Change Makers: A Podcast from APH

2024 APH Product Updates

American Printing House Episode 110

On this episode of Change makers, learn about APH's newest products. Then hear an update about the next National Coding Symposium and Day of Code. After that, learn about the most recent Connect the Dots event.

On this Podcast (In Order of Appearance)

  • Karen Poppe, APH Tactile Literacy Product Manager, Educational Product Innovation
  • Rosanne Hoffmann, APH Product Manager, Educational Product Innovation
  • Leslie Weilbacher, APH Outreach Regional Specialist - Northwest Region
  • Jeff Schwartz, APH Director of Regional Training and Outreach
  • Kathy Nichols, APH Director of Education and Operations for the Dot Experience


Additional Links

Narrator:

<silence> Welcome to Change Makers , a podcast from a PH. We're talking to people from around the world who are creating positive change in the lives of people who are blind or have low vision. Here's your host.

Sara Brown:

Hello and welcome to Change Makers. I'm APH's Public Relations manager, Sara Brown . And on today's episode, we're checking in with our product managers to learn what's new with APH products. Then we'll get an update about the National Coding Symposium and Day of Code. Those events are later this year, and after that we'll hear an update about the most recent Connect The Dots event, and what to expect from the next one up. First, I have APH's Braille and tactile literacy product manager, Karen Poppe here. Hello Karen and welcome to Change Makers .

Karen Poppe:

Hi Sara.

Sara Brown:

Would you like to let our listeners know a bit about what you do at APH?

Karen Poppe:

Thanks for this opportunity to talk about new and upcoming APH products. My name is Karen Poppe and I am the Braille and Tactical Literacy Product Manager in the educational product innovation department at the American Printing House for the Blind. I first started working at APH in the mid 1980s, a long, long time ago, and I focused over the years on the development of products designed for students who are blind and low vision. Uh , many of these products address and target the development of tactile literacy skills such as texture, discrimination, spatial understanding, and transitioning from 3D to 2D representation . I also design specialized tools and materials that teachers of the visually impaired tactile graphic artist and parents can use to prepare tactile graphic materials for their students and children. And many of these tactile tools can be independently used by the students as well.

Sara Brown:

Alright , and you're here to talk about two exciting products that are coming out soon, and one is the SENSEable STRIPS and the tactile demonstration thermometer. How are SENSEable STRIPS used?

Karen Poppe:

Well, SENSEable STRIPS, which actually just became available in late July , um, provides a wide assortment of adhesive tactile strips that can be used for a plethora task , including creating, adapting or embellishing instructional materials such as graphs and charts, whether they be bar graphs or line graphs or pie charts. Um, the line strips can also be used to prepare tactile geographic maps, orientational melody maps, geometric figures and shapes and science diagrams. Additionally, the stick-on strips can be used to construct tactile worksheets, addressing texture discrimination or line tracking, fun tactile games and mazes and tactile graphic organizers and flow charts, and going further SENSEable STRIPS, accommodates tactile art, design and creative expression, tactile storybook adaptation and environmental marking and labeling and much, much more. There are four main types of strips included in a kit of SENSEable STRIPS. So the first is called line strips. So think about dotted dashed arrow and railroad lines. A second type offers shape strips and separate continuous strips of embossed circles, stars, squares and triangles formed in a durable white vinyl. A third type is texture strips such as bumpy, rough, soft, and smooth. And lastly, border strips that are, have a very discernible edge, such as single or double scalloped, single or double sawtooth, or they're notched. So the assortment of strips come in a variety of colors. And again, all of the strips are adhesive backed . All of the strips are approximately eight and a half , uh, I'm sorry, eight and a half inches long. And the line widths vary from a quarter inch to approximately a half inch wide. The dye cut foam border strips are the widest, and any of the strips can be easily trimmed down with scissors to a desirable length. There are several benefits to the various tactile strips offered in SENSEable STRIPS. Specifically the strips are designed to be easy to discriminate tactually and represent line types often encountered in tactile graphic displays. Each kit contains a variety of strips to choose from. The strips are ready made and convenient to teachers to begin using straight out of the box. Students can use the tactile strips independently, and both teachers and students can create an adaptive variety of tactile materials using the strips. The strips are provided in a variety of colors, some of which are clear and transparent, and you can even make curved lines using some of the foam strips.

