Shower and Hygiene Book for a Teenager
Remote teaching has taught me so much! (Even after 31 years of teaching I still learn every day!) Although I was convinced my IEP goals were awesome, I learned that my student who is 18, totally blind with Autism, does not shower himself! So.... along came this tactile shower book social story in braille, tactile book with print, and a tactile “sequencer” for the shower and bathroom, using the tactile objects as well. My wonder braillist, Sandy Bridges, helped me assemble it.
His mother reported that he is actually reaching out IN the shower and saying some of the items as he follows the sequencer! She says she just can’t believe how something so simple can make a routine he has been doing for YEARS suddenly make sense!
- I used the APH Tactile Book Builder Kit mesh pages and attached the objects with the zip ties.
- The mesh pages used for the sequencer are also made with the plastic mesh pages so they can get wet in the shower.
- I made sure that all the bottles were a different shape for shampoo, conditioner, and body wash.
- I used an empty half of a plastic soap container at the end for his “ finished box”.
- Tactile objects: shampoo, conditioner, body wash, loofah, little towel, toothbrush and toothpaste, comb and deodorant
I created this book, which I sent home for him to review with his family. We have read it via Zoom and he has begun to anticipate the text and helps to fill in the blanks. I also ask him questions about various parts of it to be sure he understands.
Download the book in Word format.
Text
Cover: My Shower Book
It is important to keep my body clean.
When I am clean, I smell nice.
Some people like to shower in the morning.
Some people like to shower in the night.
I use shampoo to clean my hair. Squeeze a little shampoo in my hand and rub, rub, rub it in my hair. Then I rinse my hair until all the shampoo is out and it smells so good.
I use my conditioner to make my hair soft. Squeeze a little conditioner in my hand and rub, rub, rub it in my hair. Then I rinse all of the conditioner out of my hair and it's so soft.
Next, I wash my body. The soap goes on my washrag and I wash all over my body. I make sure I wash my face, under my arms and all the way down to my toes. There is lots of suds on me. Now I will rinse all the suds off and I smell so good!
When my body and hair is clean, I feel great! I get out of the shower and dry off with a towel.
Next, I will brush my teeth. I place a small amount of toothpaste onto my toothbrush. It is important to keep my teeth clean and it helps my breath to smell good! I brush all my teeth, the top teeth and the bottom teeth. After spitting out the toothpaste I rinse my mouth with clean water.
Now it is time to comb my hair. Combing my hair makes it look very nice.
Finally, I put on deodorant. I am a growing young man and sometimes my underarms sweat and smell bad. I put deodorant under my arms. This helps me to smell so good!
Taking a shower, washing my hair and my body and combing my hair, brushing my teeth and putting on deodorant makes me smell nice and clean! All done!
Tactile Sequencers
I created these two tactile sequencers separately from the book. They are a concrete and helpful way for him to remind himself of each step of both the routine in the shower, and the routine when he gets out of the shower. Being able to anticipate the steps and checking to see what's next helps him to be more independent doing each step of the routine.
Before Shower
After Shower
I looked at the other bath books on Paths to Literacy, and used those to get ideas to create this for an older student. The other bath routine books I looked at are:
