I and along with others believe the Neurodivergent, Autistic, and Special Needs community would benefit from a sensory center that provides both children and adults a safe and judgment free area where they can truly be free to express themselves in their own way. The idea and philosophy of this center would be a safe place for autistic and special needs children to go to de-stress, have fun, and fulfill all their sensory and stimulation needs and cravings. This idea of potentially making a sensory center should ideally be equipped with items such as safe mat flooring, ball pits, sensory swings, trampolines, climbing walls, moving tract walls, rolling slides, indoor playground, and even light therapy rooms. I know some ABA and physical therapy/rehab facilities may offer access to their own version of a small sensory gyms for their clients during therapy sessions, however, not everyone may have the opportunity/funding to access these services and therapies that provide some version of a sensory outlook. There is also the notion that not every family has the resources and spacing to create their sensory place at home, a sensory play area is not a luxury everyone has. Taking into consideration that currently our city of Laredo offers limited services to the Special Needs community and hardly any physical facilities tailored directly for Autistic services, the idea of establishing one in the near future should be facilitated into our city officials minds as a imperative resources that will provide many members within the community with a safe place to be who they are. A sensory center should be made available in the near future to the autistic and special needs community in order to establish a safe and exciting place where the children and even special need adults, can have the freedom and liberation of expressing themselves without having the impeding thoughts and fears of receiving judgemental stares, comments, and even unjustly treatment from those who simply do not understand or who are not fully informed of the different ways some individuals choose to express themselves in the only ways they know how. This idea of a center like this will not only provide a safe haven to the children, but to the parents as well. Parents and family will have a place to chat, share advice, and overall build a parental support system with one another. The center could also serve as a multipurpose, as it can also facilitate a support center, with the hopes of providing weekly or monthly parenting support group meetings in which they will have the opportunity to get to know other families who share similar and even different experiences with their own little ones. The city of Laredo offers little to no public establishments that are tailored specifically towards the special needs community. The idea of a Sensory Center could be made into a non-profit organization so the city of Laredo and surrounding communities can have a service that offers their children a fun and safe outlook to their physical and sensory needs. With your signature we can show our city that our voice, and the voices of our children, deserve to be heard. Help the under-represented portion of the community establish their own sanctuary where the entity of the neurodivergent community can have a place to be themselves without having to change who they are. Be an aid and advocate in the fight to have our City acknowledge the want, need, and support towards the idea of creating a Non-Profit Autism and Special Needs Sensory Center. This petition, along with a written proposal, is hoped to serve as a plea to bring notice to a resource like this, to bring attraction and motive to establish a center tailored toward our overlooked and at times undermined community. The purpose is to show our City of Laredo that many individuals would love access to a center like this or similar to be created in the near future so that the Autistic and Special Needs citizens have a place of their own, an inclusive and open minded safe haven.