Particularly when designing activities in the museum environment aimed at persons with special needs, it is of utmost importance to consult with the considered target groups. In doing so, museum staff should first of all understand as thoroughly as possible the real needs of the target groups and, in a second phase, together with them, they should identify the solutions which best answer such needs, and the respective expectations as well.
For example, in the case of the project “Art, culture and museum accessibility for Deaf audience (ART&SIGNS)” in which ANPEDA – Asociatia Nationala a Profesorilor pentru Elevi cu Deficiete de Auz Virgil Florea (Romania) was a partner, “Moldova” National Museum Complex of Iași, Romania was ANPEDA’s associated partner and as such the staff of the museum organization benefitted from an introductory training in the usage of sign language. The advantage of this training was that the deaf trainer spent enough time with the museum professionals to understand the specificity of the museum language, which requires specific knowledge and adaptation skills, as the vocabulary usually employed in a museum environment is quite different from the one used in everyday situations.
Moreover, when designing activities for people with neurocognitive disorders, it is of outmost importance to discuss with the person accompanying them so to know their stressful areas and try to avoid them as much as possible. For instance, if they do not like noisy environments, then the respective parts of the museum circuit will be avoided, or visits should be scheduled at such hours that allow a rather quiet museum experience, and/or headphones can be provided for noise reduction. Furthermore, if light might be an issue, sunglasses can be provided by the museum staff to ameliorate the discomfort.