In News

The National Autistic Society’s Autism Hour is returning this October and businesses are being invited to take part. The campaign is running from Saturday 5th until Saturday 12th October and will include participating organisations making minor adjustments so that autistic people and their families feel welcome and safe.

According to research undertaken by the National Autistic Society, there are around 700,000 people in the UK living with autism, however, while 99% of people surveyed had heard of autism, only 16% of people with autism felt that they were understood by the general public. In order to make things easier for those that are living with autism and their families, the National Autistic Society launched their Autism Hour, where businesses can get involved to create a more autism friendly environment by making minor changes. Many businesses across the UK have already implemented a regular Autism Hour as part of their usual opening times, but to help highlight the issue, there is the annual campaign that invites businesses to see just how they can make their premises more welcoming to those with sensory conditions.

There are a few very easy ways to make your business more welcoming and autism-friendly, this can include making minor adjustments to your environment like turning down music and dimming the lights so that it is less overwhelming. Another way is to speak to staff and other team members about autism and to make sure they’re aware of triggers so they can give every visitor a more positive experience. All of this information is accessible via the National Autistic Society, but here at Tourism For All, we can help too with our training packages. If you’re interested in undertaking a training session to make your business more accessible, you can speak to Gill on partnerships@tourismforall.co.uk

The campaign has been running for several years now and the team at the National Autistic Society has found that many businesses have seen the crucial difference that an Autism Hour can make, not just during the awareness week, but in the long term and of course, it makes every day life so much easier for visitors who have autism and other sensory conditions.

Are you taking part in this year’s Autism Hour or perhaps you are someone with a sensory condition and you want to offer suggestions on how to make companies more welcome for you, make sure to get in touch with us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, we’d love to hear from you.

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Sources:

https://www.autism.org.uk/get-involved/campaign/autism-hour.aspx

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