Autism, Literacy, and Libraries

Public and school library mediaspecialists prepare library pro-gramming for groups that

include special education children. Acombination of factors: the Indi-viduals with Disabilities Education Act(IDEA), a culture of inclusion, and theservice ethics of librarianship, compellibrarians to reach out to children whostruggle with learning or processingproblems. Children who have autismcomprise one such group.

Research from other disciplines indi-cates that young people with autismbenefit from oral reading, storytimes,multimedia, song, and literacy efforts.The professional expertise of theschool library media specialist or thepublic librarian speaks directly to thisgroup. This research looks at how thelibrary can best serve children withautism. Results were gathered frominterviews with autism specialists, asurvey, and an analysis of literature onliteracy and autism.

AutismAutistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD)refers to a constellation of five perva-sive developmental disorders includ-ing autistic disorder, Rett’s Syndrome,childhood disintegrative disorder,Asperger Syndrome, and pervasivedevelopmental disorder not otherwisespecified (PDD-NOS).1

Autism refers to disruptions in devel-opment in three main areas: languageand communication, social skills, andsensory modalities and behaviors. TheDiagnostic and Statistical Manual ofMental Disorders (DSM-IV) definescommunication deficits as a delay ofspoken language, stereotyped, repeti-tive, or idiosyncratic language, andlack of imagination or “make believe.”Impaired social interaction can beexplained as a failure to make friends,a lack of social or emotional sharing,or a lack of displaying interest bypointing or naming or showing.Finally, behaviors will be repetitive,nonproductive, intense, and charac-terized by inflexibility.2

Characteristics of autism are usuallyevident within the first three years of

life, affecting an estimated one in onethousand children. Autism crosses alllines of race, nationality, ethnicity,geography, and economy. More thanone million people in America sufferfrom one of the autistic disorders, andthe problem is five times as commonas Downs syndrome and three times ascommon as juvenile diabetes.3

It is not possible to specify the particu-lar set of behaviors or skills that will beexhibited by any individual autisticchild, as no two ASD children areexactly alike.4 Expect to see disrup-tions in the areas of social skills, lan-guage development, uneven intel-lectual development, unpredictableinterests, and possible motor and sen-sory processing difficulties. Withineach of those areas there will betremendous variation from child tochild.

Social Skills

The social behavior of autistic childrenusually falls into one of three generalcategories: aloof, passive, or active andodd. The aloof child avoids physical orvisual contact with others; there willbe little demonstration of joint atten-tion (attending to an object or event byfollowing the gaze or pointing gestureof another person), and any interac-tion with a peer or adult is strictlyinstrumental.

Passive characteristics include notseeking social interaction, not inter-preting gestures or facial expressions,and not using functional speech. Theactive and odd presentation is mani-fested by the child who actively seeksout interaction with others but oftenmisinterprets cues and responds inap-propriately, perhaps awkwardly oraggressively.5

Frequently, children with ASD have dif-ficulty starting a project, task, or activitybecause beginning new tasks requiresmotivation, organization, and transi-tion—difficult issues for an ASD child.Children with ASD have a high need forsameness, predictability, and routine.Activity cues help the child move fromone activity to another. Picture activityschedules (picture cues used to show

35

Autism,Literacy, and

Libraries

The 3 Rs = Routine,Repetition, and

Redundancy

Lynn Akin and Donna MacKinney

Summer/Fall 2004 • Children and Libraries

Library

what will happen next) in school easedtransfer from one activity to another,increased student performance, and per-formance dropped when the activityschedules were removed. In general, a sub-stantial body of research supports the useof such picture activity cues (see Mayer-Johnson www.mayer-johnson.com forexamples) as an excellent way to supportroutine and repetition and aid transitions.6

Language Development

Children with ASD may have languageskills that range from nonverbal to exten-sive vocabularies. They frequently exhibitecholalia, a speech pattern that involvesrepetition of the speech of others, whetherimmediate or delayed.7 Occasionally achild with no functional verbal skillsquotes the dialogue of an entire movie,complete with songs. Children withmature sounding speech skills do not nec-essarily comprehend everything an adultsays, or all that they say themselves.Sometimes children with ASD develop arepertoire of phrases such as, “Are youhungry?” (when the child himself was infact, hungry) or possibly the child uses “Areyou hungry?” or other rote phrases in non-sensical ways. The grammar is correct; thecontext is not.

Uneven Intellectual Development

It is important to note that a child withautism is not necessarily mentallyretarded but will definitely have unevenskill development.8 Autism can occur incombination with any other disability, oras a distinct and singular disorder. Alibrarian may be confused by a child whocan speak articulately but who is unableto use the toilet independently.

Unpredictable Interests

Autistic children often pass through peri-ods of extreme preoccupation with cer-tain skills, activities, or materials.Perserverative behavior such as lining upa group of dinosaurs or vehicles in a veryspecific way is typical. Once an academicskill is acquired, the child may obsess onit by calling out letters or numbers. If thelibrarian attempts to actively disrupt thisbehavior, the perserverator may becomeagitated.

