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Morehead Planetarium aims to increase inclusivity with sensory-friendly show

Morehead Sensory Show
The Astronaut Training at Morehead Planetarium exhibit on display at of the Morehead Planetarium and Science Center on Thursday, Feb. 28, 2019. The Center’s Diversity and Inclusion Statement reads, “UNC Morehead Planetarium and Science Center believes it is essential to create inclusive environments and empower people who have unique perspectives. By embracing our collective similarities and differences, we enrich the quality and scope of our service to North Carolina and beyond.”

Morehead Planetarium and Science Center is planning an event to embrace the goal of creating a more inclusive environment at both the Morehead Planetarium and at UNC. The Autism Awareness Evening, which is designed for children with autism spectrum disorder, their families and any support staff, will take place on April 12 from approximately 5:30 to 8 p.m.

The event will consist of the playing of the "Earth, Moon and Sun" show in the GSK Fulldome Theater, a show on the science stage and oobleck sensory engagement. 

The playing of the traditional Morehead theater show will be altered to create a more comfortable and inclusive environment for its guests. The sound will be lowered to accommodate the children and prevent any trauma that could be caused by the loud noises, and the lighting will be adjusted so it is not entirely dark. These modifications will be done in hopes of making the planetarium a more accessible space. 

The guests will be split into two groups: one watching the show in the Fulldome theater and one doing a sensory activity. Then, the groups will switch. There will also be a designated area for coloring and a cool down area for the children. 

Senior Nicole Moore is a programming intern at the Morehead Planetarium that has been involved with performing research on how to best make the planetarium an inclusive place for children with autism. She has reached out to other museums and organizations, such as the Museum of Life and Science in Durham and the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh, to become familiar with how other establishments cater their operations to an audience with specific needs.

“We are also partnering with UNC TEACCH, one of UNC’s autism-based organizations, and we are also partnering with the Autism Society of North Carolina — the Chapel Hill chapter — which is the student organization,” Moore said.

Moore said that Morehead has never done anything like this before, but in the surrounding area, the Museum of Life and Science and the Museum of Natural Sciences have both held one or two sensory shows or events a year. Morehead Planetarium decided that it wanted to follow along that program and make its space more inclusive and accessible to all audiences. 

“The autism-spectrum audience can’t always go out to non-traditional educational settings and environments because there is a lot of sensory overwhelming factors that can be a bit much for them, so they don’t always feel safe going out to these types of environments," Moore said. "But when there are events catered toward them, where the research has been done, people have been reached and there have been training within the staff to make them better equipped to work with this specific audience, it just makes it a better space for them."

Whit McMillan, the science programs manager at the planetarium, has also been involved with the planning of the Autism Awareness Evening. 

“We have been wanting to do some programs for a diverse range of audiences for a long time, and we do have a lot of different programs for different audiences, but this particular audience we have never worked with, and that’s children that are on the autism spectrum and their families," McMillan said. “This was a way for us to partner with some great organizations and to reach out to these families.”

Morehead will be holding a training session for staff and student volunteers to prepare them for the event. Part of the training will consist of preparing cool down kits, so if a child with autism has a sensory overload, the staff and volunteers will be equipped with the right tools to help calm to them down. 

“The idea is to make this a little bit more of a sensory experience, in some cases that may mean sense of touch may be something that we use a lot more than we might normally, but in other cases it may mean a lot of hands-on things, or in other cases it may be calming it down a little bit so it is not as loud or dark," McMillan said. 

Both Moore and McMillan said the aim of the evening is to open the planetarium to a group that might otherwise not be able to experience a show at Morehead and make them feel comfortable during the learning experience.

university@dailytarheel.com

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