As we progressed with our a clear goal of creating a preparation kit to meet the needs of families and children with ASD. We separated our effort, to begin with first prototypes because we recognised our team's competence of skills. I was still on a thought bubble of - What may be added? and how can we help our target audience in understanding and acting on their needs? My emphasis was not on creating a better digital platform, but on developing a concept that could be used at any institution to provide children with a meaningful yet enjoyable experience.

I created the sensorial cards based on the kind of sensations that may be covered from the science museum's ground floor area.

Svaney assisted in the creation of visual cards with two sides, one with an illustration and the other with a real image of the museum.

Zhaolu Song, my other coworker, was keen on development of a map and a low-fidelity digital screen prototype to better comprehend the sensory map's classification. I proposed that we look at the maps that the V&A Museum has previously created in order to inform the public in advance.

Talk Session With Industry Workers

Stephanie founder BitterSuite

Her area of expertise is performing music, and she considers music to be a multi-sensory experience. As a somatic practitioner, she has worked with the deaf-blind population, neurologists, psychologists, Autistic audiences, and others in the past. She is someone who could see the gaps that we couldn't. We shared our ideas for our project with her, and she provided us with some excellent examples to consider for future growth.

Emma Tutton

Emma Tutton is Access & Inclusion Programmes Manager, she works within the Learning Team, at the British Library. We reached out to her through e-mail for connecting on a zoom call to know about the program organised by her specifically for Autistic children which are Relaxed Early Opening for Families - Paddington: The Story of a Bear

We discussed the aspects to consider while introducing family and children in order to plan a pleasant opening. She discussed a number of factors that must be taken into account when caring for their protection and safety. A few shared examples were:

All visitors to this special early opening receive a visual story in advance to provide an idea of what to expect on arrival.
Limited numbers, a one-way system around the Library and spaced out tables in the Learning Centre so everyone can keep a safe distance

What next?

We demonstrated our first desired outcome of creating a system with a journey plan, visual cues, and a sensory map. Our tutor remarked that it was a great move to let children imagine where they intended to go and then construct a task for them. However, think about the visual language, what kind of material is kid-friendly, and how you can make it more immersive.

Next we intend to add the technology part of creating experience with technological ability in our next action plan by contacting CTL.

References

https://amt-lab.org/reviews/2017/2/new-apps-focus-on-autism-inclusivity

https://www.autisminmuseums.com/resources/