Why is knowledge of Disability culture important to library and information professionals/practitioners?

Knowledge of Disability culture is important for anybody to know, not just library professionals.  However, it is important for future library professionals to have an incredibly strong knowledge of the disability culture so that they can better serve their patrons who have disabilities.

In serving a person with a disability, it is important to know how to interact.  A person with a disability is first and foremost a person.  That should always be remembered.  Pre-concieved notions of what you think a person with a particular disability should be like should go out the window.  You do not need to yell at a blind person, for example.  Just because they can't necessarily see you does not mean that they don't hear you just fine.

This is where having a strong knowledge of disability culture would prove to be beneficial.  A lot of times, people don't know how to interact with persons with disabilities, as they've never had to do so before.  They act how they think they should, copy what they see in the media.  This approach is not always correct.  Understanding of disability culture means understanding of the person behind the disability.  Understanding how a person to best serve a person with a disability without making them feel awkward or ashamed about who they are.  As I will state over and over again, the disability is only part of a person, like the color of their eyes or hair.  It's a trait.  You wouldn't treat a person with brown hair differently than one with blonde hair.  For persons with disabilities, you may have to come up with creative ways, or different ways to best serve their needs.  And if a library has up to date accessible technology, this can be easily accomplished.

Library Services, and Other Activities For Senior Citizens in the Detroit Area:

The Detroit Public Library, and its many branches, offers many services for the senior citizens of Detroit.  First of all, there is the Frederick Douglass branch of DPL which is used as the Library for the Blind and Physically handicapped.  For the elderly people of Detroit who have decreased vision, or decreased mobility, this library may be good for them to use.  According to the Detroit Public Library website, "The LBPH collection is primarily a leisure collection of audio books which includes adult and juvenile, fiction and non fiction, Bestsellers, Mysteries, Romances, Westerns, Biographies and Black History. It offers, Books on Tape, Digital Books, Large Print books, Descriptive Videos, regular print books about disabilities, and reference sources on the ADA".  For senior citizens who love to read, but have difficulty seeing print, books on tape and audio books would be the perfect way for them to continue with their love of literature.

For those senior citizens who cannot leave their house, the Detroit Public Library also offers the service entitled, "Library on Wheels"(LOW).  According to the Detroit Public Library's website, the LOW's Bookmobile makes multiple stops a month at places where seniors congregate, such as community centers or retirement homes.

As far as programs to get the seniors in the Detroit community interacting with each other, DPL offers classes to teach technology to those of an advanced age.  They also offer talks and events such as this one coming up on October 26th called, "Healthy Aging: Connecting Older Adults to Health Information".  This specific lecture could be particularly informative and helpful for senior citizens in the Detroit area.

Outside of the Detroit Public Library, the city of Detroit offers outreach and assistance to its elderly population through the Senior Citizens Department.  According to the City of Detroit's website, "The Senior Outreach and Assistance Service is the senior’s link to vital services in the community. The department offers personalized service to seniors who need assistance with transportation, housing, health care, medical supplies, prescriptions, etc. Programs and services tailored to meet individual needs are just a telephone call away. We can help."

So whether its through the public library, or the city itself, the city of Detroit offers many services to its aging population.  The city of Detroit helps to fund public libraries, and with a lack of funding, it seems likely that programs for elderly library patrons could be cut.  Hopefully the city of Detroit, seeing as it seems to care so much about its senior citizens, would know better than to cut funding to such valuable programs and work together with DPL to keep programs for senior citizens going strong.

Library for the Blind and Physically Handicapped:
http://www.detroit.lib.mi.us/lbph/LBPH_index.htm


Library on Wheels:
http://www.detroit.lib.mi.us/low/low_index.htm


Events and Programs of the Main Branch of DPL:
http://www.detroit.lib.mi.us/events/Main_Library_Events.htm


Senior Citizens Department:
http://71.159.22.28/DepartmentsandAgencies/SeniorCitizensDepartment/OutreachAssistance.aspx