Access All Areas.
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) but if you can't be bothered clicking on the link then I'll quickly go over the the major issue's with this.
For one they're invariably between 9 and 10 on a Saturday - and sometimes even, ulp, a Sunday morning and yes I've said it before but part of me (the cynical bit) thinks that first thing on a Saturday morning may be a wee bit quiet anyway, so why not put this in place and get a few more punters in?
Then you have places that out of the goodness of their hearts do an Autism Hour but only have it once a month.
Can you imagine a venue that only put out the accessibility ramps once a month for an hour getting kudos for it?
Thought not.
I've attempted to talk to a couple of venues* that do this to find out why but so far none of them have wanted to talk to me, which is fair enough if not a wee bit annoying, I mean if you're only consulting with Autism agencies and not actual Autistic people and families then there's a pretty good chance that things are gonna go a wee bit awry and at the very least the service isn't going to fit, then not get used so those involved will cancel it rather than think "Hmmm....do you think we might be doing it wrong?"
Just a thought.
In my original post I kinda suggested that NT folk would have no trouble at all adjusting to change and could be quite accommodating but these replies on the BBC website would appear to contradict that notion.
And they say it's us that are the problem.
Not too surprisingly tho' the venues that do the best job of making things accessible - Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, Tokyo Toys, The St. Enoch Centre, the GFT and The Grosvenor have shown that you don't have you don't have to throw wads of cash and the issue to fix it.
You just have to listen.
End of speech.
On a brighter note off to the Edinburgh Fringe next week to watch/review the rather wonderful Stealth Aspies show (among others), if you get chance go see it!
*I'm gonna try again.
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) but if you can't be bothered clicking on the link then I'll quickly go over the the major issue's with this.
For one they're invariably between 9 and 10 on a Saturday - and sometimes even, ulp, a Sunday morning and yes I've said it before but part of me (the cynical bit) thinks that first thing on a Saturday morning may be a wee bit quiet anyway, so why not put this in place and get a few more punters in?
Then you have places that out of the goodness of their hearts do an Autism Hour but only have it once a month.
Can you imagine a venue that only put out the accessibility ramps once a month for an hour getting kudos for it?
Thought not.
I've attempted to talk to a couple of venues* that do this to find out why but so far none of them have wanted to talk to me, which is fair enough if not a wee bit annoying, I mean if you're only consulting with Autism agencies and not actual Autistic people and families then there's a pretty good chance that things are gonna go a wee bit awry and at the very least the service isn't going to fit, then not get used so those involved will cancel it rather than think "Hmmm....do you think we might be doing it wrong?"
Just a thought.
In my original post I kinda suggested that NT folk would have no trouble at all adjusting to change and could be quite accommodating but these replies on the BBC website would appear to contradict that notion.
And they say it's us that are the problem.
Not too surprisingly tho' the venues that do the best job of making things accessible - Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, Tokyo Toys, The St. Enoch Centre, the GFT and The Grosvenor have shown that you don't have you don't have to throw wads of cash and the issue to fix it.
You just have to listen.
End of speech.
On a brighter note off to the Edinburgh Fringe next week to watch/review the rather wonderful Stealth Aspies show (among others), if you get chance go see it!
*I'm gonna try again.
Comments
Post a Comment