While several recent films––Autism Every Day, Autism: The Musical; Her Name Is Sabine––have brought the subject of autism to the screen, The Hartford Courant reports of a movie theater providing special screenings for autistic children. This weekend, the Simsbury Commons 8 offered a special screening of Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa. The Courant recounts, “The lights were dimmed, but not turned off; the sound was turned down; there were no commercials or previews before the movie; and the youngsters in the audience were allowed to run around, climb up and down steps, talk, shout, scream and cry loudly without being asked to leave.” Even with these measures many of the children were still frightened or perplexed by the bright colors and loud noises. The screenings were organized by local resident Diana Yeisley, who heard of similar screenings occurring elsewhere in the country. For many autistic children, whose unruly behavior often prohibits them from attending conventional screenings, this was their first moviegoing experience.