“Is It hidden? It Is open!”: the Formation of Basic Understanding of Communication and Information Transmission in a Museum Exhibition

Оbjectives. The Cryptography Museum in Moscow has launched a program called “Is it hidden? It is open!” for people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). It is based on current principles for organizing museum programs and designing visitor experiences for people with different life experiences. The program “Is it hidden? It is open!” is aimed at developing basic ideas about communication and methods of transmitting information, creating conditions and prerequisites for socialization, expanding the horizons of adolescents and young adults with ASD during leisure time in a museum exhibition

Methods. Three sets of the program “Is it hidden? It is open!” were conducted with the participation of 5 to 9 adolescents with ASD aged 14—18 years. Over the course of four interconnected meetings, the participants were introduced to the theme of the museum. Basic knowledge and skills in communication, encryption, and data security were developed through group games. The program also included a final quest. Regular interac- tions included feedback from parents and participants, as well as several focused group interviews at the end of the program. Observations of participants completing assignments and engaging in various activities were also conducted.

Results. The analysis of the results showed that the participation in the program “Is it hidden? It is open!” contributed to the development of new communication methods and skills for adolescents with ASD, as well as to the cre- ation of positive social experiences and an increase in cognitive interest. This was demonstrated, for example, during an impromptu performance at the final session by young people who had not interacted with each other before the program, and during their joint participation in the final quest game.

Conclusions. The group participation of adolescents with ASD in the program “Is it hidden? It is open!” allowed them to consolidate rules of social behavior and communication with others. Social and communication skills, as well as the knowledge the participants gained about new possibilities for using means and methods of communication, allowed them to express their own thoughts and desires, as well as better understand those of other people. This was noted by parents and museum staff. In the future, the museum plans to increase the effectiveness of the program for adolescents with ASD by organizing preparatory conversations, prolonging the program, introducing additional adapted materials, for example, social stories, sensory safety cards, visual schedules.

Introduction

Russian museums have rich experience in implementing programmes designed for young people with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) [7]. More and more cultural, educational and leisure spaces are oriented towards the needs and requirements of people with autism: adapted programmes are developed, special physical, sensory and psychological conditions are created. Projects dedicated to socialization, further vocational guidance and employment of people with ASD are being actively developed, which was largely facilitated by the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ratified by the Russian Federation in 2012, as well as subsequent changes in the legal framework. At the same time, as can be seen, the most active work on adapting programmes for people with ASD today is usually carried out by art or local history (historical, biological) museums[1]. Scientific and technical museums are still lagging behind in the creation of accessible environments for people with autism, probably largely due to the complexity of the material on offer. At the same time, life in modern society often requires young people to have well-developed digital skills, competence in working with various sources of information, and the ability to work with technical devices and tools.

Since its opening at the end of 2021, the Museum of Cryptography has paid special attention to developing standards and methods of working with different categories of visitors. The main challenge for the museum's curators and staff is to bring complex, often abstract content to people who may not have been familiar with the word "cryptography" before. One of the groups of visitors who require a special approach in communicating the content of the museum are visitors with ASD, including children and teenagers. The experience of conducting adapted guided tours of the museum has shown that a more effective and comfortable introduction to the museum's themes requires the development of a series of consecutive visits to each of the halls, as well as preliminary sessions that would allow young people with autism to prepare for the perception of more complex material. To this end, the museum has launched a programme called "Is it hidden? It is open!", aimed at forming conditions and prerequisites for the socialization of teenagers and young adults with ASD in the process of leisure activities in the museum, forming basic ideas about communication and ways of transmitting information, as well as broadening their horizons.

Children with ASD at the Museum

Although autism as a diagnosis has been known for about a hundred years [15], practices aimed at the inclusion of people with ASD in culture and science began to develop only at the end of the twentieth century following the formation of the social model of understanding disability [5]. The specificity of museums as platforms, largely free from medicalist views [4], allowed them to assume the role of inclusion agents in the sociocultural sphere. At the same time, it is important to take into account that behavioral, sensory, and communicative features peculiar to people with ASD may differ significantly from what museum staff are used to in their daily work. This factor is additionally complicated by the fact that this category of visitors has the so-called "invisible disability" [16], i.e. it is not always obvious to museum staff that a person may need separate conditions for visiting expositions or events.

Studies of the experience of visitors with ASD in museums have been conducted in recent years both in the West [18; 19] and in Russia. In general, it is fundamentally important to take into account that the specifics of working with this group of visitors require, just as with any other category of visitors, in addition to taking into account specific recommendations [2; 17], providing opportunities to choose: to enroll in a special programme created for children or adults with ASD, to come to a public programme or to visit the museum individually [16].

The staff's understanding of the difficulties of familiarizing themselves with the exhibition of a science and technology museum dedicated to such an abstract discipline as cryptography was reinforced by observations of visitors with ASD in the first months after opening, when the museum worked mainly with individual visitors or with organized group visits, including those supported by individual public organizations or informal associations (e.g. the 12MM! project [15]).

The narrative in the exposition is built around the key epochs of encryption and cryptography development: antiquity (appearance of the first ciphers and encryption devices), the period of the XVI-XIX centuries (appearance of the first encryption services and complication of encryption techniques), the XX century (appearance of the first encryption machines and development of new communication channels - telegraph, radio, telephony, television), finally, the XXI century (ubiquity of the Internet and online communication). This requires visitors, for example, to understand such abstract concepts as "coding", "encryption" or "sign", "symbol system", etc., which is one of the key difficulties in conducting classes [8] or excursions. It also was a key motivation for launching the programme "Is it hidden? It is open!".

