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Shannon Eshman

Columbus State University

United States of America - Columbus

Biography

Able-Fi was a passion project. I first had the idea when I was in college; my practicum had me in the schools and I noticed that one of the students who was nonverbal and had autism refused to complete sorting tasks or other repetitive work. We struggled to figure out the problem, but when we did it was definitely a light bulb moment. The student was tired of being told to do things that had no real impact on his day-to-day life. We decided to find a way to teach him practical skills. I looked into the research on literacy-based behavioral interventions and developed my first story... it worked! He could tie his shoes after a week. I realized how important it was to teach people with disabilities practical skills that were personally meaningful to them and would help them become independent. I knew that this change would impact not only their futures but the futures of their parents and caregivers. As a future special education teacher, Able-Fi will help me in my classroom every day.