Supporting teachers and students from Autism Spectrum Condition specialist schools to engage with the Natural History Museum, March, 2021

Championing diversity to create an inclusive organisation is a core value for the Natural History Museum and will help us achieve our strategic priority to engage and involve the widest possible audience. To build on the Museum’s knowledge of how to engage neurodiverse children and their families, the Audience Research and Insight Team teamed up with Access and Inclusion Advisor, …

Roman Review, Glasgow Museums Resource Centre, Ashton Lamont, 2019 in review

Roman Review. Spent yesterday afternoon with twin thing 1 at the Glasgow Museums Resource Centre‘s Autism friendly Romans workshop yesterday and what an utterly fantastic day it was! A pleasant environment, wonderfully helpful and approachable staff plus a brilliant and interesting array of activities – just enough to keep everyone entertained but not too many as to be overwhelming – made …

Museum accessibility for autistic adults in the ‘new normal’ – MA dissertation, Jan 2021

Lydia Shacklock Since beginning my MA in Museums and Galleries in Education at UCL Institute Of Education, my focus has been on cultural access and inclusion. This is partly due to working with SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) individuals in a professional capacity, but primarily due to my sister’s additional needs, including autism, having significantly shaped my worldview. When …

Careers for All – Leeds Museums and Galleries by Carl Newbould, Dec 2020

When phone rang and I was offered a job at Leeds Museums and Galleries (LMG) to manage Careers for All I remember being stunned and silent. I was both incredibly excited but also apprehensive about entering a role so specific to SEND. I have a specialism in AEN (additional educational needs) which I picked up from my teaching degree at …

Putting the community first at the London Museum of Water & Steam, Nov 2020

At the London Museum of Water & Steam we have four values which we try to live out in everything we do. Helpful, Knowledgeable, Inclusive and Fun. But how do you live those values in the middle of a global pandemic which has closed your Museum? For us it started with asking the question “who needs our help?” and the …

What do SEND families want from museums in a time of COVID?

Kids in Museums, Autism in Museums and Sam Bowen carried out a survey specifically for SEND (Special Education Needs and Disabilities) families all about their visits to museums pre and post lockdown. Interrogating the data Autism in Museums has come up with ideas to support accessibility and inclusion that all museums, galleries and heritage venues should be thinking about in …

Museum and Heritage Access Survey 2020

VocalEyes together with Stagetext and Autism in Museums are researching the museum visitor experience for people who use access support – this may be facilities, resources or events. We are undertaking a national survey of visitors which is the first of its kind. It will reveal what people with access requirements need from our museums and heritages sites, and how well …

State of Museum Access 2018 – a new report

Autism in Museums is delighted to have been asked by VocalEyes to collaborate on the State of Museum Access 2018 report.  A major barrier to disabled people visiting museums is the lack of advance information. Museum websites are key tools for providing visitor access information, and the absence of this contributes to the ‘disability engagement gap’; where people with a …

Tower Bridge, Autism Early Opening, July 2017

Just the thought of being a tourist in my own city often fills me with a sense of dread. The Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, all those people and all those queues. It is too much, too busy and too overwhelming for my autistic daughter. It often means we don’t even try. Tower Bridge was one of …