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Now I'm going to look at how to adapt books.
There's three ways we can look at adapting books.
We can modify the text,
we can modify the picture in the book,
or we can modify the actual book.
And all of these are going to meet the needs of every student.
When we modify the text, we want to think about
what is the student getting out of the text.
So if they're reading Braille,
you want to adapt a book with Braille on top of the text
or below the text.
For a student who may just need the print enlarged,
you might think about typing... retyping out the print
and replacing smaller print with larger print
so that the student can then see the print.
For students who may need a contrast
between the print and the background,
you may think about replacing that as well.
And finally, you may need to support the print in a book
for a student who uses tactile symbols
with those tactile symbols.
The following is an example of a book that has been adapted
for a student who uses tactile objects and symbols.
Modifying the picture-- this is important, too,
for students who might have cortical visual impairment
or low vision.
For some students, you may want to simplify the background.
So a lot of the books we get are very visually cluttered.
We have no trouble seeing the small details
in all of the, you know, different colorful pictures
in books,
but I think for some of our students,
we need to choose what the, you know, main idea is in the book
or what... you know, if it's the title
or if it's a page within the book,
what the, you know, main idea is,
and you might need to highlight that.
So you may need to cut the picture out
and put it on a black background or a different-color background
to just highlight that,
because you really want to bring the student's attention
to that picture.
For a student with cortical visual impairment
who may, for example, be drawn to the color orange,
you may outline that picture with orange either tape
or sticky-wicky or different materials like that.
You also may need to provide
a tactile enhancement to a picture,
and you can think about, you know,
what the student individually needs before you do that.
For modifying the book,
you may think about a student's physical and fine motor needs
when you do that.
So we often might use cardboard to make the pages thicker
and make it easier to manipulate
so students can turn the pages independently,
and this gives students a lot of...
you know, builds their self-esteem
if they can do more independently.
So we're always looking at ways to do that.
Page fluffers are another thing that can be used,
and those are just little foam tabs
that you can put at the corner,
top right-hand corner of the page
so that the student can also find that, grab it.
Not only tactilely,
but they might need a different color
to see it visually to turn the page.
You also might want to rebind the book
so that it stays open more easily,
and this is particularly true
if you're signing a book to a student
or if you need to sign tactilely with a student.
It's very hard to keep the pages open in a book,
in a typical book.
So rebinding it and maybe using the spiral binding, I guess,
allows the book to stay open,
and you can, you know, then communicate with your student.
Sometimes you might have students
who might like to rip pages out of books
or put books in their mouths,
and for that, you can take the pages out of the book
and put them in those plastic protective sheets.
It's a very simple thing,
but it can lengthen the life of your book
and allow you to use it for a lot longer.
You can also laminate pages.
And then also, you might want to provide
some tactile enhancements to the book.
The next picture shows a book that is adapted tactilely,
so it's... and it's actually a good example, too,
because it might show an example of motivation for students
who really like music and songs and singsongy type of stories.
So this book, as the student opens the book,
each page and each song have their own tactile cue.
And so the student has to find that cue
and then has to go over to the side
and find which button is going to activate that song.
So this is a nice way also to...
you know, to promote, you know, tactile exploration
and things like that for students of all abilities.
Other ways we can modify books
are by putting a book on tape or CD.
So the student might have... then have a switch,
and then they can indicate that they want to read more
or, you know, that they like it
or, you know, other comments that the student maybe can make.
You can also create an electronic version of the book
on a tape or CD or mp3.
You can put a book into PowerPoint and other software,
and the student can then click through the book.
And books can also be made accessible
using switch or touch screen
for students who use those materials and adaptations.