Disabled students need special strategies to help them fit into school and achieve academic success. Physical disabilities can make seemingly simple tasks like sitting upright at a desk or turning the pages of a book seem insurmountable. J. Rose Plaxen provides instructions in her book "Adapt My World" that parents and teachers can use to help children with disabilities overcome these obstacles.
Disabled students can become independent learners when they have the tools they need for success. They can accomplish tasks that might otherwise require assistance from someone else with a few simple strategies and adaptations. A wheelchair bound child can use a three-ring binder as a lap desk. A younger student can "write" his or her name using a stamp and ink. When a disabled student doesn't have to worry about the more mundane aspects of attending school, he or she can focus on more critical issues like learning.
"Adapt My World" provides strategies for parents and teachers to create adaptations that can be used by a disabled student at home or in school. These adaptations can help a mainstreamed student overcome obstacles to fit into a "normal" classroom. And children who feel like they belong in class are apt to work harder at being good students and achieve greater academic success.
In addition to strategies to help disabled students do well in school, "Adapt My World" provides adaptations for use at home and play. Becoming self-reliant in one of these areas improves a child's chances of becoming competent in all of them.
J. Rose Plaxen began writing "Adapt My World" when she first realized that some strategically placed non-skid bathtub strips enabled her young daughter to sit up in her highchair with little assistance for the very first time. As the parent of a child with disabilities, Plaxen had been disappointed by the lack of resources geared toward raising a child with special needs. So she decided to do something about it. Thus was "Adapt My World: Homemade Adaptations for People with Disabilities" conceived.
"Our world is not accommodating of differently-abled individuals," said Plaxen. "It's up to each individual caretaker to make the child's world truly their own. This book contains common-sense modifications that have an enormous and immediate effect on improving the daily lives of these children."
"Adapt My World" is the first book to put together the myriad hints about how to adapt a "differently-abled" child's environment to his or her needs. They come from therapists, teachers, and experienced parents. The book is organized in "recipe book" format, with lists of ingredients, detailed instructions, and substitutions. There are photographs of the finished products, some of them even in use!
The adaptations described in "Adapt My World" are divided into sections on home, school, and play. Adaptations for the home include chapters on mealtime, bath, and bedroom modifications. The section on play includes chapters addressing modifications for both independent and interactive activities, some of which provide these special children with the rare opportunity to fit in with their friends. Finally, a section on academics includes accommodations developed by teachers and therapists to facilitate study and socialization. Although this book presents a variety of modifications for a number of settings, the common thread running throughout the book is that small changes can make life a lot less challenging for children with disabilities and their parents.
