Understand the unique needs of teens and adults with autism and how to adapt existing library programs to be more inclusive. Autism spectrum disorder is a lifelong condition, but programs and services are mostly for children. As this population ages and the number of adults receiving autism diagnoses grows, are public libraries serving this group? Serving Teens and Adults on the Autism Spectrum offers practical strategies for delivering better service to individuals with autism, from library programming to technology, collections, library volunteers, and the information desk. Relying on feedback and help from the autism community in her area, Carrie Rogers-Whitehead created programs for children, teens, and young adults on the autism spectrum. In this book, she shares advice on developing programs that focus on teamwork, transitions, and social skills. She explains best practices for reference interviews and teaches readers how their libraries can partner with nonprofit and government entities to develop workforce skills and connect adults with autism to jobs. Ready-made program activities for teens and adults with autism make it easy for libraries to better serve this often misunderstood group.

Get strategies for building the capacity to develop and deliver professional learning to support a systemwide digital citizenship program implementation. How can education leaders provide comprehensive support to implement key digital citizenship practices? Are we creating one-size-fits-all digital citizenship curriculum? How can we bring together partners from diverse backgrounds and abilities to expand the meaning of digital citizenship? This book addresses all these questions and more, showing educators of all levels how to implement digital citizenship in an inclusive and equitable manner. The book includes: • An overview of organizational approaches to examining digital citizenship on a system level. • Ideas for developing policy that is inclusive of all stakeholders. • Case studies that demonstrate ways of working with various populations, including youth in care, refugees and individuals with autism and ADHD. • Strategies for practicing digital citizenship across a range of ages, abilities and backgrounds. The book also discusses accessibility in technology and teaching, and offers information about assistive and adaptive technology and how it relates to digital citizenship. Audience: Education leaders; classroom teachers

In this down-to-earth guide, educators will learn successful strategies for embedding digital citizenship into their library and school instruction. Digital citizenship, the ethical and responsible use of technology, is more important than ever for 21st-century learners and families-all of whom are spending increasingly long hours behind screens. Because libraries and schools are often the mediators between technology and individuals, educators must know what digital citizenship is and how they can understand, program, and promote it. In Advocating Digital Citizenship, readers will learn from a public librarian and two current school librarians a wealth of real-life, easy-to-follow strategies to make libraries healthy, equitable, and safe digital spaces for everyone. Covering complex but important topics like digital law, digital etiquette, and media literacy, the authors help librarians and teachers establish a curriculum, write programming, and collaborate with colleagues to achieve buy-in at all levels. Educators will benefit from a chapter dedicated to lesson plans, and a practical appendix includes digital citizenship program outlines, policy and procedure documents, and conversation prompts around technology to share with families. In our current climate, which requires so many new digital experiences for people of all ages, digital citizenship instruction is timely and essential.

From the ongoing flood of misinformation to the swift changes occasioned by the pandemic, a myriad of factors is spurring our profession to rethink reference services. Luckily, this classic text is back in a newly overhauled edition that thoughtfully addresses the evolving reference landscape. Designed to complement every introductory library reference course, Cassell and Hiremath's book also serves as the perfect resource to guide current practitioners in their day-to-day work. It teaches failsafe methods for identifying important materials by matching specific types of questions to the best available sources, regardless of format. Guided by a national advisory board of educators and experts, this thoroughly updated text presents chapters covering fundamental concepts, major reference sources, and special topics while also offering fresh insights on timely issues, including a basic template for the skills required and expectations demanded of the reference librarian; the pandemic’s effect on reference services and how the ingenuity employed by libraries in providing remote and virtual reference is here to stay; a new chapter dedicated to health information, with a special focus on health equity and information sources; selecting and evaluating reference materials, with strategies for keeping up to date; a heightened emphasis on techniques for evaluating sources for misinformation and ways to give library users the tools to discern facts vs. “fake facts”; reference as programming, readers’ advisory services, developmentally appropriate material for children and young adults, and information literacy; evidence-based guidance on handling microaggressions in reference interactions, featuring discussions of cultural humility and competence alongside recommended resources on implicit bias; managing, assessing, and improving reference services; and the future of information and reference services, encapsulating existing models, materials, and services to project possible evolutions in the dynamic world of reference

