Visitors with Learning Difficulties
Although it is unusual for budgets to be allocated ATS Heritage has recently worked on a project with the Mary Rose Museum to provide interpretation for visitors with learning difficulties. Although sometimes a ‘Basic Language Tour’ would be appropriate for visitors with a limited grasp of the English language this was not deemed appropriate for the large groups of children with learning difficulties. One of the challenges is to select the appropriate script for the visitor and to make it easier and non-judgmental we used the following approach:
As there is a wide spectrum of needs within this visitor group, we suggest that the tour is available in three different versions:
- The Short Tour, aimed at those visitors with a significant learning difficulty. On this tour, visitors will hear between one and five simple sentences at each stop relating directly to what they are looking at, and putting across the main message (or a simplified version of it) for that stop.
- The Medium Tour, aimed at those with a medium learning difficulty. This tour would cover the main points of the museum’s storyline in a very simple, concise and easy-to-follow way.
- The Long Tour, aimed at those with a more minor learning difficulty. This would be the most comprehensive tour, with more detail than the previous two tours and also offering the visitor the option of choosing to hear additional information or archive material.
Please contact us for further details on this project as we have developed an approach that is layered, with semantics and syntax as suggested by groups such as the Downs Syndrome Society and Mencap. Obviously we would be delighted to consult to develop tours for particular needs.
Example Script
Short tour
Stop 1 - Statue of Henry VIII
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Narrator 1 |
This is a model of a King called Henry VIII. He lived a very long time ago. His favourite ship was called the Mary Rose. |
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[Hear tone, to indicate end of stop and to move on] |
Medium tour
Stop 1 - Statue of Henry VIII
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{sound of Tudor music fades in and out ....] |
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Narrator 1 |
This is a model of a King called Henry VIII. He lived hundreds of years ago.He wanted a brand new warship to fight his enemies. The ship was built here in Portsmouth. She was called the Mary Rose. |
Long tour
Stop 1 - Statue of Henry VIII
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[sound of Tudor music fades in and out] |
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Narrator 1 |
This is a model of a king called King Henry the Eighth, This model is exactly the same size as he was! He became King of England hundreds of years ago in 1509. His family were called the Tudors. Lots of people remember him because he had six wives! The ship was called the Mary Rose. Some people think she was named after Henry’s younger sister Mary - and the Tudor rose, the symbol of the Tudor family. Others think that because people were very religious in those days, that she was named after the Virgin Mary. The Mary Rose became Henry’s favorite warship. |
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Narrator 2 |
Let’s go over to the model of the ship. Then press 2 on your handset. |
