Forum on Library Services for People with Disabilities

Library Services for Students with Disabilities

June Wall, ASLA President, Australian School Libraries Association for the Forum on Library Services for People with Disabilities, March 2002

The general understanding across Australian K- 12 schools is that where possible, students with disabilities are mainstreamed. In this context, mainstreaming is the practice of placing special needs students in the appropriate age range classroom and providing special support for the student, usually through specialist teachers’ aides and special education teachers. The special education teacher often works within the classroom to ensure the student interacts and learns with the rest of the class. In specific instances, where appropriate, the student may be withdrawn from class for specific skills etc

There are specialist classes that are generally within the structure of a mainstream school and the staff of these classes are usually a part of the whole school staffing allocation. There are also specialist schools depending on the disabilities – for example, the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind children has a K – 12 school in Sydney; there are some specialist schools for students with intellectual disabilities, usually at the primary level. Education systems also provide itinerant teachers for specific programs- for example teachers of the deaf are allocated a range of students to provide services for and travel to the schools for specific times and lessons each week.

Library services within this structure are therefore based on the school library service in mainstream schools and the purpose of that service. For all classes or students based in a mainstream school, the school library provides a service based on the identified needs of the students. This is the same rationale as for all students. In these situations, the teacher librarian provides resources for the teacher to use in class and also includes the students within existing library programs that involve teaching and learning. In reality though, resources are often not appropriate for the needs of these students.

Specialist schools can provide a more tailored library service that meets the needs of students, however, resourcing at the appropriate cognitive and physical needs level is often unavailable. Because of this, teachers and teacher librarians often develop resources on an as needs basis within the school. For example, the Deaf and Blind Institute develops most of their resources “in house”.

Itinerant teachers for students with disabilities are provided a library service based on the education system they work within. In this instance, the systemic library service may have specialist resources, for example, large print text books for visually impaired students.

Issues

  • There are very few school library services that cater specifically for students with disabilities. This includes very few teacher librarians who are trained to understand the needs of these students other than the original training from university which in most instances does not adequately cover this area.
  • Provision of specialist resources for the curriculum and learning needs of the students is inadequate. In house resource development takes a great amount of time away from the primary purpose of the school library – learning.
  • Keeping up to date resources for students with special needs is difficult due to constantly changing curriculum and finite resource allocation from the education system.
  • The learning needs of students with disabilities are not fully understood as yet in the area of information literacy – research is currently being carried out based on students with vision and hearing impairment
  • In mainstream schools where a teacher librarian’s time is prioritised for all students, often the students with disabilities are not high in priority – again based on finite staff allocation.

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