Module 14 Children and Youth Training-Inclusive spaces and programs
Storytime with children
with Special Needs
Part 1 The Library
Within our community
there are many families with children who have different abilities/disabilities.
Sometimes these are obvious and at other times they are not.
Parents often feel
anxious coming into places like libraries for various reasons:
·
Libraries were
previously known as quiet places
·
Fear of
judgement
·
Other people
can sometimes comment inappropriately
·
Other people look
and stare or use expressions that show how they feel about the child’s
behaviour.
Parents can
inadvertently be made to feel very unwelcome.
Libraries are spaces
for everyone and especially for those with special needs, it can be a safe
space where they can access resources, other people and see role models.
The attitude and
expectations of library staff will have a big impact on these families. At all
times we aim to make everyone feel welcome and accepted in the library.
The library space itself needs to be welcoming.
Consider these questions for your branch. Jots some notes in the Form linked here.
Is the library space accessible
for someone in a wheelchair? That includes all the shelves of books, toilets, power-points, door handles, computer desks/catalogues
Is the area clearly signposted? Do signs use familiar/universal icons so everyone can identify spaces? Is Braille included in signage?
Do resources cater for visual and auditory ability ranges?
Are their quiet spaces for people who struggle with sensory over-stimulation?
Are staff trained in assisting patrons with special needs?
Part 2 Storytimes
Watch this video of a storytime specifically for children with special needs.
https://www.cmlibrary.org/services/special-needs
As you watch it please notice the librarians and their reactions
to the children’s behaviour. Write some notes in the form linked here
The librarians remain positive, relaxed and you can tell they are
not fazed by the children’s actions.
They allow the parents to monitor their child’s behaviour and intervene
when the parent feels it is time.
At no time do you see the librarians search out parents or try to
correct behaviour. The only time a librarian makes any sort of reaction to a
child’s behaviour is when a child tried to take her prop. The librarian gently
yet firmly holds onto it and the child moves on.
You can see a parent takes a child away from the group for a
while, then comes back later when the child is more settled.
The librarians use a storyboard and take it one step further by
removing the cards when the activity is done.
They combine book and resource, so the story is told two ways at
once-2 presenters are essential for this.
The parents join in the stories and songs. This tells me they are
familiar with the books and songs so repetition is happening.
Inclusive storytimes
All programs at
Sutherland Shire Libraries are inclusive. At no time do we discourage families
from coming to programs if their children have special needs. If a child does
not cope with the over stimulation of a large group storytime, The Cubby
Sensitive Storytime can be recommended as another option.
Some things to
consider
- Children
with a disability or developmental delay like going to community venues
and enjoy the same activities as neuro-typical children
- All
children are children first
- All
children thrive when they are included, valued and encouraged to
participate
- All
children can benefit when their community supports them
- All
children in a library setting can learn social skills such as taking
turns, sitting with others, making friends and learning to love books
Why should we include children with disability
or developmental delay in Storytime and Rhymetime sessions?
Firstly, it is required by law. As a part of the NSW Inclusion Act 2014, local councils must plan and
implement a Disability Inclusion Plan for their services and facilities.
More importantly, inclusion is a right. Children learn in
everyday environments and with their peers. According to Dr Tim Moore of the
Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, inclusion is “the meaningful participation
of children with developmental disabilities in the same range of home, early
childhood and community environments, experiences and activities as other
children.”
In libraries,
Storytime and Rhymetime sessions are among the first opportunities for a child
to enjoy books in a group. Children with disabilities should also experience
the magic of books, learn and love to read with others.
How can you support
families?
All
children are unique, including those with a disability or developmental delay.
A diagnosis is not an indication of their talents.
It
is important to discover the child and the family’s strengths, needs and
inclusion goals to provide the right support. Parents are the experts on their
child. You can use the information they provide to tailor the child’s library
experience. Remember that all families are different. Culture, traditions,
religious beliefs and language are just some of the unique traits that are
important to them and their children.
Children
learn from everyday experiences and interactions. Enabling access,
participation and providing support for children with disabilities will give
them the best opportunity to flourish and become a part of the community.
Things you can do in your regular programs
- Use
the visual timetable to help children understand what to expect-each
branch has one for each type of program. If you can’t locate them, give
the Kids team a call.
- Use
the same routine for activities-use the same opening and closing song for
that program.
- Provide
visual aids-feltboards help children who do not hear or process language.
- Create displays that highlight resources for specific needs or stories about children with different types of disabilities.
The State Library has a list of diverse books, you can check it here. We have many of these books in our collection.
- Hold
Storytime sessions in different languages or use interpreters for
newly-arrived migrants to feel included in library activities.
