Special Needs and Inclusive Library Services (SNAILS)

Sensory Storytime Presentations The fall meeting of SNAILS featured Sensory Storytime presentations by Renee Grassi of Glencoe Public Library and Sue Parsons of Plainfield Public Library. Renee and Sue covered: the what and why of Sensory Storytime three different models of Sensory Storytime what we can learn from offering Sensory Storytime Because Sensory Storytime is a relatively easy way to accommodate children with special needs at your library, we recorded the presentation for you! In addition to the main presentation, Sue demonstrated a mini Sensory Storytime including her welcome comments, the use of her little bird, Pájaro, songs, crafts, and games. A video of her demo will be included in Sue's upcoming post, so be sure to subscribe to the blog in order to receive an alert when it is posted! Sensory Storytime Ideas from the Group After the formal presentation and demonstration, we used the group sharing time to talk about our favorite Sensory Storyt...

Using iPads with children with special needs is a growing trend.   Although there isn’t conclusive research yet on the outcomes of using iPads with children with special needs, feedback from the field is mainly positive.   Teachers and librarians who are using apps with children with special needs report improvements in targeted skills.   In cases where the child’s skills didn’t improve, teachers felt that the child’s skills also hadn’t decreased.    Because children have such varying abilities, skills, needs, and behaviors, the effectiveness of iPad technology will also vary with each child.   Instruction and experiences should be individualized.   As you consider and/or implement iPad technology in your library collections and programs, here is some current discourse to consider: ·         The iPad can motivate children to practice a skill over and over again until they master it. ·     ...