As a teen librarian, you are more likely than not to encounter teens with mental health issues. Will you know how to help them? This guide explains what to do and what not to do. Mental illness among teens has risen to epidemic levels. When mental health issues come to the library, what is the librarian's role? This book asserts that you don't have to be a social worker or mental health professional to provide guidance to teens with mental health issues. By creating collections that contain mental health resources, working with community partners, and initiating dialogues with library patrons that de-stigmatize mental illness, you can serve a positive and proactive role in helping teens to get help. This book provides readers with practical guidelines for building collections, programs, and services that support teens experiencing mental health challenges and explains how to create a supportive, welcoming environment in the library. In addition, it shows how to forge partnerships with other community agencies in this endeavor, how to advocate for mentally ill teens, and how to teach them to advocate for themselves. Lastly, it discusses how to evaluate these programs and services, and how to take care of your own needs while serving others.

When L. Frank Baum wrote The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, he created an American myth that has endured the test of time. Echoes of Dorothy and her friends are everywhere: popular television shows often have an Oz episode, novelists borrow character types and echo familiar scenes, and every media--from Broadway to The Muppets--has some variation or continuation of Baum's work. This collection of essays follows Baum's archetypal characters as they've changed over time in order to examine what those changes mean in relation to Oz, American culture and basic human truths. Essays also serve as a bridge between academia and fandom, with contributors representing a cross-section of Oz scholarship from backgrounds including The International Wizard of Oz Club and the Children's Literature Association.

This edited volume explores the roles of socially-channeled play and performance in the developmental trajectories of young people who fall on the autism spectrum. The contributors offer possibilities for channels of activity through which youth on the autism spectrum may find acceptance, affirmation, and kinship with others. "Positive social updraft" characterizes the social channels through which people of difference might be swept up into broader cultural currents such that they feel valued, appreciated, and empowered. A social updraft provides cultural meditational means that include people in a current headed "upward," allowing people of atypical makeups to become fully involved in significant cultural activity that brings them a feeling of social belonging.

325 astute and practical ideas, insights, tips and strategies address the complex issues parents face during this crucial period of transition for their child with Asperger Syndrome (Autism Spectrum Disorder). The practical, bite-size suggestions focus on the vital importance of developing and nurturing an open and healthy relationship with your son or daughter. The easy-to-navigate format will suit busy parents wanting to locate advice to suit their particular needs. All the suggestions are designed to foster understanding and acceptance between family members and help the AS young person with common problem areas such as social vulnerability and peer relationships, self-esteem, anxiety and coping with change. This will be an invaluable companion for parents, carers and family members of an adolescent or young adult with AS.

Autism is now the second most commonly diagnosed serious developmental disability, and the number of children identified as autistic continues to grow. Introducing what autism spectrum disorders are, and identifying the great need to build and manage programs for different youth with these disorders, Farmer offers librarians in or outside a school environment all the information they need to build a library literacy program geared towards these children. Designed to both awaken sensitivities of library staff and address the questions of those who are already aware of the issue, this book Shows how children with this diagnosis are increasingly mainstreamed into traditional library and school programs and identifies the special needs and issues they face in a library setting Equips readers to meet the needs of young library users who are autistic with practical tools for training library staff, teachers, and volunteers Explains hyperlexia, the main barrier to the development of literacy among these children, and how programs using sensory experiences can strengthen both literacy skills and socialization Proposes strategies for using library design to ensure that materials and resources are accessible to all patrons Including a glossary of terms and bibliography of additional resources, Farmer’s book is an important tool for raising awareness and supporting literacy development for children with these disorders in the library setting.