National programs: sensory hours, screenings and mornings

The programs here are published openly by their organisers, for whoever they help. Some ask for something first — the Smithsonian's Morning at the Museum asks families to register, for instance — and each program page shows what its organiser publishes. No program page we checked for this set states a diagnosis requirement.

Walmart publishes Sensory-Friendly Hours from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. daily in all U.S. stores: TV walls show a static image, the radio is off, and lights are lowered "where possible". That qualifier is the honest part — lighting is the element most likely to differ by store, so a first visit is still worth a quick word with your store.

A program record documents a national schedule from the organisation's own page. A venue listing documents one place, from that place's own pages, with its address and phone. A program can exist without any of its local venues being individually documented — and a venue can document provisions no national program covers.

We checked the official site of every major US grocery chain for exactly this — the results, chain by chain with dates, are in our grocery guide, including the listicle myths (a one-off Costco event in 2016, Aldi's UK-only program, COVID-era senior hours). As of the check date, Walmart is the only US grocery chain with a published chainwide program.