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College of Information and Communications

Internet Resources

Links to internet sources that provide information that may be useful to librarians, parents, teachers and others who work with children and young adults who have differing abilities. Click on each heading to discover the links.

Biannual IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People with Disabilities) awards

Dolly Gray Award

Schneider Family Book Award

Newbery Winners and Characters with Disabilities

Arky, Beth. Twice-Exceptional Kids: Both Gifted and Challenged. 2e kids, as they are called, have a unique set of issues that need addressing. 

Echolilia: A Father’s Photographic Conversation with His Autistic Son.  Timothy Archibald uses his camera to find an emotional bridge to his son. Photographs and text from the book Echolilia: Sometimes I Wonder.

LaZotte, Ann Clare. September 20, 2021. “How a Prelingual Deaf Child Learned to Love Books,” Horn Book. 

LD OnLine - LD OnLine seeks to help children and adults reach their full potential by providing accurate and up-to-date information and advice about learning disabilities and ADHD.

Mama Bibliosoph, Picking Picture Books for Kids with Autismm, blog, Kitaab World accessed September 4, 2019Hollins, Sheila, Jo Egerton, Barry Carpenter.

Book clubs for people with intellectual disabilities: the evidence and impact on wellbeing and community participation of reading wordless books, Advances in Mental Health and Intellectual Disabilities, Vol. 10 Issue: 5, pp.275-283. 

Caroline Miller. What is Neurodiversity?

DSM-5: Neurodevelopmental Disorders. LibGuides Wiregrass Georgia Technical College

Visual impairment. The Australian Parenting Website.

Hearing loss in Children. American Academy of Pediatrics 

Motor disabilities. WebAIM

Clayton A. Copeland, ed. Disabilities and the Library: Fostering Equity for Patrons and Staff with Differing Abilities. Libraries Unlimited, 2022.

NYC Students With Disabilities Speaking About Accessible Schools

Important Conversations: Storytime at Home. Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library. 
The Hamilton Co. Developmental Disabilities Services and a developmentally disabled advisor read a children’s picture book about disability awareness.

Resources for School Librarians: Students with Special Needs

P. Barbara Paciotti. Looking backward — no sweat library lessons & management that works: Reflections from a middle school librarian

Center for Children’s Books, University of Illinois

Bloomfield Township (MI) Public Library Accessibility Support Collection. Accessible materials, services, and programming for children, teens, and adults

Adaptive Umbrella, a blog written by Jen Taggart, Head of Youth Services, Bloomfield Township (MI) Public Library

Accessibility Support Collection. Bloomfield Township Public Library, Troy Michigan

Copeland, Clayton A. And Karen Gavigan. Examining Inclusive Programming in a Middle School Library: A Case Study of Adolescents Who Are Differently- and Typically-Able

Conducting a Storytime for Children with Special Needs

Nomura, Misako, Gyda Skat Nielsen and Bror Tronbacke. Guidelines for easy-to-read materials. (Guidelines for easy-to-read books for adults begin on page 5).

Research Shows that Books without Text Can Increase Literacy, Vocabulary Skills in Children with Developmental Disabilities

Parrott, Kiera. Stories on the Spectrum: Adventures in Outreach, Planning, and Programming for Kids with ASD

Rhythm and Rhyme: A Storytime for Children with Special Needs and their Families

Skold, Beatrice Christensen. 2007. Picture Books Accessible to Blind and Visually Impaired Children. World Library and Information Congress: 73rd IFLA General Conference and Council, Durban, South Africa. 

Special Needs. Charlotte Mechlenburg Library, North Carolina

Storytimes for Autistic Children

Free Spirit Publishing  “young people need social and emotional guidance”

Magination Press Books that would help children deal with the challenges and problems they face as they grow up.

Orca Book Publisher -  “Orca …  offers five different series of high-interest, low-reading level (hi-lo) fiction for those readers facing literacy issues.”

Star Bright Books  - “We believe that all children should see themselves in print and we make a concerted effort to include children of all colors, nationalities, and abilities in our books. In addition to seeing themselves, children should also hear familiar language in the books they choose. In pursuit of that goal, we publish engaging books in twenty-nine languages.”

Mantra Lingua (bilingual children resources)

Manga about people with disabilities

American Printing House for the Blind - books, writing and drawing aides, maps, etc., for people with severe visual impairments.

Bookshare - Downloadable books for children and adults with severe visual impairments. The site includes many new books and several in Spanish.

Indestructibles - As sturdy as a board book but with soft pages that feel like paper but will not rip or wrinkle. All the books in the series are wordless picture books to encourage dialogic reading.

Learning Ally - Audio books

National Braille Press - print/Braille books for kids.

National Caption Institute - A source for captioned videos.

National Library Service for the Blind and Print Disabled

Seedlings Braille Books for Children - Also, a source for Print-Braille-and-Picture Books (sometimes called twin vision books).

