The Entertainer was one of the stores reviewed in the original Autism Friendly Glasgow posts way back in the dark and distant days of this blog and to be honest it's a shop we've visited ever since but whereas last time we looked at the Buchanan Galleries store (still a favourite with Cass) this time we're talking about the one in the St. Enoch Centre. So you'd better pay attention as there may be questions later. You see, much like HMV , The Entertainer has become one of our regular, daily haunts since the girls started college so we've gone from weekend visits to 3 times a week for the last few years and, like HMV, is just one of those stores that is utterly fantastic and an absolute pleasure to visit. The staff are genuinely interested in talking to the girls and are happy to chat with them on subjects ranging from toys to college to Embeth's obsession with obscure film and TV characters, plus they know what the girls (and myself!) collect so are always read...

As most of you will know (especially regular readers here) when it comes to Autistic friendly venues for adults there are precious few - and when it comes to places like pubs even less so. In fact only one was listed way back in 2018 and they seem to have forgotten about it now (no mention on their website tho' I'll have a full review if/when they get back in touch) so it's great to find a Glasgow-based pub that's not only genuinely Autistic friendly but also serves THE best Macaroni cheese on the planet. Ladies and gentlemen I give you The Admiral Woods at  29 Waterloo St, Glasgow.     Everything about the place is perfect, from the layout to the staff to the menu, the website is easy to navigate and the constantly updated social media (on X and Instagram ) means that not only do you get to see the food served but you can also plan your visit around any events taking place (plus football etc.) or even to avoid busier times. To be honest it's quite probably my fav...

A brand new addition to the Autism friendly venue/shopping list now (I do like to keep you on your toes) and it's the HMV store in Argyle Street in Glasgow.   Since the girls have been at college we've gotten into the routine of visiting the same few shops on our way to the bus, one of which is the aforementioned store and over the last 18 months we've noticed how friendly and accommodating the staff are. Whenever the girls walk in they're greeted by a 'hello' and always answer Embeth when she says "Hi" to them, no-one bats an eyelid at their DVD cover chat routine as Amelia teases me with a copy of The Last Jedi and at the cash desks the staff are always chatty and attentive, happily talking about each others badges and t-shirts and even joining in with the high fives as they leave. Friendly and helpful, it's a great place that the girls genuinely get excited about visiting. And not just for the cool t-shirts and brilliant Disney and cult TV secti...

Way, way back in the mists of time and when the universe was half its present size I decided (against my better judgement) to start this Autism blog partly because my adopted home town of Glasgow had decided to go all Autism-friendly even going as far as making a map of all the Spectrum-safe places in the city and awarding a rather spiffy Autism Aware badge to venues that are deemed worthy. So seeing as I was bored one afternoon waiting for the girls to finish dance rehearsals I decided to go visit every single one of them (unannounced obviously) and review them all. Yup, tell me you're Autistic without telling me you're Autistic.     Around the same time Glasgow City Council proudly (and somewhat foolishly you might say) decreed that by 2025 - or thereabouts - Glasgow would be 'the most Autistic friendly city in Europe'. So here we are 7 years later and I've decided to revisit and re-review every one of those venues - well the ones that are still open obviously - ...

Way back in 2018 I did a review of every (well nearly every) Autistic friendly venue in Glasgow, you see at the time our fair city had announced that it would be Europe's most Autistic friendly place by 2024 which would have been nice if they'd not got bored by 2019. Oh well. Luckily some of the venues involved have kept up the good work, including  The St. Enoch Centre , a huge shopping hub located in the city centre adjacent to St Enoch subway station. You can read the original review here . As an added bonus for them they also kindly agreed to showcase the Glasgow Refugee project I created in 2017 so fair play to them.     Anyway, recently the St Enoch centre has launched updated sensory maps for autistic people to use when visiting the centre. The maps were created in collaboration with Scottish Autism and includes guidance on sounds, smells, lighting and temperature changes to make a more Autism-friendly environment.      Anne Ledgerwood, centre di...

Just a quickie today as there's loads going on (our modem getting repaired for one thing) but thought I'd mention the fact that I popped into Glasgow city centre today for the first time since lockdown started. And in case you're wondering yes, I am wearing a Dave Hill T-Shirt. Look I'm from the Black Country so sue me. Rho and the girls have already ventured into town last week but I've been really nervous so decided to pop in on my own first and visit a (very) few shops I know in order to get back into the whole shopping routine. Plus after hearing a fair few horror stories online regarding exemption passes I thought it'd be easier to argue the point on my own (if needed) than when I had the twin engines of destruction with me! I shouldn't have worried tho' as actually everyone I dealt with was absolutely great. And who were they and what shops did I visit? Well if I tell you please don't judge. As always the staff at Westerton tr...

