Adapted Books
What are Adapted Books
Let’s chat about adapted books! What are they, why they are important, and how can you use them to teach about the Bible and about God in your special needs ministry or at home in discipleship?
Adapted books are created to provide access to stories and content in an accessible way. Originally designed to be used in educational settings for giving access to literature, general education, content, and more. There is not one specific type of book defined as an adapted book, the term is instead meaning that a book has been changed or adapted in some way to provide greater access to the reader/learner.
Just like special education teachers adapt content for their students, we can take Bible stories and Bible verses and make adaptions- not to change the theological meaning- but to provide greater access to individuals who have disabilities.
There are 2 main adaptions that can be made to a book/content:
Physical Adaptions 2) Cognitive Adaptions
I’ll expound on these below.
Physical adaptions allow learners who have a physical reason for being unable to access the book or content with modifications that allow for greater access.
Some examples could be:
Physical Access
Page turners
Disassemble the book, laminate the pages, and rebind with spiral binding.
Puff paint added to titles and important words
Line spacing
Digital access vs. printed
Audio of the text
Braille text
Cognitive Access
Re-writing the text to simply the content
Re-writing the text to explain vocabulary or use alternative words.
Re-writing the text to expound and explain more fully
Adding a repeated storyline to each page that gives the main idea being taught
Adding symbol supports for non-readers and AAC users
Add velcro pieces to match/answer questions on each page
Add physical objects to match up with the book to give a concrete understanding of a topic (toy figures, stuffed animals, concrete example)
Using Adapted Books in Church
Explain Bible verses
Provide visual supports for Bible stories
Provide repeated phrases for each page of a Bible story with the main idea
Add velcro pieces to increase engagement
Looking for read-made adapted books for church or discipleship? Check out our resources at the link below.
