Supermarket shopping with an autistic child

Bright lights, beeping tills, music, freezers humming, crowds and a hundred things to want. The supermarket is one of the hardest places for a sensitive child, and one of the easiest to improve.

Go at a quiet hour

Many UK supermarkets run a weekly quiet hour: lights dimmed, no music, no tannoy, quieter tills. Ask at the desk or check the store’s page. Otherwise, early morning or late evening.

Give your child the list

Three pictures on the strip: bananas, bread, milk. Finding them is the job. A child with a job is not a child grabbing things, and it ends the trip on ‘done’.

Sound and movement

Headphones with their own music, or ear defenders.
The trolley seat for a younger child; pushing the trolley for an older one.
Skip the sweets aisle, and say so before you go in.
Self-checkout lets your child scan, which many love.

Or don’t go

Online shopping and click-and-collect exist. If the weekly shop is a weekly meltdown, stop doing the big shop with your child and keep the supermarket for short, successful practice trips.

Make the free story first

Type your child’s name and get “Sam goes to the supermarket” as a picture story: one picture and one sentence a page, in their name. Read it a few times before the day, then take it with you. Print it, save it as a PDF, or read it in the Now & Next app with every routine as a story too.

Make the story (free) Open the app

Kits that go with this guide

Everything bundle (£14.99): Every kit in the shop in one download: 24 kits and 500+ picture cards, plus the Card Maker. Save £74.27.

Written by a dad to an autistic son with ADHD. This is everyday parenting advice, not medical or therapy advice. If you’re worried about your child, talk to your GP, health visitor or school SENCo.