Silverstone Museum replicates the noise, adrenaline, and excitement of motor racing, but staff are aware that this can be an unsuitable environment for some visitors. We welcome many SEN education groups (both child and adult learners) to Silverstone Museum, and it has been a passion project to introduce sensory friendly events here, to enable everyone the opportunity to enjoy the …
Autism Awareness at the British Library, July 2022
The British Library is a large, busy space for people to visit, work and generally just chill out. It is a large building with many things inside of it, ranging from over 13 million books to many different displays and exhibitions. Sometimes this busy space can be hard for people with autism or with other specific sensory needs to visit. …
Autism Access at the Cartoon Museum, April 2022
For World Autism Day we have a fantastic new blog from Amba who is the Community Outreach Officer at the Cartoon Museum. She tells us about her own reasons for wanting to improve access to the London museum and shares the work she is doing with autistic audiences: Growing up I benefitted from museum outreach programmes, and while I ended …
Interview – Marion Godwin, Visitor Engagement Team Leader, Blists Hill, April 2022
On Autism Awareness Day we are delighted to share an interview with Marion who works at Blists Hill Victorian Town, part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museum Trust. In the interview we talk about what it means to be an autistic heritage professional and what it is like to be the ‘human version of an interpretation panel’! Marion talks about the …
Young people with autism participating in museums: Finding my voice with the ‘Reimagine Remake Replay’ Project
By Michael McConway In my experience, a museum is an accessible window into other cultures, a contemplative, quiet place of learning and reflection. Interactions with visitors in the galleries of my local museums in Northern Ireland, whether the larger National Museums Northern Ireland sites or regional heritage centres, can provide a rich vein of networking with others who feel strongly …
‘You’ve Been Royally Framed’, Relaxed Evening Opening at National Maritime Museum, Aug 2021
With so many relaxed events scheduled early in the morning it makes a nice change to visit a museum after hours. The National Maritime Museum offered a whole lot of ‘Royal’ fun at a relaxed opening of their latest 4 star exhibition of the Tudors to Windsors: British Royal Portraits. The museum in Greenwich opened from 5.30-8pm for families with …
Review: Relaxed Hours – Matthew Barney and Igshaan Adams at the Hayward Gallery, London, June 2021
Both shows currently on at Hayward Gallery – Igshaan Adams’ “Kicking Dust” and Matthew Barney’s “Redoubt” – while very different, are both brilliant with their respective concepts and works. Whenever I visit exhibitions, I visit with two mindsets – one as an artist and avid artgoer, the other as the mother of an autistic son. Barney’s work has appealed to …
Football Clubs and Sensory Rooms – a visit to Arsenal and Chelsea, Apr 2021
Getting fans back to football is about so much more than ‘Pukka Pies’ and a pint, whilst we have been able to enjoy sport on television nothing beats the match day live experience. Many football fans have realised for the first time what it feels like to be unable to experience their favourite team playing week in and week out. …
Autograph Gallery, London: On adapting our Family SEND Workshops for Lockdown, April 2021
At Autograph we focus on exhibiting and publishing photography, which explores issues related to identity, diversity and human rights. We are strong advocates for representing and including people who are marginalised and have built our organisation around supporting those who have historically been excluded from participating in the arts. In 2017, we joined a radical UK-wide project highlighting the extraordinary …
Working with SEND Learners at The Red House
A Partnership Project between Autism in Nature and Britten-Pears Arts Joe Carr, Collection and Learning Curator Background The Red House is the historic home of the composer Benjamin Britten and his partner the singer Peter Pears, located in Aldeburgh, Suffolk. It comprises the historic house, kept as Britten and Pears knew it; Britten’s composition studio, similarly in its original state; …