Autism-friendly locations are pretty scarce in Malaysia.

It's a challenging ordeal for parents whose kids are born with this symptom to go out in public.

However, Sunway Putra shopping complex, a mall in Kuala Lumpur, is taking steps to create an autism-friendly environment.

General Manager Phang Sau Lian said, “These will include priority queues at payment counters for families with autistic members to make their visit to outlets in our mall far more pleasant.”

IMAGE: Sunway

"We’re still working out how best to be autism-friendly and this is just the first phase of our mall-wide effort. We welcome feedback from the public and those caring for autistic people so that we can improve," as quoted by Asian Correspondent through Cyber-RT.

Cyber-RT reported that certain aspects of the mall will go through a change. This includes the brightness of the lights, type of music and even the volume. Things that don't affect normal people but might affect those with autism.

Every Tuesday, the mall will reduce the brightness of their lights as well as play ambient music between 10am and 5pm starting January 2019. They hope that with these changes, it would help to reduce sensory overload for the autistic.

IMAGE: Autism Behavioral Center

The mall has teamed up with the Autism Behavioral Center which assists families whose members are autistic.

The center was established in 2006 with the goal of bringing Applied Behaviour Analysis (ABA) to Kuala Lumpur. It is a privately-run center with individuals that have a combination of 15 years of experience in the field.

They help autistic kids understand and learn about social skills, behaviour management, sensory integration, and more. They even have parent-teacher workshops to help parents better understand their kids.

Charlene Marie Samuel, director of the center stated, "Even a haircut can be a stressful experience, due to sensory overload. While our tried-and-tested therapy methods help autistic people cope with the demands of today’s lifestyles, every little bit to help reduce hurdles they need to otherwise overcome goes a long way."

Well done, Sunway Putra Mall for taking the initiative to create a friendly environment for the autistic.