From Training package developed by Plumtree-Libraries as Community
Connectors. For more information form this training package please see Chris
Newett or Ingrid Micallef or look in the Objective folder-Library>Childrens-Library_Desk>Training-Children
and Youth>Plumtree Training Package-Inclusion-Libraries as Community
Connectors
Things you can do if you
notice a child with special needs in your programs
After the program,
introduce yourself to the family/carers. Thank them for coming to the
storytime.
Ask if there is
anything you can do for the family/child to make the storytime more suited to
the child’s needs.
If you notice a child starts having a tantrum when you start using the shakers or you are doing a clapping/stamping song try to quieten the actions/shaking. “We’re going to do whisper shaking now” or “Let’s do feather claps / mouse stamps”. Talk to the parent afterwards and say that you noticed the loud noise was causing their child to feel stressed, let them know that it is O.K. and that in the future if they let you know they are at storytime, you will avoid these types of songs/actions. Keep a note in your diary or day book as a reminder and to alert other staff who present programs.
If you know you have
children with special needs coming to your sessions include books that show
children with diverse needs. (We should do this across all storytimes and as
these books become more available, we will do that.)
Include books that are
repetitious, are very visual, have clear simple storylines – not too
detailed. Stories that deal with day to
day activities-dressing, eating, visiting different places. Books about colour,
shape, transport, feelings, animals. Ask Kids team if you have the chance, we
have a small collection of these ready for use.
Include familiar
rhymes that have simple actions. If they don’t participate, that’s fine. (These
children might even find that movement causes their clothes to move on them
therefore causing aggravation.)
The most important thing
you can do is be very welcoming, smile at the family, chat with them
afterwards, chat to the child at their level, giving them space and speaking
gently.
The behaviour you model
will impact on the other families and will be the best thing you can do for
that family.
What can you do in your next storytime to help any families who come to your storytime? Jot down some notes in the reflection form.
The Cubby Sensitive
Storytime and The Calm Corner.
The Cubby
Storytime
The Cubby Storytime is a sensitive storytime for children with
autism or children who have sensory processing issues. The program is run by
Sutherland children’s team staff.
Resources have been purchased through a grant from Ability Links. Resources have been purchased to assist children with
Autism or who have difficulties with sensory stimulation. These are
·
Weighted
blanket
·
Weighted
toys-lap toys such as bear, turtle and monkey and wrap toys such as snake-snake
can wrap around the child’s neck and shoulders giving a downward pressure along
the spine.
·
Weighted lap distraction
toys-weighted cushion with window for looking for objects.
·
Fidget toys,
for older children-small interactive cubes with different textile, sound,
action
·
Squishy soft
ruby things
·
Squish balls
·
Sparkle balls
·
Light up balls
·
Timer with
colored fluid (lava lamp style..)
·
2x dark tent
·
1x large
memory foam bean bag
·
Wobble stool
·
Books
·
Noise
cancelling headphones
This was all part of a
process called Great Expectations.
Ages
·
2-5years
Dates
·
First Thursday of the month
Times
·
10:30-11:00/11:15
Bookings
essential
·
Details for booking are on our website.
Numbers
·
Limited to 10
The Calm
Corner
The Calm Corner is a space in the meeting room at Engadine Library
designed to be available at specific times for families with children who have
autism. The space is designed to be made available if needed on the dates and
times as shown below. Children and their
parents can come to the library to browse and borrow when the Calm Corner is
available and if they become stressed and the parent feels they would like to
take them into the Calm Corner to distress and relax they can go there. This came about when a patron who has 2
children with autism felt it was difficult to come to the library.
The meeting room at Engadine is being fitted with dimmable lights
(still coming). They also have a collection of resources- 10 cushions, weighted
blankets and toys and lap pads, sensory toys, timers, sensory tents, noise
cancelling headphones, a wobble stool and a Cloud Sac (giant bean bag style
cushion) that can be made available.
Some of the resources will be set up such as the tent and the Cloud Sac
and one or two other items. Others can be obtained from the cupboard in the
meeting room. The containers are labelled so parents and children can choose
what they know will help to calm and relieve their child’s stress. These
resources are available for families if and when their child needs it. It is
not available as a playroom! The parents will be responsible for assisting
their child to become calm, it is not a staff run space.
Ages
·
0-12/13
Dates
·
First Thursday of the month
Times
·
4:00pm-6:00pm
No Booking
needed as this is a needs-based area.
Numbers.
·
There are quite a few resources and it is
hoped that they are not all needed at once otherwise it won’t be very calming
for very long! It will be up to the parents to assist in calming their
children.
The Cubby Storytime has a
set structure
A simple storyboard is
used and a ‘finished’ box for the items that are completed.
The storyteller goes
through what will happen.
