Book Clubs During School Hours for Students with Disabilities

While trying to get an overview of library services offered in my area, I spoke with a high school librarian who brought up an idea that seemed revolutionary to me. The librarian had previously been a special education teacher, so she purposely made her library services welcoming to this population.

Because of her background, the librarian reached out to the current English teachers to form a book club for students with disabilities. She wanted to hold a weekly book club in the library during English class. Holding programs during school hours can be difficult, because there is already so much to do during a school day. But it increases participation, since many students ride the bus or have other after-school obligations, and often can’t stay late.

Read the full post on YALSAblog and share your thoughts!

Thanksgiving Storytime

Last Thursday, I held a Thanksgiving storytime for a class from SRVS. I read Turkey Trouble by Wendi Silvano, illustrated by Lee Harper, followed by One is a Feast for Mouse by Judy Cox, illustrated by Jeffrey Ebbeler.

Turkey Trouble reminded me a lot of Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise, except instead of disguising himself to catch dinner like Owl, Turkey is disguising himself so he won't become dinner!

One is a Feast for Mouse reminded me of the song "The Green Grass Grew All Around" because Mouse makes a huge stack of food morsel upon food morsel, and the stack is repeated each time something new is added. It's extra fun to point at the illustrations and have everyone say the item along with you. Spoiler alert: you will be out of breath by the end!

After reading those two books, we made turkeys using toilet paper rolls and construction paper feathers. To save time, I pre-cut the feathers, so each individual got ten and glued them to the back of their toilet paper roll. Then they used crayons to draw eyes and a beak on their turkeys!

I've also written about previous library programs for adults with disabilities.

Halloween Storytime

Yesterday I held a Halloween storytime for two classes from SRVS. I know, I know - it's only the beginning of October! But for now, this program is only held once a month, so I had to share these excellent books while I could!


See the setup in a better light here.
I read:
- Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex
- Little Shop of Monsters by R.L. Stine and Marc Brown
- a few poems from Your Skeleton is Showing: Rhymes of Blunder from Six Feet Under by Kurt
   Cyrus, illustrated by Crab Scrambly
- Monster Mash by David Catrow

I encouraged the group to speak/sing along as I read Monster Mash; we also listened to the song by Bobby "Boris" Pickett and danced. Then I turned off all the lights and asked for volunteers to tell ghost stories.

It was a fun program, but several of the individuals asked if we were making monster crafts. I had substituted the ghost stories section for craft time, since we have a little less than an hour for the whole program, and I pay for supplies out of pocket. For future Halloween programs, I'll definitely have a fun monster craft planned. Lesson learned!


I reviewed the first three books on the read-aloud list as "Best Books for
Halloween" and made a short video, so check it out for more on those titles.
I've also written about previous library programs for adults with disabilities.

The Day the Crayons Storytime

Today was my second time holding a library program for adults with disabilities! Two classes from SRVS came for a colorful storytime! I read The Day the Crayons Quit and The Day the Crayons Came Home by Drew Daywalt, illustrated by Oliver Jeffers.

I made the books a little more interactive by letting the individuals call out what color was writing the letter based on the illustrations. In the second book, they had fun trying to remember what color crayon had renamed himself "Esteban"!

For the craft, individuals colored their own bookmarks with an assortment of crayons, trying to use them all equally so none would get mad and quit! Check out these beautiful bookmarks!

I've also written about previous library programs for adults with disabilities.

My First Storytime with SRVS!

The backstory behind my library program for adults with disabilities is explained here.
Two weeks ago today, on August 13, 2015, I held my first library program for two classes of adults with disabilities from SRVS! I was pretty nervous because my experience of reading aloud is limited to my one-year-old. I picked two books I really loved because I knew I'd be comfortable reading them aloud. Bonus: both books are really funny, so I knew my audience would be laughing!

I started with The Incredible Book Eating Boy by Oliver Jeffers, then read Hoot Owl, Master of Disguise by Sean Taylor, illustrated by Jean Jullien. The craft was to make Hoot Owl pencil toppers out of construction paper. I pre-cut all the pieces for the owl because we have a little less than an hour for this program. The individuals glued them together, then taped the owl to their pencil. A SRVS teacher and I took requests from the individuals and we made disguises for each owl! See the super cool spy glasses pictured above.

This program was so much fun to lead, and I'm excited to continue it every month. I can't wait to see how it grows and develops into more!