Motor and Sensory Processing Difficulties

Many children with ASD exhibit self-stimulatory (stim) behaviors. These canbe full body rocking, flicking fingers, flap-ping arms, or any repetitive nonproduc-tive physical behavior.9 Some autisticchildren experience hypo- or hypersensi-tivity to noise, textures, or smells com-mon in schools or libraries, such as theodor of clay or finger paint. ASD childrenneed clear boundaries. Open spaces,such as hallways and gyms, require adap-tive behaviors such as walking along thewall, or sitting sideways in a chair.

Instructional Techniques

Library literature has not closely exam-ined how the library can best serve autis-tic children. The library and informationstudies field writes about the mentallyretarded, the learning disabled, and thephysically challenged. Issues regardingspecial needs services are discussed, asare specific learning disabilities such asattention deficit disorder, informationdisorders, and bipolar disorder.10 Sinceschool library media specialists or publiclibrarians may create programs for chil-dren with special needs, a focus or adirection would be helpful to the librarianwho is uncertain of how to proceed.

There are several current theories on lit-eracy and children with autism. Researchyields a link between increasing literacyefforts, such as guided reading andimproved skill levels in autistic children.Studies of read-alouds show the autisticchild benefits from oral readings and maybe able to uncover story structure. A childwho is literate can represent things, feel-ings, and thoughts into language and

then into narratives. Autistic childrenhave impaired ability to access imagina-tion, yet a study of storytelling abilityfound that with a free storytellingmethod, ASD children could produceimaginative elements.11 Literacy tech-niques include related readings, directivescaffolding, social stories, technology,peer tutoring, and music therapy.

Related Readings

The concept of related readings involvespresenting a unit of stories all related by acommon theme or character. Rabbit sto-ries formed the basis in Colasent andGriffith’s 1998 study that tested literacyquestions, recall levels, and behaviors ofautistic students upon experiencing aseries of related stories.12 The relatedreadings stress the concept being learnedand repeat the lesson.

In repeated storybook readings (RSR), thestorybooks provide an arena for jointattention and turn taking.13 Illustratedstorybooks are very effective as the childlearns to focus on the pictures, and nar-row the avenue of referents. Initially it isimportant to have the word and the pic-ture in close proximity. In other words,the child associates the picture of the treeand the word “ tree.” Repeated tellings ofthe same story help the child focus atten-tion, build vocabulary, inculcate thestructure of literary experiences, anddevelop social skills, such as page turning.

Related Reading Materials and Formats

In terms of materials, all formats— videos,audiocassettes, books, kits, toys, games,computer software, puppets, and chil-dren’s and young adult magazines in alter-native formats— should be collected.Books using repetitive language are anexcellent choice for a read-aloud.Including Families of Children with SpecialNeeds offers lists of resources, publishers,and Web sites to use when developing acollection of materials for children withspecial needs. Picture dictionaries or wordbooks are recommended, and while a pic-ture dictionary does not lend itself to astory time alone, it definitely supports athemed program.14

Older autistic children may prefer to readcalendars, atlases, phone books, encyclo-

Autism, Literacy, and Libraries

36 Summer/Fall 2004 • Children and Libraries

Storyteller

pedias, and nonfiction.15 Autistic chil-dren can read for pleasure, but theyalmost never read stories with elaborateplots and highly developed characters.Some ASD children will be happy readingthe same book repeatedly. An effectiveteacher or librarian should reinforce newtopics by linking them to establishedfavorites.

RSR with Directive Scaffolding

Directive scaffolding refers to a series ofquestions asked in a reliable order, some-times referred to as IRE, or initiation-response-evaluation. The inquiries pro-vide cloze questions (the reader pauses for

the child to provide the answer), binarychoices (is it this or that?), expansions(reader elaborates on child’s answer), andconstituents, or wh- questions (who, what,where, when). This type of directive scaf-folding helps the child develop conceptsand communication competence. Initialresearch, with a very small sample, indi-cated that RSR would be successful withchildren who already have some verbalskills. Introduction of wh- questionsshowed increases in communication skillsin autistic children.16

In any test of comprehension or readinglevels, hyperlexia should be ruled out.Hyperlexia refers to the ability to readwell and to read every word, and yethave no significant comprehension ofcontext.17 Autistic readers in one studyhad developmentally appropriate com-prehension but extraordinary readingspeeds. Researchers suggested thatautistic readers decode the text rapidlyby following linguistic rules.18 In certaincases, “ hyperlexia is the written word’sequivalent of echolalia.” 19 A child maydemonstrate very rapid reading skills,and the librarian would do well to exam-ine how much of the material madesense to the autistic reader. Retellings

might be an effective way to measurecomprehension.

Social Stories

Social stories illustrate a problem or situ-ation, and then explicitly present theappropriate behavior so children learncommon social conventions. Social sto-ries are particularly helpful for ASD stu-dents that are mainstreamed. A socialstory is structured more like a list or scriptthan the narrative form of a typical story.One study of autistic boys used social sto-ries about hand washing with the addedelement of multimedia.20 The multime-dia component contained text, movies,

audio read-aloud, and navigation buttonswith generally successful results. Socialstories tend to have an ordinarinessabout them. Similar to social stories arecomic strip conversations, where the useof thought bubbles help the ASD childunderstand what the other person isthinking.21 Social stories can be used toillustrate very basic activities, such ashand washing, to complex social interac-tions, such as taking turns when reading abook with another person. While not acommon element in library story times,social stories are a useful tool for estab-lishing group norms and behaviors forany child, as well as those children whohave social deficits.

