Autism (not so) friendly

Has anyone noticed the rise in so called autism friendly services of late. People seem to be able to label their business (or whatever it is) autism friendly without having to do anything to prove it or become certified. In my small experiences of these people they are never as autism friendly as they think they are. A recent experience (don't want to go into detail just on the small chance the person could see this post) in which somebody had declared their business to be autism friendly and aware of sensory needs turned out that they had zero idea about sensory needs and in fact actually caused me sensory issues. I find this frustrating and a little concerning. I think this person genuinely believes that they are autism friendly and that their service will make a difference. I don't think businesses should be allowed to label themselves as autism friendly unless they have been certified to show that they actually are. I just get frustrated with situations like this as it feels like autistic life is always 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

Parents
  • Autism friendly seems a bit belittling in the way that shops would also put a dog friendly sign in the window. You wouldn’t put “friendly” for other neurological issues would you? Perhaps it’s just a nice way of the owners to seem accommodating and progressive but I’d say they value profit over moral standards regarding those on the spectrum. 

  • Maybe we could all brainstorm a selection of more inclusive / preferable terms or phrases ...but maybe ...in an ideal World: we should not need such phrases at all?

    If people treated all people as equal people - the phrases would be redundant anyway.

Reply Children