Book clubs for people with intellectual disabilities: the evidence and impact on wellbeing and community participation of reading wordless books

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/AMHID-08-2016-0020
Published date05 September 2016
Date05 September 2016
Pages275-283
AuthorSheila Hollins,Jo Egerton,Barry Carpenter
Subject MatterHealth & social care,Learning & intellectual disabilities
Book clubs for people with intellectual
disabilities: the evidence and impact on
wellbeing and community participation of
reading wordless books
Sheila Hollins, Jo Egerton and Barry Carpenter
Sheila Hollins is an Emeritus
Professor of Psychiatry of
Disability at the St Georges
University of London,
London, UK.
Jo Egerton is a Research
Fellow at the Leeds Beckett
University, Leeds, UK.
Barry Carpenter is a Professor
at the University of Worcester,
Worcester, UK.
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to introduce the social and scientific rationale for book clubs, whose
members read wordless books together, and give examples of storytelling with picture books in libraries and
other community settings for people with intellectual disabilities and autism.
Design/methodology/approach The authors consider the impact of book clubs reading picture books
without words, alongside an understanding of the underlying neuroscience (see Table I for search strategy).
The authors compare differences in the neuroscience of information and emotion processing between
pictures and words. Accounts from book club facilitators illustrate these differences in practice.
Findings Many readers who struggle with reading and comprehending words, find pictures much easier to
understand. Book clubs support community inclusion, as for other people in society. A focus on visual rather
than word literacy encourages successful shared reading.
Research limitations/implications No research has been published about the feasibility and
effectiveness of wordless books in community book clubs or shared reading groups. There is very little
research on the impact of accessible materials, despite a legal requirement for services to provide reasonable
adjustments and the investment of time and resources in developing storylines in pictures, or translating
information into easy read formats.
Practical implications Book clubs whose members read picture books without words are growing in
number, especially in public libraries in the UK. Expansion is dependent on funding to pay for training for
librarians and volunteer facilitators.
Social implications There is a shortage of fully accessible activities for adults with intellectual disabilities in
mainstream community settings with a primarily social purpose.
Originality/value To the authorsknowledge, this is the first paper describing the theory and impact of
wordless book clubs for people who find pictures easier to understand than words.
Keywords Visual literacy, Book clubs, Books Beyond Words, Information and emotion processing,
Shared reading, Wordless books
Paper type General review
Background
The first known groups to use wordless books were set up in 1990 to provide bereavement
counselling using the first editions of the books When Dad Died and When Mum Died in the
Books Beyond Words series (Hollins et al., 2014a, b, Box 1). Many of the life events and
stressors identified as predictable crises in the lives of people with developmental intellectual
Received 30 August 2016
Revised 18 September 2016
Accepted 20 September 2016
The authors are grateful to
Stas Smagala, Sue Carmichael
and Jane Williams for providing
accounts of the books being used.
DOI 10.1108/AMHID-08-2016-0020 VOL. 10 NO. 5 2016, pp.275-283, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 2044-1282
j
ADVANCESIN MENTAL HEALTH AND INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES
j
PAGE275

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