The nightmare of shopping | Helen Stuart

2025-05-14

Shopping - whether it’s for clothes, food or shoes - can be a sensory, emotional and logistical nightmare when you’re parenting autistic or ADHD children. Helen Stuart joins Mark to discuss why “just popping to the shops” is a long-held pipedream. They share tales from the front line of their own shopping trip traumas, and discuss how sensory overload, PDA, and unpredictable environments make supermarkets and shopping centres feel like hostile territory. Helen explains the practical steps her family takes to get through it - and when they just opt out entirely. Mark shares ...

They share tales from the front line of their own shopping trip traumas, and discuss how sensory overload, PDA, and unpredictable environments make supermarkets and shopping centres feel like hostile territory.

Helen explains the practical steps her family takes to get through it - and when they just opt out entirely. Mark shares how even a trip to the corner shop has to be planned like a military operation, and how public perception adds a whole extra layer of pressure.

A funny, honest episode that every neurodivergent parenting family will relate to.

STUFF WE COVER:

00:00 – Intro & Listener Feedback
02:00 – Meet the Guest: Helen Stuart
06:00 – Topic of the Week: Shopping
13:00 – Why Supermarkets Are Sensory Torture
19:00 – The Emotional Toll of Trolleys and Comments
25:00 – PDA Autonomy, Meltdowns, and the Elsa Cup Incident
33:00 – Supermarket Sweep, PDA-Style
39:00 – Self-Checkouts vs Human Interaction
45:00 – Clothing & Footwear Battles
52:00 – Lush, Libraries and Return Rage
59:00 – When Book Tokens Become a Poisoned Chalice
1:04:00 – The Positives (Yes, Really!)
1:10:00 – Neurodiversity Champions
1:16:00 – Tiny Epic Wins
1:20:00 – What the Flip? Moments
1:23:00 – Wrap-Up & Thrive Together Info