The Principles for Museums and Neurodiversity
Informed by our network, the principles seek to outline what our sector must work to achieve to create equitable experiences for neurodivergent people in our spaces.
The Neurodiverse Museum
The Neurodiverse Museum is changing the way museums and the cultural sector approaches neurodiversity. We're striving for equitable access, representation in collections, and a workforce which reflects neurodivergence in society.
Join our membership scheme to help us change society!About The Neurodiverse Museum
The Neurodiverse Museum strives to change the way museums approach their work with and for neurodivergent people. Our organisation works primarily online to support museums and cultural professionals to develop their practice across three key identified areas of workforce, audiences and collections.
We aim to shift the dialogue and provision from deficit, person first, exclusionary models, to presumed competence, identify first, inclusionary models with #ActuallyAustitic and neurodivergent voice at its heart.
If you feel as passionate about this as we do, there are many ways you can help! Please encourage your organisation to join as a member, to sign up to The principles of Museums and Neurodiversity or to look at our training courses.
We're currently open to new sponsors - find out more here!Sector Support
We are the leading UK wide neurodivergent led organisation drawing together resources and information to support the sector to become equitable with and for neurodivergent people.
Working with individuals and organisations from across the cultural sector, we pioneered The Principles for Museums and Neurodiversity
And we're beginning to develop a knowledge bank to support understanding more generally - you can view some of our sample case studies and resources below.
Case Study: The Postal Museum
Developed by Iris Serendi to illustrate best practice
Case Study: Wakefield Museums and Castles
Developed by Iris Serendi to illustrate best practice
Simple Guide for Creating a Welcome Video
Help neurodivergent visitors feel safe and welcomed by providing a visual and verbal preview of their experience—all created easily with a smartphone.
Training and support
We will be launching a range of training programmes, resources and detailing our consultancy offer to support organisations in their development. Alongside this we are also working on wider support for those wishing to develop their individual practice - see below for more.
The Museums and Neurodiversity Network
The network seeks to provide an opportunity for individuals to share their experiences and insights, exchange ideas and collaborate towards our shared goal of creating a more understanding, equitable and neurodivergent-friendly museum sector. Learning together and calling out good and bad practice. The network is neurodiverse - consisting of both neurodivergent members and members of the neuromajority. Not all of our members come from museums, everyone has varying experience and backgrounds both professionally and personally. The network currently meets online quarterly, typically on a Tuesday 10:30 - 12:00. We are looking to add a second meeting each quarter hosted on an evening. We work to ensure these meetings are accessible. All are welcome and its free to join the network, to do so just come along to a meeting!
Keep posted here, subscribe to our mailing list, or follow us on twitter, for more info.
How to create equitable experiences for neurodivergent people in museums
Our next steps training – creating equitable spaces for neurodivergent people
Introduction to Neurodiversity
If you’re looking for the first steps into transforming your organisation for and with neurodivergent people, this training is what you need to get started!
Museums and Neurodiversity Network Meeting
We run a regular networking event for all those looking to make a difference within the cultural sector. Find out when our next meeting is and sign up to join!
Collecting practices-reflecting neurodivergent lives and experiences
Often there’s a temptation only to consider access in terms of creating equitable spaces. This training session explores how to ensure neurodivergent people are reflected and represented through cultural collections and displays.
Blog
We aim to publish a wide variety of neurodivergent voices here and support a greater understanding of what neurodiversity is, and how museums can better support and work with neurodivergent people.
Training Offer
All of our training is delivered by neurodivergent experts in the cultural sector and offers participants the following reasonable adjustments: – Closed captions – Opportunity to have their audio / visual off – Use of chat to introduce themselves if they feel comfortable to – Ability to participate in the breakout spaces without having to … Continued
Support us via sponsorship
The Neurodiverse Museum is looking for sponsorship from a number of accessibility, equity driven and neurodiversity forward businesses to support us to continue our work making the cultural sectors more equitable for and representative of our neurodiverse population.
Art Fund awards The Neurodiverse Museum project grant!
The Neurodiverse Museum has been awarded a grant of £10,000 from Art Fund to deliver a nine-month project (July 2025-March 2026) to support museums and galleries to become more inclusive for neurodivergent people.
The Postal Museum – Co-Creating Resources with Neurodivergent Visitors
Case-Study by researcher Iris Sirendi.
The Postal Museum in Farringdon, London, has made significant strides toward accessibility.
Through a collaboration with Ambitious About Autism, they co-created events and resources to support
neurodivergent visitors, ensuring that their needs were at the forefront of the design
process.