Handy ‘Happy Little Helpers’ shopping lists are now available in more than 300 Asda stores across the country, including the Isle of Wight’s new store, to make trips to the supermarket less stressful for autistic children.
They were created by mainland-based colleague Jenny Barnett, whose 5-year-old son Charlie has non-verbal autism, to keep children interested and engaged during their shopping trips.
Jenny’s colourful shopping list shows a range of shopping choices such as milk, bread and bananas that the child can tick off once they’ve been added to the trolley. She came up with the idea after seeing how Charlie’s school uses symbols and pictures to help him communicate.
After a successful trial in Asda’s Middlesbrough store, all Asda superstores and supercentres now have 10 Happy Little Helpers shopping lists at their customer service desk for customers to collect at the start of their shop. The full store list is here.
“I’m over the moon that this has been rolled out to hundreds of Asda stores – I’m chuffed to bits.
“It’s such a nice feeling that I can walk into an Asda miles away from Middlesbrough and see another child benefitting from my idea – it’s going to help so many children which is great.
“Customers and colleagues have said to me it’s a great idea. It just shows that colleagues should always come forward with ideas – you never know what’s going to happen.”
Though the activity was originally designed for children with autism, it’s available to all children. The board also has a clip so it can be easily fastened to a trolley during a shop.
