EC House said it chose the first hour of operation as traffic is usually lower, which would allow the company to “approach the event with greater confidence”.

In future, EC House may consider extending the duration of the calm hour or hosting it more frequently, after “observing its effectiveness and assessing any potential operational conflicts”.

“If everything proceeds smoothly, we’ll consider expanding this event to other EC House outlets throughout Singapore,” said a spokesperson.

Likewise, Uniqlo Singapore chief executive officer Yuki Yamada said its current initiative, called Uniqlo Access, is “a starting point”, and the retailer will consider expanding the service to include weekends. It also hopes to expand the service to new and existing outlets in Singapore.

“It’d be great for us to receive more feedback, positive or negative, then we’ll see … how we can adjust our business,” he said. “That’s the way we can go to the next stage.”

While a quiet hour may be helpful for some, parent Rajendran K Sethuraj, 57, pointed out that those on the autism spectrum have diverse needs. His son, for example, has moderate autism and can be all right in loud places but is triggered by a faint smell of bananas.

This is more important to Rajendran: staff who are ready to render support when things go south.

“When there’s a meltdown, (we’re) just focusing (on our child),” he said. If the staff could direct them to the nearest quiet area in the shop or the shopping centre or just ask how they could help, he would find that “very helpful”.

He also hopes these support services can be made more visible, whether with a uniform or a tag the staff can wear or signs showing which store is autism-friendly.

“(The shopping centre) is very huge, right? If you say, ‘we’re autism-friendly’, how’d I know? Where’s what?” he said.

“This kind of outright publicity will (give parents) confidence. … At least they’d know, if something happens, that they aren’t going to be alone or be judged.”

To this end, tenants who are part of Frasers Property’s initiative, as well as front-line and corporate staff, will go through first responder training for autism-related incidents, conducted by St Andrew’s Autism Centre.