Co-authored by Justine Roberts, Executive Director, and Paula Rais, Director of Community Engagement
March 10 & 11, 2012: CMNH will host an ASTC Roundtable for Advancing the Professions titled From Access to Inclusion: Welcoming the Autism Community. See http://www.childrens-museum.org or email paula@childrens-museum.org for more information.
“Just seeing my son happy and comfortable and engaged in so many new things was absolutely astonishing. . . I’ve never had a happier Mothers Day in 10 years!”
The Children’s Museum welcomes over 93,000 visitors annually at our building in Dover. Of those, 50% come in for free or through reduced admission and 24% come from underserved audiences. It is no accident that our statistics look this way. We have worked hard to make our commitment to being accessible and inclusive a reality for our users.
And we are proud of our ability to invest in and continue to grow relationships with non-traditional children’s museum-goers including first generation Americans (through school-based partnerships in title 1 districts), elderly adults and their younger primary caretakers (through our Alzheimer’s Café), and special needs populations (through signature programs like the Children’s Museum of NH’s Autism Partnership Program: Exploring Our Way).
Exploring Our Way (EOW) started in March 2010. It was actually begun in response to requests from families with children on the autism spectrum. They asked us to open the Museum just for them because their children were overwhelmed during normal operating hours by the noise, joyful chaotic activity, and general stimulation of the environment.
We have made a point to communicate that the event is structured as a low-risk entry point to the Museum, which gives families a shared experience with success on which to build the confidence to return during regular operating hours. After just one full year of operation, nearly 50% of EOW users are also transitioning into Museum visitors during other times as well.
Our goals:
- give families experience with success
- build confidence
- build understanding and appreciation
- provide safe environment so adults and siblings relax and enjoy one another
- practice being at the Museum so they can come back
Here are Exploring Our Way visitors’ top 3 favorite exhibits:
"The Museum was big enough to keep all our childrens’ interest but small enough that we didn’t have to worry about an escape.”
"He (my son) did really well today and actually made a friend!"
The best thing about EOW is "allowing my child to be who he is without feeling like I need to apologize for his behaviors or explain them."
It is no accident that our partners for this program bring capacity-building know-how and support to this effort. We started EOW in collaboration with Easter Seals, and we could not do it without a broad coalition which gives us access to medical experts, parents with first-hand experience, advocates, service providers, and young adults on the spectrum. The generosity of our partners in making EOW a success cannot be understated.
Where can we grow?
We are also exploring the opportunity to host therapeutic massage classes and play-based therapy groups at the Museum, and our new Alzheimer’s Café gives us another way to serve as a resource for a community that otherwise might not be able to take advantage of the Museum.
We are continually looking for ways to make a vital contribution, and we hope our actions are helping to make your community a better place to raise a family. That is our ultimate goal.
I think the recognition for quality and private time for special needs children and their families continues to grow in the informal education community. Being part of the joy families have in not only sharing unique experiences at a learning center but also in finding a partner to assist them in the rewarding yet demanding role of caregiving is tremendously satisfying for the host site, and it is a role that is worthy of inclusion in the programming for any informal education host. It seems to be a natural progression of becoming a community partner.
Hi Melissa,
Thanks for your observations about the joy of seeing positive family interactions during private times for special needs children at your museum. During Exploring Our Way, CMNH’s Autism Partnership Program, we invite families who are raising a child on the autism spectrum to have two hours of private time in the Museum before we open to the public, at which time they can chose to stay or depart. We’ve noticed families engaged together playing at the exhibits, siblings interacting, extended families taking photos – all signs of joy and contentment. These are not small things, especially when one is navigating life with an autistic child. The appreciation expressed by the parents who visit during Exploring Our Way, and the repeat visitation to the program reinforce our feeling that we are on the right track.
There’s a lot of great discussion about this very topic, From Access to Inclusion: Welcoming the Autism Community, going on this week. It would be great to include your insights – please join the conversation by following this link: http://www.childrens-museum.org/cmnh2010/content.aspx?id=1086
Paula