Books and Experience Stories

Pegboard Books

Pegboard Book
Pegboard Book

Pegboard books provide a way for young children who are blind or visually impaired, including those with multiple disabilities, to begin to explore books.  Based on the work of Dr. Lilli Nielsen and her Active Learning approach, this format uses real objects attached to pieces of pegboard.  The common household materials that are selected have varied and interesting tactile properties, which encourage exploration. 

Books can be made to focus on topics such as regular caregiving activities, favorite things, specific areas and activities such as things in the kitchen or bath time.  They might also be made to share an experience like a trip to the beach, a walk outside, or a party.  Don’t forget books based on rhymes or songs. These objects become the first “symbols” for the child and are an important step in developing language and literacy skills. When the child can relate an object with a specific activity or experience the object becomes a representation for the entire memory.  Object symbols become more and more abstract as the learner develops and can be paired with even more abstract representations like braille or print.

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Sometimes the learner will be able to pick the things that go in the book if the adult observes closely what draws the learner’s interest in an experience or activity. Some books, like the things in the kitchen, might be selected for their graspability, interesting properties, or relevance to the learner such as a familiar cup, spoon, and dish.

Pegboard Books allow the learner to develop important motor skills such as grasp and release, and moving arms, wrists and hands to turn and explore pages.
 

Building a Pegboard Book

Materials:

Here is what you will need to make a Pegboard Book.

Sample pages from Ronda Dally’s Pegboard Book:

These pages of the pegboard book have curvy straws on the left and hard plastic tubes on the right.
These pages of the pegboard book have curvy straws on the left and hard plastic tubes on the right.
These pages contain a mirror on the left and socks on the right.
These pages contain a mirror on the left and socks on the right.
On these two pages we find a scrub brush with a handle, a basting brush, a square-headed scrub brush, a scrubber made of strings. All of the brushes have long handles.
On these two pages we find a scrub brush with a handle, a basting brush, a square-headed scrub brush, a scrubber made of strings. All of the brushes have long handles.
On the left of these pages are three brightly colored pot scrubbers and on the left a white terry clothe rag.
On the left of these pages are three brightly colored pot scrubbers and on the left a white terry clothe rag.
 

Steps To Make A Pegboard Book

    1. Cut the Pegboard into book-size sections (consider the size of the child hands and size of the objects) about 9″ X 12″. Make sure to sand the edges or bind them with duct tape.
    2. Add hinges if attaching to a wooden frame like Diane Sheline’s Pegboard Book for CVI.
    3. Attach objects that relate the story sequence using plastic ties or short pieces of elastic to the pegboard sheet (front and backside if appropriate – children with CVI may need items to only be attached to one side of the book).
    4. Connect the pages together on the frame or with the large ring binder.

Diane Sheline’s Pegboard Book for Children with CVI:

Pegboard book with yellow items attached works well for children with CVI.
Pegboard book with yellow items attached works well for children with CVI.

Sharing the Book

The Pegboard Book can be something the learner enjoys as an independent activity.  It might also be an activity where the adult and learner share the book together. Think about children first discovering books. They explore the book with hands, mouths, and feet like any other object.  Then mom or dad reads the book to them and they might help turn a page or simply flip pages back and forth. The adult often just names the object pictured or maybe adds some feature to describe the object like “the dog barked”. So with a Pegboard Book you might have similar sharing. For example, “You ate with your spoon.” If the book is based on an actual experience the child had you can talk about that.  For example, “We rubbed lotion on your arms.”

Some of the pre-literacy skills that can be learned with books include:

    1. Orienting to the page (right side up versus upside down)
    2. Exploring a page (working towards learning top to bottom and left to right)
    3. Turning a page (working towards front to back, one page at a time)
    4. Recalling a sequence of events or steps (recalling content and relating to an experience)
    5. Learning about representation (building vocabulary and communication skills) 
    6. Developing auditory attending skills (listening for vocabulary, sequence)
One of the nicest things about these Pegboard Books is the opportunity to cuddle up with your child and share regular reading time together.  This might become a daily activity before bedtime. Sharing past memories of shared events, talking about activities that will happen in the future, or laughing together over a silly song or rhyme can be very enjoyable activities for the child and parent.
 

Experience Books or Boxes

A young boy shares an experience book with an adult.
A young boy shares an experience book with an adult.

Experience books or boxes incorporate real objects or artifacts from an activity or event in which the child has participated to create a book about the event.  The objects once attached to the page made from sturdy cardboard or poster board can have both print and braille added to them.  The pages can be placed in a three-ring binder. Ideally the child participates actively in the whole process if possible, from deciding on the topic for the book, helping to collect and gather the items to illustrate it, telling the story, and putting it all together.  However, even if the child only participates in the experience, collects materials, and helps secure them in the book that is okay.  The important part is that the child recognizes that the objects in the book are the same objects in the activity or experience. You may do the same thing by collecting things in a box or small container that the child can explore independently or in an adult-child interaction without having to place them in a book.

Outdoor walks, trips to the beach, cooking in the kitchen with mom, or almost any highly motivating activity make great activity stories.  Also collecting materials used in daily routines like bath time, brushing teeth, or getting dressed can be used as well.  The important thing is finding objects that interest the child or that the child encounters regularly.

Pegboard Book