YOU MAY HAVE HEARD THE PHRASE ‘ON THE SPECTRUM’ - WELL THAT REFER’S TO AUTISM. IT IS A SPECTRUM CONDITION THAT AFFECTS PEOPLE IN DIFFERENT WAYS. THE SPECTRUM REFERS TO THE FACT THAT THE DIFFICULTIES EXPERIENCED BY AUTISTIC INDIVIDUALS CAN COVER A HUGE RANGE OF DISABILITIES FROM MORE SEVERE CHALLENGES WHICH WILL REQUIRE SUPPORT IN ALL AREAS OF THEIR LIVES TO LESS OBVIOUS CHALLENGES OFTEN ‘MASKED’ BY THE INDIVIDUAL AND NOT ALWAYS OUTWARDLY NOTICEABLE.

HENCE ‘THE SPECTRUM’

AUTISM IS DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE

SOME AUTISTIC PEOPLE NEED LITTLE OR NO SUPPORT. OTHERS MAY NEED HELP FROM A PARENT OR CARER EVERYDAY.

AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER (ASD) IS MARKED BY DIFFERENCE IN COMMUNICATION, LEARNING AND BEHAVIOUR, TOUGH IT CAN LOOK DIFFERENT FROM PERSON TO PERSON. PEOPLE WITH ASD MAY HAVE A WIDE RANGE OF STRENGTHS, ABILITIES, NEEDS AND CHALLENGES..

HERE’S A FEW CHALLENGES FACED BY AUTISTIC PEOPLE AND HOW THEY COULD CAUSE DIFFICULTIES WHEN PLANNING THEIR WEDDING AND INDEED ON THE BIG DAY ITSELF. THIS LIST ONLY SKIMS THE SURFACE BUT WILL HOPEFULLY HELP YOU UNDERSTAND SOME OF THE DIFFICULTIES THAT AN AUTISTIC PERSON MIGHT FACE AND HOPEFULLY HELP YOU MAKE SMALL ADJUSTMENTS TO YOUR BUSINESS TO CREATE BIG CHANGES.

SOCIAL COMMUNICATION

AUTISTIC PEOPLE CAN HAVE DIFFICULTIES INTERPRETING VERBAL AND NON- VERBAL LANGUAGE (LIKE GESTURES OR TONES OF VOICE.) THEY MAY NEED EXTRA TIME TO PROCESS INFORMATION OR TO ANSWER QUESTIONS. SO IF YOU ARE GATHERING INFORMATION AND DISCUSSING IDEAS ABOUT THEIR WEDDING DAY IT MAY BE THAT YOU WILL NEED TO SUPPLY WRITTEN INFORMATION FOR THEM TAKE AWAY WITH THEM OR TO TAKE A LITTLE MORE TIME TO GATHER THE INFORMATION YOU NEED.

SOCIAL INTERACTION

AUTISTIC PEOPLE CAN FIND IT HARD TO NAVIGATE SOCIALLY. THEY MAY APPEAR TO BEHAVE ‘STRANGELY’ OR NOT IN A WAY THAT IS THOUGHT TO BE SOCIALLY APPROPRIATE. THEY MAY ALSO SEEK OUT TIME ALONE WHEN ‘OVERWHELMED’ BY OTHER PEOPLE. WHEN THEY ARE WITH YOU DURING APPOINTMENTS OR INDEED DURING THEIR WEDDING DAY THEY MAY WELL BE ‘MASKING’ - A TERM USED TO REFER TO THE AUTISTIC INDIVIDUAL COVERING THEIR USUAL TRAITS OR BEHAVIOUR’S. THIS CAN BE EXHAUSTING. SO MAYBE CONSIDER OFFERING BREAK TIMES DURING APPOINTMENTS AND ESPECIALLY OF THE BIG DAY ITSELF, WHERE THEY CAN TAKE TIME OUT AND RE-CHARGE THEIR BATTERIES.

