My local co-op is introducing this, how exciting and much needed! The most important element of Autism Hour is providing information to staff and creating more autism awareness. These lanyards indicate that the wearer has a hidden disability and may require extra support. The likes of Schuh, Superdrug, Sainsbury’s, Argos, Lloyds Bank, Co-op and The Entertainer are all taking part in Autism Hour this year. Autism Hour 2019. Video, Impeachment: Three key arguments by Trump’s lawyers, The video Russian police 'leaked to scare people' Video, The video Russian police 'leaked to scare people', Why Canada is falling behind in Covid vaccinations, China 'refused access' to key Covid data for WHO, Powerful earthquake rocks Fukushima in Japan, In pictures: Dutch take to ice as canals freeze, Biden aide suspended for 'threatening reporter', Britney Spears' father must share financial power, The camera capturing Mars' craters and canyons, Soldiers killed in Napoleon's 1812 retreat buried, The luxury, mould and fake walls of 'Putin's palace', as one store in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, did last year. Have you tried social stories yet? I used to work in a supermarket and I still avoided taking my son. National Autistic Society campaign Too Much Information, Meet the Autism Professionals …. When someone is struggling – commenting on their behaviour /lack of parental control, giving looks of pity, staring or tutting are all ways to make a situation worse. The National Autistic Society campaign Too Much Information is a great place to find out more about why shopping can be difficult for autistic people. Shopping centres across west and north London will reduce their lighting and dropping the volume on music and other background noise for the UK's first ever Autism Hour. I’m really glad shops are doing this, accommodating people with additional needs is so important! Autism Hour is a national campaign which took place from October 5 to 12 to create a calmer shopping atmosphere for people with autism. Morrisons ‘Quieter Hour’ is a step in the right direction for autistic people who find supermarket shopping a real struggle.” Daniel Cadey, the from the National Autistic Society Listening to customers, we found that one in five had a friend or family member with autism* and many liked the idea of being able to shop in more comfort at 9-10am on a Saturday. The event, called Autism Hour, ... Staff will also be supplied with information about autism. Autism is one of many hidden disabilities. I hope some of the shops around me take part For example, sensory-friendly shopping aims to make the shopping experience less busy, noisy, and … May 12, 2016 Dr. John Carosso. Julie Titmuss, 61, from Colchester, Essex, was diagnosed with autism only two years ago after what she called a "lifelong struggle" to find out why she found certain situations difficult. I can't even begin to tell you how deafeningly dreadful it is," she said. So the news that Morrisons will be introducing a ‘quiet hour’ in stores – where they’ll turn music and radios off, dim the lights, keep other noises down and inform shoppers it’s the quiet hour – came as a great relief to me. Sign up here. **This post contains affiliate links, if you purchase from an affiliate link then I may recieve a small commission. Sometimes it is identical to autism hour. Angela Gray, Morrisons community champion at Woking, who has an autistic child herself said she'd found the changes made a "real difference". Many autistic people struggle with shopping environments. return. Brilliant to occupy your child in a constructive way at the supermarket. If I buy some at Coles, then my budget is all out of whack. You can find more information about slow shopping here – Slow Shopping. Play now. A fantastic product that I reviewed is the Seekers magnetic scavenger hunt set. Reducing controllable noise. Hi Deb, I think 700,000 is a conservative number and probably much higher. Thu 2nd November 2017. Autism Hour was launched last year as the first mass-participation event to encourage shops to be more autism friendly and more than 5,000 shops and businesses took part. "I don't go to the big supermarkets. Yes an hour is not ideal and will not be a suitable time for everyone but it is a step in the right direction. Autism Hour. Hopefully you will find something that can help you. Stores will put signs up during the hour to let other customers know about the scheme and to highlight that it is meant to be a calm environment for shoppers. Chain store ASDA is creating a 'quiet hour' to make shopping easier for customers living with autism and other disabilities. Tesco said it was not planning on rolling out the initiative nationwide, but store managers were welcome to introduce