·
Hello song
·
Song
·
Weather
·
Story
·
Song
·
Story
·
Song
·
End
We have a social story for the
children and parents to look at together and a video as well. These were
created so the children are familiar with what they will experience before they
come to the library.
https://photos.app.goo.gl/ZuDgcY7qSBLb7FRaA
How would you describe The Cubby Storytime to a parent/carer who asks about programs for children with over sensitivity to stimulation or autism?
______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Activities
Additional Information
Here are two
PowerPoints that have great tips for storytime for children with autism.
PowerPoint:
Sensory Storytime Training
These are some pointers put
together for helping you when faced with children with autism.
`
Resources and References
https://www.cmlibrary.org/services/special-needs
http://www.librariesandautism.org/strategies.htm
https://www.alsc.ala.org/blog/2012/03/sensory-storytime-a-brief-how-to-guide/
ALIA Information Online 2021- Beyond Fake news
Beyond Fake news: are we suffering from an information disorder?
Hello there people out in blogland, I am here today to talk to you about an interesting panel session that was part of the recent ALIA information online 2021 virtual conference. The session was about “fake news” and misinformation, something which has been in the spotlight in the past twelve months. The panellists for this session were Dr Timothy Graham, Professor Colin Klein, and Tom Sear.
ALIA ONLINE CONFERENCE 2021
I attended the ALIA Online Conference on Monday 8th February. Its theme was ‘Access or control?’ This issue of dominance, control, use and permission was a common one. To understand its questions, you must consider the social landscapes in which libraries live across the world, and not just the ‘library’ itself which does not exist independently of the society in which it serves.
There were a lot of rich, inspiring and challenging ideas. One (amongst many) that resonated with me was that libraries have to “tell their own stories”. The survival and thriving of libraries cannot depend on us passively assuming that the public, policy makers, councils and government know what values and contribution modern libraries make in societies, says Eric Klinenberg (Prof Sociology and Director of the Institute for Public Knowledge at NYU). It is important to record and promote what libraries do in all its social diversity, and ensure that libraries are vocal and active in the community, demonstrating that who we are, what we do and what we stand for matters. Prof Klinenberg asserted that, in this continuing age of Covid, what we need is not social distancing. He reframed the phrase to ‘not social, but physical distancing, with social solidarity’, that the library is a place, in essence, where people are “looking after each other”.
This idea that libraries are not passive places was repeated throughout the Conference. There was discussion around the decisions that are consciously made around library work such as historical cataloguing and metadata, and who is counted. There was a call to consider the Indigenous story sensitively and with compassion. There was a plea to listen and heed Indigenous voices, and to proceed with the openness of collaboration instead of a closed attitude of ‘this is the way things have always been done in libraries’. There is a lot of emotion around issues of history, who is represented and what gets taken to be the "way things have always been done around here” mentality. The Conference was really asking you to consider – what do YOU mean by the word ‘here’? Also, what does it mean ‘to hear’?
At its heart, I believe the Conference was broadly asking for a very compassionate, open and sensitive nature of listening and receptivity to historical issues, working with Indigenous communities and supporting social solidarity to promote harmony and social cohesion. It was the GLAM sector (Galleries, Libraries, Archives and Museums) as peace builders. We were challenged to “tell our own story”, but also make space to listen, and hear, others’ stories, and voices, as well. On this note I will apologise that I do not have the space here to name all of the Conference’s participants.
Jean at Miranda
Training Modules Children and Youth Module 15 Presenting the programs
Training Modules Children and Youth
Module 15 Presenting the programs
Photo courtesy of Christchurch Libraries https://www.flickr.com/photos/christchurchcitylibraries/(May 03, 2022)
To complete your training you need to go through a process of on the job training where you will go through these steps
Step 1 Observe:
What did you observe that surprised you?
What would you do the same?
What would you do differently?
Step 2 Participate: SMILE!
You will sit in with presentations of the program at your branch. Your team ember will present the majority of the program and you will take on part of the program to build confidence. Some of the things you can take on are...
Sing a song
Read a book
Do a feltboard
Use a puppet
Do the opening routine
Do the closing routine
As you feel more confident take on more than one activity.
Keep notes of how you feel you went and the feedback from your team members. Listen for constructive ideas and remember-the kids and the parents will love what you are doing. Everyone has their own style and preferred manner for delivering programs. Find yours and enjoy what you do.
Step 3: Present:
You should be ready to present from beginning to end. You can choose to do this last step completely solo with a team member standing by in case you get stuck or with a team member sitting with you and doing one element them selves.
Keep notes of anything you think you did really well, anything you think you would change and any parent or child behaviours that occurred.
Last module: Module 16 Program Evaluation