Interactive Multimedia Technology

Computer technology works well withspecial education children. Studiesdemonstrate that autistic childrenexhibit less disruptive or stim behaviorswhen using computers, and they experi-ence increases in attending, responsetime, and problem solving. Interactivereading programs showed a significantincrease in enjoyment by the autisticstudents and also stimulated verbalexpression.22

Another use of technology is to locate afavorite storybook adaptation on closed-caption television or on a captionedvideo. The child can see and hear thewords at the same time and learn to read.Additional research indicates that fast-paced games did not help autistic chil-dren, but talking books on CD-ROM andcomputerized simulations did lead to lit-eracy increases.

A high number of autistic people show amarked preference for visual stimulationover auditory. For literate autistic chil-dren, word processing may be easier thanverbal communication. Temple Grandin,assistant professor at Colorado StateUniversity and an autistic, stated shethinks in pictures and not in languageand actually titled her book Thinking inPictures and Other Reports from My Lifewith Autism (Bantam, 1995).

Peer Tutoring

Research shows that pairing a nonautisticreader with an autistic student works sat-isfactorily and can increase the autisticchild’s reading skills. One studyresearched a peer-tutoring situation,which consisted of twenty-five minutes oforganized activities in which tutor-learner pairs worked. Results revealed anincrease in reading fluency and correctresponses to comprehension questionsby the autistic students. Additional workwith kindergarten children and multiplepeer tutors showed that the peer buddyapproach increased appropriate socialinteractions by the ASD children.23

The authors of this research however, findreasons to carefully consider placing theautistic child in such a situation becausepeer approaches require careful planningand implementation by well-trained staff.Our caution here is that the librarian,rather than the teacher or parent, directsthe peer tutoring. The school librarymedia specialist or the public librarianhas sporadic contact with the child andmay not be familiar with the signals of theautistic child’s tolerance for social inter-action.

Music Therapy

Therapists regularly and successfully usemusic and art strategies with ASD chil-


37Summer/Fall 2004 • Children and Libraries

Skills learned in the school library can be transferred into the local public library and thenextended into other community situations. Skillslearned in the public library transfer back toschool, and a cycle of success is arranged.

dren. While therapeutic intervention iscertainly outside the professional juris-diction of the school or public librarian,many library programs for elementary-aged children include drawing andsinging. This will work just as effectivelywith the ASD child.

Music represents another style of com-munication and the song itself can bepacked with context, environmental cues,movement, or pauses. If the song requirespassing an object to one another, socialskills are strengthened. If the songstresses movement or physical activity,coordination improves. The song can bepaired with an object relating to the les-son, thus connecting the content elementof the library visit. Old standards such as“ itsy bitsy spider” and “ open shut them”remain popular as both song and fingerplay.24

Creating classroom or library songs istime consuming, but the songs are repet-itive in nature and certain lines of lyricmay be repeated over and over, thus theyare perfect for the child with autism. If theschool includes a regular music therapist,the librarian will want to consult this per-son to create songs that reinforce libraryskills.

A caveat to any of these learning strategiesis that they should be individuallyselected, rather than as an overused pre-scription.25 If in a school, refer to the mod-ifications specified in the child’s IndividualEducation Plan (IEP). The range of autismrequires an individual approach to bestserve the needs of the child. However, theschool library media specialist and thepublic librarian can choose among thesestrategies in order to maximize the stu-dents’ library experiences.

Voices of Experience

An informal survey of faculty and staff inthe Dallas, Texas, area who work prima-rily with autistic children inquired aboutcommon practices in literacy, books, anduse of community spaces.26 Teachersremarked on circle time, videos, books,songs, movements, and the library.

Circle Time

The teachers used circle time and onaverage, the groups included six to sevenchildren. Two-thirds of the teachersincluded songs and finger plays in theirprogram. While the teachers did not usethe library, the circle time can be easilyreplicated in the library setting.

Videos

Many of the teachers included shortvideos. This not only appeals to the strongvisual needs of many children withautism but also allows the teacher orlibrarian a bit of freedom to focus on thestudent’s reactions and to move about thecircle as needed, encouraging participa-tion. Some noted that while their stu-dents do not typically model each other’sbehavior, they would sometimes modelthe behavior observed on videos.Iconographic videos (videos of the exactpages of the book) paired with theirsource book (Dr. Seuss’s ABC, for example)provide a link from video format to tradi-tional books.

Books

Teachers routinely used short books (fiveminutes was the most common lengthmeasured in read-aloud time) with ani-mal characters (Berenstain Bears, Arthur,and Maisy, for example). Books withhuman characters comprised the nextcategory. Books based on anthropomor-phic characters like Thomas fromThomas the Tank Engine, or Toy Storycharacters proved very attractive.

Whatever the theme, survey respondentsexperienced the most success with bookshaving a low ratio of words to picturesand rhyming text, as seen in Mice AreNice. Concrete themes and clear endingswere preferred over abstract concepts or

open-ended plots. The children res-ponded most consistently to books withbright, colorful illustrations rather thanthose with pastel or black-and-whitedrawings.

