Blind and Visually Impaired Community
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Stargardt's and University (self.Blind)
submitted by maybeidontknow_24
Hi everyone! I'm looking for advice for my boyfriend, who is diagnosed with Stargardt's disease. He started university a week ago and is studying psychology, which right from the beginning requires a LOT of reading. This would be a large amount of reading for someone with perfect vision as well. Now because of his disease, it is very hard for him to read texts at a normal pace and takes him a while to zoom and read every line - and he has to retain the information as well, so has to read it a couple times too. Also, his eyes get very tired after reading long amounts of text. Should he take breaks or will continuous reading strain his eyes? He uses online devices and not textbooks to read.
This takes a LOT of time and he is already behind reading the texts on one of his classes because it takes so long and it worries him. He has tried text-to-voice readers but hasn't found an appropriate one, so any suggestions for a good reader for long, technical texts would be appreciated.
Is there any alternative way to make reading easier and faster for him? He is able to read (slowly) if the text were much bigger. It would save him a lot of time and stress. Thank you for any advice!
This takes a LOT of time and he is already behind reading the texts on one of his classes because it takes so long and it worries him. He has tried text-to-voice readers but hasn't found an appropriate one, so any suggestions for a good reader for long, technical texts would be appreciated.
Is there any alternative way to make reading easier and faster for him? He is able to read (slowly) if the text were much bigger. It would save him a lot of time and stress. Thank you for any advice!
BlakeBlues 6 points 2y ago
For the amount of reading that he might be doing especially later in his studies, audio might be the best. I just had to make the transition. There is a free screen reading program called NVDA. I am not sure to what extent he will want to use this. I turn it on for reading books.
I also have all my books in digital formats, mostly from a service called Bookshare, a website that has access to many books in audio, pdf, word, and braille versions for college level work and pleasure reading.
I would recommend he gets connected with the disability services at the school for more information. It sounds like he might be already? For NVDA training, I use a simple few commands, all keyboard commands. There are videos online and tables with all the commands.
Is he connected with a state rehab agency for the blind? They can help with direct training and acquisition of the tools
I also have all my books in digital formats, mostly from a service called Bookshare, a website that has access to many books in audio, pdf, word, and braille versions for college level work and pleasure reading.
I would recommend he gets connected with the disability services at the school for more information. It sounds like he might be already? For NVDA training, I use a simple few commands, all keyboard commands. There are videos online and tables with all the commands.
Is he connected with a state rehab agency for the blind? They can help with direct training and acquisition of the tools
maybeidontknow_24 [OP] 2 points 2y ago
Oh this is useful, I let him know! Yes, he has gotten connected with the disability services for extending timings for exams and getting front row seats at classes and such... But not sure if they are useful about the studying/reading process itself.
He studies in Europe so not sure about rehab agencies...but will ask him to check anyways. Thank you very, very much!
He studies in Europe so not sure about rehab agencies...but will ask him to check anyways. Thank you very, very much!
LadyAlleta 2 points 2y ago
If he's wanting to read visually then I suggest white text on black. Less strain. But in general I'd go with audio
igloolafayette 2 points 2y ago
My partner with the same eye condition did a lot of his reading through VoiceOver with the PDF versions of the textbooks / papers.
maybeidontknow_24 [OP] 1 points 2y ago
Oh, cool! I'll let him know. Thank you :)
[deleted] 1 points 2y ago
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