For\nmost of us, a visit to the museum is a chance to relax, to learn interesting\nstories from our past. We can probably remember school visits to museums when\nwe were younger. However, for some children, the visit can be challenging:\nnamely autistic children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some research highlights that involving children with autism in\nrecreational activities helps to support inclusion, reinforces positive\nbehaviours, and enhances well-being. Within\nthis context, a museum visit is considered a pleasant way to spend leisure\ntime, as it provides interesting stories to inspire and engage visitors; while offering\nopportunities for experiential learning through play-based activities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In response to the growing international drive for equal rights\nand diversity, museums have been encouraged to embrace new ways to provide\naccess to services, with a focus on providing access to people with a diverse\nrange of disabilities. This coupled with an ongoing rise in diagnoses of autism\nhas led museums to address issues of integration. Considering the needs of autistic\nvisitors, museums have attempted to integrate an individualised supportive\nenvironment and to provide sensory-friendly activities. In addition,\nimprovements have been made to the physical spaces of these environments.\nResponding to the prevalence of digital media, museums have gone one step\nfurther to consider digital practices as a means of engaging visitors with\nvarious impairments. However, the adoption of mobile services in museums seems\nto target specific groups, and there is little work regarding digital platforms\ndeveloped specifically for autistic people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With\ntechnology for autistic users being well researched with many attributed\nbenefits, the role of technology in museums represents a timely area of study \u2013\nthis is the focus of my PhD work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Benefits\nof technology for autistic users includes:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With\nthis in mind novel technology programs have been\ndeveloped to promote various aspects of education, communication, and\nentertainment, as well as social skills. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My PhD study has been focused on addressing the potential of using\ndigital services in a museum for autistic visitors. It investigated the views\nand impact of a digital museum experience (through a museum-based app) of\nautistic children. One of the main aims was to examine whether a museum-based\napp could be a mediating tool to enable groups of autistic children to have an\ninclusive experience in a barrier-free environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My study was conducted in several stages, and cycles of an\niterative process were included to help build an optimal version of the touch-screen\ninterface. This study was conducted in collaboration with a special educational\nneeds school and the M Shed museum in Bristol. The design and development of\nthe app was based on existing literature coupled with recommendations and\nfeedback from the participating children. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
So far, the findings suggest that a museum-based app was viewed as\na useful tool to provide equal opportunities for autistic children in which to\nparticipate with museum-related activities. \nGiven that autistic people can encounter profound challenges in their\ndaily life and feel marginalized from society, a specific adaptation is\nnecessary in this context (a museum). The use of the app during the visit\nseemed to act as a bridge and to guide the children by focusing on specific\nexhibits in the gallery. The data also revealed that the choice of the exhibits\nthrough play-based activities encouraged the children to be more motivated and\nto remain focused on the requested tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overall, the findings from this study support the idea that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This study aimed to shed light on an under researched area and to inform future policy and services provided by museums. This, in turn, could help young autistic people (and their caregivers) access museums in meaningful and supportive ways \u2013 and so they can get more out of the experience. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Author: Dimitra Magkafa is a doctoral researcher at the Faculty of Arts, Cultural Industries and Education, the University of the West of England. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For most of us, a visit to the museum is a chance to relax, to learn interesting stories from our past. We can probably remember school visits to museums when we were younger. However, for some children, the visit can be challenging: namely autistic children. Some research highlights that involving children with autism in recreational … Continue reading “Empowering autistic children: Experiencing a museum through a customised app”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":309,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,42,105,31,32,36],"tags":[174,95,175,173,176],"class_list":["post-306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-applied-use-of-technologies","category-digital-cultures-2","category-digital-education","category-digital-inequalities","category-digital-literacies","category-virtual-reality-technologies","tag-autism","tag-children","tag-museum","tag-nigel-newbutt","tag-school"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":310,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306\/revisions\/310"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/309"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/education\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}