A mall makes changes to become the country’s first autism-friendly shopping centre, writes Aznim Ruhana Md Yusup
THERE is a scene in the 2016 film Redha, of a young boy causing a fuss at a supermarket, upsetting other shoppers and forcing his mother to apologise on his behalf. The boy has autism, but none of the onlookers know that so they assume he is just a badly behaving child. They also pass judgment on the mother for not teaching her son manners.
A Malay proverb goes, “berat mata memandang, berat lagi bahu yang memikul”. It means we can sympathise with a difficult situation, but how we feel is nothing compared to the hardship of the person is in those circumstances.
However, we can — and should — help lighten the load.
Sunway Putra Mall in Kuala Lumpur is doing its part by introducing the Autsome (short for “autism is awesome”) initiative. It has dedicated every Tuesday (except public holidays) from 10am to 5pm as an autismfriendly shopping day.
The initiative started early this year and was officially launched last month. Attendees at the launch included Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Hannah Yeoh.
“I hope this initiative will be an example to the management of other shopping complexes and corporate sectors to provide public spaces that are suitable to meet the needs of the community as well as children with special needs,” said Yeoh.
Some people argue whether shopping malls are a public space, since they are owned and operated by the private sector and have the right to turn people away.
But Sunway Putra Mall says it is taking on the initiative willingly, as part of its corporate social responsibility and is also a business decision.
TUESDAY’S THE DAY
There are several challenges for autistic individuals in shopping malls — loud noises, bright lights and crowds. This situation may cause sensory overload, leaving them agitated and upset. It may even trigger a physical reaction.
So people with autism spectrum disorder and their families avoid coming to malls to avoid unwanted scenarios. But this isn’t fair, and far from ideal. A person on the spectrum and their caregivers need to shop for groceries, clothes and other necessities. Everyone can do with a fun outing or a nice meal.
So the most noticeable difference at the mall when I dropped by one Tuesday was the lack of loud music. As a result, people spoke in lower tones and the overall mood was calmer than on other days.
The overhead lighting was dimmer as well, although it wasn’t immediately noticeable. It certainly wasn’t dark, perhaps just a little less harsher than usual.
“When we started this project, people wondered whether it would affect visitor numbers,” said Sunway Putra Mall General Manager Phang Sau Lian. “But our aim is to create awareness and general acceptance of people with autism.
“If there is an unpleasant incident involving a particular individual, we hope visitors will understand and perhaps come forward to help. We have posters all around to spread awareness on ASD while our employees are also trained to take special care of visitors with ASD.”
She hopes that this will create a welcome environment for people with ASD and their families, and that they feel comfortable enough to keep returning.
HOW IT WORKS
The Autsome initiative started from a proposal from the Autism Behavioral Centre. Based in Bangsar, the centre provides therapy for children with autism, helping them with their speech, communication and social skills, behavioural management and other difficulties.
“We’d never received a request for an autism-friendly shopping mall before,” says Phang. “But we know that there are more than 300,000 people in the country on the autism spectrum. We can also see autistic children in our midst. We’ve had requests to hold awareness programmes but this is a first in an initiative of this scale.”
The centre conducted training for the mall’s frontline and security workers so they could identify individuals with special needs and become equipped to handle autism-related incidents. This training was also extended to the store employees since they are in closer contact with customers.
The National Autism Society of Malaysia is also on board with the initiative, said Phang, adding that the mall had input from both organisations on the assistance required by autistic individuals and their families.
This includes a calm room on the lower ground floor for when things get too much to cope with for the ASD customer. It has dimmed lights, comfortable furniture and sensory toys, noise cancellation headphones, weighted blankets and essential oils for aromatherapy. The room is available at all times, just contact a staff member.
“It’s comforting for the families to know that there’s a safe space for their children to rest and cool down,” says Phang. “There are also two sensory walls at levels three and two, made up of panels of different sizes, shapes and textures.
“We added other services such as reserved parking. Families who register under the Autsome initiative will get a car sticker for preferential spots. The child gets a special wrist band for easy identification so we can assist him if needed. Some stores also have special offers under the Autsome initiative.” These include free entry to the CAT Playground and Parenthood Playland.
Phang disclosed that some 500 people have registered since the Autsome initiative started in January and feedback has been encouraging. Registration can be done at the mall or on its website.
“We have team members who are passionate in making this initiative work. The hardware is easy, you can put in money and construct the facilities but it’s really the people that make it work,” Phang said.
THE CALM ROOM
NOT all toys are equal. Some are more effective at helping children with autism than others. This is what Sunway Putra Mall marketing manager Melissa Hashim found out when she became involved in the Autsome initiative, particularly in furnishing the calm room.
“The toys have a sensory effect with hard or soft textures. Some have lights that come on if you bounce them around, which the kids really like,” she says. The toys help calm them down or keep their hands busy.
“We also have weighted blankets which are heavy but soft and when you have one on you, it’s like someone is hugging you. A kid who is having a meltdown can hide under the blanket and feel the warmth.”
There is only one calm room currently, but the management is planning to add to other floors. They also want to have more sensory walls and are looking for partnership opportunities with interested organisations.
“One of the walls is by our partner Kloth Care. It’s a cloth recycling NGO so all the material is recycled. It’s very interesting seeing the wall with its fabrics of different textures,” added Melissa.
AUTISM MONTH
IN conjunction with World Autism Awareness Day today, Sunway Putra Mall has a range of activities related to autism for the month.
The programmes are in collaboration with the National Autism Society of Malaysia.
On Sunday, the mall will host the Autsome Playgroup for both autistic and neurotypical children. This is to get kids from different developmental stages to play and get to know one another. The activities involve sensory development and social skills.
There is also a special screening of the film Guang on April 13 and Redha on April 20, with both Malaysian films relating the experiences of people with autism.
The highlight is the Autsome Unicorn Run on April 28. It’s a fun run with 3km, 6km and 10km categories that take runners around the mall and Putra World Trade Centre area. The run is in support of Nasom.