Today I am pondering what to do when customers self-disclose that they have or their children the same disability that we do. Of course, we can NOT give medical advice or directly ask a customer why s\he wants a certain type of information. I would never advocate that we do either. Are there ever circumstances when it is appropriate to respond to a customer's disclosure with self-disclosure of our own? When a customer comes in, desperate for information, and confides that they are concerned because she\he or his\her child just received a diagnosis? When customers ask for information about support groups and other activities in the community, explaining their own frustrations in managing a disability that we share? How do we balance our professionalism as librarians with our desire to share and reassure based on our personal experience? What do my colleagues with disabilities think? Has anyone had positive or negative experiences with this type of self-disclosure?
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Lisa L
5/12/2012 09:05:17 am
Jennifer, I am glad to see your website is up and going and blogging can be so cathartic. As far as disclosure to customers regarding personal circumstances I think that it is okay to share common experiences as long as it is not too invasive for either party. I have found that I offer information about myself so that it might be helpful to someone encountering a similar journey. Most people are appreciative and receptive to unbiased advice. I think that is why social communication networks have gained popularity, it allows others to freely connect with people who have commonalities.
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AuthorThe content on this website mostly comes from my perspective as a youth services librarian with disabilities. The further I travel along life's road, the more entwined these two parts of my identity become. Librarian: I have an MLS from Rutgers University and have working in public libraries for nearly 20 years. The focus on my career has always been youth services. Disabled: I've been disabled more than twice as long as I've been a librarian. My experience started at birth when I was immediately diagnosed with cleft palate. Also present was a non-verbal learning disability (NLD) for short. This was not formally diagnosed until I was 19, leading to years of frustration. My Tourette Syndrome was not present at birth, but surely started young as I don't ever remember living without it. The Tourette was also not diagnosed until adulthood, further compounding my frustration. Coincidentally, I was also diagnosed with IBD (more commonly known as Chron's\Ulcerative Colitis) at the age of 19. That was another easy diagnosis--as with cleft palate, they look and they see it. Archives
September 2015
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