This week is World Autism Awareness Week 2020 and to mark this important event the Golden Thread Gallery is launching our new Social Story™ on our website. We’ve designed it to help make visiting the gallery, and engaging with visual art, easier and more enjoyable for young visitors on the autism spectrum.
Thanks to funding from the Arts Council of Northern Ireland, we’ve been able to develop and create this new step-by-step guide to exactly what visitors can expect when they come to the Golden Thread. It’s available to view and download free of charge on our website here and at the bottom of this page too.
Once the current public health situation has improved, and we’re advised that it’s safe to re-open the gallery, we will also be making free printed copies of the guide available, both in the gallery and to organisations who work with and support young people on the autism spectrum in Northern Ireland.
Our unique Social Story™, ‘My Visit to the Golden Thread Gallery’, was developed using the pioneering model first created by Carol Gray in the 1990s, alongside research into current best practice in the international arts and cultural sector.
Creating the guide has helped the GTG team to take a fresh look at the gallery ourselves, and to consider accessibility from a new perspective.
We are always working to make the gallery as welcoming as possible to all visitors. We hope that we will welcome many new visitors and their families once we are open again!