The vision: To further develop the provisions offered to visitors who are Deaf or hard of hearing by consulting with the families who are likely to use them, with an aim to make our collections more inclusive and accessible to this audience.
Project Summary: We were successful in securing a small grant through the Conurbation Small Grant Scheme to consult with visitors who are deaf or hard of hearing and may therefore experience some sensory barriers to accessing the museum.
The selected families are invited to explore the museum and participate in activities as they would during a normal visit to a museum. On the same visit the families take part in a feedback session, where they discuss their visit and ideas of how to further develop the services offered by Thinktank to its visitors based on their experience and creating an action plan as a result.
Thinktank will spend approximately three months working on the agreed action plan as suggested by the participating families. The families will then are return to Thinktank to give further comments and approval of the developed provisions.
The project has led to us forming close relationships with four major Deaf led community support groups based in Birmingham. The project will also be documented from beginning to end by BBC See Hear for their television programme.
Your contact name: Nichole Samuels
Your organization: Thinktank, Birmingham
Participants: Families with members of the family who are Deaf or hard of hearing. At least one child in the family aged 7 – 11 years, representing Thinktank’s core family audience.