SCRANTON – Kids played for a new playground in Scranton.
The Scranton School District hosted its annual Autism Awareness Carnival Saturday afternoon at the high school.
The event is held each year to raise money for equipment and technology for the district's autistic support classrooms.
This year, the money will go to help build a sensory playground designed for children with autism.
"A lot of people, not all people, will have sensory sensitivity which means they're going to be more sensitive to things or maybe not sensitive enough to things such as light, sounds, textures. It's hard to focus when they're trying to fulfill some sort of need that they have, like if I'm itchy I want to scratch something, and it's kind of like that. So being able to play on a playground and get that energy out is only going to benefit them with their educational needs because it's going to allow them to feel focused and be more productive in the classroom,” said Ellen Malone, organizer of the carnival.
School district officials have raised about $50,000 through the carnival and other planned fundraisers in Scranton.