Adapted Books for Teens with Disabilities

Adapted books are texts that have been modified to make them more accessible for people with different abilities. Making books more physically accessible could mean using fluffers, which are foam stickers or Velcro squares added to the corners of stiff pages to make them easier to grab and turn. Any book can be adapted with these fluffers, but it’s important to make sure the books that are modified can also be independently read by patrons. Turning regular texts into adapted books will not only round out your library’s collection, but it can also be a great makerspace project!

Click to read the full article on YALSAblog.

Are You Seeing Me?

Books are often seen as a respite from everyday life and road trip books can be an even greater escape. They let you travel without having to go through airport security or get stuck in a strange city’s traffic. Darren Groth’s Are You Seeing Me? takes readers from an Australian airport to several stops in Canada and the United States, journeying alongside nineteen-year-old Justine and her twin brother, Perry.

The trip is a big undertaking, but it’s meant to be a send-off, a farewell to the lives the twins have always known. Justine and Perry’s father died a year ago and, since then, Justine has been Perry’s caregiver. Before his death, their father secured Perry, who has autism, a spot at an independent living facility. Justine is conflicted: Perry says he wants to move away; her boyfriend wants to move in; and she can finally live a life without caring for a brother with disabilities.

Check out the full review at Cleaver Magazine.

Flashback Friday - Storytellers Beginnings

Last Thursday I started a new read-aloud program at the local library. I read aloud to adults with disabilities, and then we talk about the stories and do a craft. Last week, 13 of the adults left with applications for library cards! I'm hoping that the program will expand to teach the adults with disabilities how to use the library more independently. Eventually, I'd love to offer this program to all ages of people with disabilities.

In honor of the program kickoff, I wanted to share posts from a previous program I did for adults with disabilities. I started "We Are Storytellers" - a chance for people with disabilities to write and illustrate their own stories. This entry was originally posted on January 8, 2013.

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     A friend and I were on a road trip in August of 2011. We talked about everything under the sun, from personal lives to hopes and dreams for the future. She told me that she wanted to visit terminal children in the hospital and have them tell her a story. She'd write it down and make it into a book, giving them a creative outlet even while their bodies were being ravaged by disease. She wanted to show them they could still make something, they could use their imaginations and escape in some small way.

     Three months later, I started volunteering at SRVS. I helped out with the art program, which meant I distributed paper, paint, and brushes to the plethora of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities lined up at cafeteria tables - we were a little overwhelmed initially, with about 20 clients and three teachers. As time wore on, I stole moments to sit beside them and talk about their paintings.
     We described animals and the individual would paint them; we'd make the animal's noises when the picture was complete. Some clients worked better when given an example; I'd try to paint my own version of whatever they wanted to draw themselves. (Despite being a graphic designer and volunteering with the art program, my drawing skills are somewhat lacking.) Usually, thankfully!, they requested simpler things: animals, fruits, landscapes with birds soaring over the trees.

     I got to know these people as individuals, but I wanted to understand how their minds worked. I wanted to know their stories. My friend's idea had stuck with me since the year before, and I knew I wanted to implement it in this setting, but I had no clue how. I spoke with administrators at the organization, told them what I wanted to do, and they gave me their blessings. But I didn't know what to do - where to start, what the purpose would be, and how I would reach the finish line.

     It wasn't until January 2013 that I felt ready to start the project. (And I use the term "ready" loosely - I was incredibly nervous, for no real reason.) I now see that was the best possible thing I could do - wait. Get to know the clients, familiarize myself with their personalities, their conditions, their daily lives. Really try to understand where they're coming from and what they're going through before I sit down with them and ask them to write and illustrate a story for me.

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If you're interested, please check out the entire blog at We Are Storytellers!

Inclusive Summer Reading Programs - YALSAblog

I was recently accepted to write for YALSAblog, and I couldn't be more thrilled! Most of my posts will focus on providing services to teens with disabilities. The first one has tips on making your library's summer reading program inclusive.

Whether you know the teens that frequent your library or not, disabilities can be hard to see. If you’re lucky, teens and their parents may be open about disabilities and how you can help them get the most out of their library experience. And if you’re not lucky, well, sometimes you'll deal with behaviors or unsatisfying encounters that make you wonder if you helped the patron at all. Thankfully, making your summer reading activities seem inviting to teens with disabilities is easy to do. With just a few tweaks to what you already have in place, your program can be inclusive! This way, it doesn’t matter if you know what disabilities you’re dealing with, or if you’re just taking a wild guess.

