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The first local Sensory Quiet Shopping Hour is being trialed at a supermarket on the Hibiscus Coast this month.
During the quiet hour, the lights will be dimmed, the music volume reduced and there will be no intrusive activities such as staff stocking shelves.
The trial, at Countdown Silverdale, follows six months of work by Gaylene Chambers, the mother of a boy with autism (HM October 3, 2018).
She was inspired to bring this option to the Coast after two other supermarkets in New Zealand introduced a quiet shopping hour.
The quiet hour caters specifically for people with autism – Gaylene knows from experience that supermarket shopping can be a difficult experience for them because noise, a lot of bright lights and activity can lead to sensory overload and possibly a meltdown. Gaylene says this type of stress can mean that people on the autism spectrum dread shopping.
However, the quiet hour of supermarket shopping is also open to anyone with special needs who would benefit from it.
“The bright lights, crowds and small children make shopping almost impossible for those with autism and other disabilities such as obsessive compulsive disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),” Gaylene says. “Other people in the community may also benefit from this experience – for example, people with brain injuries and also those with dementia that have sensitivities around stimuli and noise generally.”
The first quiet hour at Countdown Silverdale was on April 2, 9am-10am. The next one is on April 9, also from 9am-10am.
If the trial is successful, Gaylene hopes that there could be a permanent quiet hour offered at the supermarket.
