Sunflower Lanyards

Hi Capers

It is not the fault of Sainsbury's that the ends of the lanyard may be sharp.

The lanyards are distributed through an organisation called

https://hiddendisabilitiesstore.com

who you may like to contact.  This is also a non-profit making subsidiary of the firm that manufactures them.

There are problems with them not being available at stores, remember that although they are given away free, Sainsburys/Marks and Spencers/ Tesco/Argos/Airports/Railway Stations etc who give them out have to pay for them so they  may only order a few at a time to avoid having to fork out large sums of money.  I say this not that I feel we should be made to feel grateful for being able to get them but by way of explanation.

This  is why I feel there should be more recogniition of the scheme, the more recognition there is the more available they will become.  And large employers should certainly consider making them available to their staff not least for managers to be able to recognise that someone wearing one might be in need of some extra consideration in the workplace.

I wrote to my employer's equality officer before Christmas about recognising the scheme, as yet I have had no reply but I will not let it rest, at the very least the employer should be able to recognise that a member of staff wearing one is likely to need a little more understanding at work.

I've just written a complaint to Sainsbury's regarding the lanyard. 

The main problem is the way they're made - the end of each piece of material is heated to stop it freying - but being a plastic, the heated bit becomes sharp.  I hate anything itchy or irritating, especially on the back of my neck - as do many other autistic people - and I could imagine this causing problems for people who are not able to verbalise what is causing irritation.  Put it this way - I have to remove labels from shirts and trousers to stop this (although oddly the washing instruction tab on side seams of shirts is often much softer and not a problem) - but now many manufacturers have started printing the label directly onto the material.

Secondly, at my local branch, I had to join the long queue on 5 occassions at the cigarette kiosk to get one, and for the first 4 times, the guy working there was almost rude with his 'we've not got any' as if I was delaying his *** customers.  They no longer have a customer info desk.

Following on from my other reply, here is the poster of the scheme.  I am going to post this on Facebook asking others to share to spread the word of the schemes existence.  The picture seems to be resized here to something which robs a lot of the definition, but hopefully most of it can be read.

As a union equality rep I would like to see this more widely recognised, and I am trying to get my union to recognise this scheme regionally and nationally.  It would help co workers recognise when someone has a hidden disability and that they may need help.  In my workplace there are two of us including me and I am promoting it as a means of staff recognising when our clients may have needs or even just a little more time.

The scheme seems to be widely known of in Sainsburys and Argos who distribute the lanyards free of charge although there seems to be supply issues.  Also local branch of Marks and Spencers although a local M&S who I spoke to had not heard of it, and had no lanyards although when the customer services looked it up she found they should have had the lanyards from 11 September.

Some stations have a Disability Lounge, and I have noticed a sunflower logo on the window.  These are quiet and I was able to ask for help getting to the train at Euston before it was announced as ready, being shown to the train before the mad rush.

So I feel this is a great scheme although at the moment it has few who know of it.  It needs promoting and we could all pay our part in this by emailing the details to businesses, and explaining how it could help, it appears to be run by a company called hidden disabilities,

www.hiddendisabilities.com

Those who are on social media could also promote it,  by explaining it there is a poster downloadable which I will add here later, the power of social media must not be underestimated.

And the distribution of the lanyards appears to be rationed in numbers the shops have, as nowhere locally now has them.  They can be purchased from the organisation above, and I am under the impression that companies are meant to buy them from the organisation and give them away as it is a condition of joining the scheme that they are given away free.  So although they cost only 55p each, a large firm could spend many thousands of pounds putting a sufficient number in all of their outlets so they will no doubt ration the numbers available.

Yeah, I know - I just wouldn't want to have that sort of discussion over the fish counter. 

It is not ASD, it is any hidden neuro-diverse condition/disability - you do not have to identify what you have just like the blue badges in cars

It sometimes does a start a conversation with the curious and I just say it as it is - making hidden protected conditions as visible as PRIDE

They work brilliantly at UK and US airports -  I've used it a few times now - worth its weight in Gold!.    

Big supermarkets are starting to use the system too - although I'm not sure I'd like to use it locally in case I bump into someone I know who doesn't know about my ASD.     I'm doubtful about the training their minimum-wage, zero-hours staff would have undergone and their motivation or interest in the system.

I haven't worn one myself but I have one to my son at Heathrow and they were brilliant. Shame the airport in Geneva didn't know what it meant.

This is the first I've heard of this scheme, I live in a rather remote part of the country so that might be why; I like the idea of it and will definitely have a look out for it, but like you I have found the training given to staff around hidden disabilities is often quite poor.

It might be helpful to see other people wearing them which in turn would make it easier for us to help each other, if we can. 

Definitely interesting though.