Read the whole article here!

Rules

Plot Summary
Catherine is tired of her brother David being the center of the family, just because he has autism and needs more attention. Catherine keeps a list of rules in her notebook, just for her brother - rules about social conventions that seem basic for most people, but don’t come easy to David. When a new family moves into the house next door, Catherine is sure the girl is going to be her new best friend. But who would want to be friends with someone who has a brother as different as David? Catherine is determined to hide her family from her new neighbor, even as she grows closer to a boy who knows all about her brother. Can she balance her family and friends, while still being true to herself?

Critical Analysis
     Character.
Catherine is a realistic twelve-year-old girl who wants to have a normal life, or maybe even a storybook-perfect life: the best friend living right next door, the brother who doesn’t embarrass her all the time, parents who pay attention to her. How she alternately loves and hates her brother is especially understandable; everyone with a sibling has felt this way, but it seems especially fragile when the sibling in question has a disability. I think the way Catherine thinks about and acts towards her brother will help young adults understand how to act towards people with disabilities, instead of just keeping their distance.

     Plot.
Catherine is determined to live as normal a life as she can, and that starts with making the new girl next door her best friend. She’s tired of the boy on the corner making fun of her brother, but she’s torn between protecting David and distancing herself from him. Catherine is also trying to get attention from her parents, wanting to be noticed and appreciated even as she’s growing into a teenager. Everything is in a delicate balance, and she has to figure out how to handle it all and what type of person she wants to become.

     Setting.
The setting is a small town, any town, or it might just seem that way because the story is told from Catherine’s point of view. Only a few places are noteworthy, like her house, the neighbor’s house, the bully on the corner, the video store (David’s favorite place), and David’s physical therapy. In my opinion, setting doesn’t play a huge role in this story, but it works that way because the characters step up and take center stage, as they should.

     Theme.
Catherine wants to be carefree like the girls at her school, but with her brother being different, she can’t quite pull it off. She spends her time drawing and wishing her world didn’t have to revolve around David. When she goes with her mother and brother to physical therapy, she meets Jason, a boy who has more severe disabilities than David - yet she is immediately drawn to him. He values her art and how she understands him, and Catherine is able to see herself through his eyes, and realizes she has more to offer than other girls who might not have such varied life experiences. The theme is very subtle, but once it’s realized, I think it’s very powerful. Catherine standing up for her brother and Jason is very emotional, and gives me hope that children reading this will start accepting people with disabilities more widely than that population has experienced in the past.

     Style.
The style of the book is casual and conversation, but there are great unique elements that really stand out. Catherine’s inner dialogue and thoughts are very strong, and I like how they often contradict what she says vocally. I also thought the way she conversed with Jason, using his communication book, was interesting because the author had to keep it simple, using a limited set of words to convey emotion, but still managed to add some humor.

Personal Response
I worked with adults with disabilities for several years, so I love finding books that address disabilities. I think it’s important for kids to understand that some people are different than them, yet still should be treated like everyone else. The book is definitely true to the feel of kids on the brink of becoming teenagers, but the element of knowing people with disabilities added a great emotional depth that was really powerful. I especially loved how Catherine’s relationship with Jason began and evolved. If anything, I think this book teaches patience, kindness, and acceptance.

Reviews & Awards
School Library Journal says “Lord has candidly captured the delicate dynamics in a family that revolves around a child's disability.” Kirkus Review says “Middle-grade readers will recognize her longing for acceptance and be intrigued by this exploration of dealing with differences.”
     Awards include the Newbery Honor Medal, Schneider Family Book Award, Sunshine State Young Readers Book, Great Lakes Great Books Award, Dorothy Canfield Fisher Children’s Book Award, and an ALA Notable Children’s Book.

Connections & Activities
Read more books with characters who have autism or Asperger’s to help expand your view of people with this disability.
     The Al Capone series by Gennifer Choldenko
     Anything But Typical by Nora Raleigh Baskin
     The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon
     Marcelo In The Real World by Francisco X. Stork
     Mockingbird by Kathryn Erskine

Read it for yourself!
Lord, Cynthia. 2008. Rules. New York: Scholastic. ISBN: 9780439443838