MEDIA ALERT
Contact:
Lynda LeVan, 423-648-6043, lhl@cdmfun.org
Director of External Affairs

Tinkerbell and Speedy Join Creative Discovery Museum to Help Kids Better Understand Disabilities

WHAT:
In conjunction with Creative Discovery Museum’s exhibit Kids Like You, Kids Like Me, children will have an opportunity to ask questions about how people with disabilities live productive, active lives through assistive technology, creative hobbies, and with assistance from therapy animals. 

WHEN:
Special Guests:  Thursday through Saturday, October 21 – 23; 12 p.m. to 4 p.m.

WHERE:
Creative Discovery Museum,  321 Chestnut Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402
www.cdmfun.org

WHO:
October 21: Signal Centers and Elaine Adams with Chattanooga Parks and Recreation will bring adaptive equipment to answer kids’ curiosity about technology and devices that help people with disabilities accomplish everyday tasks.
October 21 and October 22:  Artist Rick Gadbury will demonstrate how he creatively finds ways to enjoy painting without the use of his hands. 
October 23:  Kids will meet specially trained animals including Tinkerbell, the therapy horse, Speedy, a dog who uses special equipment for its needs, and animals from the Goodwill Assistance Dog Academy. 

Kids Like You, Kids Like Me is a partnership between Creative Discovery Museum and Siskin Children's Institute. The exhibit and related programs are sponsored by Unum and Chattanooga Times Free Press.

WHY:
“We focus on ‘ability’ in the word disability,” states Amy Barrett, Museum Experience Manager over Staffing and Programs.  “We take this time to celebrate people’s differences and break down the barriers that might arise when kids aren’t familiar with how to interact with a person who has a disability.”

About Creative Discovery Museum
Creative Discovery Museum is open Mon-Sat: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Sun: noon-5 p.m. Closed Wednesdays September - February.  321 Chestnut Street, Chattanooga, TN 37402. Creative Discovery Museum is recognized as one of the top children’s museums in the nation. It is a non-profit organization dedicated to educational enrichment for children age’s 4-months to 12-years-old through interactive, hands-on experiences that foster creative and critical thinking. Creative Discovery Museum focuses on a broad range of areas encompassed by Visual Arts, Performing Arts, Technology and the Sciences. In addition to its exhibits, Creative Discovery Museum provides local residents and visitors with special events, educational programming, teacher resources for the classroom, field trips, after school programming, early childhood education classes, artist residencies, camps, art lessons, science demonstrations, and a branch of the local library. Creative Discovery Museum is a funded agency of Allied Arts and Tennessee Arts Commission and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
          
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