Ahoy Ye Mateys – Etown Alum Publishes “Pirates of the Caribootin”

Congratulations to Elizabethtown Occupational Therapy Alum, Bethanie (Steese) Allen (MS, ’08), who recently published her own shoe tying social story.  In 2009 while working at Schreiber Pediatric Rehab Center of Lancaster, Bethanie developed a shoe tying story to help a child learn to tie his shoes.  Bunny ears, trees and loops were not keeping his attention for shoe tying. The first step of shoe tying is to form an X…which triggered “X marks the spot” to Bethanie. One thing led to another and resulted in a complete pirate-themed social story. Bethanie successfully used this method with other children and found the carryover to be extremely high because most children could remember the cues and the story.

After years of desiring to turn it into a book with increased visual cues to assist for independence, Bethanie realized her dream and released the book in January 2017. It is with high hopes that she can continue to spread the word of the “Pirates of the Caribootin” to parents, children, teachers, therapists, and others in order to help increase the independence and carryover for all children who are learning how to tie their shoes. For more information on the book and for updates on book signings and shoe tying events, please sail on over to the book’s Facebook© page.  The book is also available via Amazon.com.

If you are interested in book events or signings, or if you have any other general questions, please feel free to contact Bethanie at: bethaniesteese@gmail.com.