Visiting with ASN pupils

A colourful sensory backpack is available to borrow for free for pupils with additional support needs.

This contains an appealing selection of items ranging from fun and soothing sensory toys to ear-defenders and dark glasses, and has been created to support and enhance the museum experience for pupils.

You can request this when you book your visit to us. The backpack is available on a first come, first served basis and must be booked in advance when using with a school group.

A selection of visual communication cards (in the style of PECS) have been developed for some of our most popular objects in the museum. These are available to download before visiting to help with planning your visit and can also be borrowed from the Museum’s information desks.

Download communication cards

Download ancient Egypt communication cards

The Museum has developed visual stories featuring pictures of the museum and some information about what to expect when you visit. They are available in Powerpoint form so you can edit it yourself. 

Self-led visit visual story

Booked workshop visit visual story

Visual Story in Ukrainian

Many of our galleries offer large print labels. Please ask upon booking as to which might suit your class.

We can provide resources beforehand such as trails or workshop booklets so you can enlarge and view before your visit. We can also provide some resources in larger formats.

Staff leading our workshops are happy to wear microphones provided.

We also have a set of hearing helpers which staff can use during a session. Hearing helpers are currently unavailable due to Covid-19.

Our Auditorium has an induction loop.

Read our information about getting to the museum. All our entrances are wheelchair accessible.

You may wish to enter the museum via the Tower Entrance – this avoids the busy entrance hall by the main entrance and the need to go upstairs/lift to get into the main part of the museum.

We can adapt some of our schools programme to suit pupils with additional support needs. Get in touch with us to discuss what sessions might suit your class: schools@nms.ac.uk

It can get noisy and busy in the museum. There are also a number of exhibits that feature noises. Particular things to note include:

• The Millenium Clock – this goes off on the hour and includes music, lights and moving parts.
• The Ritchie clock in the Grand Gallery will make a sound every 15 minutes but it’s not too loud.
• The hand dryers in the toilets are quite loud so please be aware if you are using these facilities.
• The Imagine gallery and Performance and Lives both have musical instruments which can be played.
• There are a number of audio-visual displays (videos) within the museum – if these are a problem a member of staff can advise of other galleries to visit.

In general, the Scottish galleries and the Art, Design and Fashion galleries are calmer spaces.

You can find out more using our sensory map and visual story.

If at any time your child finds the visit overwhelming, a member of staff can direct you to quieter areas in the museum. A number of calmer spaces are also identified in the pre-visit visual story.

You can find out more using our sensory map and visual story.

If you have any questions or problems during your visit, please speak to a member of our Visitor Experience team. They will be present throughout the galleries or at our information desks in the Entrance Hall, the Tower Entrance or outside the Level 3 Exhibition Gallery. The VE team wear purple shirts and navy blazers.