Access/ABILITY, a national traveling exhibit designed to sensitively teach disability awareness to children ages 5-12 and their families, will be at the Please Touch Museum in Philadelphia through April 24, 2011.
The 1,200-square-foot exhibit, developed by Boston Children’s Museum, displays people living with disabilities participating in the types of everyday activities and surroundings most familiar to children. The goal of the exhibit is to broaden children’s awareness and compassion towards the differences, as well as the similarities, of individuals with disabilities.
Visitors to the Access/ABILITY exhibit at the Please Touch Museum will have the chance to explore a wheelchair obstacle course, learn phrases in American Sign Language, type their names in Braille, try a hand-pedaled bike, and take part in a multi-sensory City Walk.
“My Way” kiosks are also set up so that visitors can meet individuals living with disabilities. The individuals will talk about themselves, their accomplishments, and their everyday obstacles and challenges.
“This important exhibit aims to change attitudes, dispel myths, fears, and stereotypes, and increase awareness of people living with disabilities by acknowledging differences, while highlighting similarities,” says Laura Foster, president & CEO of the Please Touch Museum.
Access/ABILITY has also enhanced other visual and performing arts programming throughout the Please Touch Museum, including the addition of performers of varying abilities, special activities in the museum’s Program Room and Story Castle, and the unveiling of a new puppet related to the exhibit.
Nationally, the Access/ABILITY event is sponsored by the MetLife Foundation. In Philadelphia, the event is sponsored by the Widener Memorial Foundation in Aid of Handicapped Children and the CVS Caremark Charitable Trust. The Widener Memorial Foundation supports research into the causes, treatment, and prevention of diseases and conditions that handicap children orthopedically, and provides support to aid and assist public and private institutions and associations in the care, education, and rehabilitation of these children. CVS Caremark All Kids Can is a signature program that supports non-profit organizations that provide innovative programs and services in local communities focused on helping children with disabilities learn, play, and succeed in life.
The Please Touch Museum is located at Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park, Philadelphia. For more information, please contact visit their website or call 215-581-3181.