I was wondering...
We all talk about how the NT world doesn't suit us, but I've never seen any concrete suggestions on how to adapt the world to include us.
So, I thought, what if we had free reign to redesign the world around our needs? What if there was a town designed from the ground up to accommodate us, to allow us to live our lives without over stimulation and constant low-level challenges? What would that town look like?
The parameters here are: choose a place the town would need and describe how to optimise it so an autistic visitor would feel comfortable.
An example. I have to go to the chemist frequently. I hate going to the chemist because it's disorganised, there's not enough seats, to get served you have to attract the attention of a rep, then wait until your name is called and confirm your address in front of others before receiving your prescription. The walls are stacked with distracting stuff and you always have to wait with a crowd.
If I was designing a chemist, I would put all of the stuff in another room and have the space where you get served replaced by a couple of touch screens where you can select pictures of what you need. There would be a prescription section, an over the counter items section and a request to speak to a pharmacist section. There would also be a section for if you've ordered some time ago and are back to collect.
You'd have a basket on screen for all of these, an example basket might be: fill script (options to pay or exempt from payment, how many items you need), two tubes of cough sweets, some ibuprofen and a slot with the pharmacist (For a consultation maybe). You go to checkout and it requests payment for goods/prescription items, then asks you to insert your completed prescription form in a slot, where it can be placed in a basket behind the slot for pharmacist attention, then displays a wait time so you know how long it will be before you get attention. From here you can choose to wait that time, or choose to come back to collect later, giving you the option to choose a time so youre not waiting when you come back. It then dispenses a receipt to tell how much it was, what time you'll be seen and which room to go to when everything is ready. It also gives you a number so you can be called anonymously.
You then wait in the main section, where there are seats arranged so that there is space between them, neutral, warm decor and no music. The waiting space is a designated quiet space.
At the side are a number of small rooms, for consultations and collections. An LCD board above the room will display your number when it's your turn to go in. Inside, you'll be met by a pharmacist who will check your details and make sure you know how to use your medicine and be able to deal with any questions.
This would take up roughly the same amount of space as a traditional chemist but be more suitable for me personally at least.
Please let me know what you think, and suggest your own Autistown services
We all talk about how the NT world doesn't suit us, but I've never seen any concrete suggestions on how to adapt the world to include us.
So, I thought, what if we had free reign to redesign the world around our needs? What if there was a town designed from the ground up to accommodate us, to allow us to live our lives without over stimulation and constant low-level challenges? What would that town look like?
The parameters here are: choose a place the town would need and describe how to optimise it so an autistic visitor would feel comfortable.
An example. I have to go to the chemist frequently. I hate going to the chemist because it's disorganised, there's not enough seats, to get served you have to attract the attention of a rep, then wait until your name is called and confirm your address in front of others before receiving your prescription. The walls are stacked with distracting stuff and you always have to wait with a crowd.
If I was designing a chemist, I would put all of the stuff in another room and have the space where you get served replaced by a couple of touch screens where you can select pictures of what you need. There would be a prescription section, an over the counter items section and a request to speak to a pharmacist section. There would also be a section for if you've ordered some time ago and are back to collect.
You'd have a basket on screen for all of these, an example basket might be: fill script (options to pay or exempt from payment, how many items you need), two tubes of cough sweets, some ibuprofen and a slot with the pharmacist (For a consultation maybe). You go to checkout and it requests payment for goods/prescription items, then asks you to insert your completed prescription form in a slot, where it can be placed in a basket behind the slot for pharmacist attention, then displays a wait time so you know how long it will be before you get attention. From here you can choose to wait that time, or choose to come back to collect later, giving you the option to choose a time so youre not waiting when you come back. It then dispenses a receipt to tell how much it was, what time you'll be seen and which room to go to when everything is ready. It also gives you a number so you can be called anonymously.
You then wait in the main section, where there are seats arranged so that there is space between them, neutral, warm decor and no music. The waiting space is a designated quiet space.
At the side are a number of small rooms, for consultations and collections. An LCD board above the room will display your number when it's your turn to go in. Inside, you'll be met by a pharmacist who will check your details and make sure you know how to use your medicine and be able to deal with any questions.
This would take up roughly the same amount of space as a traditional chemist but be more suitable for me personally at least.
Please let me know what you think, and suggest your own Autistown services
