Family, School, and Community Partnerships for Students with Disabilities by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9789811363078
Publisher: Springer Singapore

The second destination that the authors worked with was the Decatur’s Scovill Zoo. They met with the Zoo Director to discuss ways it could be more welcoming. Ideas included adding a social story about going to the zoo on their website, providing wheelchairs free of charge, establishing a quiet zone, and having noise-cancelling headphones, quiet kits, and a kid-friendly map of designated children’s areas. The Zoo’s Director has written the social story and wheelchairs are now available. The zoo is steadily implementing the remaining accessibility features.

The third location was the Decatur Public Library. The authors discussed with the Library Director about the importance of making sure that the library was fully accessible and welcoming to all, including ones with disabilities. The Director was very receptive to the suggestion, since their librarians had also indicated that their institution could be more accessible. They previously had held a sensory-friendly movie night. The Director arranged for the authors to meet with the librarians to further their efforts through establishing a model similar to the one that the Children’s Museum had adopted. The proposed work is ongoing and will include a social story for the library’s website, photo labels for the different sections of the library, and a list of sensory equipment and quiet kits that will be available at the reference desks. The librarians are eager to put these features into place.

Not Forgotten has also formed additional partnerships with several local businesses and the university. The partnership with the university actually started very early, as the forums mentioned previously were facilitated through collaboration with Millikin University’s School of Education. The University sponsors the monthly forums by providing space, funding for flyers, speaker honorariums, refreshments, and child care. Millikin also supports Not Forgotten through its marketing department which has helped make connections to newspaper, television, and radio stations. Interviews with these outlets spread the word about this new community organization, the monthly forums, and the sensory-friendly initiatives.

The impact of these several community outreach initiatives is twofold. First, they enable children with disabilities and their families to enjoy fun destinations in the community, just as other families do. Second, the initiatives create greater awareness and understanding of individuals with disabilities among employers.

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