ABOUT
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Founded in 2019, the Disability and Inclusion Special Interest Group of the Association for Library and Information Science Education is dedicated to addressing gaps and deficiencies in the state of disability inclusion in library and information science. The group focuses specifically on five areas of engagement:
1. Raising awareness of disabilities at the workplace and in social settings; dealing with information avoidance in the context of disabilities, especially as applies to managers, leaders, and other decision makers; developing a realistic and balanced perception of disabilities at the workplace and in education; counteracting stereotypes, misconceptions, and romanticization of disabilities.
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2. Policies and procedures, including governmental and institutional policies on accommodations and work modifications, with the special attention to the language of policies and implications thereof; departmental and university-wide procedures for job applications, interviewing, hiring, and workplace inclusion of disabled employees, with the special attention to the language of job advertisements and procedural descriptions.
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3. Specific types of disabilities at the workplace that raise a diverse array of questions and require a variety of solutions (instead of the one-size-fits all approach), including but not limited to: neurodiversity (e.g., Autism spectrum disorders); observable disabilities (e.g., visual impairments, mobility limitations, deafness/hardness of hearing); and hidden disabilities (e.g., neurological and autoimmune disorders, psychiatric illness, diabetes, arthritis, learning disabilities).
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4. The enabling and disabling role of technological advances at the workplace for employees with disabilities in LIS, including but not limited to equitable access, assistive technologies, adaptive technologies, and their related costs.
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5. Social justice, administrative, and economic imperatives of including disabilities in LIS academic and professional workplaces.
The SIG will undertake the following activities in order to serve its intended cause and mandate:
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1. Will propose and, if accepted, offer ALISE webinars on a variety of topics related to disability and employment in LIS
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2. Will propose and, if accepted, hold thematic panel or interactive engagement sessions at the future ALISE conferences
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3. Will propose and, if accepted, offer sessions through the ALISE Academy at the future conferences
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4. Will partner with the International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion (IJIDI) on the publication of regular or ad-hoc special sections on Disabilities in LIS.