Audio Books for the Blind

[TeaSea]

Thought I'd ask and see if anyone here has any experience with this. My Grandmother is just shy of 90 and is at an assisted living facility (which is actually quite nice). She has lost her eyesight due to inoperable cataracs and cannot read or watch TV. She is in very good health otherwise and complains that her only problem is she gets tremendously bored and would love to be able to read.

I'm trying to figure out if I can arrange something for her that she could use. She's never used a computer and wouldn't want to try. She still has good use of her hands and could probably run a player, but I don't know how she could get the books themselves....

Anyway, we've a wide variety of experiences here and I thought someone might be able to point me in a particular direction.

[Terry]

A Kindle or Nook have the ability to read aloud certain books that are set up for it. The books can be downloaded right to the reader.

[andersel]

TeaSea - Check around locally. Although I do not have any direct experience with them, there is a group somewhere here in Anchorage that does recording for the visually impaired. Also, check with your local Lion's Club. The Lion's have always been known for thier work supporting visual impairment issues.. I'm sure there is a national group that is doing these trypes of things. There are a ton of resources out there. Your Church may be a resource. Keep asking questions, you'll find what you need.


I myself am visually impaired and while I can still see well enough to use my computer - by mashing my face up against the moniter - I know that things can, and very probably will, changefor the worse.


So thank you for your post. I will be following it with great interest.

LA

[paiken]

Here ya go
http://dbs.myflorida.com/library/
They'll deliver to the door thru USPS. I see these all of the time here in Phoenix. A great service for the blind or visually impared, and best of all, it's free.

[Daveroo]

Here ya go
http://dbs.myflorida.com/library/
They'll deliver to the door thru USPS. I see these all of the time here in Phoenix. A great service for the blind or visually impared, and best of all, it's free.


thats just cool......ellen is allways donating to schools and and other displaced peoples...but if i were well off in the funds department.....say like bill gates or warren buffett,,,instead of buying a railroad.....no id buy Union Pacific and build my own train set and travel the rails with my own crew....anyway..id donate to this libray and to others like it......ive been through alot in life....fell through roofs ,got burned over in wildfires,wrecked race cars,broke my back...but one of my biggest fears is losing my eyesight....scares the crap outta me...or i watched anderson cooper one time..two women had this happen...had stomach aches...passed out..were taken to the hospital..ended up with some wild n wierd infection and lost both legs and arms....that scares me too...

[gigabyte]

TeaSea, that link for the Bureau of Braille and talking books looks like a wonderful resource and will probably serve most of your needs, you can also check any local library for Audio books, I don't know of any that does not have a collection. I used them from my local library when I first got my Cochlear Implant to help me hear to hear again and believe me it was a huge benefit. The new Audio books are all on CD now so all she would need would be a cheap portable CD player and she would be all set, and most of those actually have controls that are different shapes for each function so she would have little difficulty learning Play from Fast forward rewind or stop.

The other suggestion of the Lions Club is also a good idea, helping the visually impared is very high on their list so do contact them for sure.

[TeaSea]

Thanks for the all the suggestions. I had not considered the Lions Club. My Grandfather was a member most of his life.

Florida does have a good program, but I failed to mention my Grandmother lives in Arkansas. I've not found the same or similar program there.

[srgalahad]

I wandered through the link above and found one to:
National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped (NLS)

The Library of Congress

http://www.loc.gov/nls/

"Through a national network of cooperating libraries, NLS administers a free library program of braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States by postage-free mail."

which leads to this:
http://www.library.arkansas.gov/libraryForTheBlind/Pages/default.aspx

Hope it helps