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.
No comments:
Post a Comment