Sara Brown:

Well, that's really cool that you can make the curved lines. Is there any age range for for SENSEable STRIPS?

Karen Poppe:

Well, the intended target population is pretty wide. Um , for SENSEable STRIPS, it's includes every body from teachers of the visually impaired, tactile , graphic designers O&M instructors, math and science teachers, art teachers, students and adults who are blind or low vision and of course family members. And just to sort of illustrate that eclectic , um, population, I just wanna share a few direct comments from field evaluators about sensible strokes . APH always fill test our products, especially new ones like this, to garner , uh, teachers and students' feedback. So some of those quotes include the strips work really well in our art class. The teacher was able to use these to better outline the student's artwork for painting and coloring the rough and bumpy strips. Texture strips worked great for making maps for O&M and graphs for science and math. The students love creating art with these strips. It has been a big hit with teachers. I think the tapes are really fabulous and fun for all. And lastly, the product provides me with a good variety of textures and colors greatly cutting down on the time I spend behind my desk instead of with students. It also allows students to have a hand in adapting their own materials. So keep in mind too, that SENSEable STRIPS can be used in tandem with other APH products that promote open-ended tactile design and embellishments, such as carousel textures fill and pill sticker packages, all types of graph sheets from embossed to printed tactile book building kits and the tactile graphic line slate. And you can even use the strips to adapt tactile images downloaded from a's tactile graphic image library. So the uses are really, are limitless for tactile creations and adaptations. The kit currently includes over 2000 individual tactile strips. To learn more about SENSEable STRIPS, you can visit APH'S website at aph.org and search for the product by name. So the spelling is a bit unique . It's S-E-N-S-E-A-B-L-E. The kit is available with quote of funds, and the product catalog number is 1-03051-00. So APH is looking forward to hearing about teachers and students creative uses of SENSEable STRIPS for both educational and art related activities. So keep, keep us in touch with your creative ideas.

Sara Brown:

Okay. And talk about the Tactile Demonstration Thermometer. How is that used?

Karen Poppe:

Well, the Tactile Demonstration Thermometer is a modernization and reintroduction of a popular product that was first designed and introduced to APH's product line way back in 2001. So sometimes we have the fortune of updating our products and giving them a facelift to make them more usable and , um, perfect for the intended population. So the updated version of the demonstration thermometer was refill tested , and it retains many of those physical components included in the original product, including a movable two textured mercury column with an easy grip indicator, bright contrasting colors, that is a yellow background with bold black lettering, as well as combined print and braille temperature labels. However, this newer thermometer design will be offered in two different versions, UEB and NMO. Teachers who are familiar with the original model will notice added durability incorporated into the new version. For example, in lieu of laminated layers of card stock , the base of the new thermometer model is made from a rigid foam material that is water resistant and it will not bend or flex after repeated long-term use. The accompanying guidebook has been updated as well and will still be available in both print and braille with the kit, but also offered for free download from our website. So the tactile demonstration thermometer can be used for a variety of math and science activities that do not require a working thermometer. Some suggested activities outlined in the instruction booklet include the following, set, display and record daily temperature as a classroom. Weather activity introduced terminology such as degrees, mercury, column Fahrenheit, Celsius, and the workings of the thermometer. Read temperatures set on the demonstration thermometer, set temperatures as specified and shown in math or science textbooks compare Fahrenheit and Celsius degrees, scales and check conversion formulas, substitute coloring activities related to thermometers count encountered in workbooks with this reusable model and review notable temperatures such as temperature, which water boils and normal body temperature.

Sara Brown:

Now, with this thermometer, is there an age range for it?

