and to have a room like that, it shows that you’ve actually thought about my existence," Blecher said. "So often autistic people, we aren’t thought about in terms of experiences and how overwhelming coming into the community can be.” 

The Cleveland Clinic also sponsored Sunday’s autism awareness night and helped educate fans on the disorder and how they can support those with Autism in the community. 

“We can do things at the local level and at the clinic to really promote autism awareness and autism acceptance but this is a huge stage," Cleveland Clinic Behavior Analyst Chiara Graver said. "The Cavs are doing awesome this year, people are coming out to the games. It’s a great way to spread this message of neurodivergent acceptance and awareness and be able to highlight these awesome autistic individuals.” 

Both Graver and Blecher hope that events like the Cavs Autism Awareness night can make Northeast Ohio more inclusive for all individuals. 

“If you’ve met one person with autism you can’t generalize that to everybody," Graver said. "Every individual is unique. So if you meet someone with autism, take the time to get to know them and their interests and don’t make assumptions about them.” 

“To help people reduce that overwhelming feeling can be life changing for folks," Blecher said.