Sensory-Safe Gym for Kids With Autism, Disabilities Opening in Broomfield

Nishant Patel has worked with kids with neurological disabilities in Denver and Utah for over fourteen years, first as a home health aid for kids with disabilities while he was a psychology major in college. After that, Patel worked for an outdoor adventure therapy company in Utah devoted to helping kids with autism enjoy time in the outdoors.

When he moved to Denver, Patel became a substitute teacher for Denver Public Schools, where he made it a goal to teach at least once at every middle and high school in the system. But at every stop, while working with kids with autism and other disabilities, he felt like they could use a gym of their own.

Noticing a need in the Denver area, Patel decided to put his decade-plus of experience to further use, and open a local location of We Rock The Spectrum, a gym that provides sensory-safe play for kids with disabilities.

“Having that experience and knowing that how much these kids, even teenagers, actually benefit from movement and playing and also learning from the play itself and engaging with other kids, I thought opening a gym for them could be a good idea,” he says.

Patel had heard of sensory-safe or specialized gyms for toddlers, but not for older kids. When he started researching the idea, he came across We Rock the Spectrum.

We Rock the Spectrum was founded in 2014 in California by Dina Kimmel, whose son, Gabriel, has autism. Though Gabriel loved to play at gyms, Dina found these areas would often become overstimulating, resulting in tears and forcing her family to leave, according to the We Rock the Spectrum website. So Dana transformed a room of her home into a sensory-safe gym.

Just over ten years later, there are now over 185 We Rock the Spectrum gyms in the world — but until Patel's location opens later this month, none are operating in Colorado.

Once Patel realized someone else already had the idea, he signed on to open a franchise in the Denver area, landing at 300 Nickel Street in a Broomfield strip mall.

Each We Rock the Spectrum gym has twelve pieces of specialized equipment that meet the sensory and motor needs of kids with disabilities, but kids without disabilities enjoy the equipment, too, Patel adds. Gym equipment includes trampolines, zip lines and climbing walls.

Because the gym is open to kids of all ages, there is a fenced-off area for toddlers so older children don’t bump into each other while playing.

“It's a place where there is more inclusivity,” Patel adds.

We Rock the Spectrum also offers a program called We Rock Care that allows parents to drop off their children for individual or small group care while they run errands.

For open play, We Rock the Spectrum charges $20 per child with discounts for siblings and toddlers. Buying multiple passes or a membership also reduces the price of each trip to the gym. Additionally, the space can be rented for birthday parties or other events.

Patel is planning spring and summer camps, school field trips and camps during winter break, too. He wants the gym to become a community hub so he’s going to offer training and informational sessions for parents with therapists who can suggest home exercises for children with autism.

“It’s a place where parents can play with their kids, but, also at the same time, have an open ground where professionals are also welcome, or teachers,” Patel says.

Eventually, Patel hopes to host an Applied Behavioral Analysis therapist, an occupational therapist and a speech therapist in the gym’s three rooms designed for therapy purposes. For the gym’s first year, he’s renting the rooms out for use, but wants to partner with nonprofits or Medicaid-covered therapists eventually.

For now, Patel is excited about the grand opening of We Rock Spectrum in Broomfield on Saturday, March 29. The event will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. with a ribbon cutting around 11:30 a.m. Free food and refreshments will be provided. For more information check out the We Rock the Spectrum - Denver Northwest Facebook page.