it if they felt it appropriate - as one store in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, did last year. Find out more about Autism Friendly shopping in your local SuperValu. Shops are unpredictable. In three of its Liverpool-based stores, where staff have received training, parents can request a number of store modifications when they begin their shopping trip, it added. I didn’t realize that over 700,000 people are on the autistic spectrum in the U.K. Never auto play. Sign up for The Autism Page monthly newsletter and get my free guide to the top 11 autism therapies. Some businesses, like The Entertainer and Morrisons, already offer a weekly Quiet Hour, and Autism Hour aims to bring awareness to the cause and hopefully make autism-friendly shopping a more common thing. Change to routine, even very minor changes, can be very difficult for some autistic people. Autism Hours are designed to show businesses the simple steps they can take to improve the shopping experience for autistic customers and families. You may also find my post about supporting autistic customers helpful. Nonetheless, there can be differences between them. 28% of autistic people have been asked to leave a public space for reasons associated with their autism. The Morrisons scheme was introduced following a trial earlier this year in its Lincoln, Woking and Gainsborough stores. It is hoped the move will help to prevent shoppers with autism being overwhelmed by sensory overload – which can be an issue in stores. That’s the reason autism awareness is so important as it is a hidden disability. Stick around while I share information and resources related to autism that have been helpful to us since my eldest was diagnosed at 2. Don't auto play. This figure represents more than 1% of the population in the UK. These lanyards indicate that the wearer has a hidden disability and may require extra support. In Manchester, U.K, a superstore staged its first ever ‘quiet hour’ to help autistic and disabled shoppers this weekend… and now EIGHT other shops at Manchester Fort are set to do the same. Simon Lea, an Asda store manager in Manchester, has introduced a weekly 'quiet hour' to help make shopping less stressful for autistic customers – a first for any supermarket in the UK. I didn’t know they did quiet hours. I love the idea of the Autism hour for shopping. "Parents will be more relaxed knowing there will be people there that understand and won't judge them, this will help reduce anxiety levels for everyone.". Autistic children grow up to be autistic adults, People may be under-sensitive or over-sensitive to sounds; find social situations a challenge; experience a "meltdown" if overwhelmed. 18 Apr, 2018 06:00 PM 6 minutes to read. For these reasons many shops are beginning to introduce slow shopping or quiet hours. Asda said a number of its supermarkets across the country worked with local groups to run quiet hours on a regular basis. You can also now get sunflower lanyards, often available from customer services at supermarkets. You can find more information about slow shopping here – Slow Shopping. An Autism-Friendly Learning Resource for 2021. A Sobey's in the Maritimes introduced a sensory-friendly hour every second Sunday to allow those shopping with autism in their family some ease. Its 439 UK stores will dim lights, turn music off, avoid using the tannoy and turn check-out beeps down on Saturdays from 09:00 to 10:00. In 2019 Autism Hour will take place from Saturday 5th October – Saturday 12th October. Encouraging staff to respect everyone and remember you don’t know their story. We are based in the West Country between Bristol and Bath. A visual aid can just be a photo. Speaking to people with autism has helped me to think about how I … Read about our approach to external linking. The National Autistic Society says there are 700,000 people on the autism spectrum in the UK, who "see, hear and feel the world differently to other people, often in a more intense way". And Sainsbury's said more than 600 of its stores took part in the National Autistic Society's Autism Hour in October last year and will be doing so again this year. It includes some great videos which I really recommend you watch. This is at no additional cost to you and it supports my blog so thank you.**. However a customer behaves (repeated touching of items, making loud noises) or whatever they say, their shopping experience is always important to them so it is vital that shops take it seriously. The Too Much Information campaign poster on the link below is a great way to start informing people about autism: There are simple steps that a store can take to provide a ‘quiet hour’ this includes: To provide an autism hour the key is to make staff more autism aware.