After the angry man incident t'other day I've been a wee bit worried about not being able to wear a mask out shopping. Well apart from the autistic one obviously. Well, wore my exemption lanyard whilst out yesterday (yes I know it's kinda embarrassing that the girls can wear masks but I can't - deal with it) and an happy to say that the three shops I went in were great! Phew....Hopefully this is a sign of things to come!

Noticed I'd been a wee bit serious/ranting/rantingly serious of late (cheers to all who replied!) and looking back I realized I'd totally forgotten to post about how brilliant our local Morrisson's has been during lockdown. After the experience we had with the mad woman shouting at Amelia back in March - which was dealt with brilliantly by George the security man - the shop and staff have been absolutely amazing, from telling us to phone for items we needed during the great food shortage wars to allowing us priority access and generally being lovely (always asking how the kids, and myself, are) we as a family couldn't ask for nicer folk. And it's even more appreciated when you realise the pressure they're under too. It's refreshing to find anyone - not just a shop - that's willing to listen and then actually act - on the advice and needs of the autistic community. Brilliant. Also have to say a big 'thank you' to our local Aldi...

Loads of short, sharp posts right now (as you can imagine it's a wee bit mad at the mo) but noticed quite a few posts like this online: Just the thought of getting stopped/checked whilst shopping really scares me. As you can probably imagine, my normal routines/schedules are shot right now so I'm kinda attempting to hold on to the ones I have left. For example shopping daily/buying the same things is something I have to do because in order to be able to have any chance of functioning properly. You see, the act of doing the shopping and buying goods 'as normal' is actually more essential to me than anything else. A tub of got2b Glued spiking wax might not seem an essential lockdown purchase but trust me, I need to get it every two weeks because that's what I do. Deal with it.

 Just back from Morrison's with Amelia, they are now operating a queue system for getting in and out which is fair enough.  As we're standing waiting a woman stormed up the queue obviously raging at the fact that she wasn't allowed to jump in and angrily shouted "Move out of my way!" at Amelia as she trundled passed. Amelia (having manners) moved out the way as the woman stared blankly at us as she made her way to her car. Amelia was asking why she'd snapped before bursting into tears and loudly crying "was I standing in the way because I'm autistic? does being autistic mean I'm naughty and that's why she was angry?"    Luckily the security guys saw us and the person in front let us in first, by this time the woman had gone. Yes I know you're all stressed and worried, especially when in this woman's case she was obviously only allowed 4 gallons of lard to guzzle as opposed to her usual 18 but just thin...

I'm not a doctor (or even a real welder) but having just returned from my exciting Saturday morning shopping adventure I just have to say that we should be less worried about the Coronavirus in Glasgow and more concerned by the sudden mass autism outbreak if the queues at Morrisons autism friendly hour is anything to go by. Who knew there were so many of us? (Sarcasm).

 WARNING! - This post contains maximum ranting. Well as the world goes to (retail) Hell in a hand basket due to that pesky Corona virus and everything grinds to a halt I thought I'd put my tuppence worth in on the current trend of 'panic' buying and stockpiling that seems to have overtaken casual racism, football and Love Island as the nation's post-Brexit hobby of choice. Apologies in advance cos this may get a wee bit ranty (surprise?) but the whole thing has gotten to a point where I feel like screaming. And here is as good a place as any. A mentalist yesterday. Now shopping at the best of times can be stressful, the noise, the bustle, the mad folk pushing their trolleys into you as groups of (older) men - who've obviously never shopped alone before - gaze angrily at the shelves in the vague hope that the items they need will miraculously appear in front of them all add up to what can be a pretty awful experience all round whether you be ...

Ah Sainsbury's - you were doing so well with the sunflower lanyard and your autism awareness training but you had to go spoil it didn't you? Seems that a Twitter storm has erupted this weekend due to the supermarket chain stocking "Get Well" Magazine. And why is this a problem I hear you cry/type? Well let's take a look at the latest issue: Really? But there's more. Turns out that "Get Well" Magazine is actually a retitled version of  "What Doctors Don't Tell You", a (previously banned by Sainsbury's in 2013) publication by anti-vaxxer Lynne McTaggart that has been referred to as "viciously, viciously anti-vaccine"by Dr Ben Goldacre and "pseudoscience" by The Times as well as managing in it's short lifespan to commit 54 breaches of the ASA Code. Here's some interesting reading regarding the criticism of the magazine: You can follow the story on Twitter but in the m...

