ENVIRONMENT

Creating a Welcoming Environment

Consider the perspective of a parent whose child has special needs. Envision bringing your child to the library. Many parents are more than a little terrified at the prospect! A quiet library, where you can’t guarantee your child won’t grow uncontrollably loud? Or even a storytime, where fellow parents might roll their eyes at you because of your child’s behavior There is a great deal of fear, anxiety, and “risk” that parents of children with special needs face when they consider a trip to the library. The goal of a special needs storytime should be to introduce and welcome these brave families (White, 2016, pp. 9-10).

- Sara White, Youth Services Senior Librarian, Seminole County, Florida

As noted earlier, the 2011 TPL guide, “Planning Library Programs for Children with Special Needs,” states that “few families with children with special needs attend regularly scheduled library storytime sessions (p. 7).” The guide goes on to note that, “The reasons they would not attend may be anticipated: poor or erratic behaviour by the child, fear of judgement by library staff and other parents… (TPL, p. 7)” Creating a welcoming environment for storytime involves a shift in thinking about what constitutes “acceptable” engagement and behaviour.

In her article “Special Needs Storytime, Separation, & Accomodation,” White (2016) points out that for many children with special needs, what might be perceived as their “disruptiveness” during storytime is actually just them responding to storytime in their own way (p. 10). Librarian Renee Grassi (quoted in Cottrell, 2016) observes that:

Enjoying a program looks totally different for kids with autism. They might not always be looking at the librarian or be repeating the refrain, but it doesn’t mean they’re not taking the information in. Maybe they’re walking around the room, but it doesn’t mean they’re not listening (p 17).

Librarians and library staff should model acceptance of diverse children’s responses to storytime in order to foster inclusion. As White explains, “I challenge myself to fully embrace the variety of children’s responses to storytime and to make sure that every single parent sees that I embrace it (p. 10)!”

Clear Oral and Visual Communication

Librarians with experience engaging children with ASD and ADHD during storytimes emphasise the importance of communicating the program structure clearly to the children who are participating. Based on their experiences reading aloud to children with ASD in kindergarten through grade two, educator Margaret Oliver (2013) recommends making sure that the children are “aware of the finiteness of [storytime] because they can become anxious and inattentive if the activity seems open-ended (p. 35).” For example, Oliver shows their students the two books being read at the start of the storytime. After reading the first book, they announce, “All finished! Now we have one more book.”

Librarians and library staff can also communicate program structure visually. Renee Grassi, librarian at Glen Ellyn Public Library in Illinois, creates a large visual schedule for storytime, with pictures of each task (Cottrell, 2016, p. 35). Grassi also makes small versions for children to hold in their hands, thus “allowing them to physically move each activity to the back as it was completed (Cottrell, 2016, p. 35).” Finally, Grassi adheres to the same program structure each week.

Anderson (2021) provides a useful overview of how to use visual supports such as visual schedules to make library programs inclusive of neurodivergent participants (pp. 35-36). Librarians often use the software program, Boardmaker, published by Mayer-Johnson, to create visual supports (Anderson, 2011, p. 35), Boardmaker (2023).

Autism Little Learners Visual Supports

Autism Little Learners, a website created by U.S.-based speech language pathologist Tara Tuchel, features a variety of resources on making visual supports that could be integrated into storytime programs. Tuchel’s “Free Visual Supports Starter Kit,” available as an e-resource, includes a supply list and templates for creating “first-then” boards, visual schedules, “all done buckets,” “star charts,” change cards, and “wait mats.”

Free visual supports starter set. (2023). Autism Little Learners.

Inclusive Spaces by Design

In her article “Storytime Engagement for Focus-Challenged Children,” Oliver (2013) states that they “learned to improve the children’s engagement by matching the environment to their abilities (p. 35).” There are many ways in which librarians and library staff can create storytime spaces that are more welcoming and inclusive by design, including:

Sensory Spaces

As outlined in the BHSEC Q study (Bahrampour and deCourcy Hinds, 2022), a library space feels more welcoming and stimulation-reducing with a “wider” layout as opposed to "higher", which brings the resources closer to eye-level and thus makes them wheelchair-accessible as well.

Noise-cancelling headphones can help greatly reduce distractions/ overstimulation for individuals with sensory overload challenges (Bahrampour and deCourcy Hinds, 2022). They can also be incorporated into multisensory rooms including a wide range of light and sound effects (e.g., lava lamps, waterfall or a bubble tube, and vibrations/ soothing sounds).

Furniture

Oliver (2013) found that, for their class of kindergarten to grade two students with ASD, conducting storytime in a more structured area was ideal. They note that “Changing from an open landscape of sitting on the floor to a bordered area with table and chairs greatly decreased distractions (Oliver, 2013, p. 35).”

However, if children feel overwhelmed, providing less structured furnishings like floor cushions or bean bags could help to reduce stimulation, as suggested in the Bard High School Early College Queens case study (Bahrampour and deCourcy Hinds, 2022, p. 5). The BHSEC Q study (Bahrampour and deCourcy Hinds, 2022) also highlighted the value of crash pads, “where students with autism or sensory overload can run and jump on to a soft surface when overwhelmed,” as well as rocking chairs and sway chairs to help students who have difficulty staying still (p. 5). Depending upon community members’ needs, storytime spaces may benefit from the installation of one or more of these furnishing options.

Many companies, such as Scholastic Canada, School Outfitters and Backjack Chairs, offer a variety of furnishings that provide “flexible seating,” including bean bags, floor cushions, and wiggle stools.

Image source: Thomas Arnold Primary School Library

Lighting

Cottrell (2016, p.17) notes that most kids with ASD struggle with a sensory issue of some kind: ”Something as simple as fluorescent lighting can feel like a loud humming or flashing light.” Dimming harsh fluorescent lighting can help to make library spaces more supportive of neurodiversity and anxiety (Bahrampour and deCourcy Hinds, 2022, p. 5).