Royal Caribbean Announces First Tv Channel At Sea Dedicated To Autism Programming
Royal Caribbean International will be the first in the hospitality industry to offer complimentary on-demand access to exclusive content from The Autism Channel (www.TheAutismChannel.tv) onboard most of its ships.
Starting in late October 2015, this new offering enhances the cruise line’s highly successful Autism Friendly program, designed to provide inclusive cruise vacation experiences for families living with autism and other developmental disabilities.
The Autism Channel is a streaming television service providing information and resources to families and professionals supporting and improving the lives of people with autism spectrum disorders. Educational and entertainment programming on The Autism Channel ranges from a look inside the daily lives of several families with children on the spectrum, to interviews with medical and legal professionals.
“The Autism Channel is delighted that Royal Caribbean has chosen to make this valuable content available on many Royal Caribbean ships. For every one person on the autism spectrum there are six more persons directly impacted by that person. Complimentary access to The Autism Channel’s exclusive content will benefit many Royal Caribbean guests and bring more awareness to Autism,” said Jeffrey A. Kasky, president, The Autism Channel.
Complimentary on-demand access to The Autism Channel will be available in all staterooms onboard Quantum, Oasis, Freedom, Voyager and Radiance-class ships on LED flat-panel interactive televisions. Programming will be initially offered in English as well as closed captioned for guests who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.
Royal Caribbean International was the first cruise line to become certified Autism Friendly by Autism on the Seas™ the leading travel organization catering to vacationers with autism and other developmental disabilities in February 2014. As part of its program, Royal Caribbean has introduced autism friendly services including sensory friendly movies, an autism friendly toy lending program, and social story (downloadable from RoyalCaribbean.com/AutismFriendly), and all youth staff from the cruise line’s award-winning children’s program are provided autism awareness training. The training will be extended to other members of the staff and shipboard crew as part of their job-specific training.
(Royal Caribbean International)