The experienced teachers relied on fic-tion stories, which are more readily avail-able from the library media center, butnonfiction read-alouds served to focus inon appropriate subjects. Short, visuallyappealing informational books like theAdler biographies, the Eyewitness Booksseries and the Dorling Kindersley Readersseries meet the general criteria for suc-cess with children with ASD while provid-ing needed subject area content.

Some books effectively support socialand behavioral goals and can also becombined with social stories. Forinstance, Maisy Drives the Bus could bepaired very easily with Riding a Bus orHow to Board a City Bus from the OriginalSocial Story Book.27 Another example isFractions by Michele Koomen, pairedwith a social story about sharing, and per-haps a picture dictionary definition ofsharing. Either one of these examplescould form the basis for an effective, con-tent-rich, library program.

Combining short social stories with pic-ture books works particularly well in themixed-age setting of public library storytimes. Since social stories are usuallyshort and to the point, they often speak tothe developmentally younger attendees,while picture books with longer textentertain more mature listeners.

Movement and Song

The teachers stressed the need for manip-ulatives, songs, and stories that encourageinteraction and movement, including theuse of activity schedules. Survey respon-dents remarked that visual strategies effec-tively compensated for the weakerauditory learning modality of ASD stu-dents. Finally, teachers found that consis-tency in the environment and adherenceto routine in programming will promotesuccess for children with ASD.

Community Space

Although the survey asked about the use ofa community space, such as the library, no



Sing

one mentioned the library as a placewhere they take their students. One surveyrespondent stated she did not take herclass to the library because they felt unwel-come. Another former teacher remarkedthat when she introduced herself to thelibrarian and mentioned that she would beteaching the ASD children, the librariansaid, “ Oh, I won’t be seeing your children.”

Model Programming

School library programs designed forautistic children support the Indi-vidualized Education Plan (IEP) goals foreach student. Use of the library by chil-dren with ASD would, in general, facili-tate their social functioning, provide askill set to be employed at the library, andenvironmental cues on how to behavewhile at the library.

The ideal thirty-minute program employsthe three Rs: routine, repetition, andredundancy. Consistent routine increasesthe comfort level of autistic children.Obvious cues orient the children to tran-sitions in the program and repetition ofthese cues increases the child’s comfortlevel. In fact, redundant programmingencourages overall cooperation and inde-pendence.

So it makes sense that the ideal thirty-minute program follows the same rou-tine: begin with activity schedules,perform an environmental scan, selectthemed programming using the bestresources and materials selected specifi-cally for this group, employ scaffoldingtechniques, read social stories, preparesupplemental activities, use interactivetechnology, and have an ending ritual.

Activity Schedules

Activity schedules allow the child with ASDto engage in a series of tasks by followingvisual cues, usually pictures and/or words.Activity cues help introduce the child tosymbolic communication systems otherthan speech. Picture schedules, objectschedules, or word cards can be used tohelp the child understand the sequence ofthe library program, including the begin-ning and end.28 Picture cards by Mayer-Johnson have been used throughout thisarticle so the reader can see examples.

A sample “ start” may involve having thechildren put their library cards in the“ begin” basket. Similarly, the children willrely on a marker for the end. The simplephrase “ the end” accompanied with abehavior, such as putting materials in the“ finish” bucket will punctuate the chronol-ogy of a library visit. Maintain these mark-ers consistently and regularly because thechild depends upon them. Accompanyeach transition with a tangible cue. Thiscan be a word or picture card (laminatedto withstand wear) or a small object (like aplastic dinosaur if the story’s subject isdinosaurs), selected to cue the specificactivity or support the program theme.29

Environment Scan

All children, particularly children withautism, benefit from repetition and regu-larity as they build a repertoire of library-related skills and orient themselves tomany different stimuli, both internal andexternal. Children with ASD suffer stressand anxiety when faced with even mini-mal change.30 Initially they experiencethe library as a new environment andmust become accustomed to each facet.The environment will have to be learned.Keeping the environment, the activities,and the expectations routine helps thechildren.31 Make the rules available visu-ally and explicitly model the desiredbehaviors.

Observe the library before the childrenarrive to make sure it looks the same as itdid last time. Greet the children the sameway, sit in the same chair, and follow thesame sequence. This aids the children inrelaxing, anticipating, and enjoying thelibrary visit. Even then, if a fluorescentlight is flickering, or a printer is hum-ming, or some new external stimuliintrudes, highly sensitive children maynot be able to tolerate the visit and needto leave.32 The librarian cannot controlthis but should be aware that it may hap-pen, that it does not mean the program isa failure, nor does it mean the other chil-dren are not enjoying the program.

Themed Programming

Choose the themed program carefullybecause you will repeat it. If the school orpublic librarian sees the children once aweek for thirty minutes, some elements

of the program should be repeated for atleast three weeks. Perhaps the beginningand ending stories will be consistent, orcertain songs or finger plays will berepeated as transitions between stories.Here the RSR (repeated storybook read-ings) practice becomes a key element ofthe library visit.

With respect to materials, follow the sur-vey recommendations and the sugges-tions from the literature review inselecting books and resources for thelibrary visit. Select books carefully andmake sure that the book has goodreal-aloud value, repeated thematicemphasis, and content-rich pictures, sominor variants can be added to thelibrary lesson.

