The idea for a tour of the State Capitol for visually impaired visitors, where they would be able to explore and touch artifacts, came out of a conversation last year after Thanksgiving dinner.

Susan Ulino, a volunteer tour guide at the Capitol, and Kevin Harkins, a member of the Southeastern Connecticut Center of the Blind, were discussing their favorite subject: history. Harkins brought up his experience with touching history tours at the Leffingwell House in Norwich and said Ulino was immediately interested.

"She just lit up and said 'Oh, wow I do tours at the state Capitol, we should do that there,'" Harkins recalled.

The Southeastern Connecticut Community Center of the Blind will take blind participants on guided tours of the Capitol on July 11. There will be two sessions, at 10:15 and 11:15 a.m.

Ulino said she began working on planning the tour right after her supervisor approved the idea.

"I'm a retired classroom teacher, so I'm always thinking about the role of the disabled and how we can include them," she said. "... I thought about what on the tour would be pertinent to them, what they could use their other senses for. I wrote up an outline of things they'd be interested in besides me talking to them the whole time."

While Ulino said outlining the activities for the tour did not take long, she wanted to wait until the legislative session was over in the summer. That would allow participants to be able to fully explore the House and Senate chambers.

"[The activities] are tactile and they're auditory," Ulino said. "There's a miniature statue of the raising of the flag at ... Iwo Jima. Usually in a group tour we don't let people touch it, but this tour is for people with specific needs so when people talk about that statue to them, they'll have an idea of what it is. Also the doors that go into the hearing room have the two symbols of the building on them, so they'll be able to feel them as well. We'll visit different artifacts like that they can actually put their hands on."

Eileen Rose, president of the Southeastern Connecticut Center of the Blind, said that thus far there are 12 people signed up for the tour, each assigned a sighted guide to assist them through the building. Ulino will lead the tour.

"For me I'm excited because they're finally opening up the Capitol and we'll be able to hear them describe what's going on in the room so we can visulize and experience what a sighted person sees," Rose said.

In addition to the upcoming tour of the Capitol, Rose said the center hosts touching history tours at the Leffingwell House one to two times every year. She hopes the Capitol tour will open up other opportunities for the center to conduct similar tours around Connecticut.

Harkins said being able to access museums is usually difficult, since many artifacts are kept behind glass and difficult to visualize even when the guide describes it. Being able to touch artifacts while hearing the history behind them will be a treasured experience for him, he said.  

"I don't think there are many museums across the country that have a focus on being user-friendly or accessible to the blind," Harkins said. "I've been to the Museum of Natural History and it was enjoyable, but you're getting a very small percentage out of it. With Leffingwell and the State Capitol you're able to touch things — it's educational and also it sticks with you because you have a tangible connection with that piece of history."

To sign up for the tour or for information, contact Eileen Rose at (860) 447-2048 or at centeroftheblind@gmail.com.