Making the Most of Visiting Attractions through the Use of Multisensory Experiences for PMLD and Sensory Learners

Museums, cinemas and parks are full of sensory experiences: the smell of the café, the whoosh of the drinks machine at the cinema, gravel crunching underfoot. With some planning, a learner with PMLD or sensory needs can get far more from a visit than a look at things behind glass.

You'll learn to choose a venue with the right questions (ramps, Changing Places toilets, quieter times) and to do a pre-visit with your phone and your "sensory head" on. You'll prepare your learners with multisensory stories and objects of reference, so the place feels familiar when they arrive, and pack a few simple props that bring the displays within reach.

The ideas come from a teacher with 27 years' experience of learners with PMLD. They carry on after the day itself, with memory boxes and repeat visits that help your learners go back to what they found.