While reading the story, use dramatics.Voice changes, tone, rate of speech, andeven pausing will attract interest and pro-mote eye contact as you catch the atten-tion of the children.33 An introduction tothe story using a related tangible objecthelps an anxious child focus. Repeat thissame introduction for every reading.

Scaffolding

The librarian should experiment to dis-cover what types of questions are mostlikely to elicit responses. Simple binary“ yes-no” questions might be the bestplace to start and then slowly move intomore involved questions. One aspect ofscaffolding is that the librarian controlsthe types of questions asked. Do not allowa child to perseveratively discuss or askquestions about isolated incidents. Limitthis behavior to a specified time andremind the child often, if necessary.



Librarian

Social Stories

Social stories help the autistic child learna social skill in simple words. If, for exam-ple, the library visit focuses on dinosaurs,a social story on going to the museum fitsnicely. The Jennison Public Schools(Mich.) assembled a book of social storieswith titles like “ getting dressed” or “ thun-derstorms” or “ riding a bus.” Exampleslike these can be themed to any libraryprogram and used successfully.

Supplemental Themed Activities

Reading the same small book severaltimes, with related activities, will onlytake about fifteen minutes. If the story-time group includes children on diversedevelopmental levels who might becomebored with too much repetition, thelibrarian can encourage them to join heron repeated readings or point to keywords or phrases and have the childrenread them.

Make sure to plan finger plays, music,and perhaps a short video. If the childrenvisit the library for thirty minutes, thelibrarian has an opportunity to enlargethe theme and reinforce additionallibrary skills. Preselect books and placethem on tables for browsing and quietreading. Expect the children to stayseated and look at the books. The chil-dren will see the “ sitting and looking andpage-turning” behaviors mirrored byother visitors in the library. This behavioradapts well, and the children will recog-nize its appropriateness.34 It also givesthe children another success in socialskills.

Interactive Technology

Many studies support the use of com-puter technology for children with learn-ing disabilities. Autistic children are nodifferent. If the themed story had beenabout colors, the librarian could use colorrecognition games and software on thecomputer. Older children may be able touse search engines to search out Internetsites about colors. An effort to includepeer tutoring might work with studentspaired up at the computer. But public andschool librarians should proceed onlywith the approval of either the teacher orthe parent.

Ending Ritual

A clean-up time produces activities suchas replacing chairs, cleaning work areas,and lining up. Repeating the sequencehelps the child know that “ the end” isapproaching. The child will need a “ theend” to mark the conclusion of an activ-ity. The ending activities will be clear anddone exactly when the visit has con-cluded. The librarian may use a cue of herchoice, whether it be a clean-up song, asmall behavior such as a wave, or asticker. But the librarian should be pre-pared to repeat this cue regularly andoften and in exactly the same way foreach library visit.

Evaluation

The librarian who seeks overt responses toa library story-time visit may not find suchvalidation with autistic children. However,observing the children, questioning theteacher or parent, relying on traditionalmeasures, and performing a self-checkcan provide feedback. Evaluation shouldbe carefully planned and scheduled intothe program on a regular basis.35

Children with ASD may or may not ver-bally indicate enjoyment of the storytime. However, an absence of distressindicates that the child accepts the activ-ity. The ASD child may reduce self-stimu-latory activities or make brief eye contact.There may be evidence of an increasedattention span that signifies tolerance ofthe library visit. During the library pro-gram, the children may respond to simpleyes-no questions about the story, or theymay fill in an answer if you prompt, thenpause. There is no way to identify a com-mon set of autistic deficits, thus there isno way to anticipate a particular set ofpositive responses.

Always ask the classroom teacher or par-ent for comments. Seek out suggestionsfor what to change, what to avoid, andhow to improve the program. “ Coordin-ation and collaboration appear to bemore than worth the effort, and withoutthese two ingredients, a successful pro-gram is unlikely to emerge.” 36 Theauthors believe that asking the teacher orparent, who knows the child best, willprovide the most informed opinion aboutthe success of the program.

Traditional library evaluation measurescan also be used. If you do a program onanimals, check to see if materials on ani-mals are checked out. Have the studentsasked related questions about animals?Ask the children to draw a picture of thelibrary visit, and see what the drawingsmagnify or minimize. Can the childrenremember your name? Do the childrenask for books on other subjects? Howdoes the library look after the childrenleave? Can you tell they used the library ordoes it appear untouched? Do the children remember the words to thesongs?

Another evaluation technique is to use agrid worksheet targeting specific areas oflibrary skills or behaviors.37 The work-sheet might aim for areas such as “ listensto the story,” “ answers successfully whencalled upon,” “ raises hand,” “ mirrorsbook handling behaviors,” “ demonstratesappropriate library behaviors,” and so on.If the school library media specialist isworking with the teacher, the two candetermine the focus of the evaluationplan. The school media professional cankeep a running worksheet showing howthe children are doing during library vis-its. Longitudinal data will highlight wheresmall changes in the program might bemade without disrupting the consistentroutine. Repeat what works well . . . often.

Make sure your interactions with the chil-dren have been positive and encouraging.Be consistent, calm, low key, direct, andpatient. Analyze changes in the children’sbehavior from visit to visit. Do not be dis-couraged; this is a slow process, and gainsare small and incremental.

