Helping people with autism to make Het Kunstuur more accessible: “Some adjustments were immediately made” (Mechelen)

In the run-up to World Autism Day, which takes place today on April 2, LAVA and Het Kunstuur joined forces to make the exhibitions in Mechelen, Hasselt and Roeselare more accessible to people with autism. LAVA representatives visited the various exhibitions and poured their wishes and comments into concrete advice that Het Kunstuur started working on.

“Joost and Hans Bourlon were very interested in our advice and were immediately prepared to make adjustments,” says Els Van Beneden of LAVA. “During our first conversations, before our advice was put on paper, things were already adjusted. The website has been made clearer and people with autism can now find even more detailed information there. That predictability gives them peace of mind, so that they can visit the exhibition comfortably.”

The advice also contains a number of points of interest. One of these is the empathy of the employees. “Reception staff and ushers who can empathize with the world of people with autism and have knowledge of the entire spectrum provide great added value,” says Van Beneden. “It is not necessary to adjust the concept of Het Kunstuur. However, it is important that employees know what difficulties we may experience.”

Accessible

“Allowing people to experience art in an accessible way is central to us,” says Joost Bourlon. “We do this not only through the concept itself, with interesting storytellers and adapted music and lighting, but also by being wheelchair accessible, for example. Without really realizing it, we also turned out to be very autism-friendly, but it is interesting that the people from LAVA were able to point out a number of points to us.”

Responding one hundred percent to LAVA’s recommendations proved impossible. “For example, there is a sound effect in the Mechelen exhibition that we cannot simply give in to,” says Bourlon. “Announcing it in advance is also not a good idea. But we immediately took the advice to heart. Our employees now provide a slightly longer explanation and from the next exhibition we will clarify the narrators’ projections.”

Positive

Helen Van der Spiegel from Kortenberg has autism and visited Het Kunstuur at the start of the process. “I thought it was a very accessible and autism-friendly initiative at the time,” she says. “I like to be alone and avoid events or places with a lot of people. It is very nice that you can visit the exhibition in small groups. It was a very positive experience, even if you are not really interested in art like I am.”

“Research we conduct into autism and with people who have autism shows that they would like to experience more understanding so that they can live a more comfortable life,” says researcher Ilse Noens of KU Leuven. “Accessible culture is an example that often comes up. The fact that Het Kunstuur has started working with people with autism to ask them for tips can only be applauded.”