Kids Like Me Bookshelf to provide role-model stories to help build self-esteem and self-efficacy for students with a vision impairment.

The goal of this Phase 1 SBIR project is to determine the feasibility of creating relatable stories for VI children written by a cadre of vision impaired (VI) adults assisted by generative AI (instead of a small handful of professional writers) aimed at improving the self-esteem and self-efficacy of VI students. Our Phase I objectives are: (1) Programming generative AI code to produce stories at different reading levels and to generate comprehension questions; (2) Training VI adults with life experiences in co-writing compelling stories using a commercially available generative AI cowriting system; (3) Assessing engagement level and usefulness of the stories to improve self-esteem and self-efficacy in VI students representing a cross-section of this underserved population. The intended outcome of this Phase I project is (1) to demonstrate that a non-professional VI writer can co-write with generative AI to create a role-model story, and (2) that the VI students find these stories engaging and useful to improve self-esteem and self-efficacy. The intended outcome will be measured by student surveys. The expected product is a collection of stories at several reading levels that will feature VI role models to enhance a VI student’s self-esteem and self-efficacy.