Information for neurodivergent visitors

You can download our visual story for Wakefield Museum before you visit. We also have a version of the visual story with alt text.

You can download a floor plan of the museum.

You can download a sensory map of the main galleries before you visit.

We also have a sensory map of the Plastic Fantastic? feature exhibition.

Copies of both sensory maps are available in the Pick and Mix station in the Welcome Space.

Some of our exhibition spaces have low light levels to protect the delicate objects on display. 

The lights in the A World of Good gallery are operated by a motion sensor. This is to help protect the delicate objects on display from light damage. When no-one is in the gallery, it will be dark. If you are the first person to enter the gallery in a while, the lights will come on as you go in.

There is a large glass display case inset into the floor of the A World of Good gallery. The lights in this case will also come on as you enter the space. You can walk or wheel over this case.

There are lots of tactile tools and resources available to support your visit in the Pick and Mix station. This is in the Welcome Space when you first enter the Museum.

There are tactile elements around the galleries. In the Welcome Space, there is a Stone Age hand axe and polished axe head below the display case that you can touch. There is also a quern stone interactive that you can touch.

In the main gallery, the wooden Victorian Wakefield Prison door is on open display. You can touch this.

There is also a working clocking-in machine that you can put a timecard into and get it punched. (Please note: this makes a sudden loud noise).

In the Plastic Fantastic? exhibition there are five mini replica objects of some of the key objects on display. These are fixed to the waist-height barriers that go around the main exhibition space. You can touch these.

In the interactive area just outside the main exhibition space there are three activities to try.

• The first activity is about separating plastics using different liquids. You can turn the three bottles attached to the wall to mix up the plastics and liquid.   

• The second activity is a timeline and facts activity. Match the facts to when they happened in the past on the timeline. You can find the answers around the main gallery, or ask a member of staff for help.

• The third activity is a plastic sorting activity. Work out which of the six types of plastic each object is and place it in the matching basket.

In the A World of Good gallery there are soft toy birds that play bird song when you squeeze them. There are binoculars to help you spot all of the different features in the paper sculptures. There is a mini 'build your own nature reserve' feature. 

Generally, the site is quieter during weekdays (Monday to Friday). It can be louder at weekends and on school holidays. 

We do also regularly have school visits attending during the week, which can be excitable and noisy. 

Every Thursday in term time, 10:30am to 11:30am, is our Museum Minis toddler sessions. These can be busier and noisier than normal.

You can contact us in advance to find out when might be the best time for you to visit.

We also have weekly Relaxed Opening sessions every Thursday, 4pm to 6:30pm.

We have some child and adult ear defenders available in the Pick and Mix station. You can borrow these to use as you move around the museum.

There are audio elements in parts of the exhibition spaces. In the main gallery, these are touch-activated and play out loud.

There is one audio element in the main gallery which is triggered by someone moving into the space by the Wakefield Prison door. This plays audio of children singing ‘Here we go round the Mulberry Bush’.

In the Front Room, there is a 1940s wireless radio interactive which plays audio from Second World War oral history interviews when the tactile buttons are pressed. The volume of these can be turned up or down.

There is a large audio-visual screen in the Plastic Fantastic? exhibition. This will play a video exploring how domestic waste is recycled in the Wakefield district. The video auto-plays on a loop. The video is subtitled in English. British Sign Language (BSL) interpretation of the video will be coming soon. The audio plays through headphones, which are attached to the screen. If you would like the volume turning up or down, please ask a member of staff. The video lasts around 3 minutes. A faint bit of the audio bleeds into the main gallery from the headphones when it is playing.

There is a gentle ambient humming in the exhibition space from the air conditioning when this is on.

You may also enjoy the audio description guide for the Plastic Fantastic exhibition.

In the A World of Good gallery there is a soundscape. It includes a voiceover from David Attenborough and Michael Palin. Bird song and other ambient noises play in the background of the audio. The narration lasts 5 minutes. It will play automatically every 15 minutes. In between plays, there will be ambient bird song noises playing in the gallery.

There is also an audio-visual screen in the A World of Good gallery. There are 3 short films to choose from on this screen. There are buttons to press to start and stop the films. The audio plays through headphones. All the films have closed captions. There is also a rolling slideshow of images on this screen. The slideshow plays automatically as a screensaver until you press a button to start a film. There is no audio on the screensaver slideshow.

The fire alarms in the Wakefield One building are tested every Thursday around 11am. They will sound from one to three times. There will be a tannoy announcement shortly before the alarms are tested.