Northern Stars Planetarium can easily accommodate persons with handicaps. We routinely have individuals visit the planetarium with wheelchairs. Wheel chaired patrons do not enter the planetarium through the access tube that others usually crawl through. It would be difficult to get a wheel chair through that tube. But, because the planetarium is simply an inflatable tent without a floor, all we have to do is to just lift the dome up and it's quite easy for the person in the wheel chair to either scoot in or be pushed in.

There are two limitation for our wheel chair patrons:

1. They have to be the first ones in, and the last ones out.

2. Access may be limited by where the school or other hosting facility has us set up the planetarium. For example, if they have us set up on a second floor that has no elevator or ramps, then access may be more difficult. This is a problem that the hiring facility must consider when picking a spot for Northern Stars Planetarium to set up.

The norm in our planetarium is for everyone to sit on the floor. Kids seldom have a problem with this manner of seating, however, some of us older folks (adults) find sitting cross legged on the floor for an hour a bit much. If you have a back problem or other chronic ailments that make sitting on the floor for an hour unbearable, just let us know. It's usually quite easy to place a chair inside for an individual when it is needed. Also if crawling is difficult for you or one of your students, let us know. We can lift the dome so that you can just walk directly inside. This works great for an individual or two, but it would be very difficult for a whole group to enter in this fashion.

While we do not have the ability to sign our presentations directly and we do not have closed captioning, we do often have hearing impaired students visit the planetarium. The planetarium presenter will be glad to wear a radio microphone for those who use one. If you have a student that does have someone who signs for them, we will provide a small red flashlight that provides enough light so that the student can see both the interpreter and the sky at the same time. The planetarium presenter will show the signer the best location to sit so that the deaf student can see both the sky show and the signing.

Remember that planetarium shows are audio/visual presentations. While there is not much we can do to help on the visual end, the audio alone can be quite educational and entertaining. Also please ask the planetarium instructor if you can borrow our Braille book on astronomy. It's called "Touch the Stars" by Noreen Grice and was published by the Boston Museum of Science. Your student is welcome to check it out during the show or borrow it for a time during our visit to your school.