How did I let a month go by without posting this immediately? A sign of the life of a museum director, I suppose. In this week’s adventures, my assistant found a squatter set up on the back porch of our secondary historic home. Playing Xbox.
Anyway… without further ado…
In case you haven’t followed the story of publication and proposals and writing and so forth, here is a short description:
The book features the seven key components of creating effective programming for people with special needs, especially elementary and secondary students with intellectual disabilities:
Sensitivity and awareness training- Planning and communication
- Timing
- Engagement and social/life skills
- Object-centered and inquiry-based programs
- Structure
- Flexibility
In addition, this book features and discusses programs such as the Museum of Modern Art‘s Meet Me program and ones for children with autism at the Transit Museum in Brooklyn as models for other organizations to adapt for their use.
Its focus on visitors of all ages who have cognitive or intellectual disabilities or special needs makes this title essential for all museum and historic site professionals, especially educators or administrators, but also for museum studies students and those interested in informal education.
— Carroll Van West, director of the Center for Historic Preservation at Middle Tennessee University, and Tennessee State Historian
Programming for People with Special Needs is an important new resource for any museum or historic site serious about expanding their current audience base and preparing for tomorrow’s visitors. While the ADA already requires us to accommodate visitors’ physical needs, it is equally important that our programs consider the needs of visitors experiencing various forms of learning and intellectual disabilities, including memory loss, especially since their numbers are expected to increase dramatically over the next several decades. This thorough and practical volume can help your institution accomplish this goal and, in turn, become a museum or historic site better prepared for the future.
— Karen Graham Wade, director, Homestead Museum, City of Industry, California
Katie Stringer Clary, PhD 
2 replies to “My book is out!”