Exploring the International Board on Books for Young People’s Selection of Outstanding Books for Children with Special Needs

Presented by: Bindy Fleischman, M.A. & Leandra Elion, M.S. & M.Ed
originally recorded December 13, 2018

Webinars are video presentations and include the recorded PowerPoint and lecture and a .pdf copy of the PowerPoint notes.

Description: Finding appropriate books for children with special needs can be a challenge for parents as well as for professionals working with these children. The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) helps identify books that are accessible and meaningful to children with special needs. From 1997 onward IBBY determines a biennial Selection of Outstanding Books for Children With Special Needs with titles submitted from countries around the world. These books are specially curated to appeal to and meet the needs of children with special needs. As the holidays approach, this webinar will provide parents and therapists, alike with recommendations for gift-giving and for use throughout the year. Participants of this webinar will learn what guidelines and criteria the committee uses, will have a chance to explore some of the awarded titles, receive a list of which award winning books are available in the U.S., and get ideas for how the books can be used with and by the children themselves. We hope that you will join us for this very special webinar!!

Learning Objectives
By the end of this webinar viewers will be able to:

1. Describe an approach to identifying internationally recognized books for children with special needs.
2. Identify guidelines and criteria for selecting titles for a child with special needs to any books they may encounter going forward.
3. Locate appropriate books for children with special needs that are available for purchase or checkout within the U.S.

Course Level: Introductory. There are no prerequisites for this course.

Suitable For: Occupational therapists, OT assistants, physical therapists, PT assistants, parents, teachers

AOTA
Domain: Performance Skills
Process: Intervention

Contact Hours: This course is worth 1.5 contact hours or .15 AOTA CEUs.

Completion Requirements: To receive contact hours for this course you must listen to the recorded webinar in its entirety and complete the accompanying assessment.

About the Speakers: Bindy Fleischman is the current Massachusetts State Ambassador for the United States Board on Books for Young People, the national section of the 75 member-country International Board on Books for Young People. Serving on a number of USBBY since 2002, she is this year’s Chair of the committee that selects its annual Outstanding International Books List. She is a school librarian and promotes museum, constructivist and experiential education and a Visual Thinking Strategies approach to learning. She lives in the Boston area.

Leandra Elion has an M.S. (Special Education) and an M.Ed. (Reading).  She teaches in various educational settings. She has taught as a special education and reading specialist to students of all ages, from preschoolers, elementary students, middle schoolers and high school students. Taking an overview position, she has been a Literacy Coordinator for a public-school district and has worked for the MA Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in their Special Education Planning and Policy Department. Leandra also works with teachers, and teacher interns at the college level both at Brandeis and Tufts University.   Currently, at Tufts, Leandra is a Lecturer in Education and Special Education.  She is the Vice-President Elect of the Massachusetts Reading Association, an affiliate of the International Literacy Association and believes that books should be accessible to all.

Additional credit to Leigh Turina. Leigh Turina graduated with a BA in Recreation Administration from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. She then moved to Canada, where she worked in therapeutic recreation for 10 years at hospitals, rehabilitation centres, and in Girl Guiding. She returned to graduate school and received her MA in Library Science from the University of Toronto, Faculty of Library and Information Science and feels fortunate to combine both areas of expertise as lead librarian for the IBBY Collection of of International Books for Young People with Disabilities, ever since the collection was moved from Oslo to Toronto in 2013.

ADA/Section 504: If you require special accommodations, please contact the Spiral Foundation at admin@thespiralfoundation.org or (617) 969 – 4410 ext. 231.

Continuing Education:

Occupational Therapy Practitioners/ Occupational Therapy Assistants:  The Spiral Foundation is an Approved Provider of Continuing Education for occupational therapists and occupational therapy assistants by the American Occupational Therapy Association.  The assignment of AOTA CEUs does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products, or clinical procedures by AOTA.