2022 has been a great year for activities for Autism Bucks, and our visit to the Science Museum in London was no exception. This venerable Institution holds regular, ticket-only evening events it calls “Night Owls” where the environment is adjusted to make it acceptable to people on the spectrum. It describes Night Owls as “.. a sensory friendly event for visitors aged 16+ who need a quieter environment to enjoy the museum. More information is available here.
Once again with grateful thanks to our benefactors, The Rothschild Foundation, we were able to hire a minibus which collected our members from Aylesbury and Amersham before heading into London. It’s fortunate the minibus was comfortable and relaxing because the drive into London was anything but. With the M4 closed, all inbound traffic converged on the M40 making it a very slow journey. Also, for some reason, the police and ambulances seemed to be out in force, with blue lights flashing and sirens blaring.
What a transition when we eventually stepped inside the Science Museum! The peace and tranquility was amazing, and in this vast building the total number of people attending was tiny. We were free to wander around enjoying the incredible exhibits in the sort of solitude you normally only find in huge cathedrals. For those more actively minded there were opportunities to use all the interactive displays, and one of our more PC-literate members took on some coding practice.
We were there for 2 hours, and everyone agreed we had barely scratched the surface. If it’s been many years since you last went to the Science Museum you really should add it to your list, because the quality and the extent of the various exhibitions was a sight to behold.
It was a brilliant evening and so good to tour the excellent and informative displays without any form of sensory overload to interfere with the enjoyment. Chandrika and I shared that same sense of freedom to take in loads of useful facts, not least that Sir Isaac Newton ( supposedly neurodiverse too) deliberately made his mathematical discoveries obscure, so that only those with similar intellectual prowess could find out what he had discovered and present this to the world!
What makes me chuckle, is that on the Facebook Asperger groups there are similar types today who make their research equally obscure.
David Waddleton – Autism Bucks Member since 2018
Our journey home was a replica of our journey in, but less stressful because the calmness of the museum stayed with us. The whole event has inspired us to seek out more museums that offer similar facilities – our activity planning for 2023 is already starting.
