A car freshener, the radio, three questions about his day: the card on the back of the phone case tells the ride-hailing driver what makes the trip bearable
A card on the back of the phone case, held out to the driver before the door is even open: the car becomes a space where nobody expects anything from Sofiane, no smile, no conversation, no explanation.
This case is about an autistic young adult, 23, who is very sensitive to smells and sounds and travels home alone in the evening by ride-hailing. He prepares his own profile, and it speaks to whichever driver the app assigns him that night, a stranger with no way of guessing what weighs on him inside the cabin.
The lived moment
9:40 pm, outside the media library where Sofiane is doing his civic service. Rain drums on the roof of the sedan that has pulled up at the roundabout. As soon as the door opens, the smell hits him: a vanilla pine freshener hanging from the mirror, mixed with the dashboard air freshener. A news station is playing loudly, and the driver asks cheerfully: so, good day? What do you do for a living?
Sofiane clenches his jaw and holds his bag against him. He knows the ride takes twenty-five minutes. He also knows that by the third question he will stop answering, and that the driver will take it for coldness, even rudeness. He takes out his phone and simply shows the back of the case, where the card is tucked.
The driver, Kamel, scans it while waiting at the light. He reads three lines. He takes the freshener off the mirror, turns the radio down, cracks his window open a couple of fingers. He says: just so you know, we're taking the ring road, it'll be twenty minutes. Nothing else. Sofiane rests his forehead against the cool glass. He gets home without having said a word, and without having had to apologize.
- You write it
- The QR is in place
- The reader scans
- Understood, without explaining again
Where to place the QR for this case
The driver is a stranger who has only a few seconds before pulling away. The QR must therefore sit in a gesture the passenger already makes when getting in: taking out the phone to confirm the ride. It must be scannable without Sofiane having to say a sentence.
- Card tucked into the back of the phone case, on the side that is visible when he holds out the screen to confirm his name: this is the main spot.
- Screenshot of the QR saved in the gallery favorites, to open if the card was left at home.
- Message in the comment field of the app when booking, with a single sentence and the link, so the driver reads it before arriving.
Ruled out: the QR stuck on the bag (the driver never sees it) and printing it on clothing, too visible in the street. To create his profile, Sofiane went through myHandiQR, just once, in his own words.
Ready-made text templates
These outlines are a starting point for filling in the profile sections. They can be rewritten in your own words: what bothers someone in a car, the smell, the volume or the talking, differs from one person to the next, and it is that detail that makes the profile useful.
For the "Presentation" section
"My name is Sofiane, I am 23 and I am autistic. Strong smells and unexpected sounds tire me quickly, and talking with a stranger takes a lot of energy. I am not being rude if I do not answer."
For the "How to help" section
"Please switch off the air freshener and turn the radio down. Tell me the route in one sentence at the start, then leave the silence. If you have to change route, tell me before. I can answer with a thumbs up."
For the "What to avoid" section
"Please avoid questions about my life, my work or my evening. Avoid turning up the volume to fill the silence. Avoid touching my shoulder to tell me we have arrived: just say it."
Conditions concerned by this case
Sofiane's profile relates to autism and sensory hypersensitivity. The same card suits other people who find the inside of a car hard to bear, such as those who experience anxiety attacks or certain migraines.
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