That's why we're launching The National Autistic Society Autism Hour and asking shops and businesses like yours to spend
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It's time to get smart. By John Shelton, Smart Cities and Inclusive Ecosystems Manager
Guide Dogs
Sadly, 12 million people with disabilities are still unable to participate fully in community life due to public ignorance, poor design and bad service delivery. The interaction between people and their physical or virtual environments should allow them to get around safely and confidently, with minimum fuss and maximum independence. Guide Dogs is championing and trialling advances in digital technologies and open-data to find new ways to augment and improve the world we live in, because Smart Cities shouldn’t just increase efficiency or economic growth; they also affect citizen wellbeing and the way people interact with our communities in everyday life.
Your Smart City initiatives should combine the design of the built environment, transport, retail and entertainment services with new digital technologies to deliver consistent and joinedup customer experiences that often transcend any single service provider’s remit. This requires strategic leadership now to seed a new approach to designing and delivering inclusive and positively joined-up services. If you do not focus attention now on ‘inclusivity’ at all stages of your strategy, procurement and implementation processes, then you will fail in your drive to create Smart City experiences.
About us
By Sue Baker, Director of Time to Change, the anti-stigma movement run by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness
Guide Dogs is the UK’s leading sight loss charity specialising in mobility, particularly in relation to the built environment, technology and smart cities. We believe that everyone, regardless of their ability should be able to get out and about safely and confidently to study, to work, to shop, to play, to maintain their health and fitness and so on. In short, we feel that no one should be left out of life.
Working with employers from a variety of sectors over the last six years has given us a good indication of what works to ensure a mentally healthy workplace, and these key elements are incorporated into the Time to Change Employer pledge. This gives organisations the opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to opening up the conversation about mental health. So far, over 500 organisations have made that commitment.
We will not rest until people who are blind or partially sighted can enjoy the same freedom of movement as everyone else.
That’s why we’re launching The National Autistic Society Autism Hour and asking shops and businesses like yours to spend just 60 minutes taking these small steps that lead to a more autism-friendly world: Turn down music and other noise
Dim the lights
Share information about autism with employees
Share information about our Too Much Information campaign
To find out how to get your business involved in The National Autistic Society’s Autism Hour, visit
www.autism.org.uk/autismhour
The National Autistic Society is a charity registered in England and Wales (269425) and in Scotland (SC039427) and a company limited by guarantee registered in England (No.1205298), registered office: 393 City Road, London EC1V 1NG © The National Autistic Society 2017 3541 230817
Simple steps to an autism-friendly world
Over 99% of people have heard of autism, but only 16% of autistic people feel the public understand them.
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Cities that continue to exclude millions of citizens cannot be considered bright!
#AutismTMI #AutismHour
More than 1 in 1000 people are on the autism spectrum. Along with their families, that’s over 3 million customers waiting to be welcomed into your business.
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It' It'' is is truly truly time time to to change. change.
But signing the pledge is just the first step and there are many more things employers can be doing to create a more open working environment. Senior leaders have a pivotal role to play in leading by example, being open about their own experiences with mental health problems sends the strong message that this isn’t a sign of weakness and doesn’t limit your ambition or aspiration. Employers tell us that employees at all levels talking honestly and openly about their experiences has contributed hugely to a cultural shift about the topic.
employee champions. These champions challenge stigma in the workplace, normalise conversations about mental health and encourage those who need help to feel comfortable asking for it.
Research also consistently shows that when employees feel their work is meaningful and they are valued and supported, they tend to have higher wellbeing levels. We often talk about a three pronged approach that employers can adopt by: promoting wellbeing for all staff; tackling the causes of work related mental health problems; and supporting staff who are experiencing mental health problems.
Again, these barriers can be overcome. One of our pledged employers, Pizza Hut Restaurants, has worked hard to create a supportive network on Yammer – encouraging people to share their experiences, no matter where they are based, through the hashtag #NoShame.
While we’ve made great headway with our pledge, we’ve still got a lot of work to do. For example, we’ve made a conscious effort over the last couple of years to target male-dominated workplaces, such as construction. Our research shows that men still don’t consider mental health relevant to them. Men also tend to try and be self-sufficient, keeping problems to themselves – falling foul of the idea that ‘real men don’t cry’. But mental health problems don’t discriminate – they can affect any one of us. Many of the biggest construction firms in the UK have now signed our pledge, and these employers tell us that for them it’s been crucial to have people ‘on the ground’ in the form of
Sectors such as hospitality and retail are challenged with a public facing workforce. One of our supporters told us she struggled to speak to her manager about how she was feeling because many of their chats took place on the shop floor.
We want every employer to create a working environment where people can open up to mental health problems; to talk and to listen. Being judged and isolated can be harder than the mental health problem itself but with the right support from those around them, people with mental health problems can recover and have equal opportunities in all areas of life including work.
Employer Pledge
Supportive employers achieve higher levels of staff wellbeing and retention. Looking after the wellbeing of your staff benefits everyone – no matter their role, seniority, and whether they have a mental health problem, or not. Time to Change, the mental health anti-stigma movement led by Mind and Rethink Mental Illness, wants every employer to create a working environment where people can open up to mental health problems. Here are some tips from them on reducing stigma in the workplace.
Top Tips
Leading by example. More senior leaders need to be open about their own experiences with mental health problems to show that it isn’t a sign of weakness and it won’t hinder your career if you open up to your colleagues. Being clear about why a mentally healthy workplace is valuable. A workplace where everyone is supported to talk openly about their mental health creates a positive, inclusive and more productive workplace for everyone. Talking things through with line managers. Line managers need to feel comfortable having conversations about mental health with their direct reports. It doesn’t need to be difficult or scary, simply raising the issue or asking how they are feeling is a great start. Avoiding the issue could make people feel more inclined to hide their mental health problem. Sharing with one another. Things will only change if we are all more open with one another. Encouraging employees to speak about their mental health at work by speaking publically about it at events and meetings, through blog posts or the intranet can be a great way to do this. Feedback from employers tells us that this makes the biggest difference in starting a cultural shift. Be clear about how employees will be treated. Employees need to know that they will be treated fairly and without negative consequence if they disclose a mental health problem at work. Sign the Time to Change Employer Pledge. By signing the Time to Change Employer Pledge, employers commit to opening up the conversation about mental health at work and making sure staff feel supported to talk about their experiences.
