Austin's Amazing Adventures June 4

Austin’s Amazing Adventures

By Dave Steele

Illustrator by Rebecca Price

Audio Narration by Dave Steele

In a little town not far from here, there’s a boy that you might know. His name isAustin Steele, and Zane his cane, ‘Come, say hello’.

Each day they take adventures as they travel around the world, And here within these pages is how their story first unfurled.

When Austin was just five, his sight began to disappear. But like his dad he wasn’t sad and felt no need to fear.

For Austin’s dad had shown him that the vision in his mind Could overcome the obstacles of slowly going blind.

His tunnelled view was shrinking, independence getting tough. Some days the outside world was far too hard, he’d had enough.

But with each swipe from left to right they both began to train, Returning pride for by his side a friend in Zane the cane

Today, like many others, Was a day he’d go to school. And with Zane the cane to guide him, Austin felt so cool,

But this morning also nervous, for today was the big test. The teacher gave out spellings andAustin would try to do his best.

Though he could see the whiteboard, some words were hard to read. The other kids inAustin’s class wrote them down with ease and speed.

“No need to worry,” Miss Tierney said, “these tests you will not fail. Together we will learn a special language called Braille.”

So Miss Tierney and Austin

Each day would take the time to learn, And feeling with his fingers Learn his spellings line by line.

Once more he felt amazing, And as he journeyed home to play he spared a thought for the lesson taught With help, thre’s always a way

Talking points

Talking points for parents, carers and teachers.

These are open ended questions to encourage children of all ages to engage in discussion surrounding site, impairment, and the promotion of empathy (the ability to see the world from another perspective) and emotional literacy (The child’s ability to speak about their feelings using appropriate words to describe how they feel and others feel).

• How do you think Austin felt when he first found out he was going blind?

• Have you ever wired about something that you could not control?

• What do you think Austin‘s dad said to him to make him feel better?

• Can you think of a time when you needed someone’s help and a time when someone needed your help?

• What things would Austin find difficult as his side became less and less?

• Can you imagine what it would be like to find it difficult to see?

• How could you have Austin in school and at home?

• Should Austin be treated just like everyone else?

• What questions could we ask Austin to better understand what life is like for him?

• What could we say to someone who cannot see very well to show them?

My name is Dave Steel, and I’m also known as The Blind Poet. When I began to lose my sight, I started to write poetry about all the things that I was going through to help me understand my feelings. I shared these poems around the world and found that other people, affected by blindness, use my poetry to feel less alone and explain how they felt about their own journeys with sight loss. I hope these books have children, all of the world, no matter their differences, feel more understood..