2010 Digital Access for People with a Learning Disability Winner<\/p>\n
The project is largely user led. The Museum, Siren Arts and Advocacy and Loud Minority were excellent facilitators in a project in which people with a learning disability learnt new skills, enjoyed themselves and shaped the content of the film. Participants led the way the project developed.<\/p>\n
The film was of such quality as to be included in the Museum\u2019s Key-Stage 2 learning materials. By celebrating the abilities of learning disabled people, it contributes to changing public perceptions of people with a learning disability<\/p>\n
This project was part of a wider \u2018Medicine at the Movies\u2019 project, undertaken with five other medical museums across the UK. Medicine at the Movies involved working with under-represented audiences. in museums. The included oler people, refugees and asylum seekers, deaf and hard of hearing people and mental health service users. Participants produced films inspired by the collections, gained new skills and confidence. For some involvement in a Medicine at the Movies project was life-changing.<\/p>\n
The British Dental Association Museum worked with people with a learning difficulty. It wanted to extend its engagement with people with with a learning difficulty. It is known that people with a learning difficulty have less access to health information. This prompted the museum to engage in a project which increases knowledge of dental hygiene, in a fun and exploratory way. People with a learning difficulty also have limited access to multi-media technologies that are widely available to the rest of the population. Yet these can powerfully support communication and self-expression.<\/p>\n
The project involved introducing the participants to the collection through a guided tour of the museum, watching archive film and handling of original artefacts. This ran alongside learning film-making techniques with a variety of cameras and included learning about animation. Each participant was given the opportunity to contribute to the overall theme of the film and to decide if they wanted to make their own individual film to be incorporated. Several participants made individual films which link in with the wider film, to which everybody contributed. This explores a visit to the museum and the collections. The film maker, Bhavesh Hindocha, was chosen to facilitate the project. His company, Loud Minority, specialises in working with marginalised communities and giving people the tools, knowledge and support to express themselves through film making.<\/p>\n
The resulting film not only illustrates the learning procedure but also the enthusiasm and sheer pleasure of the participants in the creative processes that they so rarely get the opportunity to be involved in. Links to the complete film on You Tube and three individual films are available on the BDA website<\/a>.<\/p>\n The project culminated in a special screening of the film at the Thackray Museum in Leeds in March this year alongside the films made by the other Medicine at the Movies museums.<\/p>\n The film is now included in the museum\u2019s learning materials for Key-Stage 2 curricilum activities.<\/p>\n