"stick" with Eli. While he grasps concepts such
as trailing, landmarks, squaring off, and diagonal
cane technique, orientation and short routes
within his school building have proven to be difficult hurdles. It is here that his lack of motivation
and/or covering for confusion presents as humor
and diversion of topic.
While working on a story that he was
highly motivated about writing braille, it occurred
to me that I could sneak in some mental mapping
of his school building.
Here is an excerpt from Eli's story:
"As I entered Valley Elementary
School, I realized there were phantoms
soaring through the air like storm clouds.
When I turned right, and peered into Mrs.
Roberts' classroom, I noticed that she had
turned into a witch, casting spells and filling
her room with haunted frogs. After I passed
Mrs. Roberts' room, I arrived at the Guidance counselor's office, where there was
slime oozing from the suggestion box. I noticed a smell coming from the hallway
ahead. As I walked toward it, and turned
left to enter the cafeteria, I saw werewolves
eating BOO berry pie and ice SCREAM."
His story continued and was about his
school being haunted on Halloween. He found it
very fun to create and he was so proud of it that
he wanted to share it with his classmates. Because his Braille reading skills are still developing, he relies heavily upon memorization. Therefore, upon each retelling of his story, he was mentally walking that route.
50
Not only did we get a braille lesson from
