Mid-Semester Analysis and Reflections

If this blog is to be part of my e-portfolio, then I have some work to do regarding the professionalism of my writing. Several of my blog entries walk a fine line between casual and quasi-scholarly writing, and that is something I will clean up in the coming weeks. It will be good practice to maintain a scholarly bent in all of my posts, whether it is here or on the discussion board.

Speaking of scholarly, as I read through my blogs posts thus far, I keep thinking of ways to thread some of the topics into practical application in my current work as a library paraprofessional and in my future work as a professional. I am interested in expanding on the topic of Disability culture and oppression, as well aging individuals and oppression, and I am continually thinking of ways to turn this topic into a research proposal for my LIS 7996 course that will also serve as valuable research for my own library community.

For the remainder of this semester, I want to revisit my assumptions from the beginning of the semester as a write each new blog post. I am curious to see what assumptions were challenged, and if any have stayed the same.

Journal Activity, Week 8: Disability Culture

Why is knowledge of Disability culture important to library and information professionals/practitioners? What barriers exist in library and information agencies for individuals with disabilities? How can LIS practitioners leverage this knowledge to reduce barriers to information access? 

Knowledge of Disability culture is vital to library and information professionals because it effects their ability to provide excellent customer service and programs for persons with disabilities. This reminds me of the introduction to chapter 6 in our Novak textbook, which started with a story about fitness instructor Bart Hircus, who couldn't figure out why his standard fitness program for seniors did not appeal to residents of a Native American senior center. As it turned out, the residents had a very different view of Bart's concept of exercise - to them, exercised equaled hard, unpaid work. Bart learned to adjust his exercise program for minority senior groups by learning about the group's culture first, and then tailoring the program accordingly.

Another anecdote on the importance of a library knowing a community group's culture: About two years ago my local library featured author Omar Tyree (Flyy Girl) as the speaker for the summer reading program. Omar Tyree's books were popular with the library's African-American patrons, and the library expected Tyree's event to attract a large crowd. Fewer than 50 people showed up for the event. Several patrons said they would have loved to attend, but the event was on a Sunday at the same time as their church services. Know your community's culture.

With that in mind, librarians should take the time to gain an understanding of disability culture in order to better inform the development of universal access policies and library services for those with disabilities. As I mentioned briefly in my last blog post, staff diversity training should include knowledge of Disability culture, if it is not included already. A big barrier at the library for individuals with disabilities is encountering an information services staff does not have the knowledge to assist patrons with disabilities and employs the use of disability stereotypes, or having a local library that lacks  specialized programs for patrons with disabilities.

The Wednesday Club at the Antioch Library is a wonderful example of how a library can take proactive steps to break down barriers between patrons with disabilities and information access.

Journal Activity: Week 7

The standard Merriam-Webster definition of oppression: unjust or cruel exercise of authority or power. A Google search for "definition: oppression" acknowledges oppression not only as a cruel exercise of authority, but a prolonged cruel exercise of authority. The National Youth Leadership Network  uses simple language to describe oppression, defining it as "using power to keep someone down." Finally, Mackelprang (2009) defines the oppression of people with disabilities as ableism or disableism (the latter term seems to be the preferable term on the disability advocates blogosphere), a bias that gives preference to people that appear to be able-bodied.

Mackelprang breaks down the long history of oppression against individuals with invisible and visible disabilities - from the Neolithic tribes belief that evil spirits caused disabilities to the genocide of disabled persons in Nazi Germany. Like many minority groups, Disability culture has shouldered a history of oppression that has worked its way into policy and common stereotypes held by modern society. Persons with disabilities are stereotyped as objects to be pitied or coddled, freaks, burdensome, or sick. 

This paragraph is slightly off-topic. I wanted to take a moment and mention that disableism is very real. My class members know that, but this is for the benefit of the anonymous Internet visitor that may deny disableism exists (you know, just like there are individuals that believe racism no longer exists). I have a parent with an invisible disability. Certain cultures believe the disability is caused by the devil. Other people are afraid of my parent's disability - it's the type of fear people harbor when they don't know much about the disability in question. Employers are not likely to hire someone with my parent's disability. What I am getting at is that everything is fine until someone finds out about the disability - my parent is treated like any able-bodied person because they appear able-bodied. Doors are shut when the invisible disability comes to light.

Anyway. Back to the discussion. Persons with disabilities can, unfortunately, experience oppression at libraries and other information agencies, even if they are visiting the most accessibility-friendly library in the nation. This less to do with the library/information agency's ADA compliance and more to do with staff training in sensitivity to persons with disabilities. Library staff may not know how to interact with patrons with disabilities - staff could make the mistake of addressing the disability instead of the person, or they could hold any of the common disability stereotypes. If a library patron with a disability feels uncomfortable seeking information from staff due to disableism, then that creates a barrier to accessing information services.