Karen Poppe:

Well , the target populations for the tactile demonstration thermometer include a wide audience as well from braille readers, students with low vision students with CBI and or multiple disabilities. The thermometer is most appropriate for students in grades one through six, and the tools also appropriate for sighted classmates and peers given its universal design. So some of the benefits of the updated version of the tactile demonstration thermometer based on comments directly from field evaluators include the following, and this , these are just a few quotes. So coolness factor, the blind and low vision student has the cool item that others want to touch and explore. The student liked comparing the Celsius and Fahrenheit and trying to estimate the value when between the units of measure loved the ribbon and being able to adjust the temperature himself. And lastly, the student loved it, loved that it was interactive and they were able to adjust the temp temperature. It was well made and sturdy. Both versions of the tactile demonstration thermometer, ETH and UEB will be available with quota funds using two distinct catalog numbers. So the catalog number for the NEMO version is 1-03033-00, and the catalog number for the UEB version is one dash 0 3 0 3 3 dash zero zero. APH hopes that teachers and students will enjoy using this updated version of the tactile demonstration thermometer. We anticipate the product being available by the end of September, 2024. So be sure to visit APH's website, APH.org to watch for the announcement of the products availability.

Sara Brown:

Now, are there any products you can tease or let us just give us a little tease about what's coming in the pipeline?

Karen Poppe:

All righty . Um, well actually this one might beat the thermometers out the door. It's, it's on target for launch and I'm really excited about the upcoming launch for the new tactile shape slate. Um, it will be the perfect companion for a's existing tactile graphic line slate that has been available from APH for several years. The tactile shape slate can be used by teachers of students with visual impairments, braille, transcribers, graphic artists, students and blind adults to tool raised point symbols and shapes onto a variety of tactile media. So options for tactile drawing media include everything from standard braille paper , 80 to 100 , uh, thin vinyl plastic, about 5,000 thick tactile drawing film that you're probably familiar with from using with , uh, the tactile doodle heavy gauge aluminum foil and adhesive back sheets , such as APH's Braillable PenFed sheets. So this unique tactile shape slate can be used for the preparation of raise line graphs , maps, worksheets are working more. The intuitive design of the slate mimics that of traditional hinge style braille slates and the tactile shape slate features 12 to actually identifiable point symbols that are commonly used within tactile graphic displays, such as an X shape and open circle , a bold single bump, a T-shape, and an arrow. There are also squares triangles and circles in three different sizes that are positioned on the slate to the immediate left of the cluster of small point symbols. So remember point symbols are those tactile elements that fit comfortably under a fingertip and can be quickly identified within a map or graph. The tactile shape slate also broadens the selection of available tactile graphic tools provided by APH and the slate accommodates the tooling of tactile graphics across all educational areas of the core curriculum, whether it be math, science, social studies, as well as graphics used to demonstrate concepts related to the expanded core curriculum related to orientation, mobility, recreational worksheets and games and labeling. The product will include a transparent yellow tactile shape slate, a two ended drawing stylus, a storage pouch that holds both the slate and the stylus. A shape stencil plate with 12 different shapes available and an instruction booklet in both print and braille, which will be available for free download as well. So the tactile shape site will be available with quota funds , so look for its availability, hopefully by the end of September 2024. The catalog number for ordering is 1-00131-00.

Sara Brown:

Is there anything, anything else you'd like to discuss?

Karen Poppe:

Well, I would just like to quickly recommend that teachers and parents and students continue to give us feedback on new products and share their creative uses and applications that we might not have thought of in the accompanying instruction guides. We, we love it when our products can be used in versatile ways to meet a variety of instructional and recreational needs. So please keep us informed and send photos, whatever you can do to just keep us informed of how those products are meeting your needs. So thank you so much Sara for this podcast opportunity and allowing me to give us sneak preview at at some new and upcoming APH products.

Sara Brown:

Alright , Karen, thanks so much for coming on Change Makers and talking to me today.

Karen Poppe:

Thank you. Appreciate it.

Sara Brown:

I've put links in the show notes to the SENSEable STRIPS and the Tactile Demonstration Thermometer that Karen just discussed. Now we're talking to APH's Science and Health Product Manager Rosanne Hoffmann. Hello Roseanne and welcome to Change Makers.

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Thank you Sara. I'm so happy to be here.

Sara Brown:

So before we get into the the interview, do you mind to just introduce yourself and let our listeners know what it is that you do at APH?

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Sure, I'd be glad to do that. I'm Rosanne Hoffmann and I'm the , uh, science and health product manager at APH where I've developed science products for 20 plus years.

Sara Brown:

Wow. 20 plus years. So I'm sure you've seen plenty. Now talk about this new product that's coming out soon, the tactile ionic bonding kit.

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Yes. And that name describes exactly what it is, and it is actually a product idea that came from the former science teacher , um, at our neighbor, the Kentucky School for the Blind. He no longer teaches there, but before he left, he came up with this product idea, which , um, comes with a set of manipulatives that , um, demonstrate a certain type of bonding called ionic bonding. And , uh, these manipulatives are , uh, rectangular in shape and made of one quarter inch thick, sturdy foam. So they're easily handled without breaking and so on. And some sub , some of the subunits have tabs, much like jigsaw puzzle pieces, and other subunits have notches also like , uh, puzzle pieces. And so the subunits with a tab represent atoms that can donate an electron. So the tab represents an electron, and the subunits with a notch represent atoms that can receive or accept an electron. So that sort of empty space is where the , uh, tab would fit in. So for example, sodium is an element whose atoms can donate one electron, and chlorine atoms can accept one electron. And when this happens, when sodium , uh, donates its electron, it becomes positive. And when chlorine accepts that electron, it becomes negative. So negatives and positives attract, attract , and so when they come together, they create an ionic bond to form the familiar table salt, sodium chloride that you would sprinkle on your food to make it taste better. So the tactile ionic bonding kit shows this by fitting the tab of the sodium subunit into the notch of the chlorine subunit , uh, to make a single , um, compound, if you will , uh, known as sodium chloride. And there are many other examples, of course, that come in the kit. This is just a simple one that many people I think would be familiar with . Um, so that's the, those, that's the basics of this kit.

Sara Brown:

So listening to you speak, you speak with a lot of knowledge about the science. Is that your background too?

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Oh yes, yes. I have several degrees in biology actually, which requires a certain amount of chemistry and physics in the educational process. Yes, I've , um, worked in a, in a research lab and I've taught for , uh, uh, over 20 years at the University of Louisville Biology classes.

Sara Brown:

I can hear it as you describe the, the book and the, the, the, the sodium and the receiving a an eye on and and and losing an eye on. So yes, I could hear that come through. So that's really cool. Now tell me, how is this, how is this bonding kit, is this the first of its kind or are there other, or how is this different than others that have been on the market ?

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Well, it's a very , uh, simple model system that is kind of preliminary to more complex model systems. So , uh, just this very simple, like not a tab fitting into a notch, showing how one element can , um, uh, bond with another in a very simple way. Um, you know, can prepare students for , um, more complex models that show many more parts of the atoms , um, that may not be , uh, related to the actual bonding process.

Sara Brown:

So this book really, or so this bonding kit, this kit really does help students learn about chemistry and all the places you can go with chemistry.

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Yes, yes. In a, in a very, you know, introductory way.

Sara Brown:

So this product is almost like a puzzle. Why, why that type of design and how does a puzzle design help one teach?

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Okay, well, the puzzle piece of design allows subunits to interlock and basically not fall apart , uh, when manipulated, which is important because the puzzle pieces have , um, the name of an element in print and braille and also the atomic number and the atomic symbol of each element on these subunits. So the students will be touching them and the interlocking feature allows them to stay together and not fall apart. So , uh, that's, that's one benefit of that design. And actually I've used that type of design in other products as well, specifically the DNARNA kit, which has , uh, shows , uh, uh, interlocking pieces making a long strand of DNA , for example, and then the protein synthesis kit as well. I've used a similar notch and tab design, so it's, it works pretty well, you know, for , you know, something that's gonna be used in a tactile way.

Sara Brown:

So just trying to make sure I understand H2O. So are there two that snap together with one?

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Well , um, H2O would be a good example, but h the hydrogen and oxygen in water or H2O are , um, held together by a different type of bond. Not an ionic, not an ionic bond, it's, it's a different type of bond. So, okay . You can't really use this kit. That's why I'm saying this kit is very simple. It demonstrates just one type of bond that , and there are many types of bonds, like at least four different types of bonds between atoms. So this is very preliminary and you can demonstrate other types of bonds with different types of models. That's why I was saying this is sort of preliminary to looking at more complicated models that show more complex , um, connections between atoms like in water or , gotcha .

Sara Brown:

This sounds so cool. Now, is there anything else you wanna discuss, whether about it , whether about this kit or anything else coming out in the future or anything you wanna share?

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Well, I'd like to just say a few more words about the Tactile Ionic Bonding Kit. The subunits themselves come in two colors. The , there's a yellow color , um, for subunits that are , are positive like sodium, and then there are dark blue subunits , um, that represent the negative ions like chlorine. Uh, and each subunit has the element name, the symbol, and the atomic number shown in print and brow. So it's fully accessible and the kid comes with, it's, you know, a set of yellow manipulatives and blue manipulatives that represent 17 different elements. So that's actually a lot. And there's also a set of yellow and blue blanks so you can, so teachers can design their own , uh, subunits , uh, for elements that are not represented in the kit if they, if they want to or if they wanna make multi more , um, of one particular element. It also comes with a print guidebook that comes in the kit and downloadable accessible versions will be available on this , on the shop site in BRF and accessible PDF . And also because we're looking at chemistry , um, there are will be a UEB version of the kit and a NEMO version of the kit. So you , you buy them separately. But because different states have different , um, modes of braille, we wanna make sure this is available in both UEB and NEMO. So that's, you know, the short, short story. There's, there's more to say about it, but then in very basically that's, that's what the product is about.

Sara Brown:

Now can I ask you another question?

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Sure.

Sara Brown:

Talk about the importance of getting students who are blind or low vision exposed to chemistry?

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Oh, it's very important because science in general is kind of a visual type of , um, of topic of, you know, academic topic. And because there's so many , um, things to look at on the board and, and structures and that sort of thing , many times students with visual impairments have just been excluded from that. They just, they are not able to learn it 'cause it's just not been accessible. So this is just one piece in the big puzzle of trying to level the playing field for students with vision impairments and allow them to have the same opportunities to learn about science among all the other accessible products and so on that, you know, help that along the way. And you know, everybody, you know, all populations represent a great source of , um, potential scientific endeavor and work. So it's important to include all people.

Sara Brown:

Alright Roseanne, thank you so much for coming on and talking to me on Change Makers today.

Rosanne Hoffmann:

Okay , thank you. Thank you for having me.

Sara Brown:

I've put a link in the Show Notes to the Tactile Ionic Bonding Kit for anyone looking for additional information . Now we're gonna shift gears and learn about two important events coming up in the next few weeks. One is the APH National Coding Symposium and the other is day of code. To tell us more, I have a's outreach specialist for the Northwest region, Leslie Weilbacher. And APH's Director of Regional Training and Outreach, Jeff Schwartz. Hello Leslie and hello Jeff and welcome to Change Makers .

Leslie Weilbacher:

Thank you. Thank you.

Jeff Schwartz:

Nice to be here.

Sara Brown:

In the first question I always like to ask, can you introduce yourself and let our listeners know what it is that you do at APH?

Leslie Weilbacher:

Sure. Uh, so I'm Leslie Weilbacher. I am the outreach specialist for the Northwest region. So I do a lot of travel, a lot of training, a lot of , uh, support of teachers and OTs and um, then I get to do some cool projects like , uh, the coding symposium.

Jeff Schwartz:

And my name is Jeff Schwartz. I'm the Director of Regional Training and Outreach. Um, before this role I actually was the regional, the outreach specialist for the southeast part of the United States doing similar tasks with professional development and training across the southeast. Um, and I've been in this role as director now for approaching two years. And so now I get to lead this grant team with all of these activities that we do regularly plus these special events like the coding symposium, advocacy and many other things coming our way. So

Sara Brown:

Really exciting time . Yeah. Well it's great to have you all here and we are, we're talking about Coding Symposium, so why don't you let our listeners know what it is if they've never heard of it yet.

Jeff Schwartz:

Okay , I'm happy to do that. So the APH National Coding Symposium is returning for actually its fourth year. Um, and we'll have even more events to engage students of all different types of levels of coding. Um, this is actually a virtual event that we've been doing. Again, this will be our fourth year and we have aligned it to fall during the Computer Science Education Week.

Sara Brown:

So what can people expect and when will it be held?

Jeff Schwartz:

So , um, our virtual event will be on Tuesday, December 10th from 12 to 4:00 PM Eastern. It's important to note that 'cause we have participants from all across the country. Um, registration is already open and it can be found on the APH National Coding Symposium website. Um, we also have additional resources for people who are excited about getting whatever level of coding materials that they might be looking for. We have a lot of a wealth of information that we've already accumulated that is stored in the hives professional learning community under accessible coding. So we are encouraging folks, those links can actually be found on our website. And so if people are looking to see, get a sneak peek of what kinds of activities would be occurring and um, what it does looks like to talk about accessible coding, a lot of those resources can already be found at the Hive. Um, we have some really exciting presenters as we do every year on a variety of topics. Um, things from as basics for entry level physical coding before you get into the nitty gritty of um, actually using a computer for programming all the way through advanced , um, skills with , um, Quorum and Python. So , uh, we have a nice variety of , um, topics for this year.

Sara Brown:

Now what is Day of Code? Is that also during that week you mentioned?

Leslie Weilbacher:

That's a good question. Uh, the day of Code is our hands-on in-person, smaller regional events that's associated with the coding symposium. But we wanted to give students an opportunity to really experience , um, and explore what coding is as a possible career path, but also just what it is in our day-to-Day lives. Uh , this started at the California School for the Blind and we've kind of just taken their idea and run with it. Um, so we will have five days of code and they're sort of scattered throughout this, this fall. Our first one is actually in , uh, Pittsburgh at the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children. And then we'll have one in west Texas , um, California of course, and the , uh, Tennessee School for the Blind and also the Maryland School for the Blind. So throughout this fall, and these are all going to be kind of unique to whatever agency is hosting them, things as simple as , um, putting things in a sequence and talking about algorithms to much more complicated , uh, robotics , uh, with, with a Finch robot and even using a Monarch.

Sara Brown:

So all sorts of activities to engage students now that's pretty exciting that it's gonna be throughout the fall. So it's happening, you know, now and it's just gonna be all throughout the, sounds like it's gonna be scattered throughout the US as well. Different locations throughout the us , correct?

Leslie Weilbacher:

Yes, yes. Oh,

Sara Brown:

That's awesome. That's awesome. So I will be happy to put all of those, all that information in the websites you all mentioned on our, in our show notes for those listening out there that wanna get a little bit , uh, more information. And before I let you two go, is there anything else you all would like to say or share about Coding Symposium or the day of code?

Jeff Schwartz:

Yeah, actually , um, both of our , um, both the virtual and the day of code events that we're hosting would not be possible without , um, our generous support of our funders. So , um, I would really like to recognize , um, both the PPG Foundation and the Fox Family Foundation for their generous sponsorship. Um, they're allowing us to be able to provide some base funds for these days of code in addition to being able to in have materials and supplies for all of the students that'll have the opportunities for these hand-on , um, events around the country. So we're very grateful for their participation and support.

Leslie Weilbacher:

And I'll just add that , uh, we'll be doing a recap of all of the exciting activities that the days of code are doing on January 22nd, 2025. So if you are interested in , um, learning more about it, maybe having something in your area that we can help you support , uh, that we can help support , um, that would be a great place to to, to get a feel for what's gonna be available.

Sara Brown:

Okay. Well Leslie and Jeff, thank you so much, much for coming on Change Makers and talking to me about this wonderful event, the National Coding Symposium and the Day of Code. Thank you much .

Leslie Weilbacher and Jeff Schwartz:

Thank you for having us. Yeah, thank you.

Sara Brown:

I've put links in the show notes to the APH National Coding Symposium and Day of Code for anyone out there wanting additional information. Now we're checking in with Connect The Dots. I have APH's, Director of Education and Operations for The Dot experience Kathy Nichols. Kathy's here to fill us in on the latest event and to preview the next Connect The Dots event. Hello Kathy and welcome to Change Makers.

