The Creative Discovery Museum's mission statement is "to inspire all children to explore, innovate, create and play."
"We take that 'all' very seriously," says Jayne Griffin, the museum's director of education. "It's not really capitalized in our mission statement, but it is definitely capitalized in our hearts. We are a museum for all children."
These are among the museum programs for children with special needs. Some also involve typically developing children.
Sensory Night
Sensory Night, an after-hours program for autistic children, is held the first Thursday of each month. To avoid overstimulation, the museum limits admission to no more than 100 visitors and lowers lights and noise levels.
Friends Discovery Camp
Griffin and Elaine Adams, the city's therapeutic recreation division program coordinator, co-teach a class at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga to prepare college students to work with special-needs children during two separate weeklong summer camps. One camp is called Camp Zooability at the Chattanooga Zoo, and the other is the Friends Discovery Camp at the Creative Discovery Museum.
Most students attending the UTC class are psychology majors and they become "big buddies" to youth.
The "big buddies" accompany children with special needs, keeping them safe on field trips and activities throughout the camp.
"I always say it's the best camp we have," says Griffin. "Because with this camp we have such a low counselor/camper ratio that we can do things in this camp that we couldn't do in other camps. The ratio is no more than two campers to one adult."
The low ratio allows even students who are profoundly impacted by their disability to still enjoy summer camp, says Griffin. It allows children who are nonverbal to play next to those who are typically developing, and they all have a wonderful time.
For many students with special needs, Friends Discovery Camp is among only a handful of camps with enough staff and assistance to accommodate them.
The camp is so popular that people start signing up for it in January; sometimes by March, the camp is full. The fee is $100 for the entire week, and it comes with a free membership to the museum, allowing the child and his household free entrance into the museum for a year.
Club D
The Creative Discovery Museum offers this free, inclusive after-school program for children ages 6-12 with and without special needs. It happens every Tuesday during the school year. Many of the students who served as "big buddies" during summer camp also serve as volunteers for Club D. Children who attend the club regularly also get a free annual membership to the museum.
"It's a club, a way to have fun, a way to belong. It's a social outlet, and it's a respite for parents and we encourage that," says Griffin.
The club and Friends Discovery Camp offer opportunities for children to practice independence and develop social skills apart from their parents, she says.
Social Stories
Social Stories are designed for children with autism. The stories tell children what to expect when they visit the museum. Noel Crowder, who majored in occupational therapy, earned her doctorate's degree in May. She wrote the Social Stories while interning at the museum earlier this year. The stories are available on the museum's website to help families prepare for a visit.
Contact Yolanda Putman at yputman@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6431.