Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Is reading a book different than listening an audiobook? (self.Blind)
submitted by ronaldoMo
Whenever I inquire improving my writing skills, people often say read books more. The problem is, my eyesight is horrible, and it takes me a long time to read even one page in CCTV magnification. I love to read, I love expanding my vocabulary, I love to articulate my thoughts clearly and coherently, and I love to know more about the world I live in. And, someday, I would love to write stories as a profession.
One solution many suggest is to listen book in an audio format. But I discovered that, although convenient, audiobooks do not offer the same benefits that reading a book would. For example, it is difficult to improve my spelling or sentence structure when listening a book. Additionally, because audiobook readers are diverse and thus have different voices, intonations, cadence, and their acting skills is wildly diverse; sometimes, I like a book because of its content, but when I search on YouTube or Audible, it turns out some guy/gal with revolting performance is the only choice I have.
And I don’t know if I am ignorant of this or not, I haven’t found a way to buy braille books online.
So, for those who love to read, and happened to be blind, did you find a happy medium or any solutions?
One solution many suggest is to listen book in an audio format. But I discovered that, although convenient, audiobooks do not offer the same benefits that reading a book would. For example, it is difficult to improve my spelling or sentence structure when listening a book. Additionally, because audiobook readers are diverse and thus have different voices, intonations, cadence, and their acting skills is wildly diverse; sometimes, I like a book because of its content, but when I search on YouTube or Audible, it turns out some guy/gal with revolting performance is the only choice I have.
And I don’t know if I am ignorant of this or not, I haven’t found a way to buy braille books online.
So, for those who love to read, and happened to be blind, did you find a happy medium or any solutions?
CloudyBeep 5 points 3y ago
Because you don't like reading visually or aurally, I'd suggest reading in braille. With a refreshable braille display, you can access just about any book you'd ever want to. You can buy books through Apple Books and Amazon Kindle in braille, and you can also access Bookshare, which is a library of books in accessible formats with almost 1,000,000 books.
bradley22 1 points 3y ago
Isn’t bookshare only in the US?
TheBlindBookLover 2 points 3y ago
Bookshare can be used in multiple countries. However, there are more titles available in the U.S.do to fewer copyright restrictions. What country are you in? Several countries have an audio and sometimes braille book collection for the blind that is often free.
CloudyBeep 2 points 3y ago
The Marrakesh Treaty has allowed many more books to become available, at least in my country.
bradley22 1 points 3y ago
I’m in the UK and I don’t need this service.
RNIB offers a service like this but you must be in the UK to use it.
RNIB offers a service like this but you must be in the UK to use it.
CloudyBeep 2 points 3y ago
The RNIB library is different to Bookshare. RNIBBookshare is also different to Bookshare.
CloudyBeep 1 points 3y ago
No; it's available worldwide.
bradley22 0 points 3y ago
That’s good.
DrillInstructorJan 2 points 3y ago
Yes it is completely different.
With a voice, even the voice of a computer, you are inevitably getting another layer of interpretation that isn't from the author and isn't from you, which is not what you want. At least it's not what I want.
This is what braille is for. And yeah if that feels like standing at the bottom of a five thousand foot high cliff and being asked to climb it, I feel you.
With a voice, even the voice of a computer, you are inevitably getting another layer of interpretation that isn't from the author and isn't from you, which is not what you want. At least it's not what I want.
This is what braille is for. And yeah if that feels like standing at the bottom of a five thousand foot high cliff and being asked to climb it, I feel you.
helpmeiamretarded 2 points 3y ago
I dont like audio books because my mind cant focus when it is supposed to listen!!
Honestly, reading is something I miss the most, I have so many books gathering dust.
Hope something helps you.
Honestly, reading is something I miss the most, I have so many books gathering dust.
Hope something helps you.
CloudyBeep 4 points 3y ago
If you can't read print anymore and don't like audio, just as I suggested to the OP, you should learn braille.
matt_may 1 points 3y ago
I still read books slowly on a Kindle. I also listen to audio books. Reading gives me a better understanding and helps me remember the book.
AndAdapt 1 points 3y ago
I use tts to read books most days. Tts is how I write, so for me seems natural. However, if I knew braille would be a different story
oncenightvaler 1 points 3y ago
in your case maybe a happy medium between the two of them is turning on a screen reader. that won't give your eyes fatigue, but you will get the opportunity to navigate text by sentence and by paragraph.
razzretina 1 points 3y ago
The only way you can improve reading speed with this method is by actually reading the material yourself, and that's not going to work if you have a natural speed limit because of your vision. I'm with the other person who suggested learning braille; you might start out slow but it is worth learning and you will probably be able to read faster than you do in print without too much time put in if you practice.
blondrunner19 1 points 3y ago
I am a dual media user, I like to use both at the same time. However, I can do large print or audio separately as well. Personally, I don’t see the different between reading and listening, but I’ve also been VI my whole life. If you’re using a CCTV and magnifier, have you considered bookshare ? Or e-books? I’ve used amazon kinda and made the text super large and that has worked fo me. It sounds like you still read print, I’m guessing large print. However, I would suggest that if it’s super large, braille is the way to go.
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