Asda held its first quiet hour for autistic and disabled customers – and now eight more shops are on board

This is fantastic news.

You might remember a little while ago we told you about the Manchester-based Asda store that decided to introduce a 'quiet hour' for disabled and autistic customers who might be put off by the manic and intimidating experience of shopping when it's busy and loud. The widely-praised new scheme involves all escalators, TVs and music being turned off for an hour, as well as a one-hour absence of store announcements on the PA system. It has gone down so well with locals that more shops are now planning to follow suit. The Manchester Fort Asda Living store also opened at 8am over the weekend, and according to The Manchester Evening News eight more occupants of the shopping complex will do the same. https://twitter.com/spencer_sian/status/730004336055623680 Manager Simon Lea told the newspaper:

"It went really well. The store was silent, and we had great feedback from the families who benefited. Now it will be a regular event for us - every Saturday. “We have eight other stores on board now at Manchester Fort who will be doing the same.I will also be meeting my bosses to feedback how it went. "Personally, I suffered for many years with anxiety and I used to absolutely hate going into busy stores. We knew that if we could make a few small changes to give these customers a better shopping experience then the store would be a better place to shop for everyone."

Simon first was inspired to introduce the quiet hour when he saw a boy with autism struggling to cope in the store.

"It’s all about helping people really," he added. "Six months ago I would have said ‘control your child’ even though I’ve got children. But speaking to people with autism and disabled people has helped me think about how I can make it a better place to shop.”

Hopefully this great idea goes nationwide as soon as possible. Everyone is full of praise for the move: