- The hardware, DIY, home, field and garden firm opened the first #AutismFriendly store in Spain a year ago
- 2 April marks World Autism Day
Ordes, 31 March 2023.- All of El Sabio’s hardware, DIY, home, field and garden stores will be accessible environments for people with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), a condition affecting more than 450,000 people in Spain. The initiative is the result of the brand’s partnership with Autism Friendly Club, an organisation that gives certifications to establishments that meet a series of cognitive accessibility requirements in an aim to reduce difficulties faced by people with autism. This pioneering inclusion project began a year ago in one of the firm’s stores.
That first experience was the starting point of a comprehensive adaptation plan launched by El Sabio to transform its network of stores into autism-friendly spaces, adapted to people with autism who encounter many obstacles in their daily lives. The aim of this initiative is to remove these difficulties and make shopping at an El Sabio shop an easier experience.
Thus, all the brand’s shops will have signs with pictograms as well as protocols and tools to ensure cognitive accessibility. In addition, all store staff are undertaking — or have already completed — autism spectrum disorder training from Autism Friendly Club.
Light, musical thread and interaction techniques
The pictograms represent different store products and are strategically placed for easier understanding of the items placed on the display shelves. In addition, staff are trained in diversity and inclusion so that they know how to identify people on the spectrum and how to best interact with them. Lights and having a musical thread in place are other requirements that establishments must meet for the Autism Friendly label, which El Sabio is working on progressively implementing across all its premises.
Ahead of World Autism Day on Sunday 2 April, El Sabio has announced that their autism adaptation plan will be completed this year, forming part of the chain’s social responsibility policy. With its support for this group, the brand also positions itself as an inclusion leader, being the first company in Spain to begin transforming its stores to make life easier for people with ASD.
Different ways to join El Sabio
El Sabio belongs to Internaco Group and allows businesses to join its project as its own establishments, bearing the brand’s hallmark; alternatively, businesses can join as a partner (the brand now boasts more than 200 partners). In the latter case, these are shops that do not take on the El Sabio brand as they already have a well-known image locally, but nevertheless benefit from many of the advantages and services that the project entails.
Currently, El Sabio is present in 11 out of the 17 autonomous communities: Galicia, Asturias, Andalusia, Aragon, Basque Country, Navarre, Castile and León, Castile-La Mancha, Extremadura, Madrid Region and the Region of Murcia.
