VIDBE-Q Volume 66 Issue 4
was all about altering materials. I had not even considered the importance of trust
and relationships formed through communicating.
We once took Eddie to a seasoned occupational therapist (OT) for an
assessment. Her office was full of toys and when we arrived she wanted to simply
watch us play with Eddie for a bit. We sat with him on the floor and were
immediately at a loss. I know she felt bad for Eddie as he was being raised by
parents that did not seem to know how to play with him. Yet, I think she felt sad
for us, too. She turned her OT assessment into a tutoring session. It was the first
time I remember being explicitly told to just "do what he does." If he makes a
sound, do it back. If he touches a toy, touch it next to him so he can feel your
hand...and so on. This whole time we had felt the need to push instruction on
Eddie, but we had not understood where to start. We needed to have conversations
around things he chose, such as a silly song or noise. We should not always have
been picking the topic.
As Eddie approached late elementary, we began an important shift in his
instruction. After attending an "I-M-Able" presentation by Diane Wormsley, we
started presenting Eddie with words he loved in braille instead of the alphabet,
days of the week, or months. Imagine that you have been subjected to tracking
"September" in braille for five years and then somebody introduces the word
"Yippee!" and has you track fingers over it while they say it in an excited voice.