The professional librarian will want todevelop resources on autism for personal



Goodbye

use and development. Several reputableWeb sites, including www.autism.org, www.teacch.com, or Autism-PDD ResourcesNetwork at www.autism-pdd.net, willprovide information, bibliographies, andteaching tips.

Conclusion

Librarians are instrumental in introduc-ing an underserved population to the joysand routine of a library visit. Skillslearned in the school library can be trans-ferred into the local public library andthen extended into other community sit-uations. Skills learned in the publiclibrary transfer back to school, and a cycleof success is arranged. Librarians have anopportunity to make a real contributionto the lives of children who face manychallenges. Seize the chance and make adifference. &

Lynn Akin is an assistant professor at the

School of Library and Information Studies,

College of Professional Education at Texas

Woman’s University. Donna MacKinney is a

librarian at the Plano Independent School

System.

All illustrations: Picture Communication Symbols ©1981–2002, Mayer-Johnson. Used with permission.

References and Notes

1. American Academy of Pediatrics,“ Technical Report: The Pediatrician’sRole in the Diagnosis and Manage-ment of Autistic Spectrum Disorderin Children,” Pediatrics 107, no. 5(2001). www.guideline.gov/summary/summary.aspx?ss=15&doc_id=2799&nbr=2025 (accessed Dec. 12, 2003).

2. Marilyn Monteiro, interview withauthor, Dallas, Tex., April 23, 2002;Diag-nostic and Statistical Manual ofMental Disorders: DSM-IV-TR, 4th ed.(Washington, D.C.: American Psychi-atric Association, 2000).

3. National Institute of Child Healthand Development, “ Facts aboutAutism,” www.nichd.nih.gov/publi-cations/pubs/autism1.htm (accesssedMar. 23, 2004); B. J. Freeman, “ Diag-nosis of the Syndrome of Autism:Questions Parents Ask,” www.

autisme-nva.nl/freeman.htm (acces-sed Feb. 15, 2004); J. Madeleine Nash,“ The Secrets of Autism,” TimeMagazine May 15, 2002). www.time.com/time/archive/preview/from_covers/0,10987,1101020506-234155,00.html (accessed Jan. 12, 2004).

4. Gary Mesibov and Victoria Shea,“ The Culture of Autism,” www.autismuk.com/index3sub1.htm (ac-cessed Mar. 23, 2004).

5. Pamela Wolfberg, Play and Imagina-tion in Children with Autism (NewYork: Teachers College Pr., ColumbiaUniversity, 1999).

6. Michael Powers and TempleGrandin, Children with Autism: AParent’s Guide (New York: WoodbineHouse, 1989); Online Asperger Synd-rome Information and Support]University of Delaware, www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger (accessed Mar.2, 2003); Linley Bryan and DavidGast, “ Teaching On-Task and On-Schedule Behaviors to High-Func-tioning Children with Autism viaPicture Activity Schedules,” Journalof Autism and DevelopmentalDisorders 30, no 6 (2000): 553– 67;Mayer-Johnson, P.O. Box 1579, SolanBeach, CA 92705-7579, www. mayer-johnson.com.

7. Kathleen Ann Quill, Teaching Child-ren with Autism: Strategies to Enhan-ce Communication and Socialization(Albany, N.Y.: Delmar Publ., 1995).

8. Monteiro, interview; American Acad-emy of Pediatrics, “ Technical Report.”

9. National Institute of Mental Health,“Autism,” www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/unravel.cfm (accessed Jan. 6, 2004).

10. Sara Behrman, “Autistic Teen Takes toLibrary Work.” American Libraries 18(1987): 375; Linda Lucas Walling,“ Public Libraries and People withMental Retardation,” Public Libraries40, no. 2 (2001): 115– 20; LauraHodges,“ You’ve Got What It Takes:Public Library Service to PersonsWho Are Mentally Retarded,” RQ 28(1989): 463– 69; ASCLA, Guidelines forLibrary Services for People withMental Retardation (Chicago: ALA,1999); Audrey Gorman, “ Start MakingSense,” School Library Journal 45, no.7 (1999): 22– 26; Gorman, “ The 15%Solution: Libraries and LearningDisabilities,” American Libraries 27,no. 1 (1997): 52– 54; Bertha Chear-

