ENNISKILLEN Cinema has thrown a lifeline to families with autistic children in Fermanagh.

Although its autism-friendly screenings have been in operation for the last two years, the IMC cinema opened the initiative out to the general public on Saturday with great success.

'Before this initiative I would have been petrified of bringing my wee boy to the cinema,' says Karen Camley, events co-ordinator of the local Autism NI branch.

'There are a lot of activities that autistic children end up being left out of. I'm glad that this isn't one of them.' Enniskillen cinema began running autism friendly screenings on a regular basis after it was contacted by Autism NI.

'We generally try to have screenings on occasions when parents and their children are both off,' Michael Collins explained, 'So that they can all come as a family unit.

'The idea is that the cinema has low sound and higher lighting than normal, to create an ambience which is more suited to a child who might feel a little more apprehensive about going into a darkened room with loud noise.

'They can communicate with each other and because most of those attending are from the local autism group, there are plenty of familiar faces for the children too.' Initially the screening were organised solely for the local autism group.

But due to their popularity, the last two screenings have been opened out to the general public.

'We have had lots of positive feedback about it,' says Michael, 'And we are very keen to continue with it.

'We are so pleased that we can use this facility for a group in the community who had felt excluded.

'It's great we have been able to change that perception and offer an environment that is welcoming and relaxing for children with autism and their families.' And Karen can see the benefits of the initiative, not only for her son, but her entire family unit.

'We are able to come and go as we please,' she says.

'My wee boy doesn't like characters with big eyes, or animal characters that are human-like.

'So if anything like that comes on the screen he is liable to have a meltdown.

'The autism-friendly screenings are not as intimidating for us as parents because we know that everyone there is in the same boat and no one is going to judge you or your child.

'It means it's a relaxing experience for us too.'