Thursday, October 6, 2022
10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., EDT
(Registration is now closed.)

Join us for our 7th biennial Adaptive Umbrella accessibility workshop!
This daylong workshop features interactive sessions about current accessibility topics, led by disability self-advocates and professionals working with the disability community. The day is geared to librarians, educators, and caregivers.

10 – 11:30 a.m. Keynote Speaker
Emily Ladau, Disability rights activist, communications consultant, and author
“Demystifying Disability: What to Know, What to Say, and How to Be an Ally”
Emily Ladau is a passionate disability rights activist, writer, storyteller, and digital communications consultant whose career began at the age of 10, when she appeared on several episodes of Sesame Street to educate children about her life with a physical disability. Her writing has been published in outlets including The New York Times, CNN, Vice, and HuffPost and her first book, Demystifying Disability, was published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House, in September 2021. Emily has spoken before numerous audiences, from the U.S. Department of Education to the United Nations. Central to all of Emily’s work is harnessing the power of storytelling to engage people in learning about disability.

11:30 – 11:45 a.m. Break

11:45 – 12:45 p.m. Featured Speaker
Adriana Lebrón White, Autistic librarian and writer,
“Lived Experiences in Literature and the Importance of Authentic Disabled Perspectives”
Adriana Lebrón White is an autistic librarian, former special education teacher, and writer. After being diagnosed with autism in her 30s, she now advocates for more inclusive schools and libraries. Adriana holds a Master’s degree in Education as well as an MLIS. For more of Adriana’s writing on autism, neurodiversity, and education, visit her website at adrianalwhite.com.

12:45 – 1:15 p.m. Virtual lunch break

1:15 – 2:15 p.m. Panel: “Accessibility in the Workplace”
Panelists: library staff and members of the disability community
Lisa Boyd, Youth Services Librarian, Canton Public Library
Meagan Daniels, Adaptive Technology Librarian, Braille & Talking Book Library of MI
Ed Niemchak, Adult Services Librarian, Bloomfield Township Public Library

2:15 – 2:30 p.m. Break

2:30 – 3:30 p.m. Jen Taggart, Head of Youth Services, Bloomfield Township Public Library
“Accessibility Collection Development 101”
Before becoming Head of Youth Services in 2022, Jen Taggart developed the Youth Accessibility Support Collection (ASC) at the Bloomfield Township Public Library, which opened in 2009. She has presented on accessibility in library services, programming, and collection development nationally and also created the Adaptive Umbrella Workshop and Accessibility Services Roundtable (ASR) of Michigan librarians providing services for patrons with disabilities.

**Accessibility note to attendees:
CART, ASL interpretation, and verbal image description will be provided during all sessions.

Should you require an accommodation to ensure the event is fully accessible to you, please contact Jen Taggart at taggartj@btpl.org at least 14 days prior to the workshop.

We understand attending a daylong virtual event can be exhausting, which is why we encourage you to think of this as a virtual workshop “menu.” We will share Zoom links for each of the sessions 3 days prior to the workshop via email.
**Sessions will be recorded for viewing following the live workshop. Transcripts and session recordings with captioning will be accessible for two months from the event date.

Thank you to the Friends of the Bloomfield Township Public Library for their generous support of this workshop.