Sensory Processing Support Workshop
Date attended: 24th September 2024 and 1st October 2024
Content Focus: Understanding the characteristics of sensory seekers and sensory avoiders; Identifying challenging behaviour due to sensory needs; Creating a sensory-sensitive environment; Developing strategies for transitioning and regulating children during activities.
Type: Online workshop
Length: 4 hours – 2 hours per session.
Audience: Public library staff who facilitate Children’s Storytime programs
Organisers: Plumtree – Children’s Services Inner West Sydney
Presenters:
Mary Robson (Occupational Therapist),
Kylie Aekins (Parent peer leader).
Reflection:
The Supporting Children’s Sensory Needs in Libraries workshop was a zoom workshop hosted by Plumtree Children’s Services to educate and inform public library staff in developing and maintaining a welcoming and accessible library environment for children with sensory needs. The workshop’s main objectives were to create staff knowledge around sensory needs and behaviours in children, and develop deeper comprehension about successful strategies to support children during library programs such as storytime.
I attended this workshop to improve my facilitation of children’s programs for ages 0-6 in my role at Camden Libraries as a Library Assistant. I chose to complete this professional development to ensure I had the skills and knowledge to support community members who may need sensory support and resources, in order to establish and provide programs which meet the needs of patrons.
As a facilitator of both baby and toddler storytimes within my role at Camden Libraries, this workshop highlighted some of the barriers that patrons may encounter when attending programs. The workshop provided clear explanations of both sensory avoidant and sensory seeking behaviours, and allowed for myself and other participants to brainstorm ideas and procedures we could easily integrate into storytime to better support patrons with these needs.
The workshop highlighted the importance of utilising multiple communication styles, including visual, oral, and tactile, which would translate into storytime programs with the use of visual cue cards, explanations of activities, and the use of objects at specific times, such as handing out shaker instruments when it is time to dance and sing.
This workshop deepend my awareness of the scale of sensory needs within children, and imparted extremely helpful techniques and structures which I can implement into my own facilitation of children’s storytime programs. The discussions throughout the workshop gave me the confidence to create meaningful and compassionate conversations with the parents and carers of children with sensory needs at my regular storytime programs, encouraging me to offer support and encouraging families to continue visiting the library to support their child’s familiarity with the space and routine of storytime.
I was also able to develop ideas on direct ways to improve the structure of my storytime sessions, choosing to slowly introduce new elements in my routine, such as showing visual task cards when I orally explain our transition to the next activity. I will continue to evaluate the engagement of children with my introduction of multisensory communication techniques during storytimes, as well as holding space to have open and supportive dialogue with parents and carers, in order to provide the best storytime experiences for patrons visiting our library.
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