Buchanan Galleries.

Next up on my big adventure was one of Glasgow's major shopping centres -  Buchanan Galleries on Buchanan Street (obviously) which, if I'm honest, was a wee bit daunting seeing as I find the ambiance/temperature/lighting/general massiveness of/in the place very overwhelming at times and only the week before had to leave early due to this*.

But needs must as they say so I bravely soldiered on.

You can thank me later.

No really you can.

The first thing you notice (as an Autistic person) when you enter Buchanan Galleries is that it's huge and noisy in that way that almost becomes treacle in your head, the lighting gets rid of any shadows and it's almost immediately disorientating.

And if this makes an adult feel like this then imagine being a child.

Upon finding the information desk (again manned by helpful and accommodating staff members) I first asked about their plans for Autism Awareness Month before mentioning the general ambiance and how it could be altered to make shopping for/with Autistic folk easier.

And this is where it got interesting.

And a little frustrating if I'm honest.

"Carousel is a lie!" 

The staff members seemed fairly well informed on the issues surrounding shopping for/with children with Autism and informed me that all front of house staff (employed by the centre) had undergone training and that they too were planning a series of events after consulting with various Autism groups - interestingly the centre are planning on changing the black slip-mats at the shops entrance as it seems that some children were frightened that they were in fact holes, a cool bit of ASD-centric listening which is unusual but nice.

I saw this as my chance to mention the lighting/air conditioning issue but was told that the lighting was permanent and couldn't be change - the same for the heating.

This raised a few questions, like what if a bulb goes? Can you not get a lower wattage one? 

Does that mean if the heating is fixed that everyone melts during the summer?

And with a massive refurbishment due for Buchanan Galleries does that mean everything but the lighting will be altered?

Surely doing a huge building job whilst being careful not to smash any light bulbs is gonna be really complicated?

Answers to the usual address.

The proposed new look for Buchanan Galleries....no can't see any major problems with overwhelmed Autistic kids here....tho' I may end up wetting myself. Again. As a plus point tho' it is very blue.

Again the issue of early morning shopping hours was mentioned but when I question how useful this actually was for parents I was told that because The Entertainer was the first shop there to implement this that it was best just to keep the hours the same. 

Can I just add as an aside that we've been shopping at The Entertainer for years and it is quite frankly one of THE best toy shops around as far as not just Autism awareness but all round friendly and helpful staff go and to be honest they should have an Autism Aware logo for the windows of their own.

But more on that in a later post.

It was whilst discussing the Autism friendly shopping hour that the staff made an interesting point.

It seems that although Buchanan Galleries has - as a whole - been awarded the Autism Aware logo it doesn't necessarily follow that all the shops there have to abide by it.

So if they do have a quiet hour then any shops that still want to play muisc loudly (or let off indoor fireworks, bait badgers etc) can.

If this is the case then surely this negates the whole point?

And if certain shop are refusing to accommodate certain disabilities (even for an hour) then don't we have a right to know which ones?

It seems to me (tho' I am a cynical old man) that some of the venues may have gotten the logo for what they plan to do and not what they already (should) do, whilst quite a few shops that are already 'Autism Aware' seem to have either been overlooked or just don't know about it.

Food for thought.

Again, helpful and informed staff (which is a bonus) with some good ideas, it's just a pity then that those in charge seem to see this as more of a PR exercise  than actually wanting to make some permanent changes.

*For the record I made it out in one piece and got a rather splendid Darth Vader/Ahsoka Tano double pack for 6 quid from the aforementioned Entertainer** which was a bonus.

**And no they're not sponsoring me before you ask tho' I wouldn't say no.