Esther Amis-Hughes, Leeds Museums and Galleries In 2018 a wonderful opportunity stumbled into my lap – Tim Boardman from the Study Programme within Swarthmore Education Centre (a setting for 16-24 year olds with learning disabilities and additional support needs) was looking for placements for students. I had very little experience of working with autistic or neurodivergent young adults – which …
Autism in Museums gets funding to work in partnership on a Digital Volunteering project thanks to National Lottery funding
Posted on: Thursday 25 November 2021, 9:47 am VocalEyes has been awarded £99,814 of National Lottery funding to launch a digital volunteering initiative and break down barriers to heritage. Today’s funding is part of The National Lottery Heritage Fund’s Digital Skills for Heritage initiative, which aims to raise digital skills and confidence across the whole UK heritage sector. Seventeen projects have been …
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 …
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; …
Engaging children and young people with Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) virtually through lockdown
During the Covid 19 lockdown University of Cambridge Museums wanted to engage remotely and maintain relationships with our pre-existing audience of children with special educational needs and disabilities. According to government statistics in January 2020 12.1% of all school pupils have a special educational need, and we have two main programmes for children with special educational needs and disabilities. Arts Pioneers, for …
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, …
Making Rhondda Heritage Park: Welsh Mining Experience Autism Friendly, February 2021
Back in 2018, Rhondda Heritage Park: Welsh Mining Experience, began a partnership with the National Autistic Society and other local family autism groups. The idea was to be accredited with the Autism Friendly Award by the National Autistic Society (NAS) by making the site more accessible to additional needs groups. At the beginning, it felt quite daunting as the main …