TouchSpot Audio Resources - Mantra Lingua

American Foundation for the Blind Website for Children - Offers a reading club, some games and secret messages, and information for parents and others.

Accessible University 2.0 - This site demonstrates a web page with numerous problems, documents all of the issues, and then shows a corrected version.

Apple/Mac - Built-in Assistive Technology

Association of Assistive Technology Act Programs - “Mission and purpose: Maintain and enhance a strong, effective, and efficient national network of Statewide Assistive Technology Programs. Enable individuals with disabilities, service providers and others to learn about, access, and acquire assistive technology (AT) needed for education, employment, and community living.”

Augmentative and Alternative Communications (AAC) - College of Education and Human Sciences, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Clickspeak - “CLiCk, Speak is an open source, freely available extension for the Firefox web browser. It is part of the CLC-4-TTS Suite of products, it features a mouse driven interface, and it reads web pages - hence its name.”

Closing the Gap - Assistive technology strategies and solutions.

Fire Vox - “an open source, freely available talking browser extension for the Firefox web browser. Think of it as a screen reader that is designed especially for Firefox.”

Microsoft - Built-in Assistive Technology

Natural Readers - Upload text and documents or convert to mp3 to listen to anywhere anytime.

Intro to Assistive Technology from The Center on Technology and Disability

Maza, Luis. Examples of Assistive Technology in the Classroom

Slocombe, April. Dyslexic Fonts: The Top 10 Dyslexia Friendly Styles. 

South Carolina Assistive Technology Program (SCATP) - A federally funded program concerned with getting technology into the hands of people with disabilities so that they might live, work, learn and be a more independent part of the community. As part of a national network of technology-related assistance programs, SCATP’s goal is to enhance independence, productivity and quality of life for all South Carolinians through access to assistive technology devices and services.

Early Childhood Assistive Technology

Gia Miller, How to Get Assistive Technology for Your Child in School

AblePlay - Provides access to authoritative ratings and detailed reviews from National Lekotek professionals on toys and other play products. Product information is categorized by disability to simplify toy-buying. AblePlay is a free resource provided by National Lekotek.

Toy Tips ADAPTING TOYS AND MATERIALS TO MEET faustA VARIETY OF NEEDS

Top 10 Tips for Buying Toys for Kids with Special Needs

Blind Net

CAST - Universal Design for Learning “… helping educators and organizations apply insights from the learning sciences and leading-edge practices to educational design and implementation”

Center for Disability Resources Library, University of South Carolina - CDR is one of 67 University Centers for Excellence in developmental disabilities education, research and service, located in major universities throughout the U.S. We function as a bridge to connect the knowledge, expertise and resources of the university to persons with disabilities and the service delivery systems of the community.

Center for Parent Information & Resources

Center for Universal Design in Education - “…free tools or downloads that can assist teachers [or parents] to meet the needs of all students.”

Children’s Disabilities Information - Articles and resources empowering parents of children with disabilities and special needs

Deaf Linx: Fighting audism through empowerment and education

Deaf Resource Library

Homeschooling Special Needs, Homeschooling from A to Z

Pacer Center - “The mission of the PACER Center (Parent Advocacy Coalition for Educational Rights) is to expand opportunities and enhance the quality of life of children and young adults with disabilities and their families, based on the concept of parents helping parents.”

Parents Helping Parents

Resources to use at home with kids with special needs.

South Carolina Center for Disability Resources -  “We're proud to serve as a bridge between the university and the community for the benefit of people with intellectual, developmental and related disabilities. Our efforts focus on addressing meaningful issues, finding solutions and advancing research related to the needs of people with disabilities and their families.”

Resources for parents, teachers, librarians and others

“Hinton House is a specialist, independent publisher of books and resources for professionals working in education, counseling and social care who support the mental health and emotional well being of children and young people from early years to young adult. Many of our books are also suitable for use by parents and carers.”

Future Horizons was created to meet the needs of teachers, therapists, and family members who face the challenge of autism. Our books, videos, and conferences bring you the most current information possible to aid in that challenge.”

My CP Guide: Understanding cerebral palsy across all stages of life

We collect, review, and assess existing, credible information from around the world and make it easily available for you.

Neurodiversity 101: Terms and definitions, facts, and professional coursework

Information about and for those who “learn and think differently”

Facts about developmental disabilities - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Care.com - 10 helpful organizations and resources for children with special needs

https://www.unicef.org/parenting/child-development/children-with-disabilities-class

National Resources for Parents of Children and Youth with Disabilities - Disabilities, Opportunities, Internet working, and Technology (DO-IT)

Bloomfield Township (MI) Public Library Accessibility Support Collection. Accessible materials, services, and programming for children, teens, and adults

Center for Disability Resources Library, School of Medicine Library, University of South Carolina

 

 


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