ASD: Growing Up Together

Russian State Library for Young Adults presents
the programme for the World Autism Awareness Day

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 About

In the early days of April, different events are held worldwide to recognize the World Autism Awareness Day. Their main goal is to tell more about the life of people with special perception and feeling of the world around them and to find together ways to solve the problem of social and cultural interaction and integration of people with ASD into society.

These days, the Russian State Library for Young Adults (RSLYA) will become one of the venues for the Fifth All-Russian Inclusive Festival #PeopleAsPeople which brings together hundreds of organisations both state and non-government that provide assistance to children and adults with autism.

On April 1-2, RSLYA will hold a series of events called ASD: Growing Up Together.

The two-day programme will be divided in two parts. On the first day, an international seminar for the professional community will be held with the participation of Russian and foreign specialists from Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, USA and Germany dedicated to the topic of inclusive projects and services for users with ASD in libraries.

On the second day, educational events will be held for families with children with ASD and for everyone interested in this topic or working in this scope.

Day 1

Inclusive Library Programmes for Users with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD): Practices and Potential Development

April 1, 2021
11:00 (Moscow time – GMT+3)

International Seminar

The seminar is designed to attract attention of the library community to the issue of social and cultural integration of people with ASD into society and talk about current projects in libraries working for solving this problem.

Within the seminar, library specialists, advisers on inclusion in cultural institutions, specialists of non-profit organisations and support centres for families with children and teens with ASD from Argentina, Australia, USA, Brazil, Germany, Sweden as well as Russia – Yekaterinburg, Pskov, Saint Petersburg and Moscow will share their experience.

PROGRAMME
Moderators:

Yulia Naumova, Head of Inclusive and Social Programmes, Russian State Library for Young Adults

Maria Alekseeva, Head of International Relations, Russian State Library for Young Adults

* Please note the beginning of each presentation is indicated Moscow time (GMT+3)

11:00 – 11:20
Welcoming Remarks

Lidiya Fedyakina, Deputy Director, Regional Policy, Education and Project Management Department, Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation

Irina Mikhnova, Director, Russian State Library for Young Adults, Vice President, Russian Library Association

11:20 – 11:40
Neuropsychological Approach to the Issue of Autism

Evgeny Shvedovskiy, Methodologist, Federal Resource Centre for Organizing Comprehensive Support for Children with ASD, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education; Neuropsychologist, St. Luke Children’s Health and Development Centre; Research Assistant, Mental Health Research Centre, Moscow, Russia

Presentation  

11:40 – 12:00
Types of Library Services for People with Autism: Overview and Personal Experience

Antonina Steinberg, Head of the Autistic City Project, Member of the Accessibility Council of the Polytechnic Museum, Expert of the Federal Resource Centre for Organizing Comprehensive Support for Children with ASD, Moscow State University of Psychology and Education, Moscow, Russia

Presentation  

12:00 – 12:20
“Immersion in Blue”. Inclusive Practices of the Municipal Association of Libraries of Yekaterinburg for Users with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Marina Koval, Deputy Director, Municipal Association of Libraries of Yekaterinburg, Russia

Yulia Parshakova, Librarian, Municipal Association of Libraries of Yekaterinburg, Russia

Presentation  

12:20 – 12:40
Backstage Pass – Low Sensory Library Access for Families Living with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)

Kerry Griffith, Branch Leader, Moreton Bay Region Libraries, Queensland, Australia

Presentation  

12:40 – 13:00
Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) for Serving Users with ASD: Theory and Practice

Ekaterina Petrova, PhD in Pedagogy, Associate Professor of Special (Rehabilitation) Pedagogy Department, St. Petersburg Postgraduate Pedagogical Education Academy, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Ekaterina Sedova, Head of Special Pedagogy and Psychology Information Department, St. Petersburg State Special Central Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Elena Tolubayeva, Head of Children’s Department, St. Petersburg State Special Central Library for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Saint Petersburg, Russia

Presentation  

13:00 – 13:20
From the Autism Spectrum to the Multiple Ways of Reading – the Books and the World

Fernanda Valle, PhD Student in Information Science at Federal University of Rio de Janeiro and Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Gustavo Saldanha, PhD in Information Science, Professor and Researcher at Brazilian Institute of Information in Science and Technology and Federal University of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

