Deep Collaboration for Deep Change: Evaluating Effectiveness of Accessibility

This was published in the June 2019 Cultural Access Newsletter

After receiving a local grant for accessibility improvements, the Wisconsin’s Madison Children’s Museum undertook a deep collaboration with their community, constituents, stakeholders, and the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, resulting in a toolkit for self-evaluation that can provide a model for other cultural institutions. “Our #1 priority in accessibility is creating spaces where you can be your whole self and not be judged,” comments Sandra Bonnici.

The Idea: Community Co-Creation

Characteristics of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), including sensory sensitivities, can significantly alter the way in which a person experiences a space. Recently, cultural institutions have devoted more time, finances and staffing to creating inclusive spaces, programming and exhibits that are accessible to audiences with sensory processing challenges. Although there has been an increase in sensory-friendly programming and accommodations at cultural institutions across the United States, little has been done to assess the individualized needs of the unique spaces or evaluate the effectiveness of the implemented changes in meeting the needs of the community.

In 2017, the Madison Children’s Museum received a three-year local grant to expand visitor accessibility and inclusion efforts, specifically focusing on the needs of families with children with ASD or sensory processing challenges. In their endeavor to create a place where all felt welcomed, valued and included, the museum strove to live the ideals of access, diversity, equity and inclusion. Collaboration and inclusiveness are two of eight core values that drive the institutions programming and decision-making. “The Children’s Museum is committed to being accessible,” stated Sandra Bonnici, Associate Director of Education, Diversity and Inclusion, “Instead of adding on to what we’re doing, why don’t we create an accessibility evaluation? It could become a benchmark for other institutions.”

The Children’s Museum contracted Jeff Spitzer-Resnick, a facilitator who works closely with the ASD community to assist in convening a coalition of stakeholders, including parents, therapists, self-advocates, educators and researchers to leverage their strengths and co-create change. It was through the coalition that Dr. Karla Ausderau, Assistant Professor in the Occupational Therapy Program at University Wisconsin-Madison, first became involved.

Using methods from the Harwood Institute, the Children’s Museum gained perspective on the hopes, aspirations and challenges of their stakeholders in terms of their museum’s experiences. They interpreted this feedback into relevant categories: exhibits, programs, staff interactions and operations. Dr. Ausderau’s team of researchers then reviewed the stakeholder feedback. “Using a model adapted from Christiansen and Baum’s Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance theoretical model, we assessed how experiences come together to allow visitors to fully participate in meaningful ways,” shares Ausderau of the complex task of distilling a wide variety of input into evaluation and actionable change.

The theoretical model directed Ausderau’s team on how to approach assessing the important components of the museum experience for families with children with ASD. They conducted interviews with museum staff, reviewed artifacts, and observed open space and structured programming. Working closely with Bonnici, they were able to rapidly observe, develop, implement and iterate. “We started developing and piloting the assessment tools, it was an iterative process, resulting in the current version of the toolkit,” Ausderau says. The process lasted about a year, from the original stakeholder meeting to the completion of the first draft of the toolkit.

The Outcome: The Toolkit

The result of this process is a toolkit, in the form of a 32 page document, that includes six unique tools and resources to provide a self-assessment of cultural spaces. Ranging from staff surveys to website review, the toolkit is designed to evaluate the entire experience. Although the toolkit’s original intention was to evaluate for the needs and inclusion of families with children with ASD, the toolkit uses a universal design lens to reveal modifications that truly benefit all visitors. “Whatever we do for one audience, we want it to be a great experience for all audiences,” Bonnici comments, “the universal design principles really allow us to accomplish that through the toolkit.”

Using the toolkit, the Children’s Museum evaluated their existing programming, discovering areas of improvement they had not previously considered, and began implementing changes through evidenced intentionality. Currently, they are in the process of releasing video trip-planning tools. Although similar in nature to visual schedules and social stories, Bonnici chose to pursue video modeling first.  The short videos will be useful to a larger audience and can provide auditory and visual information about the museum itself and benefits of museum learning. “In addition to providing great pre-visit tools and resources for the ASD community, we also wanted to make the learning in our spaces and what to expect more visible for all audiences,” she shares.

Other changes to the museum include predictable and regularly scheduled sensory-friendly times, a sensory-friendly bathroom (accessible to people with disabilities and including, both big and little toilets and sinks, and both an automatic hand dryer and paper towels), sensory tools, and deep staff trainings. “We aim to be an AND. We want to provide separate sensory friendly  experiences for these audiences AND fully inclusive experiences during general admission hours,” explains Bonnici.

The Next Iteration

Over 100 institutions downloaded and used the self-evaluation toolkit, which Ausderau made available through targeted releases and listservs, while Bonnici presented the project at national and regional museum conferences. “We received a great response, which was a confirmation that this type of evaluation, a deeper dive of accessibility, wasn’t previously out there and can increase accessibility to families with children with ASD,” shares Ausderau.

Her team is starting to collect follow up surveys, which will lead to the next iteration of the toolkit. They have also received requests for consultation and interpretation of the information, foretelling a possibility of training modules for enacting data-based changes.

The Power of Collaboration

Through this collaboration, the Madison Children’s Museum and University Wisconsin-Madison created an impactful tool that can be used by other cultural institutions. In combining lived experiences, observation and analysis, they have benefited the entire community. University of Wisconsin embraces the philosophy “that education should influence people’s lives beyond the boundaries of the classroom,” a belief they have termed the Wisconsin Idea. “We really highlight that institutional value. It helps academic institutions get out of their silos to benefit the community, while also educating the next generation of practitioners,” Ausderau says of her experience.

The Wisconsin Idea seems to permeate beyond academic institutions. “How does what we do get shared so it has an impact for everybody?” Bonnici questions, “This idea is so beautifully woven into a lot of institutions and mindsets in Wisconsin, it enables such deep collaboration.”

This type of collaboration and community co-creation is imperative when increasing accessibility and inclusivity. Says Bonnici, “were committed to equity and inclusion and working with our community to build on each other’s expertise.”