tham and Graceanne DeCandido,“ World of Print,” School LibraryJournal 33, no. 4 (1986): 18– 20; EileenMcAree, “Adapting Literature Studiesfor Special Needs Learners,” LibraryTalk 15, no. 1 (2002): 10– 13; Roads toLearning, Public Libraries LearningDisabilities Initiative, www.ala.org/roads (accessed Mar. 21, 2003); MaryBeth Applin, “ Instructional Servicesfor Students with Disabilities,”Journal of Academic Librarianship25, no. 2 (1999): 139– 42; Cynthia Holtand Wanda Hole, “Assessing Needs ofLibrary Users with Disabilities,”Public Libraries (Apr. 1995): 90– 93;Ann Bell, “ Extended Access forChildren with Special Needs,”Florida Media Quarterly 25, no. 3(spring 2000): 13, 25; Judith Schimmel,“ Programs That Open Doors,” SchoolLibrary Journal 39, no. 11 (1999):36– 39; Caren Wesson and MargaretKeefe, Serving Special Needs Studentsin the School Library Media Center(Westport, Conn.: Greenwood, 1995);Sandra Feinberg, Barbara Jordan,Kathleen Deerr, and Michelle Langa,Including Families of Children withSpecial Needs (New York: Neal-Schuman, 1999); Dawn Ganss, “ Fo-cusing on Special Needs,” The SchoolLibrarians Workshop 19, no. 10(1999): 13– 14; Lynn Akin and ErinO’Toole, “ The Order of the PublicLibrary and the Disorder of AttentionDeficit,” Public Library Quarterly 18,no. 3/4 (2000): 69– 80; Akin, “ Infor-mation Overload and Children: ASurvey to Texas Elementary SchoolStudents,” School Library MediaQuarterly (summer 1998). www.ala.org/ala/aasl/aaslpubsandjournals/slmrb/slmrcontents/volume11998slmqo/akin.htm (accessed July 2003);Akin, “ Pediatric and AdolescentBipolar Disorder: Medical Resour-ces,” Medical Reference ServicesQuarterly 20, no. 3 (2001): 31– 44;Linda Walling and Marilyn Karren-brock, Disabilities, Children, andLibraries (Englewood, Colo.: Librar-ies Unlimited, 1993).

11. Stanley Swartz, “ Supporting LiteracyLearning for Children with Autism,”www.stanswartz.com/SwedenPresentation/supportingliteracy.html (ac-cessed Apr. 9, 2004); Rita Colasentand Penny Griffith, “ Autism and



Literacy: Looking into the Classroomwith Rabbit Stories,” Reading Teacher51, no. 5 (1998): 414– 21; PamelaWolfberg, Play and Imagination inChildren with Autism (New York:Teachers College Pr., Columbia Univ.,1999); J. Craig and S. Baron-Cohen,“ Storytelling in Children with Autismor Asperger’s Syndrome: A Windowinto the Imagination,” The IsraelJournal of Psychiatry and RelatedSciences 37, no. 1 (2000): 64– 70.

12. Colasent and Griffith, “Autism andLiteracy.”

13. Monica Bellon, Billy Ogletree, andWilliam Harn, “ Repeated StorybookReading as a Language Interventionfor Children with Autism,” Focus onAutism and Other DevelopmentalDisorders 15, no. 1 (2000): 52– 60.

14. Wesson and Keefe, Serving SpecialNeeds Students in the School LibraryMedia Center, (Westport, Conn.:Greenwood, 1995); Feinberg, Jordan,Deerr, and Langa, Including Familiesof Children with Special Needs;Catherine Maurice, Behavioral Inter-vention for Young Children withAutism (Austin, Tex.: Pro-Ed, 1996).

15. Bryna Siegel, World of the AutisticChild (Oxford: Oxford Univ. Pr.,1998).

16. Louise Wilkinson and Elaine Silliman,“ Classroom Language and LiteracyLearning,” ReadingOnline 4, no.7(2001). www.readingonline.org/articles/handbook/wilkinson.html(accessed Jan. 2003); Bellon, Ogle-tree, and Harn, “ Repeated StorybookReading as a Language Interventionfor Children with Autism” ; Colasentand Griffith, “Autism and Literacy” ;E. Jahr, “ Teaching Children withAutism to Answer Novel Wh- Ques-tions by Utilizing a Multiple Exem-plar Strategy,” Research inDevelop-mental Disabilities 22, no. 5(2001): 407– 23.

17. Colasent and Griffith, “Autism andLiteracy.”

18. N. O’Connor and B. Hermelin, “ TwoAutistic Savant Readers,” Journal ofAutism and Developmental Disorders24, no. 4 (1994): 501– 15.

19. Siegel, World of the Autistic Child,278.

20. Taku Hagiwara and Brenda Myles, “AMultimedia Social Story Inter-

vention: Teaching Skills to Childrenwith Autism,” Focus on Autism andOther Developmental Disorders 14,no. 2 (1999): 82– 95.

21. Center for the Study of Autism,www.autism.org/contents.html (ac-cessed Mar. 12, 2004); Carol Gray,“ The Social Story Guidelines,” www.thegraycenter.org/Social_Stories.htm(accessed Mar. 20, 2004); MarieHowley, “ Using Social Stories toPromote the Inclusion of Pupils withAutistic Spectrum Disorders intoMainstream Settings,” www.isec2000.org.uk/abstracts/papers_h/howley_1.htm (accessed Jan. 15,2004); Tony Attwood, “ The Linksbetween Social Stories, Comic StripConversations, and the CognitiveModels of Autism and Asperger’sSyndrome” (1998), www.tonyattwood.com.au/index.htm (accessed Feb. 15,2004); Mary Rogers and BrendaMyles, “ Using Social Stories andComic Strip Conversations toInterpret Social Situations for anAdolescent with Asperger Synd-rome,” Intervention in School andClinic 35, no. 5 (2001): 310– 13.

