Antony Gormley Relaxed Opening: Sam Ahern I was lucky enough to be invited to a relaxed opening of the Antony Gormley exhibition at the Royal Academy back in November 2019. This was the first my relaxed opening for an exhibition that I’d been to. I had gone to other events like Tate Lates, so this was something of interest to …
Jake’s Volunteering – with a tiny bit of support from Autism in Museums, Feb 2020
Volunteering at ‘Ludlow Museum and Resource Centre’ by Jake. In July 2018 I began working as a volunteer at Ludlow Museum and Resource Centre, cataloguing hundreds of finds onto a database called the Portable Antiquities Scheme. This taught me vital lessons in presentation, using photoshop and allowed me to develop my vocabulary when describing archaeological finds. This experience saw me …
Quiet Sessions at the National Civil War Centre, Newark, Jan 2020
We first introduced “Quiet Hours” here at the National Civil War Centre in January 2019 after consulting with a local autism support group PAACT. Their founder Gordon, very kindly met me at the centre and we took a tour, carefully making notes in each gallery and space, detailing what may cause obstacles for our guests with sensory issues. Once that …
Volunteering at ‘Devil’s Porridge Museum’ – Alistair’s story
I have been volunteering at Devil’s Porridge Museum for about 4 months now, along with 3-months of work experience I did back in 2016. I came back with ‘Employability Scotland’ to expand my work experience, gain more understanding in museum activities and improve my social skills with staff. Since returning I have tried to prove myself a cable (or at …
Early and Evening Explorers at London Transport Museum
London Transport Museum held it’s first Explorer event for families with additional needs back in 2014. This came out of a family’s feedback that a quiet time to visit was needed for their child as the Museum gets very busy and loud. We started with two mornings for the year but as of 2019, we now run 7 events annually; …
The challenges of adapting our museum for relaxed sessions. Gladstone’s Land, Edinburgh. Nov, 2019.
At Gladstone’s Land we are very happy to announce that we will be starting new relaxed sessions for visiting us very soon. We are a National Trust for Scotland property in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town and our building is one of the oldest on Edinburgh’s most famous street: the Royal Mile. Our house is a lovely example of …
Night Owls at the Science Museum
Night Owls at the Science Museum The Science Museum are running this event please share to your networks there are hardly any events for adults but if not enough people go they may not put on another event. Saturday 6th July Free accessible event for adults and young adults (ages 16+ only) Our Night Owls events are designed for adults and …
A first visit to the National Army Museum, March 2019
It can be very daunting visiting a new place for the first time, particularly if you are on the autism spectrum. Museums are starting to do more to help visitors prepare for a visit as well as offer ‘relaxed hours’ where they can keep the visitor numbers down. The National Army Museum offered their first relaxed visit called ‘At Ease’ …
National Museums Liverpool named Autism Champion of the month for April
Liverpool continues to lead the way to becoming an Autism Friendly city. Is is fantastic news to hear they have been chosen as Autism Champions for April. They run events across their museums and you can find out more here. The team at National Museums Liverpool have been working with Autism Together since 2015 to provide an autism-friendly atmosphere and …
‘The Winter’s Tale’- Relaxed Performance, National Theatre, February 2019
I can’t actually think of a time when we have all visited the theatre together. With two autistic children it is a sensory overload just waiting to happen. Quite frankly I am loathe to pay out for something that we probably won’t even get into, let alone sit through. Barriers include: travelling into London; busy, noisy places; expectation; excitement that …