I’m a graduate student in Library and Information Science. For one of my courses, I am writing a paper focusing on public libraries and children and teens with learning disabilities. I already found information about LD and policies and challenges from the librarians’ point-of-view. I would like to get information from the point-of-view of children with LD and their parents and families.
If you could answer these questions, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
Sarah
ps: I wasn’t sure which forum to post this. If this is the wrong area, please let me know.
Is the library an opening and welcoming place for children with LD and other special needs?
What are some challenges you have faced in regards to navigating the collection?
Asking for assistance at the reference desk?
Interacting with librarians and other staff?
Participating in library programs for children and teens?
If librarians are aware of your special needs, are accommodations provided as needed?
Does the collection provide adequate resources about LD and other disabilities for parents? For children and teens with disabilities?
Does the collection provide materials that accommodate the needs of people with LD (i.e. books on tape, audio-visual materials, interactive software, kits)?
How could your library improve in regards to interaction with children and young adults with learning disabilities?
Resources provided on LD?
Inclusion of this population in library programs and activities?
How do you feel about your overall library experience?
Re: Children and teens with LD and library use
I did ask my son who is now 18 about the library. Basically, he said that the library has lots of books, but very few audio books. He relies heavily on audio books. Although years of work have improved his reading level, reading still requires a great deal of effort and it is hard to sustain that effort to read a complete book.
So, “if I ran the library”
books with larger print size
audio books with listening stations
text to speech on computers for research
quality films of classics
documentaries
We are learning about downloadable audio books for an ipod or mp3 player
Thanks,
Re: Children and teens with LD and library use
I agree w/ Angela.
When my middle school librarian friend incorporated books on tape (Don Johnston company has a whole “Start to Finish” program that has books and tapes working together; at tha tpoint she just had bags with the tapes and the books), she got LD students doing a lot more reading.
HOWEVER - just GETTING the stuff isn’t enough. You have to get the folks using it; it’s not going to automatically leap into their cultures.
Re: Children and teens with LD and library use
My daughter usually picks out books by the covers. So when the library sets up a display up on top of the bookcases, she would grab those books that were upright in the holders. Many times she would get a book in a foreign language, or the subject was different than the book cover described. I am glad that our public library shows book covers on the computer and I can put a book on hold, so there is no trama of going into the children’s section for my preteen.
I am interested in your topic and appreciate your interest in making libraries accessable to LD students.
My son with ld (reading and spelling) enjoyed the library as a young child when he was just interested in books. As he got older he no longer sought out the library. I will have to ask him his impressions.
I did go to the library with and for him and I look for several things. Audio books so that he can enjoy children’s, juvenile, young adult and classic literature. I want a print copy of the book that is on tape and perhaps even a text with nice size text.
I am well aware of text to speech and speech to text technology which would benefit my son, but few libraries have this availkable.
The staff is generally nice, but not particularly knowledgeable about people who can’t read.
I will ask my son and post again. I love the lobrary, but I know that he rarely uses one.