A New Toolkit: Helping Libraries to be Autism-Ready

From WebJunction/OCLC:

…a research team at the University of Washington has released an online resource, “Autism-Ready Libraries Toolkit,” that seeks to “empower youth-serving librarians and library staff with the early literacy training and programming materials they need to provide autism-inclusive early literacy services.”

Five key principles guide the training content to help library staff reimagine storytimes as autism-ready, inclusive, learning-rich environments:

1. Foster a community of inclusion
2. Provide an accessible environment
3. Provide multiple methods of representation, engagement, and expression
4. Meet families where they are
5. Recognize each child’s individual and diverse interests, strengths, and needs.

Drawing on interdisciplinary research, the Toolkit provides training modules, sensory audit checklists, and storytime lesson plans designed to empower and prepare library staff to provide learning-rich programs for autistic and their families in an informed, intentional, and welcoming space.

The Autism-Ready Toolkit’s training and resources apply to both in- and out-of-library programming, includes step-by-step advocacy resources, and is also broadly relevant for anyone seeking to better understand and serve autistic children and their families. Library staff are already beginning to use some of these strategies and recommendations in their programming, such as reassuring parents that it’s fine for children to wiggle and move around during storytime, and using a visual schedule.

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Direct to Autism-Ready Libraries Toolkit

Hat Tip and Many Thanks: Stephen’s Lighthouse

Filed under: Libraries, News