I have been working on the Advocacy Sub-Committee of the School Library Association of NSW (SLANSW) a flyer with strategies to develop a school library that is inclusive of the learning needs and interests of students, focusing on students with disabilities or additional learning needs.
This has built up on the OLT courses on Autism and Personalised Learning that I have undertaken with Sydney Catholic Schools. It has given me scope to learn and reflect on what I have learnt from those courses and what I can do within a library capacity. This was supported by drawing on.academic literature.
As the flyer is a benefit available to SLANSW members, I can only reflect on it briefly.
What I can point out is that I realised that I was already doing it in practice, even in a mainstream capacity such as acquiring high interest literature but contains text with low/limited vocabulary and knowing interests and needs. Visual signage can make a big difference as well but also the approaches to signage. It was broadened further.
For students with learning needs, they love having a special or responsiblity and encouraging them to step up to roles can make a bigger difference than a student who is mainstream.
