A Sunflower Lanyard Won’t Help This Autistic Adult At The Airport
More attention needs to be given to the processes that make travel hard for so many people
As my autism diagnosis happened in the thick of Covid border closures, I haven’t done a lot of air travel as a knowingly Autistic person. Now that the world is opening up again, I’m itching to get out there. But I’m also thinking about how to make my travel autism-friendly.
As an Autistic person going through an airport, wearing a sunflower lanyard is the perfect solution, right? Well I’ve thought about it and for many reasons, I don’t think I’ll be packing it along with my noise-cancelling head phones.
The sunflower lanyard is an initiative of an organisation called Hidden Disabilities. It was launched in 2016 in the UK as a “discreet” way for a person to signal to businesses and organisations that they might need extra time, help or understanding because they have a condition such as autism, dementia or anxiety that is not immediately apparent. It started as a way to help people navigate their way through busy airports and has since spread to other settings including retail.
While there was initially some limit on who could get a sunflower lanyard, cheap rip-offs flooded the market so anyone could get one…
