Blind Reading Resources for Readers
Readers Fill Gaps When Speciallly Formatted Books Aren't Available
Sep 22, 2008
There are times when blind and low-vision students need or want to read something immediately that is not available in a specialized format such as audio, braille, or large print. Examples include:
- Unexpected, time-sensitive reading assignments
- College texts not known until the first day of class
- Magazine or journal articles and reference materials
- Books not yet available on audio or in braille
- Personal reading e.g. letters, newspapers, or CD liner notes
An often-overlooked solution for filling such gaps is developing relationships with people who will read to you. Finding readers is easy. Many people love to read aloud and relish the opportunity to share this activity with someone who can benefit from it.
Where to Find Readers
Though it isn’t always easy to ask for help, there are many places where potential readers can be found, including:
- Home: Parents, siblings, relatives, and friends of the family
- Peers: Friends, classmates (especially those sharing the same reading assignments), or those in your dorm
- School: Teachers and faculty members or other students they recommend
- Community: Those associated with your local parish, congregation, temple, mosque, etc., the public library, and organizations such at the Lions Club
- Solicitations: Signs in a dorm elevator or college library, notices in church bulletins or college newspapers, classified ads, and website postings.
Reader’s Aid Funds for College Students
Some states provide disabled college students with funds to hire readers. New York State, for example, provides qualified students with Reader’s Aid through its Office of Vocational and Educational Services for Individuals with Disabilities. Students receive $300 a semester to hire readers. The funds are usually administered through the college’s financial aid office, though students do the hiring, set salaries, and submit reader timesheets. Check with your state’s Vocational Rehabilitation or Education department to see what funds are available.
How to Work With Readers
A blind person working with a reader isn’t a charity: he or she is a consumer of a service that the reader, regardless of motivation, agrees to provide. It is therefore vital to maintain a professional relationship: readers must understand and meet a student’s needs; students must set and communicate goals to readers to maximize their contribution and respect their time.
The first step in relationship building is identifying what materials may require live readers.
- Make sure a text isn’t already in an accessible format using the National Library Service’s online database
- Determine if there’s sufficient time to have a text embossed, enlarged, or recorded.
- Low-vision students should identify what reading they can do using handheld magnifiers, enlargers, and screen readers.
Once materials are specified, you can determine how many readers you will need. Providing readers with specifics on what they’ll read and when sets clear expectations and allows time for adjustments.
Tips for Getting the Most from Readers
- Be Clear: Make sure you define “Read to me” as two history chapters per week for a semester (c. 32 1-hour sessions) and not the occasional article or letter.
- Be Professional: Find a quiet, convenient place to read; establish a schedule; try and keep sessions under one hour; be prompt and attentive.
- Be Flexible: When schedules prevent getting together, one solution is to provide the means for the reader to record the material when time allows.
- Be Creative: A special interest or expertise can make someone an enthusiastic reader who provides more value. A pre-med student reading your biology text may offer elucidations that aid understanding; a drama major might decipher stresses and syntax that makes poetry come alive.
Careful reader selection thus enables you to accomplish more reading tasks, often at a higher comprehension level than solitary reading affords, and transforms reading from information gathering to a shared experience that can enrich both listener and reader.
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