If I Have Trouble Reading Small Print, Is There Anything That Can Help Me Keep Reading?

"As I get older, I am having difficulty reading small print.  Do you know of anything that would help me to keep reading?"  As we all age, the Newton Falls Public Library staff has become aware of vision difficulties faced by our patrons and ourselves. 

The first step for many readers is to borrow the larger print paperbacks and the large print books available at our library and through the shared Clevnet catalog.  There over 20,000 fiction and nonfiction items from which our patrons can make their selections. Unfortunately, large print materials were no longer big enough for our patron.  We then searched online for tools to more greatly magnify the text.  The terms "lighted page magnifier for visually impaired' brought up many unusual ones and the article "Guide to Buying Low Vision Magnifiers" by Marilyn Haddrill, with contributions and review by Mary Lou Jackson, MD. We gave these ideas to our patron for her consideration.

While at the Newton Falls Public Library patrons may use the TeleSensory machine.  It magnifies, and also has the capability to make a positive image negative.  This is useful for individuals who find it easier to read white letters on a black background.  It can also be used to closely examine small items such as stamps and coins.

Individuals who enjoy the technology of eBooks can download titles from Clevnet's eMedia collection to their computers, tablets, and eReaders. Once downloaded, the user can select the font and page brightness which are best for them.

If the needs of the reader have become greater, the Library of Congress' National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is available. "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."  The website, www.loc.gov/nls, has the application to apply for the service. Local contact information and instructions for this network can be picked up at the Newton Falls Public Library.

Is there an Audiobook Player for the Visually Impaired?

“I have a relative who has trouble reading print.  We’ve borrowed Playaways from the library; I would like to find something for her so we can download audiobooks from CLEVNET. “The Newton Falls Public Library staff discussed it further with the patron and discovered the newer touch screen MP3 players are not an option as the screen can be difficult to read. The patron actually needs something that works with buttons.

The staff offered the option of the free Talking Books program through the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. After the application is completed and approved, qualified users are supplied a Digital Talking Book player which plays audio versions of books and magazines. Materials are sent directly to the patron and there is no postage fee for returning the items.

Our patron still wanted to know if there was something that would fit her need and could be used to download from the library’s collection. Searching online, the staff found a couple of items for the patron’s consideration. One response to a similar question was found at answers.yahoo.com. “If you are looking for something with no screen, the previous generation of the iPod Shuffle would be a really good choice, particularly if you are visually impaired. All the buttons are on the front in a simple arrangement and it has a built-in clip . . . There is also the Creative Zen Stone which is a small screenless player that just plays music, like the Shuffle. It has a similarly simple button arrangement on the front of the player as well . . . You may also want to check out the Samsung S2 Pebble . . . or the Sony B series.”

I'm Curious about Braille

“I’ve always been curious about Braille. Do you have anything for sighted people to look at or to feel?” Over the years others, such as students and scouts, have asked this question of the Newton Falls Public Library staff.

The Braille cell contains six raised dots which are numbered vertically: 1, 2, and 3 are arranged from top to bottom in the first column; 4, 5, and 6 are in the second. Letters, numbers, punctuation, music, and music symbols are created by using various combinations of these cell dots. For example the letter A contains only dot 1, B contains dots 1 and 2, and C is made up of dots 1, 3, and 4. Dot 6 placed before a letter signifies that it is a capital letter. Patrons may borrow sheets of Braille which have these raised cells to both feel and see.

Also available to be taken home are Expectations: a gift for blind children from Braille Institute (The Little Engine That Could in Braille), The Constitution of the United States, and The Black Book of Colors by Menena Cottin and Rosana Faría. This last item encourages readers to imagine living without sight. The illustrations are done with raised lines and descriptions of colors based on imagery. There are Braille letters with the illustrations and a full alphabet for sighted readers to help them read along with their fingers.

Patrons interested in this subject may also be curious about sign language. There are books, films, and kits available to teach signing to adults, children, and infants. Sign Language Interpreting: a basic resource book by Sharon Neumann Solow would be a good place for adults to begin. Parents might want to consider examining Teach Your Tot to Sign: the parents' guide to American Sign Language by Stacy A. Thompson and Baby Sign Language for Hearing Babies by Karyn Warburton.

How Can We Make Our Home Handicapped Accessible?

“We need to make our home handicapped accessible. Can you help us find information? We were also wondering, is there is a way to use an automatic garage door opener to open a man-door?” The Newton Falls Public Library staff found it interesting to research these questions, as this is a situation faced by many families as loved ones become older or lose mobility.

The book, Opening the Doors to Older Persons: an ADA accessibility checklist was created for primarily for public buildings, but the information and checklists included give homeowners some important things to consider. Access For All by Schooley Caldwell Associates and the Ohio Governor’s Council on People with Disabilities has a chapter on housing with instructions on how to increase accessibility in the modification of a single family home. A very practical book in the library’s collection is Ideas for Making Your Home Accessible. It takes you step-by-step through the process, looking at costs and needs, as well as giving simple suggestions such as using vertical file storage to provide easy access to frequently used items (p. 58). We also recommend borrowing The Accessible Home: updating your home for changing physical needs through TiPL, Trumbull Independent Public Libraries’ shared catalog.

Not finding anything on adapting a garage door opener for use as an automatic handicapped door, our staff did an Internet search. In Life on Wheels: for the active wheelchair user by Gary Karp [http://oreilly.com/medical/wheels/news/home_planning.html], the author writes about how a contractor mounted the opener sideways on patio doors to make them automatic. The Automatic Sliding Door Opener by designers Michael Meilunas, Mark Seus, and Colum Gibbons (Binghamton University, Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Science Department of Mechanical Engineering) in the NSF 1997 Engineering Senior Design Projects to Aid Persons with Disabilities, (p. 44-45) [http://nsf-pad.bme.uconn.edu/1997/1997%20Chapter%204.pdf] also shows a sliding door opener using one originally intended for a garage. NaturalHandyMan.com has Free Home-Made Automatic Gate Opener Plans by Keith G. Vickers which looks as if it could be adapted to open a man-door.

Adapting a home can be expensive. Groups considering helping families with emergency home repair/handicapped accessibility may wish to examine the site for The Ohio Housing Trust Fund’s Housing Assistance Grant Program [www.odod.state.oh.us/cdd/ohcp/hssp.htm]. Handi-Ramp [www.handiramp.com/Funding.htm] has a network of programs that can be looked at to see if any will match the homeowner’s needs.