https://www.ourvalleyvoice.com/2021/12/16/city-of-visalia-adds-more-places-for-travelers-with-sensory-to-find-comfort/ In-depth, locally-produced coverage of the Central Valley. Thu, 23 Apr 2026 19:43:55 -0700 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 https://www.ourvalleyvoice.com/2021/12/16/city-of-visalia-adds-more-places-for-travelers-with-sensory-to-find-comfort/#comment-109218 Polly Mon, 20 Dec 2021 01:51:38 +0000 https://www.ourvalleyvoice.com/?p=37974#comment-109218 Visalia seems like the worst place to take kids with autism. It’s always too hot in the summers (with risk of rolling black outs), the overwhelming sound of AC’s blasting fills all the indoor spaces, everywhere outdoors are filled with the extremely overwhelming sounds of trucks modified to be even louder than they need to be, the air pollution is left unaddressed- the air often hurts here to breathe, especially if you’re not used to it- we have crazy high asthma rates. The “green spaces” always have people riding ATV’s through, and I mean always- I’ve never been able to go walk the St Johns Trail without a kid zooming through the canals in a loud quad. I think it’s a respectable goal to be more inclusive but wildly unrealistic for this town to claim it is extra inclusive of those with sensory needs.. Fool some people into coming once, but I doubt there’s going to be a lot of returning kids that have real sensory needs. I’m an adult with sensory needs here and it’s no haven. Please do make it better, but that’s going to require things like addressing air quality, sound pollution laws and actual enforcement from our cops finally. Visalia seems like the worst place to take kids with autism. It’s always too hot in the summers (with risk of rolling black outs), the overwhelming sound of AC’s blasting fills all the indoor spaces, everywhere outdoors are filled with the extremely overwhelming sounds of trucks modified to be even louder than they need to be, the air pollution is left unaddressed- the air often hurts here to breathe, especially if you’re not used to it- we have crazy high asthma rates. The “green spaces” always have people riding ATV’s through, and I mean always- I’ve never been able to go walk the St Johns Trail without a kid zooming through the canals in a loud quad. I think it’s a respectable goal to be more inclusive but wildly unrealistic for this town to claim it is extra inclusive of those with sensory needs.. Fool some people into coming once, but I doubt there’s going to be a lot of returning kids that have real sensory needs. I’m an adult with sensory needs here and it’s no haven. Please do make it better, but that’s going to require things like addressing air quality, sound pollution laws and actual enforcement from our cops finally.

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