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.
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| Personal standing and looking at picture book in front of a white board |
