the story, but it was also the basis of a wonderful
orientation and mobility lesson. His story provided wonderful opportunities to walk through the
building and pay very close attention to where he
was and what came next in a counterclockwise
walk around the main hallways of the school. I
carried a notebook and a pen to jot things down
as we walked, and he brainstormed descriptions
of spooky things he encountered for the story
along the way. After walking that route several
times over the course of several days, we sat
down to braille the story, which forced him to
mentally revisit those areas in that walk and what
came next.
While I know there is still work to do in
orientation to his school building, I am confident
that this approach was effective in getting Eli excited about learning something that he was previously struggling with due, in part, to low motivation. Employing my knowledge of Eli's personhood was instrumental in his engagement and,
hopefully, retention.
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