REPETITIVE BEHAVIOUR

AUTISTIC PEOPLE WILL OFTEN PREFER TO HAVE ROUTINES, WEARING THE SAME CLOTHES EVERYDAY, EATING THE SAME FOOD, TAKING THE SAME ROUTE TO PLACES. CHANGES TO THEIR ROUTINES CAN BE VERY DISTRESSING AND CAN CAUSE ANXIETY. IT MIGHT BE THAT THEY WILL NEED PLENTY OF NOTICE FOR APPOINTMENT TIMES AND DATES AND A CLEAR PLAN AS TO WHAT WILL HAPPEN DURING THE APPOINTMENT. IT MIGHT BE A GREAT IDEA TO CHAT ABOUT WHAT WILL HAPPEN IN THE APPOINTMENT IN ADVANCE AND IF POSSIBLE YOU COULD ADD A VIDEO TO YOUR WEBSITE OR POP ONE ONTO YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA ACCOUNTS SO THEY CAN SEE WHERE THEY ARE VISITING IN ADVANCE.

SENSORY SENSITIVITY

MANY AUTISTIC PEOPLE ARE SENSITIVE TO LIGHT, SOUND, TASTE, TOUCH, SMELLS, COLOURS AND EVEN TEMPERATURE. AUTISTIC PEOPLE CAN EXPERIENCE ANXIETY AND EVEN PHYSICAL PAIN THROUGH THEIR SENSITIVITIES, AND WILL OFTEN AVOID EVERYDAY SITUATIONS BECAUSE OF THIS. OFTEN, SIMPLE ADJUSTMENTS CAN BE MADE TO MAKE YOUR ENVIRONMENT MORE AUTISM FRIENDLY. FOR INSTANCE CONSIDER TURNING THE MUSIC DOWN/OFF DURING APPOINTMENTS, REMOVE ANY SCENTS OR PERFUMES, TURN DOWN THE LIGHTING WHERE POSSIBLE AND ASK IF THEY ARE COMFORTABLE WITH THE TEMPERATURE. JUST SMALL CHANGES BUT THEY MAY WELL MAKE A LOT OF DIFFERENCE.

STIMMING

ANXIETY IS A REAL DIFFICULTLY FOR MANY NERODIVERGENT PEOPLE. IN SOCIAL SITUATIONS, THIS CAN CAUSE OVERWHELM AND BECOME TOO MUCH TO HANDLE. MANY AUTISTIC PEOPLE WILL ‘STIM’ TO HELP CALM THEMSELVES DOWN WHEN STRESSED OR ANXIOUS. THIS MAY RANGE FROM FLAPPING HANDS, ROCKING OR REPETITIVE USE OF AN OBJECT LIKE CLICKING A PEN. HOWEVER, MANY AUTSIC PEOPLE WILL ‘MASK’ THIS NEED AND THIS IN TURN CAN BE VERY EXHAUSTING AND OVERWHELMING. YOU MAY WANT TO CONSIDER SUPPLYING A LITTLE SELECTION OF STIMMING TOYS, POPPED IN A LITTLE BOWL CLOSE TO THE SEATING AREA THAT ANYONE CAN JUST PICK UP. THIS WAY MAKING IT CLEAR THAT YOU ARE BOTH AWARE OF HOW THIS MIGHT HELP, BUT ALSO HAPPY FOR THEM TO ‘STIM’ IF THEY NEED TO.

I HAVE ONLY TOUCHED UPON THE DIFFICULTIES THAT AUTISTIC PEOPLE MIGHT FACE HERE, AND IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DELVE DEEPER ‘THE NATIONAL AUTISTIC WEBSITE’ IS A GREAT PLACE TO START. YOU CAN ALWAYS POP ONTO THE ‘FOR OUR SUPPLIERS’ SECTION, WHERE YOU WILL FIND LOTS OF OTHER SOURCE MATERIALS WHICH WILL BROADEN YOUR UNDERSTANDING AND HELP YOU EXPLORE AREAS TO IMPROVE YOUR BUSINESS FURTHER.

IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVE ANY OF THE TRAITS ABOVE AND WOULD LIKE FURTHER INFORMATION I HAVE ALSO INCLUDED A LINK AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE WHICH TAKES YOU STRAIGHT THOUGH TO THE NATIONAL AUTISTIC WEBSITE AND THEIR AREA COVERING INFORMATION ABOUT OBTAINING A DIAGNOISIS.