what are some examples/ways of increasing accessibility for autistic folks?
Provide a selection of stim toys for the five primary senses, touch, sight, sound, smell, and if possible taste.
Allow autistics some control over their sensory environment - lights, temperature, etc.
Check in with them if there is a significant change in stimming behavior, or sudden stimming behavior that you know indicates even minor distress.
Never, ever, touch an autistic without asking for and receiving consent.
Never, ever, restrain an autistic.
Use communication cards or badges.
Learn your local sign language. ASL in the US, BSL in the UK, etc.
Allow autistics to stim and do not comment one way or the other if they stim unless it is actively interfering with others (as opposed to just disturbing them).
Have the Android App “Emergency Chat” on hand for two-way text communication over a single device.
Ask autistics if there is anything specific you should do if something leads them to overload.
Keep weighted lap pads and/or blankets and/or throw pillows and/or stuffies around.
Take the time to learn the body language, stimming language, and echolalia language of each individual autistic, whenever possible and to whatever extent is possible.
Always, always, always use closed captioning
If an autistic asks you to repeat something, don’t repeat it back exactly the same way - use similar but different sounding words.
Make it a habit to always ask consent; where it is not appropriate to ask consent for something inform the autistic if you have to invade their personal space (for example, if you have to apply a bandage to an injury, you can’t just accept a no for their safety, but you can tell them what you are doing and why it is important).
Don’t just tell an autistic they have to do something, explain why and why it is important; relate it back to them if you can
Always treat individual needs equally; autistic A may need to be hand fed a restricted diet, and autistic B might need to ask permission to down and start eating, but regardless of how you view these two things, they are equally important to the autistics.
Learn the difference between a meltdown, a shutdown, an overload without shutdown/meltdown, and a temper tantrum.
Never touch stim toys or comfort objects without permission.
If you move an autistic’s belongings, tell them or show them where it is, especially if they rely on visual memory.
Always assume that they understand you.
Always presume competence.
Those are the ones that come to mind right away, at least.