Methods

The programme "Is it hidden? It is open!", aimed at 14-18 year olds [2] with ASD, was launched in December 2022 to coincide with the reopening of the museum after a minor renovation. Between December 2022 and June 2023, three sets of groups took place, each with between 5 and 9 teens, and an additional session was held to bring together alumni from several groups. The total number of participants in the sessions was 22.

Programme goal: to form conditions and prerequisites for socialization of young people with ASD in the process of leisure activities organized in the conditions of the museum exposition and aimed at broadening the outlook, forming basic ideas of communication in children and increasing their readiness to independently explore the main exposition of the museum.

The sessions were conducted without parental involvement. As one participant noted in feedback after the session, "I like the sessions without my mum" (participant in group 3). The exception was two sessions in which parents could partially participate: during the third session, participants learnt various steganography techniques (the science of hiding the very fact of information transmission) and at the end hid messages for their parents, who came to the classroom at the end and searched for the messages together with their children. At the last session, parents and adults were invited to participate in a tea party with sweets and snacks.

The museum staff conducting the programme paid special attention to working with parents. It is important to emphasize that while the children were leaving for the session, the museum curator conducted guided tours of the museum with the parents. At the end of each meeting, teachers talked with parents, describing its stages in detail and emphasizing important details. Parents were interested in the process, the child's involvement in it, and often asked for individual feedback or advice on how to organize work with the child at home. The discussion was supported by demonstrating the lesson materials and explaining the homework for the week. Parents argued the importance of these conversations, for example: "He behaves very differently with us. What you are telling me now I find amazing and very interesting" (father of group 3 participant). During the last session, parents participated in a focus group. It should be noted that during the programme many parents began to communicate, exchanged contacts and now, after the course, continue to keep in touch, sharing important information and experiences, discussing their children's education and many other issues of interest to them.

Due to the limited ability to obtain and interpret quantitative performance assessments resulting from the statistically insignificant number of participants, the authors conducted a series of participant observations during the sessions, as well as regular collection of feedback from parents and in several focused group interviews at the end of each series of sessions.

4. At the end of the session series:

Project Results and Discussion

Feedback during and after the sessions was collected through communication with parents, regular observations of participants, and focused group interviews with parents during the fourth session. The impact of the sessions was assessed through tasks that participants completed at home after a number of sessions, as well as by recording changes in participants' behavior. As part of the observation at each session, situations of spontaneous interaction between the participants, facts of communication with each other, and manifestations of negative reactions were recorded. It is important to note that specific behavioral reactions (shouting, running, pinching, etc.) were observed in participants in all sessions with approximately the same frequency, while the number of situations of interaction between participants increased from 0-2 in the first session to 20-30 in the fourth session, depending on the group. It is indicative that at the final session of the first intake, the participants, who, according to their parents, find it very difficult to get in touch with new people, joined together independently and performed an improvised play about the alphabet to their parents, thus not only consolidating the knowledge about different symbolic systems acquired during the course, but also demonstrating their readiness to communicate. Throughout the course, all participants showed varying degrees of interest in communicating with each other about leisure activities and shared hobbies. For example, a passion for learning about the Underground Railroad brought several participants in the group together in a lengthy conversation. Discussion of cars interested more than half of the group and led to active discussion between classes.

Twelve parents participated in follow-up group interviews after the sessions. All parents were positive about their child's experience of the programme, but three of the 12 parents noted that they had not yet noticed specific changes in their child's behavior or skills. As one participant's father explained, "the effects may be delayed and may show up unexpectedly after some time, maybe even after a few years" (father, focus group 2). The focus group also discussed issues such as:

Conclusions

Thus, the goal of the programme "Is it hidden? It is open!", launched in the Museum of Cryptography at the end of 2022, is to form conditions and prerequisites for socialization of young people with ASD in the conditions of the museum exposition, to expand their outlook, to form basic ideas about communication and to increase their readiness to explore the main exposition of the museum independently. The need to create the programme arose because the museum exposition, due to its specific subject matter, turned out to be too complex and overloaded both in terms of its content and the characteristics of the sensory and physical space, which required the development of a series of consecutive visits to each of the halls, as well as preliminary classes that prepared young people with autism for the perception of more complex material.

Based on the results of the programme and the research conducted within it, which included a series of participant observations during the sessions, collecting feedback from parents in the form of regular interaction and several focused group interviews at the end of the sessions, it can be concluded that the "Is it hidden? It is open!" programme contributes to the participants' positive experience of interacting with each other, as well as experiencing joint activities aimed at achieving a common result, leading to the development of cognitive interest and broadening horizons. This is made possible, among other things, by the multi-sensory nature of the lessons and the use of different modalities of perceiving information when discussing abstract concepts and disciplines, by introducing additional adapted materials (social history, sensory safety map, visual timetable, etc.) into the lessons, as well as by the continuous consolidation of knowledge and skills in the form of group games, including the final quest. Parents particularly appreciate the value of the extended nature of the programme (including additional sessions with participants beyond the four sessions of the course). They also appreciate the separate programme of activities for carers, which has been developed to keep adults occupied during the sessions and to encourage community building among parents.

As part of the further development of the programme, it seems necessary to further acquaint participants with the museum's exposition. For example, a session has already been held in the "Pre-Machine Cryptography" hall dedicated to written communication, and further masterclasses will be held in the 20th century hall with the prospect of introducing participants to the exposition of the most complex hall dedicated to digital literacy, computer security and the importance of cryptography in the modern world.

[1] For example, see the results of the All-Russian Competition "Inclusive Museum" for 2017-2022.

[2] Young people of other ages also participated in separate sets: the first set included a 12-year-old and the third a 26-year-old.

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