Updates

Information

Links between our Social Media Posts and Focus Groups

In our focus groups we found six themes that appear to influence how easily accessible public spaces such as supermarkets are for people with sensory processing difficulties. You can read more about each theme and how we used these to create our ‘sensory web’ on our page about principles of sensory environments. We also foundContinue reading “Links between our Social Media Posts and Focus Groups”

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Our Immersive Event 2022

We are excited to announce that we will be hosting our Sensory Street immersive event at PEARL (Person-Environment-Activity Research Laboratory) in Dagenham. It is UCL’s first net zero carbon building and is a unique facility that explores the way people engage with their environment. In the past they have housed all sorts of different environmentsContinue reading “Our Immersive Event 2022”

Information

Links between the Sensory Experiences of Autistic Children and Adults

Over 2021 we ran a series of focus groups to learn more about the sensory experiences of autistic people in public places such as supermarkets and more. Every autistic person is unique, and therefore factors which might make an environment easier for one person may not have the same effect on someone else.  However, fromContinue reading “Links between the Sensory Experiences of Autistic Children and Adults”

Updates

Our Findings

We are excited to celebrate the launch of a new section on our website titled ‘our findings’. In this area we will be sharing information that we have learnt from working with autistic people over the past year in an accessible and easy to read format. We are looking forward to sharing quotes with youContinue reading “Our Findings”

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Want to learn more about our immersive event and give us some feedback on the design concept so far? We're running an informal online feedback session on the 24th of May (17:30-18:30) and we'd like you to join us! If you'd like to be involved send us a message or email us at sensorystreet@psy.ox.ac.uk The last location people reported can be challenging was shops. While people often spoke about supermarkets, we also heard about people’s experiences of shops in our focus groups such as bookshops, DIY shops and pet stores. People identified the importance of shop layouts, background noise and visual displays in helping to make these spaces more accessible. We are excited to announce our immersive event will be at UCL’s PEARL building from the 14-16th of July 2022. Free tickets will be available soon from our website in the next few weeks, so keep checking back to find out when they’ve been released! We look forward to seeing you there… Want to learn more about our immersive event and give us some feedback on the design concept so far? We're running an informal feedback session on the 24th of May (17:30-18:30) and we'd like you to join us! If you'd like to be involved send us a message or email us at sensorystreet@psy.ox.ac.uk #research #actuallyautistic #autism #autistic #research People identified that supermarkets have begun to offer helpful adaptations such as alternative checkouts to reduce feeling rushed and the need to communicate verbally with others. However, our focus groups reported that more recognition and understanding is needed to ensure that schemes such as ‘quiet hours’ are successful and helpful. Our focus group reported that public transport such as buses and trains can be difficult for autistic people due to the sensory input as well as the closeness of other people. They identified that increasing the awareness of staff and others helped to make these places more accessible. City centres and high streets were identified as a challenging location in our focus groups, with people identifying the layering of different sensory information such as lighting, sounds and smells. People also commented on the amount of people and lack of structure which can make these more difficult at times. One location people in our focus groups people found more challenging was eateries, such as cafes. In particular people identified the ‘intense smell’ and loud sound of coffee machines as well as the amount of background noise. Follow to learn more about the different locations we identified in our focus groups over the next few weeks… During our focus groups, people identified that healthcare settings such as GP surgeries and hospitals can be difficult sensory environment due to difficulties with smells, lights and new foods. They reported that increasing the predictability of the space by making plans with staff helped to make these places easier to cope with.
About Us

We’re Sensory Street, a University of Oxford Research Project exploring the lives of autistic people with sensory processing disorder through creative and immersive experiences. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for regular updates about the project and subscribe to our blog to hear more in depth updates about how we are doing!

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