Due to this post talking about children, there will be no pictures.
Today, Little Star had some visitors come for the Feeling the Stars program from the Saint Louis Society. Only one of the seven children who came had low vision, but all of them had an exceptionality. Their group leader asked for the program due to its tactile nature, as she thought the kids would benefit from it.
The children all touched the model and the tactile stars, enjoying the different touchable sensations. The stars were very popular, especially Big Daddy (because of his "cool shades") and Mr. Angry Blue-White Star. They also noticed the temperature differences too.
Even though all the children could see the projections on the dome, they all received a tactile follow-along book to use during the show. The books may have gone over best of all! The kids loved studying both the raised images and reading the printed text on the large-print pages.
The kids enjoyed the story, picking out favorite characters and recognizing some they met in the plush characters before the show. They also really liked the stars and when the outlines of the constellations would appear in the sky.
A very special moment occured during the program as well; I was informed by one of the teachers that the book worked better than we expected for one of the little boys. Devon* has Autism, and I was told he is for the most part, non-verbal. When he received the book, he turned to one of the counselors who were sitting with the kids and started reading the book aloud. We aren't sure what about the book encouraged him to start reading to the counselor but it was a reminder that we never can predict perfectly what will truly benefit our visitors.
This is why Universal Design is SO important in the Museum world and the field of Education. The more options to access information a person has, the more likely they are to succeed and gain meaning.
The Feeling the Stars program may have started as a program for visitors who are blind or have low vision, but today taught me that its potential to reach so many more audiences expands past its original audience. I thank the Saint Louis Society and all the wonderful children I was privileged to work with this morning for opening up even more doors for different audiences to come and explore the universe with The Little Star That Could.
*Names have been changed to protect privacy
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