Our library (Bloomfield Township) opened a new special needs section. It is very nice and they have many books for both parents and for children. In addition they have games, speech flash cards and other 'stuffs' that are used by many families with special needs. Autism is well covered there. Deafness is covered as well however I would love to see some additional selections for the 'oral' side of those with a hearing impairment. Most of the selections they have focus on sign only. (I have given suggestions but feel free to send your own.)
Here is one of the games we found in the new selection. The idea is to find the 'shape' that fits the hole by feeling for it in a bag. Never one to follow directions, we decided to use this for 'story time.' We would pick one item from the bag, start a story with that item and pass the bag to the next person to tell the next 'part' of the story. I originally saw this exercise at a Rebecca Klaw presentation where she demonstrated it with adults. There are various ways to add on / complicate this by telling players they had to give the next person a 'transition' for their item or by finishing round one and then saying that you had to tell a new story 'in reverse' starting with the person who ended the first round. Adults actually have a hard time with this type of fun! It drags you out of your comfort zone.
If you don't have a special needs section in your library consider asking that they start even a small one. And you can always ask your library to order books even if they dont have a selection specifically dedicated to special needs.
No comments:
Post a Comment