When thinking about the various academic departments and subject areas at my school, special education stands out as one of my strongest collaborative partners. Teachers in the mod/severe program have built a tradition of regular library visits in conjunction with reading classes, including the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) to talk about books and engaging in makerspace learning activities.

During distance learning, I have found myself working closely with mild/mod program advocates to help students and families with general school access issues. Seeing the frustration of parents when navigating the many school technology systems and tools, I have focused my efforts on creating resources like this Distance Learning Launchpad template on Google Docs (https://bit.ly/wh-launchpad), which I help customize with students.

The beautiful thing is, while I created the "launchpad" to support students in our special education program, it has now been shared widely at my school and by colleagues across the district to help all students. This is a perfect example of universal design and how increasing accessibility for some students can actually benefit many more. Check out "Reaching All Learners in the School Library" by Karla Collins to think further about how you may apply universal design for learning (UDL) concepts to ensure your library best meets the needs of all learners.

Where Can I Start?

In terms of tangible actions to make our library programs more inclusive and accessible, I have found the following resources helpful:

• "Ensuring the Library Program is Inclusive for ALL Students" —Compare results from this One-Question Survey with how you would respond today. Does this reveal areas of growth for your program? Also, be sure to see "Other" practices respondents shared for more ideas.
• "Dear Dara: Asking about Accessibility" —In this SLC advice column, Dara shares some specific resources to explore for making book reading more accessible.
• "Technology Connections. School Library Websites during Shelter in Place" —The list of tips about website accessibility during the pandemic are important to keep in mind for all times.
• "On-Ramps for Learning: Storytelling for Everyone" —Focusing on stories and storytelling as "the ultimate instruments for differentiation," Sherry Norfolk reminds us how we can be inclusive through our choices in instructional strategies.

And, if you're just beginning this process, the following suggestions might help you apply best practices in building collaborative relationships to partnerships with the special education department at your school.

Serving Populations with Specific Needs

One of the challenges with special education is that it is an umbrella encompassing students with a wide variety of needs, and in the school library, we may not have extensive knowledge about those needs. First of all, it's okay to not be an expert! Be up front about what you do not know with your special education teachers and work with them to complement each other's work.

Next, and this is in our professional wheelhouse, do research to learn more. On this SLC page, you can find some school-library-focused resources addressing several specific needs:

• In "Deaf ≠ Silenced," Kimberly Gangwish explores considerations for best serving deaf and hard-of-hearing students.
• Gina Seymour shares ideas related to welcoming and supporting students with autism in "Autism Spectrum Disorder and the Library Makerspace."
• The "How the Library Can Help Students Navigate Mental Health" video presentation covers a number of ways to support students' mental health needs.
• Also related to mental health, Anita Cellucci's "Full Voice. Using Bibliotherapy to Grow Readers" details how bibliotherapy may be implemented within a school library.

Other starting points I have found helpful include Understood.org (https://www.understood.org/), the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) website (https://sites.ed.gov/idea), and the Center for Applied Special Technology (CAST) website, which includes resources like free learning tools (http://www.cast.org/whats-new/learning-tools.html).

Some Closing Thoughts

In addition to learning from special education teacher colleagues, I try to maintain a learner stance with students, soliciting their input, listening, and following their lead. When reflecting on how I can ensure I am being respectful and empowering, I have referenced resources such as the United Spinal Association's publication on disability etiquette (https://unitedspinal.org/disability-etiquette/).

At the same time, I recognize how individuals have their own preferences. For instance, while some may advise using person-first language (e.g., "person who has autism" instead of "autistic person"), others prefer "autistic person," claiming disabilities as an integral part of their identity (see also #SayTheWord started by Lawrence Carter-Long: https://disabledspectator.com/saytheword-power-language-disability/). When thinking about identity, the idea of intersectionality (https://time.com/5560575/intersectionality-theory/), should also be applied to students receiving special education services; they may have special needs, but they are not fully defined by those needs alone.

Finally, I have had to accept that I may make mistakes along the way. A recent example that made me think about this is when Book Riot released a list of YA books about disability and received negative feedback for insensitivity in the selections. Ideally, Book Riot would not have made this transgression in the first place, but they apologized and used this as an opportunity to partner with those offering criticism to create an improved #ownvoices list (https://bookriot.com/ownvoices-ya-books-about-disability/). Thus, while I aim to avoid hurting others, I commit to similarly remaining open to the voices of those I serve and repairing any harm I may cause. I am always learning, and I thank you for joining me on this journey!

What lessons or program elements have you successfully implemented in collaboration with or to complement special education services? Please share your own experiences!