Bookshare Communications, Author at Bookshare Blog

Published December 18, 2018

‘Tis the Season to Give and Enjoy Books

We invite you to donate to Bookshare’s annual book drive This holiday season, give the gift of books to emerging readers. Bookshare is running an end-of-year book drive, and you can help bring high-demand books to students with reading barriers. Bookshare adds thousands of new titles to the library every month, providing access to more books in easy-to-read ebook formats for students with dyslexia, blindness, low vision, cerebral palsy, and other reading barriers. Our library currently has over 675,000 titles! Yet, this is still a fraction of the one million new books published every year. Members request new books, and we…

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Published November 2, 2016

Bookshare’s Go Read App for Android Makes Accessible Reading Easier Than Ever

Bookshare, the online accessible library that is free for all U.S. students with a qualifying print disability such as blindness, low vision, a physical disability or a learning disability, just added some super new updates (version 5.3.9.) to its Go Read app that members and teachers will love. Get Started with Go Read Go Read is Bookshare’s free, open source ebook reader app for members who use Android smartphones and tablets. The app has built-in text-to-speech voices and is optimized for visually-impaired readers. You can use Go Read to connect directly to online libraries, like Bookshare, to download and listen…

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Published October 25, 2016

Omree Sabo, High School Student with Dyslexia, Advocates for Ebooks

Bookshare member dives into the deep end of reading with accessible ebooks! Omree Sabo, a sophomore at Redwood High School in Marin County, California, is an avid user of Bookshare; so much so that he decided to help other students and teachers at his school and in his county learn about the free, online library of accessible ebooks for U.S. students who cannot read standard print. “Bookshare gets a big thumbs up from me,” says Omree. “I don’t know where my grades would be if my parents had not found Bookshare and signed me up for an Individual Membership.” In…

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Published October 18, 2016

Texas Specialist Finds Successful Reading Strategies to Teach Students with Dyslexia

Finding the right reading solutions for an estimated 2.4 million* American students with a learning disability, like dyslexia, can be difficult. For these students, reading isn’t easy. Brain signals get mixed up, causing an inability to decode and interpret words. Thankfully, many students with learning disabilities are placed in the capable hands of specialists like Leslie Patterson, a Certified Academic Language Therapist and licensed Dyslexia Teacher for Griffis Elementary School in Caddo Mills, Texas. Leslie works with young children, and a critical part of her job is to identify strategies and resources that strengthen their reading comprehension through a multisensory…

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Published October 6, 2016

Son’s Dyslexia Diagnosis Prompts Mom’s Search for Answers

Seth Gast has dyslexia and a language disorder. For three years, he has used Bookshare’s online accessible library for schoolwork and to find Boy Scout manuals to obtain his merit badges and become an Eagle Scout. His mom, Dina Gast, credits his academic progress to a renowned dyslexia center, excellent teachers and tutors, and Bookshare. In recognition of National Dyslexia Awareness Month, here is Seth’s story. Early Reading Frustration Entering first grade, Seth was a bright little boy, but his mom noticed his enthusiasm for school and learning diminish. He liked books, but seemed to be frustrated with reading. A…

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Published September 27, 2016

Denver Administrators Strengthen Reading For Students with Print Disabilities Through Expansion of Bookshare

Denver Academy’s Philippe Ernewein, Director of Education, and Anthony Slaughter, Director of Information Technology, were eager to hear about the progress of Alyssa Campbell. While Alyssa has had a Bookshare Individual Membership for many years, it wasn’t until she entered middle school at Denver Academy that she began reading more textbooks and literature using accessible ebooks with assistive technologies. Alyssa has a documented learning disability that makes it difficult to read traditional print materials. Text-to-Speech Makes Reading Easier Due to her disability, Alyssa could not keep pace with the rigorous reading assignments for her grade level. Her mom, Debbie Campbell, an educator herself,…

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Published September 14, 2016

Parent Partners with School Administrators to Advocate for Accessible Ebooks and Dispel Myths

Deborah Campbell with Denver Academy’s Director of Education, Philippe Ernewein, and Director of IT, Anthony Slaughter When Deborah Campbell volunteered at Denver Academy, she had one mission: to educate teachers and families of children with reading disabilities about the benefits of accessible ebooks and assistive technologies for learning. Mrs. Campbell holds a master of arts degree in curriculum and instruction and has a deep understanding of the education process. Alyssa, her eldest daughter, attends Denver Academy and was diagnosed with a learning disability in second grade. At that time she read at a noticeably slower pace than her peers, and it was difficult…

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Published September 7, 2016

Helping Individuals Who Are Blind Transition to Work Through Training and Accessible Ebooks

September 8th is International Literacy Day, and Bookshare is honoring those individuals and organizations that make a lasting difference to ensure literacy happens for everyone. Each day, Bill Powell, Assistive Technology Director, and his staff at Bosma Enterprises in Indianapolis, provide job training, employment services, rehabilitation, and outreach to help adults who are blind transition to the working world. To accomplish this goal, the team downloads digital accessible books using Bookshare. Bill says, “With the right education, mentors, technology, and resources like accessible books, individuals with disabilities are highly capable of working in many fields, including training and technology, after their schooling.”…

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Published August 26, 2016

Assign and Read: Getting Bookshare Books is Easier Than Ever

The end of summer ushers in a new school year, new students, and a mad rush to get textbooks and other educational materials. How can teachers and school librarians get accessible books for students with print disabilities and save time? Assign and Read Bookshare has made getting students books quick and easy. In one fell swoop, teachers can add students and set them up to read with the newly updated “Assign and Read” feature: Add students to rosters Give them a Student Login (so they can access Bookshare independently) Add books directly to Reading Lists That’s all teachers need to…

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Published August 16, 2016

Creating Equal District and Schoolwide Learning Opportunities for Students with Disabilities

Raising academic performance to meet the mandates of the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) is a critical mission for school leaders, yet finding solutions to accommodate diverse student populations across districts and schools can be overwhelming and costly. Students with learning disabilities or visual impairments, for example, have difficulty reading print books. Often, they need accommodations like audio, large print, or braille to make classroom and homework materials accessible. The effort and resources required to produce accessible educational materials (AEM) is significant. Teachers and librarians struggle to find textbooks and Common Core materials in accessible formats. Parents stress about support…

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Author: Bookshare Communications