Two Australian organisations for people with autism recently collaborated with Northland Shopping Complex (Melbourne) to create a shopping environment without sensory over-load, and that would not overwhelm and/or create anxiety for those people on the autism spectrum. It was a huge success. So, what about for all highly ‘sensitive’ people?

I, like many HSP’s, dislike intensely the uncomfortable and over-stimulating experience of shopping at one of these large complexes which is deliberately designed to stimulate and attract your attention (see below Yarrow, for instance, to help). Maybe this is exciting for some but for me I couldn’t help but ‘dream’ of a similar but permanent shopping centre being constructed, not just for people on the autistic spectrum, but for all ‘sensitive’ people – including those with the trait of High Sensitivity, HSP’s. Imagine shopping in that environment that was created for people with autism, an environment that was modified in the following way:
* Lighting being partially reduced.
* Music turned off.
* Staff were told to greet customers non-verbally.
* There was also a sign at the cash registers telling people to maintain a metre-wide distance to give more space to customers (finally, no more people breathing down the back of my neck as I wait in line at the supermarket check-out!!!)
I am not saying for one moment that people with the HSP trait are faced with the same degree of life challenges as those on the autism spectrum. However, HSP’s can take a lot from the above ‘shopping experiment’ when creating their own personal space for refuge away from the ‘hustle and bustle’ of the world.
* A quiet space with NO or only soft, soothing (personally chosen) music playing in the background.
* Dimmed lighting with blinds/shutters to control how much of a ‘green’ view of outside is comfortable with you at that time.
* Uncluttered or ‘minimalist’ furnished SPACE – nothing obvious to stimulate or distract you from your ‘time in’ from the outside world, in solitude, in meditation or at least briefly in your rich, inner world (see below, Crowea, for instance, to help).