Adapting Three Little Pigs for a Learner Who Is Deafblind

Submitted by Betty Braun on Sep 27, 2016

I adapted The Three Little Pigs for a 16-year-old student who is deafblind, and functioning at the preschool level. My goal was to simplify it and tell it with more of a teen perspective.

Materials:

Poster board, as I didn’t have any cereal boxes to cut out from my recyclables this time. The top right-hand corner of each page has been cut out so that my student will be able to identify and orient the top of the page.
Cutouts from a cardboard box
Felt
Fur
Beads
Rubber bands
Sticks
Rocks
Grass

I used household items to help bring the concept of wolf, pig, straw, sticks, bricks, etc., come to life. I got poster board as it is stronger than paper, and easier to cut than cardboard. Instead of rings to bind the book pages, I used coated wire to enable easier page turns. The student does shake books sometimes, so I want the book to be somewhat strong. I will include print and braille on all pages.

Procedure:

I decided to adapt the concept from three pigs to one pig. I believe that this book will be motivating to the student because it is something we will be creating together. I started by letting the student gather some supplies outside. For example, sticks by the tree (let touch); rocks by rock area; tall grass by bushes. I also put a rock by the school building to help describe brick. In addition, it happened to be windy, so it was an excellent opportunity to describe wind and mimic the concept by blowing to the student. I am hoping that drawing on the student’s love of nature and creating a personal connection to the book will motivate the student to learn and have fun at the same time. I hope that by using familiar objects in conjunction with the braille will make learning meaningful for my student.