When Will "Hockey Is For Everyone" Include Autistic folk and Epileptics?
A mantra many hockey teams have been using, and I’m glad they’re using it, is “Hockey Is For Everyone”. Usually, it’s just for queer identities but also often for racial minorities as well. One group that regularly gets left out is those who are sensitive to external stimuli, aka, autistic folk and epileptics.
Those who are new to following this newsletter may not know that I am, in fact, autistic and epileptic. So, this is something deeply personal to me. Hockey is antagonistic to me. Both the actual sport itself and the environment. When it comes to autism, watching the sport when things are happening quickly, I struggle to process (and often fail) what’s going on. Things often happen too quickly for me to understand until I’ve seen slowed-down replays many times. With epilepsy, it’s the constant bright flashing lights that are often seen on broadcasts. I have nearly had a few seizures just from watching hockey, especially Colorado Avalanche home games. Their bright flashing lights seem to be the brightest of anyone’s. I do have (blue-tinted polarized) sunglasses that help prevent seizures, but, they only help. They don’t stop seizures from happening. I have had seizures while wearing them before. Namely, playing Halo: Infinite and watching Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. So, even with protective gear, watching hockey from home is still genuinely dangerous for me. I do it anyway because I enjoy hockey too much (and don’t have enough respect for myself to stop). Plus, not all arenas have noticeable flashing lights on their broadcasts. I can watch Columbus Blue Jackets home games without much fear and rarely need to put on my sunglasses.
Now, that’s just me sitting at home with lights on. I have only been to one hockey game ever and I was a toddler for it and barely remember it. It was a Toledo Storm game. I remember being so overwhelmed that I genuinely could not process anything and even at the time, it was all a blur to me. Back then, I was not epileptic. I did not become epileptic until 2019. That was just autism making it overwhelming. Now I have the epilepsy DLC. I cannot and frankly, do not want to imagine going to a game, especially an NHL game, with both autism and epilepsy. While I do process things better now as an adult than I did as a kid, combining autism and epilepsy at an NHL game would be too overwhelming and possibly deadly. Fast movement, loud crowds, and bright flashing lights. There’s no way I could handle that, and would absolutely end up with a seizure.
Some AHL and ECHL teams have in recent years had “Sensitivity friendly nights” where they get rid of anything triggering to autistic and epileptic folk. No bright flashing lights, no goal horns, etc. The only noises you’ll hear are the players, the coaches, the refs, and the fans. The atmosphere and excitement are carried by you, those in the stands. Extra stuff that’s triggering isn’t there to aid. I would argue they aren't needed, but for some odd reason, non-autistic and non-epileptics seem to enjoy that extra stuff. Why don’t NHL teams do this? I would argue if hockey is to be for everyone, why not actually try to include everyone? Other teams in lower leagues find it possible to have games that autistic and epileptics can go to and enjoy. If they can pull off Sensitivity Friendly Nights, so can the NHL. I would argue the best time for one would be on Hockey Is For Everyone nights. Make those nights as inclusive as possible and show the world that hockey really is for everyone.
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