Tactile experiences in western mass

March 7, 2020 9:59 AM

Looking for things to do with deaf blind relative around northampton. Must be wheelchair accessible also. Thank you!
posted by chaiminda to Media & Arts (5 answers total)

The Botanic Garden of Smith College is wheelchair accessible. They are currently running their spring bulb show, which smells amazing. There is also an exhibit of the art and science of dyeing, which has large textiles of different material hanging from the center of the room and containers of traditional dyeing materials around the periphery that you can touch and smell. Some of the greenhouse rooms have water features. Not all rooms are wheelchair accessible; there is a wheelchair accessible restroom. If it is warm enough, there is also an outdoor botanical garden with some wide, paved paths.
posted by carrioncomfort at 11:15 AM on March 7, 2020 [4 favorites]

The Lyman Conservatory at Smith College could work but they say not to touch anything, I wonder if you could call and get special permission... it is worth asking. They are really great and it's possible that you could arrange for a docent or someone on staff to bring out some plant examples to touch. Either way, the whole place smells great and the temperature changes are very interesting to experience. The greenhouse is accessible except for the fern room (I'm sad to read that, maybe they'll update in the future).

I hate to also suggest this since it seems like a silly place to go but it can't hurt - the Yankee Candle Store in South Deerfield, MA would be sensory overload and very wheelchair accessible. You can pick up anything in the store and I think they still have a station for you to make your own candle or even to dip your hand in warm wax! You could call to check about that to confirm they still do that activity and see what else would be interesting.
posted by belau at 11:24 AM on March 7, 2020 [2 favorites]

There's also a butterfly place not far from Yankee Candle where you can go and sit in a greenhouse and commune with the butterflies - it might smell nice, be warm and humid on your skin, and if you sit still enough you should get some butterflies landing on you which would feel fluttery and lovely. I'll keep thinking of ideas.
posted by carlypennylane at 4:26 PM on March 7, 2020 [2 favorites]

The Fort River Trail in Hadley is fully accessible and lovely. Arcadia Wildlife Sanctuary in Easthampton also has a short sensory trail.
posted by sonmi at 8:42 AM on March 8, 2020

The Berkshire Carousel in Pittsfield has a wheelchair-accommodating bench. The wood of the carousel is all hand carved and painted. There are two other styles of benches -- rocking and spinning -- if transferring is a possibility and the additional motion is not an issue.

Ice sleds are available at a few Western Mass skating rinks for adaptive ice skating; they include a push bar so someone else can push the sled if the user cannot push it steer. Scroll down to find the rinks listed for Western Mass.

The DAR state forest has an accessible (stone dust, not paved) trail and accessible fishing piers on Highland Lake (found the accessibility info on a separate site with other listings for accessible parks and trails).
posted by carrioncomfort at 1:52 PM on March 10, 2020