Formula 1 and my autistic son - navigating noise, crowds and chaos

Image caption, Joshua has always been obsessed with cars - and watching Formula 1 live has long been a dream of his By Brendon Mitchell BBC Sport journalist at Silverstone Published 11 minutes ago As a group of men force their way past us, a sudden shriek of noise and gust of air stops Joshua in his tracks. He looks at me in momentary panic, freezing on the spot, closing his eyes and placing both hands on his ears. He screams. We are at Silverstone for the Formula 1 British Grand Prix. From start to finish, the day is a true assault on the senses - not least for my nine-year-old son, who has autism and ADHD. I feel guilty he's become agitated and distressed. But it's not the din of a 1.6-litre V6 turbo hybrid engine which has caused the alarm. We are standing by the door of a public toilet. One of the men has started to use a hand dryer. I take Joshua by the arm and we walk back towards our spot next to the circuit, where the drivers are just beginning to emerge for the start of qualifying. Despite the roar of world champion Lando Norris' McLaren in the distance - and the clamour of the vast crowd as he winds up for his first hot lap - Joshua's breathing is becoming more regular again, his eyes widening and his grip loosening. Why one sound should seem so unbearable, yet the other almost comforting, is difficult to fully articulate or understand - but this is how he experiences life through his autism. Remarkably, race tracks such as Silverstone have become a home from home for my car-loving son. This is how they've done it. A unique experience for neurodiverse fans According to the National Autistic Society, more than one in 100 people have autism - also known as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) - and there are at least 700,000 autistic adults and children in the UK. Joshua is one of 260,000 autistic pupils currently studying in England. Awareness is growing, as is the rate of diagnosis - there was a 787% rise in the number of diagnoses between 1998 and 2018. But autism is complicated. While people with ASD "share differences from non-autistic people" - as the National Autistic Society puts it - they are also "different from each other" and "each autistic person has a unique combination of characteristics". It is a spectrum. That means catering for everyone comes with its challenges. However, with neurodivergent fans now making up at least 20% of all applications for accessibility tickets, Silverstone has had to adapt. "We've almost been on this decade of change," said Louise Broomhall - head of customer service. "When I first started here we had a very small amount of knowledge and support for it but it's just grown from strength to strength year on year. "It is so important for us that everybody can attend." Key to the provision now on offer is a special viewing area exclusively for neurodivergent fans called Copse Triangle. It is a relatively small trackside spot, covered by grass and unspectacular in appearance, but crucially limited in capaci