22. Carly Hitchcock and MaryJo Noonan,“ Computer Assisted Instruction ofEarly Academic Skills,” Topics inEarly Childhood Special Education20, no. 3 (2000): 145– 58; Kyle Higginsand Randall Boone, “ Creating Indiv-idualized Computer-Assisted Inst-ruction for Students with AutismUsing Multimedia,” Focus on Autismand Other Developmental Disa-bilities 11, no. 2 (1996): 69– 79; Mon-ique Moore and Sandra Calvert,“ Brief Report: Vocabulary Acquisitionfor Children with Autism: Teacher orComputer Instruction,” Journal ofAutism and Developmental Disorders30, no. 4 (2000): 359– 62; ChristineWilliams, Barry Wright, Gillian Calla-ghan, and Brian Coughlan, “ DoChildren with Autism Learn to ReadMore Readily by Computer-AssistedInstruction or Traditional BookMethods?” Autism: The InternationalJournal of Research and Practice 6,no. 1 (2002): 71– 91; M. Heiman et al.,“ Increasing Reading and Communi-cation Skills in Children with Autismthrough an Interactive MultimediaComputer Program,” Journal of

Autism and Developmental Disorders25, no. 5 (1995): 459– 80; TempleGrandin, “ Teaching Tips for Childrenand Adults with Autism,” www.autism.org/temple/tips.html (acces-sed Aug. 12, 2003); Temple Grandin,Thinking in Pictures and OtherReports from My Life with Autism(New York: Bantam, 1995); MargaretHill and Liz Stephens, HowTechnology Helped a Severely Dis-abled Learner to Read and Write (SanAntonio, Tex.: ERIC Document Rep-roduction Service 432 279, 1999);Autism-PDD Resources Network,“ Computer Technology and Autism,”www.autism-pdd.net (accessed July12, 2003).

23. D. M. Kamps et al., “ Classwide PeerTutoring,” Journal of Applied Behav-ioral Analysis 27, no. 1 (1994): 49– 61;Richard Simpson, Brenda Myles,Gary Sasso, and Debra Kamps, SocialSkills for Students with Autism, 2nded. (Reston, Va.: Council for Excep-tional Children, 1997); Kelle Lausheyand L. Juane Heflin, “ EnhancingSocial Skills of Kindergarten Childrenwith Autism through the Training ofMultiple Peers as Tutors,” Journal ofAutism and Developmental Disorders30, no 3 (2000): 183– 93; Committeeon Educational Interventions, Na-tional Research Council, “ EducatingChildren with Autism” (Washington,D.C.: National Academy Pr., 2001)www.nap.edu/openbook/0309072697/html/133.html (accessed Feb. 21,2002).

24. Myra Staum, “ Music Therapy andLanguage for the Autistic Child,”Center for the Study of Autism,www.autism.org/music.html (access-ed Mar. 21, 2003); Catherine Faherty,“ Group Ideas for Preschool andPrimary Classrooms Including Stu-dents with Autism: Structuring forSuccess,” www.teacch.com/class.htm(accessed Apr. 9, 2003); JudithSchimmel, “ Programs That OpenDoors,” School Library Journal 39, no.11 (1999): 36– 39.

25. Autism-PDD Resources Network,Computer Technology and Autism(2001). www.autism-pdd.net/com-put.html (accessed Feb. 14, 2003).

26. Donna MacKinney, “ Library Program-ming for Children with Autistic



Spectrum Disorders” lecture, TexasLibrary Association Annual Confer-ence (Dallas, Tex., April 23– 26, 2002).

27. Jennison Public Schools, The OriginalSocial Story Book basd on Mrs.Johnson’s Psychology and Sociologyclasses at Jennison (Mich.) HighSchool, n.d.).

28. Committee on Educational Inter-ventions, National Research Council,“ Educating Children with Autism,”National Academy Press, www.nap.edu/openbook/0309072697/html/133.html (accessed Aug. 22, 2003);Mayer-Johnson, www.mayer-johnson.com/about (accessed July 17, 2003).

29. Catherine Faherty, “ Group Ideas forPreschool and Primary ClassroomsIncluding Students with Autism:Structuring for Success,” www.teacch.com/class.htm (accessed Nov. 12,2003).

30. Karen Williams, “ Understanding theStudent with Asperger Syndrome:Guidelines for Teachers,” Inter-vention in School and Clinic 36, no. 5(2001): 287– 92.

31. Gary Mesibov, “Autism,” www.teacch.com (accessed Jan. 10, 2003).

32. Cypress-Fairbanks Independent Sch-ool System, Reach for the Stars infor-mational packet (Houston, Texas,n.d.); Susan Moreno and CarolO’Neal, “ Tips for Teaching High Fun-ctioning People with Autism,” www.udel.edu/bkirby/asperger/moreno_tips_for_teaching.html (accessed Dec.2003).

33. Wesson and Keefe, Serving SpecialNeeds Students in the School LibraryMedia Center.

34. James Brasic, “ Pervasive Develop-ment Disorder: Asperger Syndrome,”Emedicine Journal 2, no. 1 (2001).www.emedicine.com/ped/topic147.htm (accessed Oct. 8, 2002).

35. Walling and Karrenbrock, Dis-abilities, Children, and Libraries.

36. Lynn Koegel, Lynn Kern, Robert L.Koegel, and Glen Dunlap, PositiveBehavioral Support: Including Peoplewith Difficult Behavior in theCommunity (Baltimore, Md.: Paul H.Brooks Publ., 1996), 281.

37. Maurice, Behavioral Intervention forYoung Children with Autism.



Documents

Autism, Literacy, and Libraries