Honors Theses
It's Just Caring: Improving the Museum Experience for Visitors with Autism through Social Narratives
Date of Award
Spring 5-6-2022
Document Type
Undergraduate Thesis
Department
Liberal Studies
First Advisor
Kariann Fuqua
Second Advisor
Tom Brady
Third Advisor
Stacy Bell
Relational Format
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
This project explores how museums can improve the visitor experience for visitors with disabilities, more specifically for visitors with autism. In general, museums are environments that have a specific set of rules, guidelines, and built-in social interactions that visitors are expected to understand and follow. These guidelines, as well as the sensory overload that exists within a new environment, can make visiting the museum a stressful, and even negative experience for individuals with autism and their families. A social narrative, a simple written and visual guide that explains characteristics of new environments and various aspects of social situations, is a preparatory resource museum can create and provide that can help visitors with autism more successfully navigate the space. Social narratives require very few resources to create and there are many free materials, including learning modules and examples, available for museums to utilize when creating their own social narrative. Any museum, regardless of size, funding, or staffing, can create this resource. Along with analyzing how social narratives can improve the visitor experience, a survey was conducted to gain insight regarding the museum experience of individuals with autism and family members of individuals with autism and their familiarity with social narratives. The survey found social narratives to be a helpful resource, particularly for families of individuals with autism. This project culminated in the creation of a social narrative for the University of Mississippi Museum (UM Museum). The social narrative features topics specific to the UM Museum such as parking, entering and exiting, and rules associated with the museum’s galleries.
Recommended Citation
Stone, Reagan R., "It's Just Caring: Improving the Museum Experience for Visitors with Autism through Social Narratives" (2022). Honors Theses. 2698.
https://egrove.olemiss.edu/hon_thesis/2698
Accessibility Status
Searchable text
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.