Autism Hour
Autism Hour was our annual campaign to encourage businesses to take their first steps towards becoming autism-friendly. Public spaces can be overwhelming for an autistic person trying to deal with too much information. In fact 28% of autistic people have been asked to leave a public space because of behaviour associated with their autism. Many autistic people and their families give up trying to use the shops and services that most people use every day.
The National Autistic Society launched Autism Hour in 2017 to encourage more businesses and public spaces to make small changes to become more autism friendly. 14,000 businesses took part last year and some went on to continue these changes in regular quiet hours.
The small changes that businesses committed to included lowering background noise, dimming lights, educating staff and sharing information with the public. We hope that businesses will see the value in these changes, and put them in place on a more permanent basis. If you’re interested in holding a regular Autism Hour, please see our resources below:
Autism Friendly Award
The National Autistic Society’s Autism Friendly Award champions premises who commit to making sure that autistic visitors receive the same warm welcome as everybody else.
This doesn’t mean investing in expensive alterations or training your staff to be autism experts. Small changes can make a massive difference to autistic visitors and just a little understanding can go a long way.
We have worked with everyone from airports, heritage sites to sports arenas, local hairdressers and high street stores. Every customer facing organisation, whatever their size or business, can benefit from becoming autism-friendly.
Find out more about the Autism Friendly Award here.