13:20 – 13:40
From Accessibility to Inclusion

Yulia Beloborodova, Deputy Director, Pskov Regional Scientific Library, Pskov, Russia

Presentation  

13:40 – 14:00
Break
14:00 – 14:20
Libraries and Librarians: Inform to Raise Awareness and Facilitate the Inclusion of People with Autism in the Community

Lic. María Isabel Abalo, Coordinator of the Parent Volunteer Network and the Group Mothers and Grandmothers of Adolescents Brincar Foundation for a Happy Autism, Buenos Aires, Argentina

Presentation  

14:20 – 14:40
Building Up Communicative Skills of Teens with ASD

Yulia Volodina, Executive Director, Autonomous Non-Profit Organisation “School of Professions”, Moscow, Russia

Presentation  

14:40 – 15:00
New Scopes of Development – Planning of Library Services with Young Users

Eeva Rantamo, Ethnologist, Freelance Accessibility Consultant, Trainer and Project Coordinator, Dortmund, Germany

Presentation  

15:00 – 15:20
Special Cases in Working with Student Employees with ASD in an Academic Library Setting

Zheng (John) Wang, Associate University Librarian, Digital Access, Resources, and Information Technology, Hesburgh Libraries, South Bend, Indiana, USA

Julie C. Vecchio, Assistant Director, Navari Family Center for Digital Scholarship, Hesburgh Libraries, South Bend, Indiana, USA

Presentation  

15:20 – 15:40
How Stockholm City Library Will Be an ASD Friendly Library?

Author: Lynn Alpberg, Librarian and Project Manager for “A Library for All Without Exceptions”, Stockholm City Library, Sweden

Presenter: Ingrid Källström, Children’s Librarian and Senior Advisor at Swedish Agency for Accessible Media, and Corresponding Member of IFLA Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section and Standing Committee Member of IFLA Library Services to People with Special Needs Section (LSN), Sweden

Presentation  

15:40 – 16:00
Creating More Welcoming and Accessible Library Experiences for Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Renee Grassi, Youth Services Manager, Dakota County Library, Minnesota, USA

Presentation  

Additional materials         

Day 2

Developmental Activities for Children and Teens with ASD: DIRFloortime Approach

Anna Azirova,
Speech Therapist, Psychologist, Expert-Trainer of DIRFloortime, St. Luke Health and Development Centre

Nikolay Romanovskiy,
PhD in Psychology, Psychologist, Expert-Trainer of DIRFloortime, St. Luke Health and Development Centre

April 2, 2021
Visual Arts Room, Russian State Library for Young Adults
15:00 (Moscow time – GMT+3)

Lecture on methodology of one of the approaches to working with children and teens with ASD

The issue of integration of children and teens with ASD into society is raising more and more at different levels, but the awareness of society about it still remains low.

This is especially important for parents who are often left alone with the problem of upbringing, full-fledged educating and integrating into society a special child. Setting a child's life route including selection of a specific approach for studies and systematic assistance is one of the most difficult tasks.

Experts of the St. Luke Health and Development Centre will introduce one of the approaches to working with children and teens with ASD called DIRFloortime to parents and everyone who is interested in the topic or works in the field of solving this problem.

The lecture will highlight the following issues:

• aspects related to the general understanding of the DIRFloortime approach;

• autism spectrum disorder from the point of view of the DIRFloortime approach;

• methodological principles of working with older children, based on the stages of functional social and emotional development;

• cases of working with teens and adults by creating educational emotionally significant situations.

“Freshwater Fish in Saltwater”

April 2, 2021
Conference Hall, Russian State Library for Young Adults
17:00 (Moscow time — GMT+3)

Documentary film about the life of two young people with ASD (56 min, Spain, 12+)

Film “Freshwater Fish in Saltwater” is an updated portrait of people with autism in all their diversity. We will see two stories of 23-year-old Mariona and 10-year-old Mark whose features are being studied by the best Spanish researchers.

For the first time, this film was presented for the Russian audience within the 10th International Inclusive Film Festival “Breaking Down Barriers” organized by the Russian Disability NGO “Perspektiva”.

With the help of films, we not only learn about the life of people with disabilities, but also clearly see their endless possibilities and various interests. Films of “Breaking Down Barriers” change the attitude of society towards people with disabilities and prove that each person is valuable as a person, regardless of his or her features.

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