This film was created by people on the autism spectrum to show what it can be like to get to much information.
Please like and share to help us advance autism awareness and information about sensory overload to the wider public.
Thanks for your help! And thanks to the National Autistic Society for producing this film!
From the National Autistic Society
Here at the National Autistic Society, our Autism Hour campaign is gearing up for its mass event in October. Last year, over 11,000 businesses made adjustments to create a more autism-friendly environment to shop in. These can include, dimming lights, quietening background music as well as supporting staff to learn about autism. We know this can lead to more permanent change, and here are five reasons why:
Autism Hour has real value for your business beyond the hour itself, and you can read more about it on our Autism Hour hub.
National Autistic Society
National Autistic Society will be sending the letter below to the Department for Transport and transport providers across the UK, encouraging them to make public transport more autism-friendly
Make public transport autism-friendly, benefitting the 3 million autistic people and their families in the UK
Public transport can feel out of bounds for many of the 3 million autistic people and families in the UK. Recent polling by the National Autistic Society discovered that 9 in 10 autistic people say that unexpected changes, like delays on public transport, make them feel anxious and over half say that fear of unexpected changes has stopped them from going on a bus or train.
Autism is a life-long disability which affects how people communicate with others and interact with the world around them. All autistic people face different challenges, but some common experiences are extreme sensory issues, intense anxiety, communication challenges such as not speaking, delays in processing information and unease with unexpected change. This can make the world feel very scary and hard to understand.
Although public awareness of autism is high, public understanding of autism still has a long way to go.
For the past 3 years the National Autistic Society have been working changing this, from creating powerful short films to delivering the world’s first ever Autism Hour – supporting retailers across the UK to be more autism-friendly. We want all aspects of public life to work towards becoming more autism-friendly.
When it comes to public transport, interruptions, cancellations and changes to service affect us all. For an autistic person, unexpected changes can be a source of great anxiety. Alongside environments that can be overwhelmingly noisy, staff that don’t understand how to communicate with autistic people and disapproving reactions from other travellers, public transport can become too much and deter an autistic person from travelling or in some cases, not even leaving the house.
We are asking all public transport providers to join with us and help make public transport more accessible for autistic people and their families. There are a number of things you can do to make your services more autism-friendly including training staff, thinking about physical surroundings and providing timely and up to date information.
Changes, delays and disruptions are sometimes inevitable when it comes to public transport, but by taking some thoughtful actions and policy changes, transport providers can become more autism friendly, benefitting the 3 million autistic people and their families in the UK.
To sign go here.
The National Autistic Society
This is what some autistic people face everyday. Find out how you can help at www.autism.org.uk/toomuchinformation
From the BBC
Autism Hour
An everyday task like going to the shops can be a stressful experience for a person with autism.
Bright lights, loud noises and busy crowds can be overwhelming and leads many people with the condition to skip the shops altogether.
A study by the National Autistic Society suggests 64% of people with autism and their carers have avoided shopping.
But this week, stores and malls around the UK are taking part in an initiative designed to take away some of the distress.
Autism Hour sees 4,500 shops offering a calmer experience for 60 minutes a day – dimming lights, turning off music and TV screens and sharing information about the condition with staff and customers.
Read the rest of the article here.