Why do sensory story times for adults with intellectual/developmental disabilities?
Jen: Story times are not just for kids,
and multisensory experiences are the best way to engage audiences of all ages
and abilities. Adults with cognitive disabilities may often feel more at
home in the Youth Services area. Three years ago, we began seeing increasing
numbers of group home residents with disabilities visiting the library.
Caregivers were asking about attending our adaptive sensory story times for
youth with developmental delays, which is limited in registration to help
prevent overstimulation of our young attendees with sensory sensitivities. Many
of our weekly group home visitors enjoy coloring, playing with some of the
games and toys, doing a simple craft at
our passive activity table, and eating their lunch in the library café. It was
time to start thinking about an ongoing program for these frequent visitors who
loved the library so much. One question kept arising: While youth librarians
have experience creating developmentally appropriate programming and these
folks seem to prefer children’s books and materials, are we being mindful andrespectful of their age by doing the program in Youth Services?
Youth Services and Adult Services
Collaborate!
Jen: After reaching out to the Adult
Services department for their thoughts, I soon began meeting with Ed to talk
about developing a monthly program for our adult group home visitors (which
would later also include young adult students with multiple disabilities from
the Wing Lake Developmental Center). We decided to start with a monthly
program, taking a look at the program outline for the youth sensory story times
which we have offered here since 2010. We adapted the program outline for teens
and adults, including simple but age-respectful materials and more opportunity
for social skills development. Accessibility aids such as a visual schedule and
adaptive yoga movement remained. After the first few story times, Ed adjusted
some of those activities based on caregiver input.
Where Do I Start?
Ed: Identifying 24 local adult group
homes, I sent out letters introducing myself and explaining our plan to offer a
program for adults with cognitive disabilities. After a month I had not
received a single response and felt completely demoralized. It was then that I
noticed a group of six adults and two caregivers just hanging out here one day.
I approached them and introduced myself, talking about the possibility of this
ongoing program. They were very enthusiastic and offered to attend the first
program. Word of mouth and dedication helped to grow our average attendance to
between 20 – 40 participants.
Personal standing and looking at picture book in front of a white board |
Sensory Story Time for Teens and Adults: a
Plan
Ed: There are generally 8 – 10 steps to
each story time:
-Greeting (We greet them when they come in and
again once everyone is seated. This is a great time to reintroduce yourself and
any aides you have assisting with the program.)
-Explanation & discussion of theme (We talk
about the theme and each activity we will be doing with the help of a visual
schedule.)
-Yoga pose (Try to use mainly seated poses, but
you can also adapt poses for people with mobile disabilities. Favorites include
“reach for the sky” and “forward bend.”)
-American Sign Language-aided rhyme or interactive
rhyme with active movement (more movement was requested by caregivers who explained
they are seated with little movement throughout the day.)
-Story (using mainly non-fiction now at the
request of caregivers wanting to focus more on educational themes and concepts)
-Interactive song
-Story
-Music or video clip related to the theme (This
is not only entertaining but great reinforcement/clarification of the theme.)
-Sensory experience/craft (This is the highlight!
I am always asked at the beginning of the program “What are we going to make
today?”)
-Goodbye
Here are a
few successful themes ideas:
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World (see this
sample story time outline),
Seasons, Jazz Music, Classical Music, In the Garden, Under the
Sea, Countries Around the World, Our United States
Tips for trying
sensory story time for adults at your library:
Jen: Picture
books with photographs or “age-respectful” illustrations and simple text are
ideal (i.e. Best in Snow by April
Pulley Sayre, This Jazz Man by Karen
Ehrhardt). It’s okay to shorten lengthier titles, reading parts of the story.
Be sure to ask questions about the illustrations as you are
reading, describing the illustrations for attendees who are blind or have low
vision.
Try to incorporate multisensory experiences that will be
inclusive of all abilities, such as tactile manipulatives, audio, smell (i.e.
flowers and aromatic vegetables for a gardening theme), and even
taste!
taste!
a bird's nest replica with eggs, feathers, and scarves on a wood-paneled table |
carrots, flowers and animal puppets on a woo-paneled table |
(The above pictures depict sensory experiences for an outreach springtime science program for students with multiple disabilities)
Ed: Seek out your local agencies and group homes to target your audience. Be sure to solicit their assistance for ideas and suggestions. Feedback is critical and always helpful.
It’s
easy to get discouraged, but start with no expectations. I started our program
by speaking with one group and through word of mouth it spread.
Start
small. The first program I conducted simply involved reading two stories and
playing with artificial snow. Once the attendance started to swell, I was
offered additional staff assistance. Also, the caregivers are there to offer
support as well. They know the audience better than you do and can be helpful
in engaging and stimulating the group as well.
Have
fun! I was interested in developing this program, but didn’t know where to
start. I was nervous and questioned if I was the right person for the job, but
now it is honestly the highlight of my month. In the same way that the first
group told me, essentially, if you build it, they will come.
About our guest
bloggers:
Jen Taggart is the Assistant Department Head of Youth Services at the Bloomfield Township Public Library, and a member of the Autism Welcome Here grant committee. She also developed the BTPL’s Special Needs Collection for youth, chairs the Special Needs Services Roundtable (SNSR) of Michigan librarians serving patrons with disabilities of all ages, and created the biennial Adaptive Umbrella Workshop. You can find Jen on her blog adaptiveumbrella.blogspot.com, follow her on Twitter @librarianjennt, or email her at taggartj@btpl.org.
Jen Taggart is the Assistant Department Head of Youth Services at the Bloomfield Township Public Library, and a member of the Autism Welcome Here grant committee. She also developed the BTPL’s Special Needs Collection for youth, chairs the Special Needs Services Roundtable (SNSR) of Michigan librarians serving patrons with disabilities of all ages, and created the biennial Adaptive Umbrella Workshop. You can find Jen on her blog adaptiveumbrella.blogspot.com, follow her on Twitter @librarianjennt, or email her at taggartj@btpl.org.
Ed Niemchak is a
librarian in the Adult Services department at the Bloomfield Township Public
Library. In 2016, he began developing
and building a Special Needs Collection for adults and teens in addition to his
monthly sensory story times for adults and teens. You can email Ed at niemchae@btpl.org.
No comments:
Post a Comment