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VIDBE - Q Volume 62 Issue 4
For fun and to work on listening skills and visual efficiency skills, I found some very
large (desk - sized) books. I wou ld read to her, making sure to fluctuate my voice to show
expression and keep her interested. We would then use the pictures and the information
I read to make inferences. Alice did struggle with this because I sometimes made the
questions too complex, I l ater simplified them and her answers became more accurate.
Writing instruction. Alice had little writing ability (see figure 5). A professor at the
reading center, but not in the Department of Special Education, advised me to focus more
on reading instruc tion rather than writing instruction, because Alice might rely more on
assistive devices because of her additional disabilities. I followed his advice for a while,
but I felt like I was missing an opportunity so I asked other professors in the Department
o f Special Education whether I should attempt to teach writing to a student who may never
master the skill. Those professors then advised me to keep up writing instruction, because
every child should have the opportunity to learn how to write their name, at the very least.
Figure 5. Alice's attempt at writing out a sight word without guidance.
We did not have a lot of time for writing instruction because I didn't follow my gut
from the start, so only a little progress was shown, I know Alice is capable of more. Her
occupational therapist (OT) was working on writing her name and they had specific
terminology for the direction Alice was writing. For example, when writing the letter "l" the
OT would say " Big zip down !" For writing the letter "i" the OT would say " little zip down,
