22nd July 2018
Most Autistic people suffer from sensory input problems in one form or another, be it bright lights, noisy beeps, crowded areas and the like. Sensory input is much stronger for Autistics, making us feel tired, uncomfortable, aggravated and they can even be painful. Therefore a particular nightmare for people on the spectrum can be in shops, and in particular supermarkets, such as Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Sainsburys which often combine all these sensory attacks. Often sensory overload can lead to meltdowns and shutdowns, which are often seen in young children. Sometimes wrongly believed by others to be bad parenting, an Autistic child will meltdown under sensory overload into a torrent of crying and screaming, unable to control their actions and distress.
Believe me though, that this sensory problem when using shops does not disappear when the child grows up. Autistic adults still suffer the same overpowering glare of florescent lights, the sharp piecing beeps of tills, the clatter and noise of other shoppers. The difference simply is that we have more options to cope with the sensory attack. Personally I hate shopping because of these reasons and how energy sapping it is.
I have however developed coping strategies to allow me to manage. For example, shopping at opening times when it less busy and learning how to distract myself from the sensory issues whilst moving around the aisles. Also unlike a child, who is in the shop whilst his parents get the groceries, I can leave anytime I want if I am feeling like it is all getting too much. However, there are many things a shop can also do to help Autistic people feel less anxious and more comfortable whilst they are shopping, which let’s face it we all need to do.
So it was a great pleasure to read in this week’s news that the supermarket chain Morrisons would be introducing a weekly “Quieter hour” for Autistic shoppers who struggle with sensory overload. The online news article from the BBC stated that after working in conjunction with the National Autistic Society they would be running the quieter hour 9:00 till 10:00 in all its stores nationwide every Saturday, starting this week.
This was to achieve a more friendly environment for Autistic children, parents, adults and even those not on the spectrum who just want a more peaceful shopping experience. I happen to live a five minute walk away from a Morrisons supermarket, so I decided to go and check them out to see how it was and give my opinion on it. Please be aware though that this is MY experience of one Morrisons shop and that I cannot account for any other shops taking part across the country or anyone else’s views.
I arrived about ten minutes before the hour was due to start and to be honest I could see no real difference from the outside, there were no signs going up to say what was about to happen, but I checked with the customer service desk and indeed they were just about to start the hour. There was also a young women with a child who was also enquiring about it but other than that, nothing. A few minutes later the till beeps dropped to about half their normal sound and some of the lighting in the building dimmed. With an open mind, ready to observe, I began to walk around the store to see what I felt and experienced.
After about ten minutes I had come to some conclusions both positive and negative about the experience which I did relay to the store manager, along with some constructive feedback (I hope!). Let’s start with the positives:
- The lighting was generally a lot better, the majority of the shop was dimmer and less painful on my eyes especially the areas near the bakery and fish counters which were spot on. I did observe that the lights were plenty adequate still to look at produce and read food labels, which made me think why aren’t the lights always set to this level? Surely it would be more beneficial to everyone and would also save energy.
- The beeping noises were reduced considerably and although you could still hear them, especially at the tills, it was not jarring to me at all. I know some Autistics would prefer there to be no beeping at all. It does not affect me too much though.
- There were no trolleys for stacking shelves blocking aisles. I normally hate this when shopping, as it causes people to bottle neck where the trolley blocks the aisle meaning more close contact with other shoppers and personal space invasion.
- The children’s rides at the front of the store were completely switched of meaning no noise what so ever came from them.
- No overhead announcements happened whilst I was in there, and no music was played. Again this made me think why is music played in shops anyway? The removal of music was a big difference and worked really well.
And now onto the negatives:
- The lighting was still way too bright in many areas especially around the tills. It seemed to me that a lot of the individual spot lights could also be dimmed or turned off. When I mentioned this to the manager he did say that for both security and health and safety, there has to be lighting in these areas. I can appreciate this but at the same time the level of brightness here negates the positives of the other areas of the store.
- There were no notices up to say what was happening. I heard a lot of people go “oh…it’s gone dark!” which made me smile. The quieter environment meant that the general noise of people speaking became louder. I appreciate that Morrisons cannot make their customers be quiet and not speak, but if the general public were aware of what was going on then they could have joined in also making less noise.
- The beeping from the tills was still there even if it was softer.
So when I spoke to the store manager this is the feedback given along with some added after thoughts:
- Definitely need signs up to make the public aware of what the quieter hour is for, why it is happening and what they could also do help. This would not only promote the shop, after all this is a really good thing that Morrisons is trialling, and would also help to raise Autism awareness. Perhaps even have a few members of staff, who are trained to understand Autism, talking to the public about what quieter hour is about as they shop. One thing that did happen whilst I was in the shop was that somebody was complaining that the children’s rides were not working, as they had put some money into it. Again a sign here explaining that they had been switched off due to the quieter hour would have prevented this complaint before it had begun. Be proud of what you are doing here and promote it to your customers.
- Try and reduce the lighting more in some areas of the shop. It is still too bright and although I understand the reasons why this may be , I also think more of a balance could be obtained.
- Is it possible to completely silence the till beeping? Autistic people that are sensitive to noise can be more agitated by a single noise when other sounds are removed. To be honest, I noticed these beeps much more without the distractions of other noises such as music. I would suggest more experimenting with a range of Autistic individuals to see what works.
- Not sure anything can be done about them, but the freezer buzzing noises were terribly loud also without the other noises.
- Different times for the quiet hour? Not everyone could make use of the Saturday morning slot.
- Finally, I think you need a feedback stand at the exit to the shop. I had to ask to see the store manager to talk to him about what I had experienced. A small stand on the exit simply asking “What do you think of quieter hour? Please talk to us.” would allow Autistic adults, carers, parents and even children themselves to give vital feedback on how you can make things better still or to tell you what you are doing wrong or right. You are trialling this but unless you talk to Autistics or those closely associated with them, you will not get a full picture. I understand the National Autistic Society was hugely involved, but please use us also as the source. We can help you to encourage more Autistics into your shops as customers, rather than using things like online shopping as sensory anxiety is too strong.
To conclude with I want to thank Morrisons for doing this. Truly I do, as the experience I had was generally one of improvement and a positive one. I appreciate that they are doing something to help the Autistic community and thinking about the people within their local areas, who use their shops and facilities. This is amazing, and although it is not quite one hundred percent there yet, it is a huge step in the right direction. I hope more shops will follow suit and copy Morrisons approach. Thank you.
Just a quick plug of a truly great blog written by a James@AutismRevised. He writes about many great topics, including an excellent monthly round up of all Autistic news, and I am sure the Morrisons “Quieter Hour” will feature in this months, which is why I mention it here. His work is wonderful to read and can be found on his website at https://www.autisticandunapologetic.com