A leading attraction has become the first in the north-east to secure autism-friendly status.
Fraserburgh’s Museum of Scottish Lighthouses has been working towards the award over the winter.
Their efforts have been aimed at making the museum more accessible to those on the autism spectrum – and those efforts have already attracted the attention of the National Autistic Society.
To qualify for its accreditation, tourist attractions and other businesses have to meet a range of criteria such as producing customer information, increasing staff awareness of autism and adjusting the building’s physical environment to meet the needs of autistic visitors.
They must also show a willingness to be flexible to individual requests and promote an understanding of autism.
Michael Strachan and Anna Watt, who form the museum’s collections team, made up a pack for autistic visitors featuring information like opening times, exhibition details and a map.
The pair also had autism awareness training.
Mr Strachan said: “We were set the task of achieving the autism award as a winter project by our manager, Lynda McGuigan, who feels passionately about the issue.
“We are thrilled that the museum has achieved the Autism Friendly Award.
“We worked well together as part of a team to create the autism friendly pack, which is now available on our website.
“This project has been successful in making the museum more accessible to people with autism by highlighting what they can expect during a visit to our museum.
“We are equally proud at the fact that we are the first museum in the area to achieve autism friendly status.”
It is understood the Museum of Scottish Lighthouses will officially receive their award in the next week.
A spokeswoman from the National Autistic Society said: “The National Autistic Society’s Autism Friendly Award champions premises who commit to making sure that autistic visitors receive the same warm welcome as everybody else.
“This doesn’t mean investing in expensive alterations or training your staff to be autism experts.
“Small changes can make a massive difference to autistic visitors and just a little understanding can go a long way.”
