Noreen Grice Shares with the Society of Physics Students

Twenty four years ago, I was an astronomy student at Boston University entering my senior year. I had just started working part time in the Charles Hayden Planetarium at the Boston Museum of Science when a group of blind students came to one of my shows. The manager told me to help the students to their seats. Back then, I presented pre-recorded shows and I recall standing in the console, welcoming everyone to the Planetarium and pressing a button on the Apple computer to start the show.

After the show, I asked the students how they liked the Planetarium program. They told me “it stunk” and walked away. That was quite an eye-opener for me.

It had never occurred to me that the Planetarium was not accessible but these students made me realize that the shows were not very descriptive yet very visually oriented. Even though I didn’t know how to do it, I was determined to make astronomy accessible to people who are blind.

I began making tactile diagrams by hand-etching illustrations on plastic sheets. I learned a lot from blind people reviewing my first tactile images, like never put the title of the diagram at the bottom of the page because people read tactually from top to bottom. Also, never use single dots as symbols without putting in a tactile key code because a single dot is the letter “A” in Braille….otherwise you have alphabet soup for pictures!

It took a while for me to get the hang of it, but I began making tactile pictures to go along with all of the planetarium shows. Then I got a Braille embosser to mass produce my pictures. Later, I switched to a swell form machine. And while I was learning how to make good tactile images, I began writing a manuscript that would be my first book, Touch the Stars.

I now have five tactile books under my belt; (Touch the Stars (1990, now in its 4th edition – 2002), Touch the Universe: A NASA Braille Book of Astronomy (2002), Touch the Sun: A NASA Braille Book (2005), The Little Moon Phase Book (2005), and I am co-author of Touch the Invisible Sky: A NASA Braille Book Featuring Multi-Wavelength Tactile Images (2007).

In addition to writing accessible books, I have worked with the National Federation of the Blind in their youth programs. Through my consulting company I have also presented teacher workshops and designed tactile images for exhibits. And I have met amazing including several students who aspire to be the first blind astronauts in space and on Mars!

The astronomy-related resources I develop for blind and visually impaired students are designed to also work with sighted students and with different learning styles. My goal is to bring people of all abilities together, using the same materials as equal peers.

Please check out my Website at www.youcandoastronomy.com and my page on Facebook!

Noreen is currently working on her sixth for profit tactile book and is in need of donations. If you are willing to help Noreen please contact her business manger Kathleen Checki