Going to the movie theater is a treasured pastime for most, but for some, it’s not always easy.

Because of this, the Marcus Sycamore Cinema on March 5 held the event Reel Movies for Real Needs, for families with children with autism and other disorders who would normally have a difficult time going to a movie.

“We’ve been doing this company-wide for five or six years now,” said Matt Larson, the Sycamore Cinema general manager. “The general idea is to give these people who won’t do well in a regular theater setting a safe place to experience it.”

Marcus Theaters, which owns Sycamore Cinema, has numerous theaters that put on the event.

“We try to do it whenever there’s a G or PG movie coming out,” he said.

For the event, the movie theater turns the brightness and sound down to make families more comfortable.

University of Iowa freshman Emily Schwartzstein, who volunteers with the Children’s Therapy Center of Iowa City and was a nanny for a child with autism, said events such as these are important, as the movie-going experience can be difficult for children with autism.

“Kids with autism have problems focusing, and so with a movie theater, there’s a lot of different stimuli,” Schwartzstein said.

Lindsay Naeder, the director of the Autism Response Team at Autism Speaks, said families with children with autism might also have fears of disrupting movie audiences.

Autism Speaks is an autism advocacy organization in the United States that sponsors autism research and conducts awareness and outreach activities aimed at families, governments, and the public.

“They may worry their child may not be accepted by others going to the movies because of behaviors that may be perceived as distracting,” she said. “These concerns unfortunately lead to many families affected by autism to choose to skip and miss out on the pastime of seeing a movie together because of fear of the unknown.”

Schwartzstein said children with autism have issues with noise, brightness, and large crowds. She said she has had many experiences while being a nanny that has helped her understand how kids with autism relate to the world.

“The boy I baby-sat loved to swim and ride rides at the fair,” she said. “But I wouldn’t be able to get him to sit still for long enough to watch a movie. It’s hard for him to want to do things he’s not passionate about.”

Schwartzstein said not many businesses would put on events such as Reel Movies for Real Needs.

“Businesses are very accommodating to wheelchairs,” she said. “But when it comes to the noise and surroundings and things like that, it’s hard to control.”

Naeder said Autism Speaks has partnered with corporations to accommodate families affected by autism.

In addition to movie theaters, she said, Autism Speaks has worked to increase access to inclusive and sensory friendly theater performances on Broadway and in cities across the country.

“We’ve had autism-friendly sporting events sponsored by MLB and even worked closely with JetBlue to improve access to air travel,” Naeder said.

She said events such as Reel Movies benefit entire communities.