As of January 4, 2022, the utility patent for The Periodic Table For The Visually Impaired has been approved by the United States Patent And Trademark Office!
That means the educational instrument for helping students who are blind or low-visioned to learn chemistry can now be manufactured and made available.
Now, all students who have a curiosity about science will be able to pursue knowledge of a wide range of topics, all of which require a basic understanding of the elements and a basic ability to utilize and understand the Periodic Table.
I am the inventor of this tactile variation of the Periodic Table.
The process for its development began in 2016, when a blind student enrolled in the Survey of General Chemistry class that I was to teach at a local college.
That's when I learned how few resources were available for that student.
First, there was a version of the textbook which was compatible with the software that would "read" the material aloud; however, that textbook was late in its arrival for the student.
That meant the student was almost three weeks behind by the time the book came.
Second, there was a version of the Periodic Table available for blind students; however, it was prohibitively expensive and only available in Braille.
This student had become blind as a pre-teen and told me they used the Braille language only for reading numbers in addresses.
That meant this student needed an educational tool that would allow a three-dimensional representation of the chemical symbols, so the student could discern them.
Third, the class in which this student had enrolled was a summer term offering, which meant it was shorter than a regular semester and moved more quickly through the material.
That meant the blind student was at even more of a disadvantage, lacking the textbook for several weeks and not having a Periodic Table at hand.
Timing is everything.
As good fortune would have it, I heard about a fundraiser, Code Orange For Derrick, to benefit a blind elementary student.
I went in search of ideas on how to best help my student.
When I saw the neighborhood street scene that had been created to help the student learn about crosswalks and fire hydrants and other common structures, I noticed the adhesive, raised-surface, cutouts which had been employed by the teachers.
Could I not create a Periodic Table using similar cutouts?
Of course I could!
I immediately went to a craft store to look for suitable materials.
I even experimented with the use of puff paint to write the letters and numbers, but found the pens too hard to use.
(I have carpal tunnel syndrome in both hands.)
I found alpha-numeric characters with two different textures, also!
One set, shown in red, is composed of a foam material; the other set, in a variety of colors and prints, is composed of a thick cardboard with a slick, hard, surface.
By alternating the two differently-textured sets of alpha-numeric characters on the rows, or periods, of the Periodic Table, the resultant table would enable a blind student to more easily know when they had moved from one energy level to another, simply by touch.
It would not matter to a blind student that the educational tool looked messy or disorganized with its many colors and prints - they would only "see" the grid taking shape beneath their fingertips, the grid that would enable them to learn about the many chemicals that build everything on Earth.
For now, I'll take a break.
More information will be forthcoming!
