Success on the Spectrum

Emily Wiskera; Anna Smith; Tina Sue Fletcher; Lynda Wilbur; Francis Yong Chen

doi:10.5771/9781538171035

Summary

The role of arts and cultural institutions is changing. Once viewed as stewards of objects, institutions are increasingly upheld as stewards of people—spaces where the diversity of human experience is asserted, explored, and celebrated. As such, they function as public resources and should be equally accessible to all members of diverse communities.Individuals with autism spectrum disorder account for a significant portion of the community. Advocates are working to shift attitudes and nomenclature, with terms such as neurodiversity and sensory-friendly becoming more commonplace. With this, cultural institutions are putting effort into creating tailored programs and resources to welcome neurodiverse visitors who have historically been excluded from these spaces. Despite their desire to connect, many cultural workers fear they lack the expertise or resources needed to effectively create inclusive spaces and experiences.This book's content is presented by museum educators, arts administrators, occupational therapists, and school psychologists—contributors with different expertise and perspectives on the stakes of cultural arts experiences for neurodiverse visitors.We offer advice based on what has worked for us and share the sometimes-difficult lessons learned along the way. However, this advice comes with the caution there is no one-size-fits-all solution. To be truly successful, arts and cultural institutions must respond to their unique community and work within the resources and limitations of their institution.Our practical goals for the reader are threefold:

To understand the value of programming for neurodiverse visitors and effectively communicate this to others,
To build a toolkit of strategies and resources for neurodiverse visitors to have successful visits to cultural institutions, no matter the staff size, budget, or current stages of accessibility,
To develop evaluation strategies to gauge the impact of offerings for neurodiverse visitors with results that help the reader improve, grow, and refine for the future.

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Bibliographic data

Copyright year: 2024
ISBN-Print: 978-1-5381-7101-1
ISBN-Online: 978-1-5381-7103-5
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham
Language: English
Pages: 294
Product type: Book Titles

1. Contents No access
2. Acknowledgments No access
3. Preface. Embracing Neurodiverse Audiences in Cultural Institutions No access
1. 1. Know Your Audience: Characteristics of Autism and Neurodiversity No access
2. 2. Responding to Culture Shifts: Identity and Terminology No access
3. 3. Nothing About Us Without Us: Co-creating with Neurodiverse Communities No access
1. 4. Opening the Doors: Planning from an Institutional Perspective No access
2. 5. Something for Everyone: Program Models and Examples from Cultural Institutions No access
3. 6. Know Where You’re Going: Developing Participant and Institutional Goals No access
1. 7. Speaking Their Language: Communicating with Neurodivergent Visitors No access
2. 8. Show and Tell: Creating and Using Visual Supports No access
3. 9. Happily Ever After: Writing Effective Success Stories No access
4. 10. First Things First: Schedules for Neurodiverse Visitors No access
5. 11. Best Foot Forward: Training and Educating Staff and Volunteers No access
1. 12. Making Sense of It All: Sensory Processing and Sensory Processing Disorders No access
2. 13. Know Your Space: Learning from Sensory Audits No access
3. 14. Change Can Be Good: Accommodations and Modifications for Neurodiverse Visitors No access
4. 15. There’s a Place for Us: Sensory Spaces for Neurodiverse Visitors No access
1. 16. Better Together: Forming Healthy Partnerships No access
2. 17. Set Yourself Up for Success: Logistics for Sensory-Friendly Events No access
3. 18. Spreading the Word: Reaching and Involving Audiences No access
4. 19. Lessons Learned: Stories of Community Success No access
1. 20. Ask Away: Conducting Formal and Informal Program Evaluation No access
2. 21. Beyond Evaluation: Research Practices and Ethics No access
3. 22. Find the Money to Make It Work: Fundraising for Sensory-Friendly Programming No access
4. 23. Funding Follow-Through: Reviewing and Reporting on Grants No access
5. 24. Adding Your Voice to the Chorus: Publishing and Presenting No access
A Closing Note. Start Your Own Band No access Pages 265 - 266
Appendix A. Glossary No access Pages 267 - 276
Appendix B. Build Your Library: What’s on Our Bookshelves No access Pages 277 - 284
Index No access Pages 285 - 292
About the Authors No access Pages 293 - 294