I created a video to explain the Sunflower Lanyard:

Transcript

The Sunflower Lanyard – I wear this a lot and people ask me "What is that?  Did you make that yourself?  Are you a member of the Green Party?”

What is the Sunflower Lanyard?

This is actually part of the Hidden Disability Sunflower Scheme and it's a scheme that was started at London Gatwick Airport in 2016 as a way for people who've got less visible disabilities to be able to tell you that that's the case without having to shout it from the rooftops.  

So anyone you see who's wearing this green sunflower lanyard, or any other thing that has the sunflower symbol on it – you can get wrist bracelets, you can get passport covers, there are all kinds of things you can get, but the most common one is the sunflower lanyard and it means that someone has a less visible disability.

So that means that there might be times when they need a little bit of extra help or support, or they just need you to be a little bit more understanding and to give a personal example, my son and I both wore these and we get special assistance when we're actually going through Gatwick airport and we do that because sensory processing issues make travelling through an airport really really stressful and that's something that's quite hard to explain.  And what we found is we actually get judged by people so much even though we're wearing the lanyards; people just don't really understand what they are.

We get judged because we're not physically disabled – so I can walk and people think therefore that you're absolutely fine to be travelling but that's not always the case.

So wearing the Sunflower Lanyard means people might need a little bit of extra help; not just neurodivergent people, it's for any hidden less visible disabilities and the scheme now has expanded so it's used in thousands of locations across the UK and globally so way beyond airports.  Wherever you see a Sunflower Lanyard, that is a sign for hidden disabilities.

Wherever you see a Sunflower Lanyard, that is a sign for hidden disabilities.

This is a topic that I'm passionate about people understanding – I also wrote a blog about it that you can read here.

Links

The Hidden Disabilities Sunflower website provides lots of information and support. Find them here: HD Sunflower Website