Asda held a 'quiet hour' for autistic shoppers – now other shops are doing the same

28 May 2016

An Asda superstore staged a "quiet hour" to help autistic and disabled shoppers over the weekend.

Escalators, in-store music and display TVs were all turned off and customers were given a map of the store featuring pictures instead of words

The Asda Living store at the Manchester Fort shopping centre also opened an hour early at 8am on Saturday.

Now, eight other shops at Manchester Fort are planning to hold quiet hours, the Manchester Evening News reports.

Play

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration Time 1:25

Remaining Time -0:00

Stream TypeLIVE

Loaded: 0%

Progress: 0%

00:00

Fullscreen

Playback Rate

1

Subtitles

  • subtitles off

Captions

  • captions settings
  • captions off

Chapters

  • Chapters

Mute

00:00

Share

<select> <option selected value="">---</option> <option value="#FFF">White</option> <option value="#000">Black</option> <option value="#F00">Red</option> <option value="#0F0">Green</option> <option value="#00F">Blue</option> <option value="#FF0">Yellow</option> <option value="#F0F">Magenta</option> <option value="#0FF">Cyan</option> </select><select> <option selected value="">---</option> <option value="1">Opaque</option> <option value="0.5">Semi-Opaque</option> </select>

<select> <option selected value="">---</option> <option value="#FFF">White</option> <option value="#000">Black</option> <option value="#F00">Red</option> <option value="#0F0">Green</option> <option value="#00F">Blue</option> <option value="#FF0">Yellow</option> <option value="#F0F">Magenta</option> <option value="#0FF">Cyan</option> </select><select> <option selected value="">---</option> <option value="1">Opaque</option> <option value="0.5">Semi-Transparent</option> <option value="0">Transparent</option> </select>

<select> <option selected value="">---</option> <option value="#FFF">White</option> <option value="#000">Black</option> <option value="#F00">Red</option> <option value="#0F0">Green</option> <option value="#00F">Blue</option> <option value="#FF0">Yellow</option> <option value="#F0F">Magenta</option> <option value="#0FF">Cyan</option> </select><select> <option selected value="">---</option> <option value="1">Opaque</option> <option value="0.5">Semi-Transparent</option> <option value="0">Transparent</option> </select>

<select> <option value="0.50">50%</option> <option value="0.75">75%</option> <option selected value="1.00">100%</option> <option value="1.25">125%</option> <option value="1.50">150%</option> <option value="1.75">175%</option> <option value="2.00">200%</option> <option value="3.00">300%</option> <option value="4.00">400%</option> </select>

<select> <option selected value="none">None</option> <option value="raised">Raised</option> <option value="depressed">Depressed</option> <option value="uniform">Uniform</option> <option value="dropshadow">Dropshadow</option> </select>

<select> <option selected value="">Default</option> <option value="monospaceSerif">Monospace Serif</option> <option value="proportionalSerif">Proportional Serif</option> <option value="monospaceSansSerif">Monospace Sans-Serif</option> <option value="proportionalSansSerif">Proportional Sans-Serif</option> <option value="casual">Casual</option> <option value="script">Script</option> <option value="small-caps">Small Caps</option> </select>

<button class="vjs-default-button">Defaults</button><button class="vjs-done-button">Done</button>

Close

<form>

Share Video:

</form> <button class="vjs-restart vjs-hidden" tabindex="0"></button>

<button class="vjs-restart vjs-hidden" tabindex="0">Restart</button>

Play

Current Time 0:00

/

Duration Time 0:00

Remaining Time -0:00

Stream TypeLIVE

Loaded: 0%

Progress: 0%

00:00

Fullscreen

Playback Rate

1

Subtitles

  • subtitles off

Captions

  • captions settings
  • captions off

Chapters

  • Chapters

Mute

00:00

Video shows you what it's like to live with autism

Simon Lea, manager of the Asda Living store at Manchester Fort, told the paper he came up with the idea to help people who felt intimidated or stressed by noise and disturbance.

He said: "It went really well. The store was silent, and we had great feedback from the families who benefited.

"Now it will be a regular event for us - every Saturday.

"We have eight other stores on board now at Manchester Fort who will be doing the same."

He said he considered a quiet hour when he saw a boy with autism struggling to cope in the store.

He added: "It's all about helping people really. Six months ago I would have said 'control your child' even though I've got children.

"But speaking to people with autism and disabled people has helped me think about how I can make it a better place to shop."

This website uses cookies

Like most websites, this site uses cookies. Some are required to make it work, while others are used for statistical or marketing purposes. If you choose not to allow cookies some features may not be available, such as content from other websites. Please read our Cookie Policy for more information.

Essential cookies enable basic functions and are necessary for the website to function properly.
Statistics cookies collect information anonymously. This information helps us to understand how our visitors use our website.
Marketing cookies are used by third parties or publishers to display personalized advertisements. They do this by tracking visitors across websites.