Topic 5: What is Not Being Done?

Now that we know what is being done, we can further examine what is not being done. The Targeting Autism white paper explains a survey that was conducted in 2013 by the Illinois State Library for the purpose of "assessing the value of libraries in the ASD community, as well as, the need for training to educate librarians about ASD" (2017). The survey included 202 participants, of which less than half (only 27.1%) said that they provided any kind of services or resources for people with ASD. However, after this survey most libraries expressed an interest in learning how they could make their library more accessible and wanted to continue the conversation focused on training opportunities. Thus, a large part of this very initiative is making training opportunities available for librarians hoping to better serve patrons with ASD and their families. This includes providing resources for further exploration and investigation. The rest of this topic includes a number of resources that focus on educating librarians and training staff, assisting people of all ages with ASD, as well as their families, and ultimately providing a detailed list of community partners.

References

Schriar, S., Foerster, P., & Pelich, M. Targeting Autism. (2017). Libraries partnering to serve the autism community: National forums offer direction. Retrieved from

http://www.cyberdriveillinois.com/departments/library/libraries/pdfs/targeting-autism-whitepaper.pdf.