Experiences in Museum Studies Field

Carmen is the name and museums and history is the game!!

hahahahahah

All jokes aside history and how the museum's display history has always been my passion. Up to now, I have always been to museums as a visitor or the end consumer. In this capacity, museums have always lived to my expectations. I love how museums take history and present it in a way that will pique the visitor's interest. This summer I had the wonderful chance to visit the Cleveland Museum of Art, the interpretations that they give some of their art pieces is crucial! The pictures show one of my favorite artworks and the interpretation that the museum gave. My siblings and I agreed that this was very well done and that the museum served one of its main purposes to educated, especial on controversial and prevalent topics. 

  One day I hope to make educational and interesting exhibitions, all be it scandalous as well to really make the visitor have a keepsake from the experience!! 

Improving the museum experience for children with autism

For my thesis, I want to explore how to create a sensory-friendly museum experience for children with autism without making a separate and inherently different experience from neuro-typical children. The inspiration behind my thesis is my little cousin Leo. He was diagnosed as being on the autism spectrum a few years ago.

Leo loves to learn and often is very hands-on when he discovers new things. I thought he would love Strong Museum, but I didn't think about the sensory overload that would happen as soon as we walked in the door. We were in and out in about an hour and I felt horrible.

I wanted him to have the chance to explore a museum that brought me joy when I was younger, but without an established sensory-friendly day for children with autism* I was at a loss of what to do. However, it got me thinking: what if there was a way I could create a sensory-friendly experience that could be had at any time using a personal device? It would be fairly accessible, it could be adjusted to individual preferences based on what the child is sensitive to and it wouldn't necessarily involve a lot of cost in regards to technology once the app or program is created.

Ideally, I would like to create a prototype for this app, detail the process of creating and curating the content and craft my thesis around the following questions: Can museums use personal devices to create a more inclusive, sensory-friendly visitor experience for children on the autism spectrum? Rather than creating a separate experience for children on the autism spectrum, could personal devices allow a sensory-friendly visitor experience within the museum's regular hours of operation?

I'm excited about pursuing this topic. Any feedback is welcomed and appreciated!

Thanks for reading!

*Strong has piloted a program called Sensory-Friendly Sundays this year. At the time of my initial visit with Leo, this option was unavailable to me.