Sunflower lanyard experiences

Tiddlywinkly · 2023-09-26T15:11:39+00:00

I've finally got a sunflower lanyard and I just wanted to know your experiences when wearing one please. Do you think people are a bit more understanding? Do you wear it at work, public transport etc? I'm a bit nervous and I'm trying to understand why. I guess it's the first time I'll be highlighting to others that I struggle with some things.

Gingerkittykat · 26/09/2023 20:01

I had a fantastic experience in a theatre where the staff noticed my lanyard and approached me and asked if I needed any help and went out of their way to help me find seats etc.

I've not really worn it at other times so I don't know if it makes a difference at other times.

VitoCorleoneOfMNMafia · 27/09/2023 02:11

I keep mine in my pocket. It can speak for me when I can't, all I have to do is pull it out.

PinkBuffalo · 27/09/2023 13:53

I wear mine when I need to I also have one attached to my bag
I think peoples tend to take more notice of my headphones 🎧 than the lanyard to be honest

I have a disabled rail card and one conductor was very kind checking I was ok and if I need anything to go find him cos he see on the ticket

I am always out by my own though and I do worry sometimes about coming across as vulnerable cos I am easily confused and do no understand things a lot and I not want make my own self even more of a target

JewelleryCat · 27/09/2023 17:09

I do have one, I don’t need to use it much because I don’t go out much lol but I do think the lanyards got hijacked at the start of the covid pandemic where anyone could claim they were mask exempt and wear one so to me, I think the message got a bit lost that they were just for hidden disabilities if you see what I mean and this is just my opinion

Original poster

Tiddlywinkly · 27/09/2023 17:48

Thanks for the replies. I'm not seeing any negative experiences which is nice to hear.

OP posts:

JewelleryCat · 27/09/2023 18:04

I sometimes read this board and I’ve never seen anything negative here, it’s really supportive 🙂

WeirdPookah · 28/09/2023 10:45

I wore it when I had to take my daughter to the hospital for an appointment, I got lost and the member of staff who helped me seemed more patient. And then when we were seen over an hour late, in 30+ degree heat, and the Dr looked at her leg and said they wouldn't do anything, and I burst into tears, I wasn't treated impatiently, which I feel I might have been if I hadn't worn it.

ntmdino · 28/09/2023 13:43

I don't have one, but I have to travel solo via plane next month for the first time (I've always flown with someone else). Contacted the airline, and they've got an assistance programme which includes a lanyard, so it'll be interesting to see what occurs.

I'm normally pretty confident on my own, and I'd normally stay well away from such assistance, but in the last year or so my threshold for sensory overwhelm has dropped noticeably and results in...well, significantly lower cognitive speed and adaptability, to put it bluntly. Most times I can live with that, but it strikes me that "in a brightly-lit and noisy airport, with security and lots of other impatient people around, trying to catch a plane" is the last place I need that to happen.

PinkBuffalo · 28/09/2023 16:04

ntmdino · 28/09/2023 13:43

I don't have one, but I have to travel solo via plane next month for the first time (I've always flown with someone else). Contacted the airline, and they've got an assistance programme which includes a lanyard, so it'll be interesting to see what occurs.

I'm normally pretty confident on my own, and I'd normally stay well away from such assistance, but in the last year or so my threshold for sensory overwhelm has dropped noticeably and results in...well, significantly lower cognitive speed and adaptability, to put it bluntly. Most times I can live with that, but it strikes me that "in a brightly-lit and noisy airport, with security and lots of other impatient people around, trying to catch a plane" is the last place I need that to happen.

I originally had my lanyard for plane journeys only

I have only ever travelled by my own and I really struggle with it

Airports were generally amazing at dealing with me if that helps reassure you

ntmdino · 28/09/2023 16:21

PinkBuffalo · 28/09/2023 16:04

I originally had my lanyard for plane journeys only

I have only ever travelled by my own and I really struggle with it

Airports were generally amazing at dealing with me if that helps reassure you

Show quote history

It does help, thanks.

However, if you don't mind, I'll go ahead and be an anxious mess for the next two weeks anyway.

;)

QuitChewingMyPlectrum · 01/10/2023 00:08

Airports (some in other countries too) are pretty great IME

Bergamotte · 02/10/2023 10:59

@ntmdino slight disrail but how would it be best to go about finding whether an airline has an assistance programme?

Asking for a relative who doesn't have a diagnosis, but who shares a LOT of what I now recognise as my ADHD traits.
She'll be flying alone soon. I've now been informed by someone who was with her last time she flew, that her anxiety peaked so strongly that it... affected her cognitive abilities and impulsiveness almost unmanageably.

ntmdino · 02/10/2023 11:43

Bergamotte · 02/10/2023 10:59

@ntmdino slight disrail but how would it be best to go about finding whether an airline has an assistance programme?

Asking for a relative who doesn't have a diagnosis, but who shares a LOT of what I now recognise as my ADHD traits.
She'll be flying alone soon. I've now been informed by someone who was with her last time she flew, that her anxiety peaked so strongly that it... affected her cognitive abilities and impulsiveness almost unmanageably.

I think they all do - the trick is actually finding it. My other half found this one by contacting the airport and telling them which airline I was flying with...something I would never have actually done (I'd normally assume that if it's not on their site, they don't provide it).