Adapt a Tool to Your Abilities

When to use it

Use when the format of a tool—writing, reading, speaking or imagining—gets in the way of its purpose.

How to use it

1. Name what the tool is meant to help you do: describe a feeling, remember a value, clarify a goal or review an experience.

2. Identify the actual barrier. Be specific about small print, handwriting effort, unfamiliar words, discomfort with a mirror or difficulty picturing a scene.

3. Choose another way to express the same idea. The book uses drawings, dictated or spoken words, pictures, an empty chair and help from a sibling or adult.

4. Try a short version and ask the learner whether it communicates their intended meaning. An adult scribe should read back the learner’s words accurately rather than replacing them.

5. Keep the meaningful sequence of the activity while dropping an unnecessary obstacle. A purpose story can be drawn without requiring fluent spelling.

6. Review whether the adaptation helped. Change it again when needed, and seek appropriate teaching or access support for a skill that remains difficult.

A worked example

A practical illustration of the method.

A learner understands a goal but finds writing exhausting. They draw two scenes and dictate a caption for each. The adult reads the captions back, and the learner corrects one word. The page still explains the purpose of the goal; it is not falsely presented as independent written work.

Use it thoughtfully

Do not confuse a difficulty producing handwriting with inability to think about the idea.

An adaptation should preserve the learner’s meaning and choice.

The book’s descriptions of individual differences do not establish fixed scientific “learning styles.”

Keep exploring