According to the World Health Organization (WHO), autism occurs in 1 out of 100 people, which means that there are over 400,000 autistic people living in Poland. That is not all, however, because in addition to the people on the spectrum there are also their families, siblings and caretakers, which means that autism affects as much as 3 million people in Poland. All of them live their daily life just like every one of us.
More than half of autistic people are afraid to leave their home. That is because the public space is not suitable for autistic people, and this includes stores too. Although noise, strong light and crowds are the norm in Polish stores, such factors cause great discomfort or even physical pain to autistic people. That is why we encourage chain stores to cater to the needs of the autistic people by introducing suitable measures as part of the “Quiet Hours” initiative.
Date from the report prepared for our foundation indicate that the most urgently required changes in the functioning of the stores as indicated by autistic people include noise reduction, cash register for the disabled or priority at the cash registers, introduction of quiet hours, dimmed lights and less people.