Stop Using Speakerphone in Public

It is sensory torture for Autistics like me.

Photo by @chairulfajar_ on Unsplash

I’m curled up in a booth at a local coffee shop, editing a manuscript while I wait out the rain. The place is bustling with activity and lots of loud conversations, which I know to expect, and is usually fine. Then a middle-aged man sidles into the table next to me, opens up his laptop and starts arranging and rearranging Powerpoint…