Kathy Nichols:

Thanks Sara. I'm happy to be here.

Sara Brown:

And before we begin, do you mind to just let our listeners know a little bit about you and what you do at APH?

Kathy Nichols:

Sure, I'd be happy to. I'm the Director of Education and Operations for The Dot experience at APH. The Dot Experience is the new museum we're building and since we don't have a facility right now, we are taking our education programs out into the community, out into the community powered by PNC. Um , look for programs that say Connect The Dots.

Sara Brown:

Wonderful. And it's a really great program that that's been going on all year now. We just had an event. Can you talk about the recent event? How was it?

Kathy Nichols:

Uh , we had so much fun. We've been really lucky , uh, to partner with the Louisville Free Public Library System this year and every month we've gone to a different branch and done an education program. Last Saturday we were at the South Central Steam Day and there were several different organizations there doing activities focused on science, technology, engineering, arts and math. Um, The Dot Experience held an escape room and so you came with your group and you pretended you had crashed on Mars and in order to get a pass, you had to create a braille pass to get you into the next stage. And so every activity within the, the Escape pod focused on things that people who are blind or low vision will use to find their direction or different. Uh , we had a coding mouse for, for children to learn how to move forward. It was so much fun and people were really there all day long. And we have another event coming up in December. It will be at the St . Matthews Library and we're gonna talk about the sound, the art and science of music and we will have several activities there that are fun. One of our librarians in the McGill Library has created a blind musician's playlist and we will be featuring that with interactive activities so the public can see some of the products APH has created to help people who are blind and have low vision use music. And did you know that Louis Braille even included a music function to braille? So we are going to have people from our Braille readers theater do a, a performance of an article written by Helen Keller called "Christmas in the Dark." We're also going to let you literally see how music moves. Everybody can make an oobleck and play it on a speaker and see the music dance around.

Sara Brown:

So what is, wait a minute, what is an Oobleck?

Kathy Nichols:

Well that's such a fun thing. Oobleck, this is from a historian, not a scientist, right? But oobleck is a state between liquid and solid and it conducts the vibrations very easily. And so you can see music vibrate on a speaker. It's a real simple solution of, of cornstarch and water. And once you get the texture right, it just dances around like crazy. Really fun for people.

Sara Brown:

That's super cool. Now when is this next event in December?

Kathy Nichols:

The December event's gonna be on December 14th at the St . Matthews branch at the Louisville Free Public Library from 10 to one.

Sara Brown:

And is there anything else you wanna share? Um, maybe about Connect the Dots 2025 or anything else because next month it'll be a pretty much, we've done 12 events. Is there any sort of recap you wanna share about Connect the Dots that we've done this year? A look ahead to next year or anything you wanna leave our listeners with?

Kathy Nichols:

Well, every Connect The Dots has helped. The next Connect the Dots be more fun. We've gone every month to different library branches this year and in 2025 we're gonna do more special events at the library. So you'll see us at their Steam Family Steam Day, you'll see us at their Science and Technology day. Um, you'll see us at the different big festivals throughout the year. We also have volunteer opportunities for a PH employees and the public students often need , uh, volunteer hours to fill in gaps and so forth. So we are happy to perform that service too <laugh>

Sara Brown:

And I'll definitely put a link in our show notes to the Connect the Dots website and any information in there for any individuals looking to possibly volunteer for Connect the Dots , um, whether they're an adult or a high schooler or college student looking for additional hours for volunteering.

Kathy Nichols:

Perfect. Thank you.

Sara Brown:

Yes. And Kathy , thank you so much for coming on Change Makers and talking to me today.

Kathy Nichols:

We appreciate the opportunity, Sara. We hope everyone will join us at the next Connect The Dots at the St . Matthews branch on December 14th.

Sara Brown:

I've put links in the show notes to all the topics discussed in this podcast. That includes the SENSEable STRIPS, the Tactile demonstration thermometer, the Tactile Ionic Bonding Kit, APH National Coding Symposium and Day of Code and Connect the Dots. Do you have a podcast idea ? Please send it my way. Send an email to changemakers@ap.org and as always, be sure to look for ways you can be a changemaker this week.