March 15th, 2019 by Chris Chapman

If you work in a customer-facing business, you have a responsibility to ensure that your business is as welcoming to all your customers as possible. As there are more than 700,000 people in the UK who have been diagnosed with autism, it’s a good idea to ensure that your business doesn’t exclude them. Restaurants, museums, and other public-facing places have a responsibility to make themselves as autism-friendly as possible – and nowhere is that more important than in the washroom. What seems normal to someone without autism can be a nightmare for someone on the spectrum, so it’s vital for businesses to understand what they can do to help. This guide will help you improve your business for your autistic customers and their families by explaining how you can make your washroom more autism-friendly!

What is Autism?

Some autistic people - especially children - are very sensitive to noise It’s important to have a greater understanding of what autism is so you can make informed choices about what changes to make in your washrooms. An extremely basic definition of autism is that it’s a developmental disorder that affects how people experience the world. This can manifest itself in countless ways – everyone who is on the spectrum is different. Some autistic people are easily distracted by bright lights and colours, whereas others may be extremely sensitive to loud noises and skin contact. Others might not get enough stimulation from the world around them, and will constantly need to fidget and touch things. To someone without autism, a noisy hand dryer is an annoyance. To someone with autism – especially a young child who is still learning about the world – that hand dryer could be an overwhelmingly scary thing! It’s important to bear this in mind when planning out your autism-friendly bathroom – something you take for granted could be overwhelming to someone on the spectrum.

Consult Your Customers

Unless you have a friend or a family member with autism, it might be hard for you to understand exactly what the best approach is to take regarding your washroom. That’s why it’s important to engage with your customers to ask for their feedback. While you might not be able to implement every idea they suggest, they’ll appreciate being included in your decision-making! There’s no substitute for experience, so asking a customer who has experience with autism – whether they have it themselves or know someone who does – could help you make the right choices.

Make Sure There’s Space

Disabled toilets tend to be larger and quieter, so they're more suitable for autism-friendly facilities While not all autistic people need a carer, it’s common for family members or professional carers to accompany them when they’re out and about. This means you need to ensure any autism-friendly washroom is open and spacious. As a result, it’s a good idea to turn your existing disabled washroom (if you have one) into an autism-friendly bathroom as well. Disabled toilets are usually quieter and much less busy, and already contain enough space for carers when needed.

Be Wary of Automatic Dispensers

While modern hand dryers are very quiet, they still produce a sudden noise that might be overwhelming to someone with autism. In addition, the feeling of a blast of air on their skin might be deeply distressing to them, especially if they’re only young. This can be especially problematic with automatic hand dryers, which can be activated accidentally just by being close to the sensor. For this reason, manual hand dryers are more popular in autism-friendly washrooms as they’re button-activated, meaning carers have the chance to offer warnings and advice about how to cope with the hand dryer’s operation. While installing a manual hand dryer is a good idea, it’s always wise to have a paper towel dispenser in your autism-friendly bathroom too. This will give anyone using your washroom the option of completely avoiding a noisy hand dryer altogether if necessary. You should also try and avoid using an aerosol air freshener. The combination of a sudden, sharp hissing noise and a powerful fragrance can sometimes prove to be overwhelming, so non-aerosol air freshener dispensers are the way to go. This ensures that the air freshener is distributed constantly and silently without being sprayed out of a can!

Make a Sensory Wall

Sensory walls or panels offer your washroom users something interesting to touch and play with While some autistic people – especially children – can be easily overstimulated with loud noises or bright colours, it’s also possible that they’ll feel understimulated in other areas, too. A common trait among people with autism is a constant need to fidget or touch things that feel nice to them. With this in mind, an increasingly common trend in autism-friendly spaces is to install a sensory wall. These sensory walls are essentially panels which are covered in lots of different things to touch and interact with. They might include differently-textured materials like carpet swatches and felt, or fidget spinners and padlocks to play with. You can also include smooth metal panels, switches, toggles, buttons, bits of rubber, or anything else that might feel interesting to touch. Sensory walls are fairly easy to make yourself, although you can also find them online if you don’t want to build your own. They make what initially might seem like an unfamiliar and unpredictable washroom feel much less intimidating, and is a clear indication that your business is a safe space for everyone. Just make sure it's regularly and thoroughly cleaned alongside the rest of your washroom facilities.

Clearly Label Everything

People on the autism spectrum may benefit from physical reminders of tasks to carry out in the washroom. For example, you might want to attach some symbols or a step-by-step guide to proper hand washing on the wall next to your sink. If you have a toilet seat wipe dispenser, you can put some instructions on how to use it on the cover of the dispenser. These will be useful for both washroom users and carers who can use the symbols as prompts or as a method of non-verbal communication.