Sensory Story Time for Adults

Guest post by Jen Taggart and Ed Niemchak, Bloomfield Township Public Library

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!

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.

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.