Category: Daily Living
1. Are there any other sites like zonebbs where I can use the forums to talk.
The chat sites would be helpful, but I don't have a microphone & even if I did I wouldn't know how to hook it up! Lol.
2. Are there Braille book stores where you can actually keep the books you listen to/read?
The library service in MI is great, but some books I would like to keep after I finish reading/listening to them & you can't do that with the library books/tapes.
3. Is there any other way to get services/help if you aren't involved with your state's Training Center for the Blind?
Funding for the one here has been cut drastically so I've been off their case load for about 2 years now. Their still saying money is tight, so I'm wondering if there's a "secondary" place you can go for temporary/short term services.
Thanks for any help anyone can provide!
Michelle
1. A search for forum + your favourite topic or topics on google should yield some results there.
2. Yes there are many of them. The braille super store, based in Canada is one, nbp.org is another.
3. Can't help with this one as I'm from the UK, sorry.
Anyone else got any ideas?
Cool, thank you!
I have visited the Canadian super store before, but they didn't seem to have as much of a variety as I would have liked. Wonder if checking out NBP will solve that problem. . .
Michelle
Try braillebookstore.com for Braille books and other helpful things.
Try www.eyes2eyes.com for forums. Their message boards under the epals link is similar to the zone as you have to pick a user name and password. The trouble is, this site is not very active which is why a lot of people who used to go there now come here. But even without epals, there are other helpful links on the site.
As far as secondary services, I wish I knew. I live in Ohio and have lost my job within the last year. There have also been drastic cutbacks here, and from what I am hearing in the news, there are going to be even more. So I haven't been able to get any help either.
Becky
Hi, Michelle. I don't know if you have a Braille note-taker of any kind, but if you do, you can download books from the NLS website, and you don't have to give those back. You can't distribute them of course, but you can at least keep them. I used to know of some stores where you could purchase Braille books for keeps, but can't think of any off the top of my head outside of the ones already mentioned here. Let me do a little checking around.
No, I don't know of anywhere outside of voc rehab that a blind person can get help. I guess it depends on what kind of help you're needing. Colorado's voc rehab is very lousy, and they aren't currently taking any more cases, either. The CCB here is helping blind folks where it can, particularly their alumni, but since their focus is as a training center, there's only so much they can do for people outside of that. Depending on what you need help with, you could talk to your local and state affiliates of say the NFB or ACB, see if there's anything they could do for you.
Sorry not to have any more ideas for you. Smile.
I know for those of us in the UK, there is the accessible friends network which I can't remember the address for, but it's for the blind and other disabilities kind of site. Also, you can borrow and I think buy braille books from what used to be the National Library for the Blind but now RNIB's National Library Service or you can buy audio books from most book shops and some supermarkets. I don't know about the last question, because that only relates to America, but try searching round the internet.
LibraLady,
Thank you for your suggestions, I really appreciate it!
Hi SisterDawn,
Unfortunately, I don't have a Braille note taker of any kind. I used a Braille 'N Speak for a long time, but it broke down after I was out of high school, so there was noone to help cover the cost of fixing it.
I wish I could use NLS though, because no matter what other online book stores I have found to go to, they don't have what I'm looking for. They have cook books & craft books & books with different rules for different games in them, but nothing from what I'm interested in. Kurt Cobain's autobiography for example, or the Misses Murphy Mysteries that Rita Mae Browne writes. (sigh)
I'm sorry to hear things are lousy there to. I just keep hoping to see things improve. They've got to some time! (smile)
Michelle
Hi Harmony,
Thank you for the advice.
I've been searching alot but have come up pretty empty handed sadly. (cry)! Lol.
Michelle
You could join a audio book/e-book email list and request books.
You can also buy Braille books from here:
http://www.seedlings.org/
And chat and post on forums on here:
http://www.blind-planet.com/
I don't really get on there, so not sure how active it is.
Hi Bella,
Thanks. Yeah, I know about seedlings but they only cover books for kids up to high school. They don't Braille up adult books.
I have JFW, so I don't know how to make it cooperate with the Daisey system or other audio software I'd need. My computer teacher didn't teach me about such things unfortunately. (cry)! Lol.
I'll have to check out blind-planet then, thanks!
Michelle
If you have a Victor Reader Stream, you can listen to Daisey books. You could also try Audible.com
I don't, like I was saying, I don't know how to integrate the software with JFW. I think you have to turn JFW off in fact since it talks, but again, I know absolutely nothing about it.
Michelle
You mentioned wishing you had NLS. They do offer a lot of books in Braille as well as in audio format. Is there a reason you don't use this program?
You can download daisy and brf books from bookshare.org as well. It's $75 to join and $50 per year to renew. However, Bookshare is free to students, including people taking courses through Hadley school for the blind. Hadley courses are free so you could always take a Hadley course every now and then to get Bookshare for free. The Bookshare membership includes a free daisy reader program that you can download to your computer to read the books you download. I have a VR Stream so I haven't used the free daisy player from Bookshare but I was looking around recently and there seemed to be lots of step by step instructions on how to install and use the program so I'm sure you could figure it out. I know money can be tight, but if you want a device for reading, the VR stream is great. It's a little over $300 but a cheaper option than a note taker and well worth the money if you can come up with it. The VR Stream plays bookshare books and works with the NLS digital talking book download program. I have saved everything I've ever downloaded and am building up quite a nice library on my computer. Hope this helps. Good luck.
Hi LibraLady,
I've just always used the Library of Congress. Didn't realize there was NLS. To be perfectly honest (yes, it's confession time), I don't even know what NLS stands for. (shakes head)
Hi Time Traveling Bunny,
I have NO money. Lol. I appreciate your suggestions though. I'll definitely keep them in mind when I do have money to spare.
Maybe I could. . . win the lottery? Lol.
It is a nice thought though, isn't it?
Hi Michelle:
If you have Kurzweil 1000, you can play web-braille material from the NLS. (same as Library of Congress, only it stand for the National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped.) Also, there are free sites on the Internet where you can download some recorded materials, and texts of classic books. Try doing a google search for "free online books" and see what you find. You also might try your local public library for audiobooks. Granted, they are abridged, but its another option.
Good luck,
Lou
Michelle, NLS and Library of Congress are one and the same. NLS stands for National Library Service, which is run by the Library of Congress, so as I said, it's just two different terms for the same exact thing.
Hi, see if your state has a foundation or other organization which may help you purchase the equipment you're needing. Many churches have funds for this purpose. You might try the Lutheran Blind Outreach and see if they can help you with some other referrals. I'll have to check out the suggested links. So far, I'm not real kurzweil savvy, so I'm not sure how the whole NLS reading will go. Anyone have any tips on that?
1 Yes any Proboards.com board is very excessible. I own one, it's like freewebs where you or others can create forums. I created one and I have been on several others.
2 I don't know of any other except for Bookshare and Web braille.
3 Of course, look for people in the private sector that is willing to help. Rehab is not the only way. It's called fund raising.