Neurodivergence in museums: making the cultural heritage sector accessible using participatory practices

Fletcher, Aimee Leanne (2025) Neurodivergence in museums: making the cultural heritage sector accessible using participatory practices. PhD thesis, University of Glasgow.

Abstract

Museums and cultural heritage institutions have the potential to be engaging spaces for autistic and neurodivergent (AuND) people. However, this community continues to be under served by these organisations. While the sector has increasingly undertaken work to make its
organisations more “autism-friendly”, this tends to be primarily geared towards children or young people and lacks community involvement. The thesis focuses on three research questions:

1. What are the motivations for and barriers to museum visiting for AuND adults?

2. What do museums currently offer AuND visitors, and what are the perceived barriers
museums face when addressing their accessibility issues?

3. How can museums learn from AuND adults to adapt their practices to become more
engaging and accessible to this audience?

The author, an autistic researcher, answers these questions by utilising participatory and
emancipatory practices. Throughout the research project, AuND people were consulted on key aspects of the research – such as the research questions, aims, survey questions, and findings analysis – to ensure that the research was driven and informed by the needs and priorities of the people or the community the project is designed to serve. The research was carried out in three key stages: 1) consultation about the research, 2) surveys of AuND adults and museum workers, and 3) workshops presenting the findings and exploring the direction of a guidance toolkit for the sector. The research received an elevated level of engagement and participation throughout the data collection process, with 466 AuND people and 130 museum workers responding to the surveys.

The results show that AuND respondents are motivated to visit museums for a variety of reasons, with most respondents indicating that they would go to museums more often if they were more accessible to their needs. The research also highlights a broad range of barriers (for example, the sensory environment and lack of understanding of neurodiversity) that impact an AuND person’s ability to visit a museum, but indicates that many of these barriers could be addressed with often straightforward actions.

The research also reveals the barriers and experiences of museum workers in developing and delivering accessibility provisions for neurodivergent audiences. A key finding was the need for accessibility considerations for AuND workers, whether paid or voluntary, to be considered alongside the needs of visitors.

• Item Type: Thesis (PhD)
• Qualification Level: Doctoral
• Additional Information: This work was supported by the University of Glasgow’s Lord Kelvin and Adam Smith studentship (2020-2024).
• Colleges/Schools: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > Information Studies
• Supervisor's Name: Economou, Professor Maria, Simmons, Dr. David and Horlin, Dr. Chiara
• Date of Award: 2025
• Depositing User: Theses Team
• Unique ID: glathesis:2025-85238
• Copyright: Copyright of this thesis is held by the author.
• Date Deposited: 20 Jun 2025 13:58
• Last Modified: 23 Jun 2025 11:50
• Thesis DOI: 10.5525/gla.thesis.85238
• URI: https://theses.gla.ac.uk/id/eprint/85238