Greater Miami & Miami Beach is a destination that welcomes all – so it makes sense that attractions and museums here work hard to create programs and safe spaces where travelers on the autism spectrum or who have other sensory challenges can enjoy their vacations, too.

Miami Children’s Museum

The expansive Miami Children’s Museum on Watson Island, just east of Downtown Miami, is beloved for its family-focused interactive exhibits and excellent programs. It teaches kids about arts, culture and community in an entertaining way.

Sensory-Friendly Features

Miami Children’s Museum has a Multi-Sensory/Snoezelen Room, where visitors can enjoy a specially designed multisensory experience anytime with reduced lighting.

The entire museum is adjusted, however, on free Sensory Friendly Saturday on the second Saturday of each month, when the museum is modified to be a more comfortable and supportive environment for children with autism and other sensory-processing issues. The museum’s lights are dimmed, sound volumes are lowered, the number of visitors is restricted, and quiet spaces where children can take a break when needed are available. There are also special activities and programs designed for children with autism, including a sensory-friendly stage performance.

Admission to Sensory Friendly Saturday is free, but RSVP is required; registration closes at 5 p.m. the Friday before each event.

Phillip And Patricia Frost Museum Of Science

The Phillip and Patricia Frost Museum of Science in Downtown Miami is one of Miami’s most popular museums, and for good reason. The modern, six-level, structure includes a massive, inverted-cone-shaped aquarium and a planetarium – making it one of the few science museums to offer a glimpse at both the underwater world and the universe itself. The museum’s grounds cover four acres, and its wings open onto Maurice A. Ferre Park facing scenic Biscayne Bay. Inside, families can learn about everything from the ocean to the Everglades and from human biology to the planets.

Sensory-Friendly Features

Frost Science offers Just for Me hours designed for people with sensory issues on the third Wednesday of each month (4-5:30 p.m.) as well as on the third Saturday of each month (10-11:30 a.m.) unless special events conflict. During these events, sounds are reduced and lights are dimmed.

Any time you visit the museum, you can request a “Just for Me” backpack containing noise-reducing earmuffs, a small, weighted blanket and sensory toys. Backpacks are first-come, first-served and are available in child and adult sizes. In addition, the museum’s website includes a social narrative for Frost Science (written descriptions and images describing what it’s like to visit the museum) that families can download and review prior to their visit so they know what to expect.

HistoryMiami Museum

HistoryMiami Museum in Downtown Miami is a Smithsonian-affiliated, 70,000-square-foot museum with a compelling permanent collection as well as rotating special exhibits. During your visit, you can peruse some of the more than two million historical images in the museum’s collection and see such artifacts as a 1920s trolley car.

Sensory-Friendly Features

HistoryMiami Museum periodically holds special Sensory Sundays with modified lighting and sound as well as special programming. It’s free with the required registration.

On any visit to the museum, you can request a sensory backpack that includes noise-canceling headphones, fidget toys, a weighted wrap, emotion cards and a sound map. (You may also request just the headphones at the Visitor Services desk.)

HistoryMiami’s accessibility features include social narratives in English, Spanish and Haitian Creole to help visitors get a sense of what they will experience at the museum as well as a Museum Sensory Map. The museum also offers free admission to visitors with disabilities and their caregivers.

The museum’s efforts to make everyone welcome and comfortable earned it a Sensory Friendly Designation from the University of Miami-Nova Southeastern University Center for Autism & Related Disabilities.

The Arsht Center at night — Attend a performance at the Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts

The Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts of Miami-Dade County offers excellent theater, musical and other performances in Downtown Miami year-round. It’s one of the largest performing arts centers in the U.S. and features a wide variety of performances, including nationally touring musicals, children’s theater, concerts and more.

Sensory-Friendly Features

The Adrienne Arsht Center’s offerings for individuals on the autism spectrum include quiet rooms at certain performances and scheduled sensory-friendly performances. Most of its free Family Fest performances have quiet rooms. For the current 2024-2025 season, they will have a quiet room for a special performance coming in July, which is expected to be announced this spring. You can expect more opportunities to use the quiet room during the 2025-2026 season.

In addition, each of the Adrienne Arsht Center’s Learning through the Arts programs offers at least one sensory-friendly performance during which the sound and lighting are adjusted and noise-canceling headphones are available. Specific dates for the next batch of sensory-friendly Learning Through The Arts performances have not been announced yet, but the center’s staff will help with accommodations even if a performance is not advertised as autism-friendly.

Superblue Miami

Art and technology can combine to create something very powerful. This is the lesson visitors take away from a visit to Superblue Miami, an immersive, one-of-a-kind art experience in Allapattah. This 50,000-square-foot gallery showcases a maze of mirrors, digital walls where flowers bloom and waterfalls flow, and other experiential art pieces.

Sensory-Friendly Features

For a less stimulating immersive experience, Superblue has accommodations available every day as well as special Sensory Friendly Sessions on the second Sunday of every month. On those days, the attraction opens from 9 to 10 a.m. to welcome guests who have sensory sensitivities or other reasons they would be more comfortable in a quiet, modified setting. Tickets for the Sensory Friendly Sessions should be purchased online in advance.

Every day, Superblue offers quiet spaces for guests who want a break. Visitors can also request sensory kits with earplugs and sunglasses to lessen the effects of sounds and lights.

Aerial view of a Wallcast concert — Enjoy a New World Symphony Wallcast performance

New World Symphony

The New World Symphony is a music school and orchestra that plays in the New World Center, a stunning building in South Beach that was designed by esteemed architect Frank Gehry. At the adjoining SoundScape Park, people can watch and listen to free, outdoor Wallcasts of select live performances on an enormous projection wall.

Sensory-Friendly Features

Zoo Miami loans backpacks designed specifically for individuals on the autism spectrum. The backpacks include earmuffs, a weighted lap pad and a selection of fidget toys. Well-marked quiet zones are scattered throughout the zoo, allowing guests to recharge or calm down. The Zoo Miami Foundation also hosts an annual Autism Awareness Fair, where families can see what resources are available to them in the community. This year's Autism Awareness Fair will take place on May 4, with specific event details coming soon.

Sumatran tiger resting — Discover nearly 400 animal species at Zoo Miami

Zoo Miami

If you love wild animals and lush habitats, Zoo Miami in South Dade is the place to be. One of the country’s top zoos, this iconic Miami attraction is spread out over 750 tropical acres and is home to nearly 400 animal species. Four miles of paths through the zoo also give visitors a look at swaying palm trees, beautiful blooms and more than 100 exhibits.

Sensory-Friendly Features

Upside-down illusions at Paradox — Experience Paradox Museum’s Sensory Sundays, Photo by Artburst

Paradox Museum Miami

Paradox Museum Miami, located in the art hub of Wynwood, has more than 70 exhibits featuring optical illusions and meant for fun photo ops. Picture mind-blowing, immersive activities where you’ll defy gravity like an astronaut, magically shrink or grow, walk on the ceiling, or party in a tiki hut.

Sensory-Friendly Note

Because there are several exhibits with flashing lights or loud noises, sensory backpacks with noise-cancelling headphones and fidget toys are offered at the front desk. On the second Saturday of every month, from 9 to 11 a.m., the museum hosts “Sensory Friendly Saturday's” where they play calming music, cover anything that is too loud or bright, and offer fidget toys. You can explore the museum at your own pace. NOTE: Most of the museum is accessible to wheelchairs, but there are some uneven surfaces and narrow pathways.

Learn more about accessibility in Miami.

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