The Calm Space Project

I try to even just minimise - almost impossible if you ever need to go anywhere / use services / have a family. Really sad when companies just put everything on apps without options (eg tickets, vehicle charging, car park fees, etc etc)

Opinion: I've never owned a smartphone. Society shouldn't force me to get one - Los Angeles Times latimes.com/opinion/story/…

As for set half hour times for a free museum - the joy of just being able to go at whatever time switched to the needlessstress of needing to be there within a time slot. Surely not for our benefit. So disappointed. I know time’s are tight, but…

I realise this benefits the museum, but it seems its actually to funnel free visitors into paying a donation. Ironically I usually donate when there, but this manipulation really puts me off, so I dont.

irritated that to go to our GREAT free museum @sim_manchester we now have to prebook our FREE tickets with SPECIFIC half hourly arrival time. AND tickets for this & paid events necessitate smartphone, when I am trying to reduce iphone use to simplify overwhelm.

NoiseCapture is a free and open-source software application that allows Android mobile OS users to measure and share their acoustic environment. Our thanks to @MeteoBruitParis⁩ for alerting us to it. We know Paris is loud even without the Olympic games! play.google.com/store/apps/det…

I know staff will help if asked, but so many shops are becoming like this now. Its more efficient & economical for the shop, but the impact on parents with kids, especially with sensory needs, has just not been considered. Sigh. 3/3

little things like someone packing your bag or scanning your item while you manage your child make big difference to many families, neurodivergent or not. It’s a small extra barrier that makes things harder. 2/3

dismayed to find that out local @BootsUK has just made shopping with autistic children that bit harder, by replacing till with self-service machines. So much harder to do when keeping focus on over stimulated child wandering about or walking out the door. 1/3

What a lovely and reasonable party 🫠

The delightfully named Spud Wood, near Lymm, in Cheshire. Calming canalside walks, spaces to picnic, and a woodland trail that active & sensory seeking NDkid loves, full of what he calls "uppy down bits" to clamber & jump (w/ supervision!) woodlandtrust.org.uk/visiting-woods…

I particularly liked coming here when son was younger - because the lake is safely fenced in all the way around I could relax more compared to other countryside parks we visited. Anyone with a ND child who is also "a runner" will understand the importance of this!

Lindow Common nr Wilmslow, Cheshire. An understated place that also feels v special. A simple lake, surrounded by woodland & heathland. Benches all around where you can sit and watch wading birds while you quietly picnic.

@neurohubapp thank you, I will take a look

Armenique in Cheadle, a small gem of a cafe we go out of our way to, because nice places we can enjoy lunch out together as a ND family can be hard to find. Food tasty & interesting enough for me, reliable, plain and flexible enough for ND 9 yr old, & warm, cosy ambience

interesting episode on how unwanted noise can affect us bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0…

it's a regular thing here in the city now, anyone coming to work on or in a house plays really loud music (I can hear it inside my house, windows closed). Tradespeople who use headphones or have no music/quiet music are the ones I re-use, noisy ones, not.

A professional guy is working alone in a neighbouring garden, putting up a fence. Music is blasting out of his radio to surrounding area. Should people working alone in such situations use headphones instead? I don't understand why they don't. It doesn't seem considerate. 1/2

Talk: I'm excited to speak at an event all about designing inclusive & accessible sensory environments in museums in London on 28th June. My talk will be about my PhD findings on the impact of the sensory environment for ND people in museums. Details: city.ac.uk/news-and-event…

Because everyone is entitled to vote, and this organisation is about supporting learning disabled people to make their vote count. myvotemyvoice.org.uk/?fbclid=IwZXh0…