This is great news for Cork families.

Brown Thomas will hold their first Autism Friendly Shopping event this Sunday, making the entire store quieter for people who find noisy and busy environments challenging.

Staff at the Patrick Street store have been trained in autism awareness ahead of the first event, which takes place between 11am and 12pm on Mother’s Day, March 11th.

Not only will the lights in the luxury department store be dimmed, but there will also be no music playing in the background and no announcements will be made until after 12 noon.

Autism Service dog in training Lori from My Canine Companion will be there on the day to help out. She has always been welcome in store but the BT staff were thrilled when she helped out on staff training.

All autism service dogs are welcomed in Brown Thomas and the Autism Friendly Shopping event will be weekly from March 11th onwards.

BT is not the first to introduce an autism-friendly shopping initiative. Marks & Spencer on Patrick Street go autism friendly every Sunday from 11am to 1pm, while SuperValu stores hold regular low sensory evenings in all their stores, alongside a host of other handy tools for parents that you can browse here.