Extract taken from Natural History Museum Annual Review 2018/2019 ‘Speaking to the World’
A Museum Leader in Autism
Supported by a fresh tranche of three-year funding from the Lord Leonard and Lad Estelle Wolfson Foundation, six additional Dawnosaurs events took place in 2018/2019 in South Kensington and Tring. Around 3,500 visitors benefited from events as part of the new funding stream, a significant increase on 2017/2018.
Now entering its fifth year, the Museum’s Dawnosaurs programme provides autistic children and their families with calm and supportive museum engagement away from the usual crowds and sensory overload. Events include ‘relaxed’ early access to most galleries, live animal shows and other science learning and creative activities. A Changing Places toilet is also available for mobility-disabled visitors and a sensory room for those needing quiet.
Additions to the programme this year included live music in Hintze Hall, Dawnosaurs events at Tring and free entry to the Life in the Darkexhibition, which welcomed over 1,200 autistic children and their families across three events.