Kristine Millard is working on her MLIS at UW-Madison as well as managing a lab that studies early language development in toddlers with autism. Periodically, she shares resources relating to developmental disabilities that you might find useful.
When I was working in a library, Thursday mornings were a favorite. Someone who knew my schedule might have thought it was because those were my outreach days. Don’t get me wrong, heading out to daycares and 4K classes was a great part of the job. Returning to see a small school bus in the parking lot was, too. That’s when the developmentally disabled students came to the library. They always had the best manners and our staff made sure they knew they were welcome and that we were happy to help find what they were looking for.
Sometimes there were non-verbal students in the group. As I got to know them, it was clear they were still able to share with caregivers what kind of library materials were important. Some used an adaptive communication tool that looked a lot like an iPad but was much more robustly configured for their needs. Whenever a new book was added to the collection within their interests, I only needed to see the look in their eyes to know I was handing over a winner.
The Waisman Center has a Saturday event coming up on October 15 from 9-11 am that is free and open to the public on Zoom. This year’s Augmentative and Adaptive Communication Day with the Experts is going to include two presentations that may appeal to librarians. First, a self-advocate, Mike Hipple, will share: A Drive Through AAC Communities: Learning Why it is so Important to be in Communities on this Journey. I’m looking forward to hearing how community organizations are doing well with serving AAC users, and where we can do better. I make no guarantees about libraries getting a mention, but we all have community partners we can work with.
After Mr. Hipple speaks, a Speech Language Pathologist will share thoughts on Literacy for AAC Users.
I checked with the event coordinator, and there is no limit to the number of people who can join the Zoom session. I hope to see you there virtually (October 15 @ 9:00 am - 11:00 am)!
No comments:
Post a Comment