If you happen to be walking the Moon Lantern Trail this weekend, keep an eye out for South Australia’s brand new Sensory Bus.

It’s quite hard to miss as it’s been wrapped in the incredible artwork of two Autistic South Australian artists in Lilli Giles and Amanda Turner.

The Sensory Bus is a retired Torrens Transit bus that has been refurbished to create a purpose-built, mobile sensory room designed to help Autistic people feel welcome and supported while enjoying community events.

By attending major events across Adelaide, the bus helps reduce barriers to inclusion and creates a welcoming environment for Autistic children, young people and adults.

The Sensory Bus will attend major events such as the National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant, Multicultural Festival, bp Grand Final and Tour Down Under, and is also available for organisations to book on a fee-for-service basis to support inclusive programming.

The bus has been made possible through partnerships between government, community and industry.

It was constructed by McMahon Services, with inclusive design by Cox Architecture, project managed by Ventia and is operated by Autism SA.

The project is proudly supported by Kelsian Group, who provided the retired Torrens Transit bus that was transformed into this unique mobile sensory space and will provide ongoing support for the project.

For Lilli, 16, the winner of the young artist’s competition whose design is featured on one side of the bus, the project was a chance to break down some of the stereotypes she said were often associated with autism.

“I really wanted my art to reflect the range of Autistic people – so I included people of colour, lots of girls and women, and gender queer people,” Lilli said.

She said Autistic people often found busy events overwhelming, and that the bus would be a welcome refuge.

“I’m particularly sensitive to noise,” Lilli said.

“But then there’s visual input – so many people and so many bright colours – and it can be a lot.”

For Amanda, 41, who was diagnosed with autism in her 30s, the world can also be a very loud place and her art reflects this.

Called “My World Is Amplified”, Amanda’s piece is based on a song she wrote about her day-to-day experience.

“This bus will make once inaccessible events accessible for so many people,” she said.

“It’s going to help so many people go to events that they might have missed out on.”

And if she sees her artwork on the roads as the bus travels to an event?

“I’ll probably be like, ‘Oh my God, there’s my freaking artwork!’,” she laughed.

“Maybe I’ll give it a toot.”

The Sensory Bus can be found at OzAsia's Moon Lantern Trail this weekend, and will be travelling to the National Pharmacies Christmas Pageant, the bp Grand Final and the Multicultural Festival and other upcoming events. For booking enquiries click here.