A similar concept of oppression can be applied to older adults, as many of the disability stereotypes can be applied to aging individuals. Ageism is a prejudice that hurts older adults, and the stereotypes about aging can keep older individuals from employment, social activities, or social services, for example.

Journal Activity: Getting to Know Your Local Community

How does my local community encourage senior participation in the community? Starting with the my local public and academic libraries' website and branching out to other city agencies' websites, I investigated any advertised programs, opportunities, and classes made specifically for older adults. Only two agencies, the Antioch Senior Center and the Antioch Recreation Department, list activities that are specifically for seniors. The other agencies listed have volunteer opportunities that would likely appeal to seniors, even though they are not the target audience.

While the Antioch Senior Center (ASC) provides a variety of activities and programs (including tap dance, computer classes, and driving courses), it could certainly use a better web presence. Its current location, a page on the City of Antioch's website, is out of date - the ASC Newsletter hasn't been uploaded since September 2011, and the ASC officers listed are current as of 2007. The only way one can find out about what the ASC offers is through the ad in Antioch's Fall 2012 Recreation Guide online, or by calling the center directly. A decent website with an updated newsletter, current calendar of activities, photos of past events, the weekly menu for the CoCo Cafe, and links to other city resources would help the ASC reach a broader audience, including seniors that prefer finding information online or information professionals that are seeking ASC information on behalf of a patron.

I have never seen advertisements for the ASC anywhere besides the city's quarterly recreation guide, so I am unsure if the center collaborates with any other organization in the city. Collaborating with other organizations would be a great way to not only improve upon the current offering of programs at the ASC, but it also would be a great advertising tool. Just off the top of my head, here are some of the local organizations that ASC could pair up with: Opportunity Junction, Kaiser, Sutter Delta Medical Center, Homeless Animal Lifeline Organization, Antioch Historical Society, Los Medanos College, Antioch Adult Education, and the Antioch and Prewett Branch Libraries.


Within the city of Antioch, CA:

Contra Costa County Library - Antioch Branch: There are no programs specifically for older adults listed on the Antioch Library's online event calendar at this time. However, there is a link to the Antioch Community Center, which offers classes for seniors through the city's recreation department and links to the Antioch Senior Citizens Club, which also has a full schedule of activities, classes, and programs. Volunteer opportunities are also available at the library and the senior center.

Antioch Historical Society: Part of the Arts & Cultural Foundation of Antioch, the historical society has several volunteer opportunities  that would appeal to seniors looking for meaningful volunteer work. This would be an excellent opportunity for older individuals that are interested in promoting Antioch's history.

The Volunteer Center of the East Bay: a search for volunteer opportunities within both of Antioch's zip codes results in several volunteer jobs that might appeal to seniors.

Neighboring cities (within 5-10 miles of Antioch):

Contra Costa County Library - Oakley Branch: The closest event I could find is a NaNoWriMo Write-In, and the event description lists seniors as one of the target groups in addition to adults and teens.

Contra Costa County Library - Pittsburg Branch: No programs specifically geared toward seniors are offered at this time. There is a link to the City of Pittsburg's website, which has a page for the Pittsburg Senior Center - but links for important information, such as class schedules and center programs, do not work.

Los Medanos College Library (Pittsburg, CA): No senior programs or classes offered.

Educational opportunities within Contra Costa County:

Contra Costa County Library - Education Guide: One tab of this guide is dedicated to resources for adult learners, including the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at California State University, East Bay, which is advertised as a learning environment for the 50+ crowd and offers classes at the Concord, CA campus of CSUEB.

Journal Activity: Week 4

0. Novak, M. (2011). Issues in Aging. 3rd ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.  
   

Discussion questions, p. 197

3. What are the demographic forces that will account for the increase in the older minority group population in the future? Do the forces vary for different minority groups? If so, how? What effect will this increase have on American society?

Mortality, fertility, and migration are the demographic forces that will account for the increase in the older minority group population - the population is expected to double by 2050. These demographic forces do vary for different minority groups - for instance, Latino Americans have high levels of fertility (Mexican Americans have a high birth rate and a large number of young adults) and immigration (Cuban Americans make up 14% of the over 65 Latino population), both of which will add to the growth of its older minority population in the future. The Asian Pacific Island group is not mentioned as having a high birth rate, but many of their subgroups have an elderly population that either has a long history in the United States, such as Chinese Americans and Japanese Americans, or are recent immigrants, as is the case with Vietnamese and Cambodian elderly people. Across the board, minority groups have a long life expectancy. With these three demographic forces combined, the growing minority older population is expected to put a strain on family supports and turn to formal healthcare and social services support, which will have to adapt to the needs of the minority elderly population.

