Pet store is clocking on to Autism Hour

Pets at Home will hold an Autism Hour to support people with the condition.

The pet supplies retailer has teamed up with the National Autistic Society to launch the UK’s first week-long event, where shops and services take 60 minutes to provide autistic people with a break from the usual information overload.

Linwood is one of over 340 Pets at Home stores that will be holding the hour on Sunday, October 8, at 8am - an hour before the store officially opens.

Pets at Home will be taking simple steps to make the store more autism friendly - dimming the lights, turning down music and till bells and sharing information about autism with employees.

More than one in 100 people are on the autism spectrum which means that someone sees, hears and feels the world in a different, often more intense, way to other people.

Autistic people often find social situations difficult and struggle to filter out the sounds, smells, sights and information they experience, which means they feel overwhelmed by‘too much information’ when out in public.

The National Autistic Society’s recent survey revealed that 64 per cent of autistic people avoid sometimes going to the shops because of their autism.

Mark Lever, chief executive officer at the National Autistic Society said:“It is really encouraging to see shops and services such as Pets at Home getting involved.”