Mounts Offers Free Use of Sensory Backpacks

Seneory backpack tools (Mounts)

(PRESS RELEASE)_(West Palm Beach, FL – May 1, 2023) Rochelle Wolberg, Curator/Director of Mounts Botanical Garden, today announced that Palm Beach County’s oldest and largest botanical garden is now offering FREE use of special Mounts Sensory Backpacks for both children and adult visitors with sensory sensitivities.
 
“Our special Sensory Backpacks are designed to help families feel more prepared and confident to engage with the garden during their visit to Mounts,” said Wolberg. “Our primary goal at Mounts Botanical Garden is to help every visitor—regardless of age or sensitivities—to maximize their natural and horticultural experience when visiting our beautiful tropical respite just minutes away from the hubbub of downtown West Palm Beach.”
 
“Each waterproof backpack contains calming tools to help visitors with sensory sensitivities adjust to new faces, new activities, bright lights, a range of noise levels, and more,” she added. “These helpful sensory tools include noise-cancelling headphones, polarized sunglasses, and a variety of fidget toys and devices.”

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Visitors can check-out a Mounts Sensory Backpack by leaving their driver license at the Welcome Center, which will be returned after their Garden tour. Each backpack and its content will be thoroughly disinfected with alcohol between each use.
 
Mounts Botanical Garden worked with the FAU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (CARD) to implement the program. The goal of FAU CARD’s Autism Friendly Business Initiative is to increase community inclusion, improve acceptance, and create opportunities for people with autism, while providing a strategy of support for Mounts.
 
“FAU CARD is proud to support Mounts Botanical Garden’s efforts to help accommodate individuals with sensory sensitivities,” says Caitlin O’Brien Fielding, M.S. Ed., Clinical Support Specialist for FAU Center for Autism and Related Disabilities. “Their sensory backpacks are a wonderful addition in helping support visitors to the Garden who have autism or other sensory sensitivities.”
 
“A visit to Mounts Botanical Garden is about connecting with nature and this opportunity should be inclusive for everyone, regardless of their sensory sensitivities or abilities,” says Mounts Associate Director of Youth Programming Diane Robaina. “By offering these sensory bags for our guests, we can help facilitate this connection.”

On Exhibit at Mounts Through 2023
Patrick Dougherty’s Stickwork
Tuesdays through Sundays, 9 am to 4 pm (last entry at 3 pm)
FREE for MBG members and children under 6; $15 for nonmember adults; $12 for seniors 65+, college students, and military with ID; $7 for children 6-17. Ticket includes full Garden admission.
Internationally acclaimed environmental artist Patrick Dougherty recently constructed the final large-scale Stickwork installation of his illustrious art career using 30,000 pounds of live willow branches.
 
Mounts Botanical Garden & Bloomberg Connects
Explore Anytime, Anywhere with New Mobile Garden Guide
Visitors can now explore Mounts Botanical Garden anytime from anywhere across the globe with the new Mobile Garden Guide. Recently launched in partnership with Bloomberg Connects, the free arts and cultural app created by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the guide is designed to elevate and enrich the visitor experience by making it easy to discover more of what people love before, during, and after their visit to the Garden. Multi-media content includes maps and information on Mounts Botanical’s 25 display gardens, art in the garden, and current and upcoming exhibitions, as well as an ever-growing spectrum of new photo, audio, and video content available exclusively via the app. To learn more and download the app, visit www.mounts.org/mobile-garden-guide/ [mounts.org]. ​