Enlisting the Help of Older Students to Make Books for Prebraille Readers

I've been working on creating some books for some of my younger students who are prebraille readers. The latest book I made is a book for a young student who has CVI (cortical visual impairment). I chose to create a shape book that included a black background, shapes that were both contrasting in colors but also fun to touch (and would make sound when "scratched"), braille and large print. This book is smaller in size, as a lot of work I do with him is with a small table-like working space.

My goals for him right now are for him to:

• experience a variety of books
• enjoy books and to help with turning pages
• explore the pages and the textures with his fingers
• notice the shapes visually

Enlisting the help of older students to create books!

The really neat thing about these books is that my son Liam (age 9, deafblind, braille reader/writer) is able to help me add the braille to the books for my students. He has taken a lot of pride in adding the braille to these books. He likes that he is creating books which help other kids.

Liam will actually get to deliver one of the books to one of the students in summer school (his Orientation Mobility Specialist will use it as an O & M activity to find her classroom and deliver the book. They have been practicing the route already ). He is very excited. This activity is a fun way to support Liam's writing skills in a motivating way and allows him to help other children as well.