The Education Resource Lab is hosting an “Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities” exhibition in Pawley Hall during January.

The collection includes books printed in brail, as well books written in other languages for young children.

In total, there are 60 books in the exhibit.

The reading materials feature illustrations that can also be felt by the children, a feature that assists readers in engaging in the story they are reading.

International books

The books are on loan from countries including Japan, Finland, France, Spain, England, Australia, U.S., South Africa, Italy, Canada, Mexico, China, Switzerland, Poland, Germany,  and Korea.

Associate Professor of the School of Education and Human Services, Linda Pavonetti said that books belong to a Baerum, Norway library.

The books were displayed at libraries in New York, Chicago and Evanston, Ill.

Helping future educators through literature

The collection will assist Education majors in understanding the needs of children with disabilities.

Barbara Antoinette Begin Campbell is the coordinator of the ERL.

“I hope that our pre-service teachers begin to think about how they will accommodate diverse needs of students they might meet in their classrooms once they are teaching,” she said.

Increasing awareness

The limited effort put into spreading the word about books made for children with disabilities has motivated Linda Pavonetti to bring this particular exhibit to Oakland University.

“I teach Children’s and Young Adult Literature and semester after semester, I see the limited scope of our understanding of the kinds of books we all need —as parents, teachers, students —to know about.” she said.

Pavonette is especially concerned about making the world more accessible to those with disabilities.

“We need to help (those with special needs) in any way we can to make them visible and fully contributing members of society, she said.

So far, there have not been many exhibits like “Outstanding Books for Young People with Disabilities” at OU. Those at the ERL believe that bringing these type of exhibits to students encourages acceptance.

Although the exhibit is behind glass, the books are laid out so the viewer can still interact with them.

Contact staff intern Sarah Blanchette via e-mail at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @S_Blanche_