As is the norm around here (well at this time of year anyway) gonna start listing the autism friendly events around Glasgow this coming 'holiday' season. As ever, more to follow! Glasgow's traditional George Square Christmas Market is up and running and although they have a quiet area, no idea if they're doing an Autism-friendly day as last year, which is a wee bit annoying if they don't because inclusion and all that. Mmore to follow when/if they email me back. As last year The Irn Bru Carnival at the SEC goes Autism Friendly over two sessions on December 31 and January 7 for the third year running. Will add times when I get them. The St Enoch Centre has a dedicated Santa time slot for children with learning difficulties and sensory challenges and those dedicated 5 minutes slots are entirely free. Quiet Santa sessions will be held from 10am to 10.40am on Sunday the 1st, 8th, 15th and 22nd of December. Over at Braehead Shoppin...

Sorry for the lack of updates of late but a mix of school holidays and the like have been taking up most of my time which at least puts paid to the myth that we're awful at parenting at least. Anyway I recently attended/observed the Glasgow City Council Autism Aware Initiative day (which was very good - full report to follow) and this got me thinking as to what actually constitutes good Autism Aware practice and makes a venue/event Autism accessible? As regular reader(s) - If I have any - will know the vast majority of venues I've visited/reviewed have been absolutely great - and that still holds true a year into the initiative which is pretty good going but is there a chance of places getting complacent or even worse - just doing enough to be seen to care? The biggest bugbear of all has to be the infamous Autism friendly quiet hour so beloved by everyone from shopping centres to museums and all in between, now I've covered this before ( here if you want a look...

Do you remember last year when Morrison's announced it was doing 'Quiet Hour' shopping for autistic folk? ...And do you remember the comments on the BBC website? Happy times. You can read more here if you're bored.

As mentioned in an earlier post , Glasgow's traditional George Square Christmas Market had an Autism-friendly day between 10am – 6pm yesterday (4th December) so we decided to take the Autie brood down for a wee gander. So how did it (Christmas) fayre? Well actually it was a really nice, relaxed hour out, the fact that you arrived there knowing that it was going to be Autistic aware/friendly actually helps alleviate your stress levels as you kinda guess that if anything happens there are folk there to help or at least be a wee bit sympathetic. And the staff that we saw were friendly enough, especially on the big wheel who didn't rush anyone, kept the queues calm and were really amenable and polite. Plus it was lovely to see parents just enjoying an afternoon out without having to justify/apologise/get mad to feel shite for their kids expressing themselves. Which is more than can be said for the staring folk at Queens Street low level when the Cassman had a w...

More exciting Autism-based Christmas event in Glasgow next week..... there's an Autism hour during The Riverside Christmas Festival on Sunday, December 2nd between 10am - 11am for people with access all day to a dedicated quiet space (which runs in the museum all year round but will be opened specially for the event) plus on Tuesday 4 December there's an Autism-friendly day at George Square market from 10am – 6pm.   Music will be quieter, flashing lights will be turned off and a warm and dry quiet room will be open plus they're  producing a map detailing the layout of the market and its key features. Not only that but the traders and market mangers will be onsite to answer any questions and all trained helpers will be wearing identifiable by their badges. We're going down so expect a review to follow! It's Glasgow at Christmas so it'll be fab!

Just a quick update on Autism friendly stuff - as opposed to Autism ranting which seems to be the norm at the moment, sorry - to say that the rather lovely folk at House of Fraser on Buchanan Street are having Santa in this Christmas and will be having Autism friendly sessions in the mornings. And one of them is on my birthday which is nice. You can read my review of their Autism quiet space here and get more Santa info here .  

Been away visiting the homeland this weekend and while I was away I got a nice Tweet or two from The National Autistic Society regarding Autism Hour and the thorny issue of times. But fear not as there's more to it than we first thought! According to my info Autism Hour will indeed launch at this time (9 - 10 AM), but shops and businesses will be choosing the times they will be putting on their hours themselves across the week. But what are the chances that they'll listen and put them at convenient times? We'll have to wait and see.