Accessibility and inclusion
We aim to make our conference as friendly and inclusive to everyone as we can, and welcome feedback on ways to improve our neuro-inclusivity and accessibility. Please email spft.smc@nhs.net with any queries or suggestions.
Neurodiversity information:
This is a neurodiversity-friendly conference and we are supporting the neurodivergent community in the following ways (please let us know if you have any additional needs):
- Neurodiversity-friendly conference information and photos, giving you a better idea of what to expect during the conference.
- We recommend arriving at the start of the time window for registering (9am) and returning a little early from lunch/breaktimes if you have a specific seating requirement. If you have a sensitivity to sound, we recommend sitting either at the back of the main room or on the upper balcony level. Alternatively, if you would like to sit closer to the front, please feel free to bring your noise cancelling headphones or loop ear plugs with you.
- Please also feel free to bring along any stim/fidget toys that don’t make a sound.
- If you find it difficult to sit still for long periods and would like to be able stand whenever needed during the talks, we will direct you to the back row of the main meeting room. Please arrive at the start of the time window for registering (9am) and return a little early from lunch/breaktimes to secure one of these seats.
- There is a quiet room available for you during lunchtime and break times, where you can also eat and drink.
- If you have a question for one of the keynote speakers but would prefer not to be handed a microphone to ask it, there will be an opportunity you to submit any questions you have on the day in writing. Please note that we are expecting a lot of questions, and we can only put a few of these questions to the speakers.
- All Sussex Mindfulness Centre staff (including our neurodivergent staff members) and volunteers will be wearing a white Sussex Mindfulness Centre T shirt and will be on hand to assist you throughout the day. Our staff will be positioned throughout the venue and will also be based at the reception desk all day.
Accessibility information:
Hard of hearing
- If you wear hearing aids that have a T setting and work with the hearing loop system, you do not need to sit near to the speaker, as the loop will amplify the speaker’s voice. More recent hearing devices do not have the ‘T’ setting and work independently of the loop system to amplify the speaker’s voice.
- If you are hard of hearing and do not wear hearing aids, we recommend arriving at the start of the time window for registering or returning a little early from lunch/breaktimes and choosing a seat close to the speaker.
- All Sussex Mindfulness Centre staff and volunteers wearing a white Sussex Mindfulness Centre T shirt will be on hand to assist you throughout the day. Our staff will be positioned throughout the venue and will also be based at the reception desk all day.
Wheelchair access
- The venue can be accessed via a ramp on the lefthand side of the building and the entire ground floor is wheelchair accessible.
- There is one accessible toilet on the ground floor.
- Delegates will be invited to attend one of six workshops on the day, three of which will be on the ground floor. The other three workshops are accessed via one or two flights of stairs. Once delegates have chosen their workshops, they will be notified of its location in advance and will be given the option to swap to a workshop on the ground floor if they wish.
- If you are a wheelchair user and would like a space reserved for you in the main meeting room for the keynote talks, please email smc.spft@nhs.uk.
- All Sussex Mindfulness Centre staff and volunteers wearing a white Sussex Mindfulness Centre T-shirt will be able to assist with any accessibility related questions that you have throughout the day. Our staff will be positioned throughout the venue and will also be based at the reception desk all day.
- See more detailed information about the venue, accessibility and neurodiversity here.
If you would like any further information or have any ideas about how we could improve our neuro-inclusivity and accessibility at our conference, please email spft.smc@nhs.net.