This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND I was very surprised the last time I visited K -Mart, our big variety store – like Walmart in the USA. It’s huge and usually very bright and noisy. This time half the lights were out and it was very quiet. There was no music and there weren’t the usual announcements about specials and not letting your children climb on the trolleys. I wondered if they were closing down and jokingly asked if someone had died or if they were just saving electricity – yes, the prices have all gone up here too, but “No,” said the young assistant, “This is our quiet time. This is for autistic children and others who can’t stand a lot of noise, crowds and bright lights.” That presumably includes children with attention deficit disorder (ADHD), anxious or traumatised children and those with epilepsy as well. I immediately thought how great that would have been when my son was young. Not that he would run amok. Rather he would complete...
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