2015 Gala Dinner

Think Fragile X 2015 Gala Dinner – Awaken Your Senses

On 28 March 2015, the Think Fragile X Foundation hosted their second Gala Dinner in the beautiful Astral Ballroom at Crown Perth. 520 guests filled the ballroom and enjoyed delicious food and drinks whilst getting a small insight into what children living with Sensory Processing issues go through every day.

Tim Gossage was the MC for the dinner, bringing the right mix of emotion and humour to the night. Everyone really got into the spirit on the night bidding furiously on the Live and Silent auctions where there were plenty of experiences and items up for grabs including a private luncheon with John Worsfold, a holiday to Bali staying in a private villa and a diamond pendant necklace donated by Rohan Jewellers. A highlight of the night was the major raffle draw where one lucky guest won two economy return tickets flying to any destination of their choice on the Singapore Airlines network.

$165,975 was raised for Kids Are Kids Therapy and Education Centre, thanks to the overwhelming support from attendees, corporate and individual sponsors.  This incredible amount of money raised went towards building a purpose designed, state of the art Sensory Xploration Hub at Kids Are Kids! Centre in Bateman which officially opened on 25 October 2016.

The project involved Kids Are Kids staff, families and stakeholders working together to collaborate on the design of the Xploration Hub.

Sensory rooms help to stimulate, develop or balance children’s sensory systems. At least one in 20 people in the general population may have trouble with sensory processing. In children with Fragile X syndrome, ADHD, Autism and developmental delays, the prevalence of sensory processing is much higher than in the general population.

The Sensory Xploration Hub at Kids are Kids! consists of two rooms. They are both equipped to meet a specific type of sensory need. One is a safe and calm space. The other is a safe and stimulating room. Two rooms are required because some children have low sensory thresholds and are so are easily overwhelmed and need a space to relax which will help calm stressed minds and bodies.  Other children have high thresholds and need a lot of stimulation for their sensory systems to develop. These children need activity, movement and a lot of heavy pressure and tactile experiences.

These rooms are equipped with a wide range of items to provide either stimulation or relaxation through touch, sounds, colour and other visual features. The equipment includes colourful bubble tubes, glitter balls, tactile panels, interactive sound and light panels and a huge range of projected images and associated sounds and music.