CENTRAL ISSUES AND STRATEGIES FOR PUBLIC AND ACADEMIC LIBRARIANS TO PROVIDE INCLUSIVE SERVICES Dan Weiss & Meg Kolaya December 12, 2014

 Libraries and Autism: We’re Connected  Applying Universal Design principles and Universal Design for Learning strategies to library programs, spaces and services  Serving patrons with ASD and their families  Evaluating Library accessibility  Customer Service  Attitudes and perceptions  Limits in providing inclusive service Central Issues and Strategies for Public and Academic Librarians to Provide Inclusive Services

Universal Access / Design  Products, built environments, services  Usable to the greatest extent by everyone – or anyone – regardless of age, ability, etc.  Physical approaches: curb cuts, ramps, lever handles not knobs,  Barrier free: removing barriers to access & participation  Flexible, varied approaches to serve all differences, needs, etc.

7 Principals of Universal Design for Instruction At the Center on Universal Design at North Carolina State University a group of architects, product designers, engineers, and environmental design researchers established seven principles of universal design to provide guidance in the design of environments and products.  Equitable use. The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities. Example: A professor's website is designed so that it is accessible to everyone, including students who are blind and using speech-to-text software.  Flexibility in use. The design accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities. Example: A museum, visited as a field trip for a course, allows each student to choose to read or listen to a description of the contents of display cases.  Simple and intuitive. Use of the design is easy to understand, regardless of the user's experience, knowledge, language skills, or current concentration level. Example: Control buttons on science equipment are labeled with text and symbols that are simple and intuitive to understand.  Perceptible information. The design communicates necessary information effectively to the user, regardless of ambient conditions or the user's sensory abilities. Example: A video presentation projected in a course includes captions.  Tolerance for error. The design minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions. Example: Educational software provides guidance and background information when the student makes an inappropriate response.  Low physical effort. The design can be used efficiently and comfortably, and with a minimum of fatigue. Example: Doors to a lecture hall open automatically for people with a wide variety of physical characteristics.  Size and space for approach and use. Appropriate size and space is provided for approach, reach, manipulation, and use regardless of the user's body size, posture, or mobility. Example: A flexible science lab

Challenges Serving Patrons with ASD  Lack of knowledge about ASD – public and staff  Behavior is communication  Inclusion – modeling by staff  Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)

Evaluating Your Library  Services  Physical Space  Programming

Customer Service  What is it?  Why should you care  Common sense, the Golden Rule  Proscribed by management  Our video and website   Basic customer services skills and techniques provided can serve as universal models for best-practices library service to all members of the public.

Attitudes and Perceptions  The right frame of mind – how do you look at things  Person-first language  Being empathetic and proactive in the moment  “Nothing about us without us”

Limits to inclusion  Where to draw the accommodation line?  Rules and policy  Inclusion vs. Special

Resources   This is My Library  Non-verbal communication guide  Including Families of Children with Special Needs by Carrie Banks Including Families of Children with Special Needs  Planning for Library Services to People with Disabilities by Rhea Rubin Planning for Library Services to People with Disabilities  National Center on Universal Design for Learning   National Center on Accessible Instruction Materials  aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/promise_of_udl/what_udl -.VIH_KNalYUY aim.cast.org/learn/historyarchive/backgroundpapers/promise_of_udl/what_udl -.VIH_KNalYUY  Disability is Natural   The Wakanheza Project (wa-’khan-ja) 