Katie’s story: "I mitigate the noise and brightness with headphones and sunglasses"
Katie, 51, lives in the rural South East of England where there is very limited public transport. Buses are hourly and the nearest railway station is best accessed by car. Katie avoids public transport as much as she can because she finds it such a stressful environment. She takes the train to London for medical appointments, because driving there would be unpredictable and too expensive.
Katie finds trains too busy and noisy. Other passengers can also deeply affect the travel experience of autistic transport users when they are noisy or lack consideration. Katie describes how she tries to cope with these difficult environments:
"It's noisy, dirty, smelly and bright. I can mitigate the noise and brightness with headphones and sunglasses but I can't do anything about people eating smelly food on the train, or waiting at the station."
When dealing with the rushed and highly stimulating environments of public transport, it can help to know that transport staff are looking out for you. Katie describes a time a ticket inspector and station staff coordinated to help her, on a journey to the hospital:
"I was running l loate for the train and slipped down the steps at the station, losing my glasses as I did so. I didn't realise this until I had scrabbled on to the train, because I was wearing sunglasses. I was quite shaken up by my tumble and the ticket inspector was very kind and concerned. I was a flustered mess and couldn't find my ticket, so he came back and was concerned about my accident. I told him I realised that I had lost my glasses and he kindly called the station to ask them took for them. I had my appointment, and my glasses were handed to me on the last carriage at a station on my way home. I cannot fault the incredible customer service, the kindness and the care they showed to me. It has really made me think differently about that train company."
The importance of positive interactions between autistic people and transport professionals cannot be overstated. Many of the autistic people we surveyed noted that a kind manner of staff like Katie experienced would help them to feel more safe and confident travelling. To support her in her necessary train journeys, Katie would also like to see:
- More all-rounded sensory safe spaces at the station and on board, including dimmed lighting and no smelly food allowed
- Better enforcement of quiet or sensory safe spaces being used appropriately
This case study is part of a series from our recent research project: Empowering Autistic Travel. The project was led by autistic people and collected data from thousands of autistic people, as well as their families and supporters, gathering insight about the many challenges faced when using public transport in the UK. Here, we share some of their stories, which highlight personal challenges, the impact they have and the strategies that would help. You can read other case studies from this series and explore the full research findings in our research report.
