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For families who have a child/children with complex needs or SEND (special educational needs and disabilities)
Our Family SEND programme offers free, artist-led, creative workshops and resources to families with a child/children with complex needs. The workshops take place at Autograph's gallery in Hackney, London.
We launched the programme in May 2019, with our first family workshop following a three-year partnership with Project Art Works on their EXPLORERS programme, which aimed to build capacity in visual arts venues and improve understanding of barriers to participation and attendance among disabled practitioners and audiences.
Our approach prioritises the social model of disability and aims to create an appropriate, safe environment which is welcoming and accepting of all ways of being, adapting the environment to lessen the potential for anything which might trigger anxiety or distress.
Find out more about the different elements of the programme below. Interested in attending with your family? Join our Family SEND mailing list to be among the first to find out about new workshops and activities.
Child-led creative play sessions for all the family, based at Autograph's gallery in Hackney
Packed full of creative materials and ideas, posted out to 80 families during lockdown
Inviting the wider public to engage with the programme and the art made by families during the workshops
Kids, adults, carers, grandparents - all the family are invited to participate!
A CPD event for teachers and art educators, sharing our learning about creative play as a method for working with children with SEND
Sharing our work with other practitioners in the field
Sharing our learning and updates from the programme
Celebrating our Family SEND programme with the community we've built along the way
Sharing pictures from our event to celebrate 3 years of the Family SEND programme
Recruited to support delivery
Our workshops are specifically designed to accommodate the needs of children with SEND. We take inspiration from ideas of child-led 'creative play', material exploration and sensory experiences to provide free-flowing activities, so that children have the freedom to engage with materials in a way which follows their own interests and make sense to them.
To get a better sense of our workshops, watch the video made by our workshop assistant Mahul Patel and see the images below.
In March 2020, Autograph made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend our Family SEND workshops due to the pandemic. We knew that putting the sessions on hold meant far more than just the loss of a monthly activity; the sessions at our gallery had become an opportunity for families to connect with one another too. So we introduced a postal programme in place of the workshops, to continue providing families with creative outlets and a sense of connection in a disconnected and difficult time for many. We also made these resources available to download, free for everyone to enjoy.
A family activity to welcome in the summer! Sun printing is an early photographic printing process, which uses special paper coated with photo-sensitive chemicals to record a picture by capturing light on its surface.
Find out more 
Artist and educator Katriona Beales regularly uses green screen technology in her workshops for Autographs's Family SEND programme. With their families, children make films of themselves surrounded by the fantastical backdrops and props they created. Through play and collaboration, stories are told and alternate ways of being imagined.
The As We Are But Not As You Know Us exhibition at our building in London expanded on these workshops, transforming the gallery into an installation of green fabric, video projection and sensory materials for everyone to enjoy.
Amy is a London based artist working across sculpture, drawing and workshops to articulate and communicate joy. Working in art education, she is interested in the points where community, craft, objects and cultural identity meet. Materials and playwork are key to her practice, with ideas emerging through making together. Senses and bodies mingle with materials; delighting in the responsive nature of stuff and spaces.
Amy has previously worked with schools, families and communities on projects at Camden Art Centre, Firstsite, the Royal Academy, SLG, Towner Eastbourne and MK Gallery. She often works with groups and communities with crossovers with social work, healthcare and formal educational settings.
Tirzah Mileham is a London-based artist; she has been a member of Submit to Love Studios for more than 20 years. Mileham’s practice incorporates drawing, mark making and embroidery to explore pattern, fashion and pop cultural references. Her work has featured in exhibitions including: Making Faces, Southbank Centre, London (2017), Common Threads, Autograph, London (2021); Art is Freedom, Rich Mix, London (2022); differently various, Barbican, London (2023).
When we launched our Family SEND programme, our analysis showed that there was no competing provision around arts services for SEND families across Hackney or our three closest boroughs. Local parents and carers told us that they wanted safe, fun and welcoming activities their entire family could enjoy: an opportunity for siblings with and without disabilities or complex support needs to creatively express themselves. They explained that, given their child/children’s needs, there are few environments and activities which are suitable for the family to enjoy together.
Our workshops are sensitive to the participants' different needs and circumstances; all the children, including those with SEND and their non-SEND siblings, can participate in all activities – no one is excluded. We are able to do this because our learning and participation team and workshop assistants provide 1:1 support for families. We contact all families prior to their visit, and ask them to provide us with detailed information about their families’ needs and interests, so that we can ensure the best possible experience for everyone.
It's lovely to feel supported by the staff and wonderful to access a group that is non-judgmental and celebrates differences as we do. It's a fun thing to do for all the family - we are all doing the same thing together but at our own paces. Art is a fantastic medium that makes everyone equal.
All the staff were enthusiastic, engaging and just absolutely lovely with every single child that attended. Each child roamed freely with no restrictions what so ever, exploring art in every way possible. We painted, we dressed up using materials and had a fashion show, we played with messy play, explored and just had the best time. Many places claim to be SEND friendly and are far from it! SEND inclusive doesn’t just mean being wheelchair accessible, or having an autism hour. It’s about staff who actually care.
Autograph's Family SEND programme has been supported by City of London Corporation's charitable funder City Bridge Trust since 2020.
Autograph's Family SEND programme is an outcome of the EXPLORERS project, delivered by Project Art Works. EXPLORERS was a three-year programme of art and conversations, involving 12 national art organisations. The programme was informed and led by neurodiverse communities, placing them at the heart of social, civic and cultural activity.
To Lucy Keany, who was instrumental in founding the programme
Can you spare a few moments? Autograph is carrying out a survey to better understand who our digital audiences are. The survey should take no longer than five minutes to complete. Anything you tell us will be kept confidential, is anonymous and will only be used for research purposes.
The information you provide will be held by Autograph and The Audience Agency, who are running the survey on our behalf. In compliance with GDPR, your data will be stored securely and will only be used for the purposes it was given.
You can take the survey here. Thank you!
Workshop images from the Family SEND Programme, with thanks to the attendees.
Images on page: Sun Prints worksheet © and courtesy Katriona Beales.
Autograph is a place to see things differently. Since 1988, we have championed photography that explores issues of race, identity, representation, human rights and social justice, sharing how photographs reflect lived experiences and shape our understanding of ourselves and others.
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