STOP CLAPPING!

I'd like to put the person or persons who decided that was a good policy in front of cameras to be quizzed. I'd like them named and ridiculed because such a suggestion is entering the realms of stupidity.

We have to call a stop to snow-flakery. It's becoming silly. The human race is becoming more fragile by the day.

And no, I am not insensitive to those who suffer from anxiety, and I have a stupidly silly shock reflex myself. I have been known to yelp if a balloon bursts and cannot be in a room anticipating the release of a cork popping from a bottle of fizzy -I have too been startled by bread pinging up from the toaster! Think that Catherine Tate sketch

But no clapping? That's just a ridiculous idea.

Do any gransnetters have grandsons or granddaughters on the autistic spectrum because I wonder if this what the Students' Union had in mind? I have had very little to do with people suffering from this syndrome so I have no idea whether clapping can be distressing, so I am simply asking those who know. I really doubt that it just came out of the blue.

Yes, absent , there are several people here with relatives on the spectrum, and clapping can indeed be a problem. It is why some theatres run special performances of pantomimes etc - to cater for this need.
However, I have never believed in the principle of altering the normal activities of the vast majority to accommodate a small minority. Teaching life skills and coping strategies is of infinitely greater value - although not everyone in a similar position will agree with me.

DD actually proved to be far lower on the scale than anyone expected, when diagnosed in her twenties, and is affected by issues such as mass clapping. She attends large concerts! ...takes ear plugs, keeps them in her hand, and inserts whenever needed. leaves 5 minutes before the end whenever possible...or otherwise stays put until the crowds clear.
There are always workarounds to be found.

So, OP, whilst I think there should be a greater understanding of the incapacitating issues some people may suffer in certain situations, I agree with you that banning any normal healthy activity, enjoyed by the majority, is ridiculous.

I saw this yesterday and thought how ridiculous - do people get paid for coming up with these theories! I would have thought that the mass hysterical whooping and yelling was far more disturbing to people than everyone clapping could ever be!

I agree with Chaos.My autistic grandson found the lesson bell very difficult when he first started secondary school and would put his hands over his ears. Now one month in ,he never mentions it.

Yes, we have family members who are diagnosed as on the ASD. Noise can be a challenge but as Greenfinch says, there are ways of managing the sensitivity.

I've tried and failed to understand what on earth the students are trying to achieve. I heard the inarticulate representative from Manchester University trying to explain and failing. He blundered on about students with anxiety or who are on the ASD being upset by loud clapping. He used the words sensory impairment. I was astounded the interviewer failed to ask the obvious question "what about people who are blind"

I'm usually tolerant of student extremes but this one takes the biscuit. Ridiculous.

I only have one word - Ridiculous -

I have a GC on the "spectrum" and as mentioned previously on this thread they find their own coping mechanisms, to get through life.

I saw Piers Morgan questioning a blustering person about who had decided nobody should clap, yesterday morning.
She denied that the statement actually said 'no clapping', but it certainly looked that way.

This isn't a new idea - the first time I came across it was when clapping was to be banned at a conference. Obviously these ludicrous ideas catch on amongst the little snowflakes, and the stupidity just spreads, like a virus.

www.express.co.uk/news/uk/566202/NUS-jazz-hands-clapping-anxiety-feminists

I would sooner sit in silence than have to do 'jazz hands'.

What is Jazz hands????

travelsafar it is a technique used by hearing impaired audiences to "applaud". Think vigorous waving with both hands in the air.

Totally agree with Chaos

This has to be a wind-up.

Words fail me

I'm surprised they didn't suggest one-hand clapping!

I wish I could believe that it's a wind-up!

There seems to be a sort of relentless competition in certain uber-snowflake-friendly circles to find ever more things for people to be offended by/upset about.

I wouldn't want to go back to the not-good old days, where everyone was expected to put up with everything, but things have moved into the realms of the ridiculous.

I was beginning to think the world was going mad, now I’m convinced it is. God help us is all I can say.

Our planet is full of noise from all directions. Live with it. My sympathy lies with those who live in the vicinity of aircraft flight paths where take offs /landings are 24x7.

It's bonkers. Agree with what Chaos said.

Can I just add that taken to extremes how would actors feel if there was no applause at the end of their efforts? How would you react if giving a great speech were met with waving hands? How would our politicians know how we felt about their policies if clapping were to go? Would we have to vary our hand waving to express our feeelings of what we have just watched or listened to? Imagine having to tell little kids they musn’t CLAP their little hands when they are joyful! Honest to God, where are we going??

..and as someone pointed out on the radio this morning, surely blind people are being discriminated against as they can't hear glad handing and are thefore being excluded.

This was featured on BBC breakfast this morning. Many people responded that by introducing this they would be excluding blind people. While I sympathise with people suffering from anxiety, they can get help from medication and therapies whereas blind people can’t.

As I understand it, it is not 'banned' but audiences may be asked to do 'jazz hands' instead of applauding.
I have been at events where this has been requested, and it is fun to do. I am someone who is quite remote from popular culture, but have known 'jazz hands' since being a child. It was popular back in the 30s & 40s I think. I occasionally do it as an expression of delight, as some of my family did. I'm not sure when it was formally adopted into sign language.
It's more than waving in the air - it's hands wide open, up in front of you, thumbs a short distance apart, open and close your hands (or at least that's how I do it!)
Of course it can be difficult to accommodate sensory differences, but I am glad that some people are trying. This seemed to me to be a request from some people, and maybe as others express their preferences, a consensus may be reached. It may be that this gets used only on certain occasions.
However, with respect to those who like and enjoy applause, I think it worth talking about.