Do you make it easy for attendees with sensory issues to attend your events?

Some disabilities are obvious and some not. When choosing a venue for a conference or meeting, we can check whether the building has wheelchair access to all meeting rooms, catering and social areas, has purpose-built accessible toilets, a hearing loop system and allows guide dogs.

But not all meeting attendees’ issues are obvious. People with sensory issues, such as to light and noise will find large events difficult because of the volume of people in the room, loud music and flashing lights when the keynote speaker arrives. This can include people with ADHD, autism, Downs syndrome, early-onset dementia and post-traumatic stress syndrome.

Here are some ideas that you can implement to help event attendees who might find the environment challenging:

• Allocate a ‘quiet room’, so that anyone who needs some peace has a comfortable place to take a break away from the busy conference or exhibition environment.
• Take some noise cancelling headphones that you can lend to attendees to help them cross loud areas, such as the exhibition floor or areas where lunch and breaks are being served.
• Offer stress balls, that attendees can play with to keep their hands occupied and stop fidgeting.
• Give non-verbal attendees a visual thermometer. It’s just a card they can use to ask for help and to indicate how they are feeling, if they are confused or lost.
• Issue a slightly different lanyard to indicate to event staff attendees who may require sensory help, but don’t make it different enough to stand out from other attendees.
• Provide some weighted lap pads to help attendees sit still during long presentations and speeches. This replicates deep-touch pressure therapy, which has a calming effect.

All these items can be cleaned with disinfectant and used at multiple events. Some venues are putting together a bag which includes the items above, or an organsier can put the tools together themselves and take them onsite.

The American organisation Kulturecity runs training courses for staff at venues to understand the problems and help organisers run events which include attendees who find it difficult to participate because of sensory challenges.