The problem:

Metcalfe County is a small, rural community with a public library that provides a Preschool Library Story Hour once monthly, while public school is in-session.  Children who are not enrolled in preschool or childcare programs, participate with adult family members.  Learning activities provided by library staff primarily focus on learning colors, numbers, days of the week, months of the year, holidays, seasons, weather, preschool songs/finger plays, and interacting in a group setting. The concept of human disability had not previously been addressed within this program/with the audience.  

The educational program response

UKFCS Agents received training and the curriculum for the children's Understanding Disability program, during the 2024 FCS Spring in-service training.  The curriculum includes books appropriate for youth 5 - 9 years of age with suggestions for preschool appropriate books for each of the twelve disabilities covered in the curriculum.  The FCS Extension agent from Metcalfe County requested the UK Specialists over this curriculum, create parent newsletters to go along with this story book learning program from the background information provided for lesson facilitators in the curriculum, which they provided, two weeks post training. 

Metcalfe Co. FCS Agent met with the County Children's Librarian, to discuss adding the Understanding Disabilities program into the existing Preschool Story Hour program.  The Children's librarian found that none of the suggested titles were in circulation, and ordered them.  These books are now in circulation and available for use, to offer in conjunction with Library preschool story hour with the three sessions remaining for the 2023/24 school year, and resuming for the 2024/25 story hour programs.  Outreach to the Metcalfe County Elementary School Special Needs Resource Teacher netted a second audience, with the enrolled students and teaching staff in that classroom setting.  

The ADHD topic was addressed first through offering the book: This Beach is Loud.  The second session addressed Autism with the book: The Amazing Erik offered.  The third session addressed Type 1 Diabetes with the book Super Sammy. Suggested discussion questions were utilized throughout the readings, and youth participants were all highly engaged.  Related visual and tactile aids were provided for youth, to deepen their understanding of the disabilities discussed. All adults present at the Library Story Hour, received the "parent" newsletters with deeper background on each disability topic presented.  Newsletters were sent home in student backpacks, from the Elementary School resource classroom.

The participants/target audience

Thirty-three preschool aged youth participants (sixteen male/seventeen female), with forty-seven different adults participated in the sessions offered at the Library Story Hour.  

Five students with two adult teaching staff, participated with the Elementary school resource room group.

Other partners (if applicable)

Metcalfe County Public Library and the Special Needs Resource classroom at Metcalfe County Elementary school 

Program impact or participant response.

While there was no formal evaluation provided with the Understanding Disabilities curriculum, youth participants were highly engaged and participated in the question prompted discussion, each time offered. All youth engaged fully with participatory elements provided, and were able to iterate verbally the disability discussed in the storybook at the end of the program.  Many of the adult participants provided feedback, indicating appreciation for the Understanding Disabilities offerings, and several requested that I continue to offer it in conjunction with the Library story hour program for the 2024/25 year. One Mother who has type 1 Diabetes, was very thankful for the Super Sammy storybook program.  She told this Agent she had not known previously, how to describe her condition to her young children as she had been afraid they would be "scared for her if she got too into the details". This Mother said that the Super Sammy storybook, was perfect to help her children better understand their Mother's disability.