In June 2019, my dad, my 6 year old autistic son Samuel and I went to The Great Exhibition Road Festival without knowing what to expect. Now for the first time since Covid, the festival is back on this coming weekend. I have been asked to write this blog to show how inclusive this festival actually is for SEN families. …
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 …
‘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 …
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; …
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 …
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 …
Inviting sensory learners to explore Museums in a time of Covid, National Maritime Museum, Sept 2020.
At the National Maritime Museum, we recognise that the design of some older galleries does not lend them to sensory engagement and so a concerted effort to provide sensory engagement within new galleries and to develop resources that bring sensory engagement to galleries have occurred. From opportunities to touch tactile collection objects in the new Sea Things gallery, to the …
Intersecting Art and Science to Support Autistic Children – National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. Aug 2020.
Andrea Stahel, Community & Access Programs Manager, National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne. As many of us appreciate, art-making can be incredibly meditative and in difficult times, a source of solace. This year has brought new challenges for children as they adapt to changes in their education, family and social lives. Children can often find disruptions to their daily routine challenging, …