Understanding Autism: The Sensory-Friendly Dilemma

Sensory-friendly hours can be great. But it depends on whether they are friendly to the senses you struggle with!

Photo by Solstice Hannan on Unsplash

It has become increasingly common for shops and other venues to offer sensory-friendly hours or days in recent years. This seems like a good thing, and I am sure it is for many. I certainly do not want to discourage it, because it is a step forward in recognising that we are all different and making an attempt to accommodate everybody.

The problem is whether something is sensory-friendly or is very much in the eye, ear or other sense of the person doing the sensing! I am reminded of the time I toured a new office building I was due to move to for work with an autistic colleague. We both hated the design, but for completely different reasons. I hated the noise level in the huge open-plan spaces with hundreds of desks and no sound baffling, but I was fine with the place’s appearance. He was fine with the noise but could not find anywhere to look which did not hurt his eyes because of the vast expanses of bright white everywhere.

Now, the obvious solution is, of course, to address both the noise and the visual issues. They are not mutually exclusive. But that was just the impact it had on two of us. Bring in some more autistic people, and you may have identified problems with the texture of the seating, the smell from the kitchen or the cleaning products used, the temperature, and so on. What is more, some of these needs may well have been in opposition to each other. Let’s face it, nobody can ever agree on the ideal temperature for a workplace without taking neurodivergent sensory issues into account!

I have written before about how, when I was very young, I hated my mother’s favourite shop because of the smell that I found overpowering and nobody else could detect at all. It was almost certainly related to some sort of cleaning chemical. Even if sensory hours had been around then, would they have involved fumigating the building beforehand? I doubt it.

I am in no way arguing against sensory-friendly sessions, quite the contrary. I am very much in favour of them. What I am saying is that the description “sensory friendly” is not enough on its own for those of us with these types of issues to know if it will work for us. “Sensory friendly” is not a single, agreed state. It can mean a whole multitude of different adjustments (and lack of adjustments). It is all very well to turn off the piped music, but will people present also be asked to keep their voices down at this time? You may ensure that the bakery in the supermarket is not using its ovens during the sensory-friendly time, but will you also ensure that none of the customers is wearing strong perfumes?

Things are much more complicated than they may seem at first for what is a genuinely good thing to do. So what is the answer? I think there are two ways forward.

Firstly, when advertising a sensory-friendly period, set out exactly what the adjustments will be. People may be disappointed that their needs are not being met, but not as upset as they would be if they only found that out when they arrived!

Secondly, involve people with sensory needs in the planning of these sessions. I fully appreciate that others cannot understand how a room full of people talking is perfectly normal for them and absolute torture to me. But I am very happy to discuss my needs and what changes might make an event more tolerable for me. I am sure I am not the only one. Ask your customers or visitors what they need, or reach out to local neurodivergent groups, ideally those run by neurodivergent people. They will almost certainly be glad to help.

Sensory-friendly hours are a good thing, but we should see them as a good start, not a finished solution. Together, let’s make them even better and make the world more inclusive for everybody.