Hi Justin,
At the New York Transit Museum we've had success with a few different types of programs for people with autism and other developmental disabilities. Your question was about adults and so I'll elaborate on a program we offer for adults.
We are now in our second year of hosting Day Habilitation Days, which we hold during quieter hours in our museum (for us that's the afternoon). We invite local day habilitation centers to come to the museum for free (we do ask them to register in advance) and we provide resources like noise-quieting headphones and a list of quieter spaces in the museum. We also provide a lot of clear information about the museum in advance to the centers so they know what to expect and can plan accordingly.
For this particular event we don't fill the museum with special programs, but we do have our staff who are trained to work with people with disabilities stationed throughout the museum to invite the groups to try out exhibits, to be a welcoming presence, etc. In our experience day habs have extremely limited funds for field trips but they really want to bring their adults and young adults out, so a free program is pretty essential to the event's success. We also find that day hab groups often haven't been to the museum and so they're actually looking for a more unstructured experience (one of the reasons we don't have pop-up programs all over the museum).
An "entry-level" event like Dayhab Day has allowed us to get these groups in the door, build relationships with the day habs, and understand what aspects of our museum's space, exhibits, and content really click with the groups. Now with that information and experience we can build our roster of programs and create more targeted, content/program-rich events for adults with developmental disabilities.
Happy to elaborate on this or other programs- feel free to email me at elyse.newman@nyct.com. If you visit the access page of our website you'll see other programs for people with disabilities. Good luck!
Best,
Elyse Newman
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Elyse Newman
Education Manager
New York Transit Museum
Brooklyn NY
Original Message:
Sent: 10-29-2016 02:17 PM
From: Justin Tognarine
Subject: Programs for adults with autism or sensory issues
Hello,
I work at a science museum and we are exploring the idea of hosting programs for adults who are on the autism spectrum or have sensory issues. I was wondering if there are any other science museums out there that might be already hosting these kinds of events. I would love to pick some brains and see what has worked and what obstacles you might have faced.
Thanks!
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Justin Tognarine
Quality Services Coordinator
Carnegie Science Center
Pittsburgh PA
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