9. What barriers keep Asian Americans from getting the social supports they need as they age? Do some of these barriers apply to other minority groups? How can social service agencies overcome these barriers?

To answer the first question: language and cultural barriers, the same barriers that keep other minority groups from accessing formal support or other city, county, and public services (think of the people in the community that do not use the library because of a language barrier). Many Asian adults follow the cultural expectation of caring for their elderly parents, and they often seek assistance from formal support to help care for their parents. For older Asian people that live alone and lack family supports, formal social services are essential, but difficult to access when language and cultural barriers get in the way. Social services agencies could improve their services to the needs of their Asian American clients - or any minority group that is prevented from accessing social services due to language/cultural barriers -  by providing diversity training, hiring bilingual or multilingual social workers, and client education programs (certainly something a library program could provide).

Media Representations

How are aging individuals and individuals with disabilities portrayed in mass media? I perused the following media to find out:

Magazines: Due to convenience, I reviewed magazine titles owned by my local library - it's closer than visiting the nearest Barnes & Noble. Browsing through the current issues of high-circulating titles such as Glamour, Vanity Fair, People, Entertainment Weekly, Us Weekly, Sports Illustrated, Time, Newsweek and Vanidades revealed little to no portrayals of aging individuals or individuals with disabilities. Magazines that focused on beauty and fashion contained ads for anti-aging products, but of course did not feature an actual older individual in the advertisement. Back issues of Time did, however, feature stories about the 2012 Paralympics and Paralympics and London 2012 Olympics athlete Oscar Pistorius. I also found an ad in Ebony for CVS pharmacy, which featured an older woman, the tagline "Managing my prescriptions is not how I want to spend my life," and a brief introduction of the woman's active lifestyle. Another good article featuring active aging individuals appeared in ESPN The Magazine's October 1, 2012 issue (personal subscription, not library owned). Titled "Senior Moments," the article highlights older jocks (including a 92-year-old volleyball player) and their lifelong passion for competition.

Newspapers: A recent review of articles from the past month on the San Francisco Chronicle's online presence, sfgate.com, uncovered articles about the California School for the Blind's new adapted tennis classes, a story about the sad situation of the aging "San Francisco Twins" Marian and Vivian Brown, and an elderly driver that hit 14 children in Los Angeles.

Television: I watched roughly three hours of television, and in that time I saw episodes of South Park, Futurama, the Boondocks, and American Dad. Oddly enough, South Park's portrayal of Jimmy, a character with cerebral palsy that walks with crutches, was balanced and positive - Jimmy is not the butt of any jokes, and participates in many of the same activities as the main characters despite his handicap (he actually appears regularly in many South Park episodes). The same can be said of American Dad's portrayal of Joe Swanson, a paraplegic police officer that is still able to perform his job duties. Futurama and the Boondocks both feature aging individuals as main characters, the senile mad scientist Professor and selfish, slightly out of touch Robert "Granddad" Freeman, respectively.

Films: Part of my three-hour television binge included watching a little bit of Diminished Capacity, a film about a man (Matthew Broderick) struggling with memory loss who is also helping his uncle, suffering from Alzheimer's, find enough money to stay at home with live-in care.

Overall, the representations of aging individuals and individuals with disabilities in the media review above were surprisingly realistic and/or positive. I say "surprisingly" because I expected at least half of the portrayals to be suspect to current stereotypes and biases toward the two groups, but the senile/grouchy old man stereotypes I did see occurred in only two portrayals, that of Professor from Futurama and Granddad from Boondocks, and even then, the stereotypical characteristics were small parts of a three-dimensional character. A majority of the media representations of aging individuals focused on the active lifestyles of aging individuals - this was evident from the CVS pharmacy ad and the "Senior Moments" article, which promoted the idea that age is just a number. The media representations are not far off from my personal interactions with aging individuals - the aging individuals I know, through the library or the gym, maintain very active post-retirement lifestyles, whether they're visiting family, taking care of grandchildren, volunteering at several facilities, or traveling. However, I did note that the representations of individuals in both categories, aging and individuals with disabilities, were mostly white - there was very little diversity.

What I didn't review: the print edition of Ability, which was available at the library, but I was looking for magazines geared toward the general population rather than specialized populations. Anyway, the Aug/Sep 2012 issue featured the ladies from the Sundance Channel's reality show Push Girls (glamorous women defying stereotypes of being in a wheelchair). How have I not heard about this show? Apparently it received plenty of publicity before its first season, and now the show has been renewed for 2013. Check out an interview with the show's stars here.