World Autism Acceptance Week: creating a more inclusive environment for autistic people

It’s World Autism Acceptance Week, a time that focuses on educating society about autism and working together to create an environment that helps to enable autistic people to feel more comfortable and accepted.

World Autism Acceptance Week was created in 2007 and since then awareness and understanding of autism has progressed. However, there’s still a lot more educating and raising awareness to do and further progression to be made. This includes raising awareness in businesses, education and to individuals.

For World Autism Acceptance Week we are sharing three ways that could help to make an environment more comfortable for an autistic person. Autism can affect people in different ways and everyone’s experience of the condition can be unique.

1. Communication: when communicating with an autistic person use the person’s name in conversation and keep the information condensed, this will help them to process the information. Don’t overwhelm the conversation with too many questions, keep it clear, calm, short and allow time for the person to respond and to ask questions if they need clarification.

2. Sensory sensitivity: reducing overwhelming sensory aspects in an environment, such as loud music in the background, bright lights or strong smells for autistic people that have sensory sensitivity. For example – if you are meeting a friend for lunch who is an autistic person with sensory sensitivity consider the environment you pick. Picking a calm, dim lit and quieter café could be a better and more comfortable choice.

3. Safe space: whether it is in an office, at school or in a home environment creating a safe space for an autistic person to relax, desensitise and have some time out from social situations can help the person feel more comfortable and reduce anxieties.

Let’s work together to create a more inclusive world for autistic people.

It’s important to remember that everyone’s journey with autism is unique and could involve different methods to support them. Therefore, it can be helpful to have a conversation with an autistic person about what support they want or need.

To find out more about World Autism Acceptance Week please visit the National Autistic Society via the following link: World Autism Acceptance Week 2023

Helpful and useful links about autism: Expert Insights on Autism with Dr. Tony Attwood – HotDoc and Autism – NHS (www.nhs.uk)