story time

For children that have difficulty attending to a task, book reading can become very frustrating and difficult. To make a book of the child’s favorite things or pictures use a camera, notebook, page protectors and white paper. Start with the child’s favorite things, i.e. stuffed animal, toy, blanket, Mom, Dad, Grandma, etc. Take a picture of the item or person. Paste the picture onto the page with the name of the item printed in bold, large print under the picture. Put a page protector over the page and put it in the binder. Make a book of 5 to 10 items.

Use bungee type cords or straps to secure books to wheelchair trays or bookstands.

To make page turning easier, glue small felt pieces on each page. The felt circles for the bottoms of chair legs, popsicle sticks, or tabs from notebook dividers can also be glued on pages at varying levels to help children turn pages independently.

Take off the binding of a book and separate the pages (making sure all pages are numbered first). Laminate, coat in clear contact paper, or place each page in a lock top plastic bag. Then, punch holes and put the pages in a three-ring binder.

Daily contact lens cases make a great combo page fluffer/turner. You can glue them on to board book pages or the insides of flap book flaps. The indentation for the contact makes a nice space for a small finger or hand to lift the page. You can also add pom poms to each contact container to color code pages and soften plastic edge.

Pages can be separated quickly and inexpensively by putting a dollop of hot glue on the lower right hand corner of each page. Caution: Be sure the glue is dry before turning the page.

There are many different types of paper clips available these days. A trip to the office supply store can provide you with many possibilities. The very large decorative plastic clips and the various sizes of bulldog clips are two of the most useful for adapting books. They can be clipped to the pages of the book at intervals starting near the bottom of the first page and placing them an inch or two higher on each page as you progress through the book.

Is your student struggling to turn the pages of their favorite picture book? Attach popsicle sticks with clear packing tape to each page of a cardboard book and enable students with physical disabilities to turn pages independently.