“As an autism advocate, I have been in many different spaces and shared my voice and opinions on several different things, and none of them has received it as well as Life.” Z King
Z King is a young autism advocate who, supported by their mother Nic, has helped Life Science Centre become more accessible.
Z first became involved with Life as an attendee of a science club arranged in partnership with the North East Autism Society (NEAS).
Z says “One day they said ‘we’re going to go do this conference. Is there anything you want us to tell them?’ And by the next day, I had an entire PowerPoint of things that I wanted to say.”
For that industry conference, Life and NEAS invited Z to speak for themselves about accessibility and inclusion.
Following this, Z worked with Life on reviewing their sensory story – which helps visitors know what to expect – and on their sensory bags, which contain things like fidgets and ear defenders.
“The thing about Life, I think particularly about Davy, is that he’s incredibly good at listening and hearing and like, it’s not tokenistic,” Nic says, of Life’s Community Liaison Manager David Jones.
“As an autism advocate, I have been in many different spaces and shared my voice and opinions on several different things,” Z says, “and none of them has received it as well as Life.”
Life also has special inclusive sessions known as Sensory Sundays.
“They turn off all the noisy machines,” Z explains. “There’s one where there’s a record player where you have to put cogs on right so it plays at the right speed, so it can get really high pitched and loud. But they turn it off on Sensory Sunday.”
This kind of adjustment might seem simple, or even insignificant to someone not attuned to the needs of communities like Z’s, but it can make a big difference.
“Before all of this, Life wasn’t somewhere we went as a family,” Nic says.
Life’s depth of awareness means an improved experience for visitors, for example the replacement of a squeaky cafe flooring, and how Life is now considering sensory issues when expanding or refurbishing exhibition space.
“In that creation they’re now thinking about neurodivergent and autistic people,” Nic says. “They’re not doing it and then going back to it and like, how do we work it?”
It’s all about centring the voice of the community you’re seeking to work with, and that has filtered through into the wider industry. Since Life platformed Z at industry conferences, others have stopped accepting conference propositions which don’t feature a direct voice of the community being represented.
“It’s just a very beautiful, safe space. You’d be surprised how few and far between they are.” Nic King
“Every time I go in to review the sensory story,” Z explains, “it gets harder and harder to find gaps, because they’re getting so much better at it.”
In Nic’s view, too many venues box tick or miss out key elements when addressing accessibility and sensory issues.
“Toilets that claim they’re accessible without paper towels in is the hill that I’m going to die on,” Nic says as an example.
The regular check-ins with Z, as a representative of the community Life is trying to support, allow them to address issues quickly as they come up.
“Davy has curiosity and reflection and that’s all you ever you want. It’s completely filtered through all the staff. It’s just lovely.” Nic King
That ethos has led to multiple award wins including in the inclusion category of the North East Tourism Awards and a Marsh Youth Voice Award for Z. Life is also the only organisation with a Gold Standard Plus Acceptance Award from NEAS.
“It’s been a genuinely sort of beautiful experience,” Nic says of working with Life. “It’s nice to see how far they’ve come, and it’s also nice that they’re still taking Z along for the journey.”
“Not only does it affect other people, but it also affects the places I can go,” Z says. “All the things I hear back, somebody saying ‘my child went here, and they absolutely love the sensory bag’. Just making it more accessible is really nice.”
That’s not the only reason Z enjoys the work they do with Life.
“I get an excuse to go to the Centre for Life and I go walk around with my clipboard,” they conclude. “I like a clipboard!”
Life is celebrating 25 years! We’ve been reminiscing about some of our favourite memories since we opened and would love to hear yours!
