What obligations cinemas and other public places have in terms of being autism-friendly.

We want Scotland to be an open, accessible place for autistic people. It is crucial that autistic people are able to access social and leisure activities, cinemas and other public places and that reasonable adjustments are in place to enable them to access their community.
Equality law recognises that bringing about equality for disabled people may mean changing the way in which services, including those provided by entertainment venues such as cinemas, are delivered. This is the ‘duty to make reasonable adjustments’. This duty, which is anticipatory, ensures that a disabled person can use an organisation’s services as close as it is reasonably possible to the standard usually offered to non-disabled people.
The Scottish Strategy for Autism provides a framework for localities to improve the understanding of autism, improve access to community services and build capacity in communities to ensure services are able to make the reasonable adjustments necessary to break down barriers faced by autistic people. We are pleased to see that Cinema’s across Scotland are identifying autism friendly screenings as a priority. The Glasgow Film Theatre (GFT) was the first cinema in the United Kingdom to win the coveted National Autistic Society’s Autism Friendly Award for their work with children and adults, joining other public places including the Scottish Parliament, Aberdeen Football Club and the Edinburgh International Conference Centre in obtaining this award.
In 2016 the National Autistic Society, working with Aberdeen Health and Social Care Partnership, launched Aberdeen as Scotland’s first autism friendly city. This will increase public understanding of autism, help facilities and services in the area become more accessible, and develop new groups to meet the needs of autistic residents.