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Category: Transition

Published May 18, 2012

Individual Memberships for Change and Transition

Mary Carney, a 7th grade English teacher at Lowville Academy Central Middle School, NY, wanted to change the way some of her students thought about reading, and the way they read. She knew that if she could find a way to help her students feel more confident and independent as readers, they would be more successful in her English class. Carney signed her qualified students up for Bookshare organizational memberships. “I believed the federally funded library (free to U.S. students who qualify) could support my efforts to turn around students who were falling behind their grade level reading.” One of…

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Published May 8, 2012

Bookshare Helped Student Transition to College

Zach Bryant pulled straight A’s in his Maryland high school. He liked to read all kinds of books then, but that wasn’t always the case for Zach.  He has Cerebral Palsy (CP) which prohibits him from speaking and walking. To communicate and write his thoughts down, he uses an augmentative communication device (AAC). Simple tasks, like turning a printed page or finding the last chapter he read was frustrating for him. According to his mom, this experience happens to many children with CP.  “They get frustrated and don’t want to read, but access to digital books and reading technologies changed…

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Published April 20, 2012

Words of Wisdom on Transition from a College Freshman

How does a very talented, bright, highly motivated young woman with severe dyslexia succeed in college? How is she getting almost a 4.0 GPA, top grades in all her classes, without her mom sitting beside her, patiently reading every word in every book as she did for twelve years? All incoming freshman experience some college jitters, but this driven young woman, Elizabeth, was justifiably concerned about succeeding in classes with hundreds of others students who didn’t have dyslexia. Her story about her transition should inspire many high school seniors in similar situations: “When I applied to college, I asked for…

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Published April 16, 2012

Can We Give Too Much?

A guest post from Lucy Greco, a blind advocate for accessible technology. An Assistive Technology Specialist at UC Berkeley, San Francisco Bay Area, Greco is the user of various assistive technologies since the early 1980s. She is passionate about the ways technology makes the world more accessible to everyone but especially to individuals with disabilities. “For students with disabilities in college and universities, where do we draw the line between providing them support services and teaching them to be independent,” asks Lucy Greco. I graduated from California State University Hayward in 1997. The ADA was only six years old and…

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Published July 5, 2011

The American Association of Deaf-Blind (AADB) Symposium 2011

During the week of June 19 – 25, over 600 individuals participated at the American Association of the Deaf-Blind National Symposium – “The Future is in Our Hands”- in Ft. Mitchell, Kentucky. For Bookshare, it was the first time to be an exhibitor at this conference. “Delegates” are association members who have combined hearing and vision losses and voting rights in the General Assembly meetings. Each had at least one accompanying SSP (Support Service Provider) to enable them to access their environments and make informed decisions. In other environments, SSPs only provide visual information, via sign language. In this specific…

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Published June 24, 2011

Land that Job! Bookshare Resources for Career Success

Achieving vocational fulfillment is important to many of us, but landing the job you want in today’s competitive market can be tough.  Many people with disabilities find it especially difficult to reach acceptance in the world of employment.  So how can you stay competitive, make yourself stand out as the best job candidate, and grasp the tools you need to find career success?  Bookshare has many titles in its collection that can help you gain a competitive edge during your job search.  From résumé writing strategies to savvy interview techniques, let these books guide you through your journey and help…

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Published September 28, 2010

Parent Spotlight – The Impact of Digital Literacy on One Child, sponsored by Kurzweil, a Bookshare partner

Special thanks to Darla Hatton, a certified reading specialist who sent us this article. Mrs. Hatton created Dyslexia Facts (http://www.dyslexiafacts.net/) to provide information and resources to parents of children with dyslexia. Her mission is to encourage parents to be better informed and to seek early interventions for their school-age children. “As a mother with a familial propensity for reading difficulties, I knew that my preschool daughter was struggling. Her name is Kaila. She is dyslexic and was officially diagnosed in third grade. In her 5th grade year, I reviewed the required paperwork and signed her up for a Bookshare account.…

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Published September 23, 2010

Transitioning from High School to College – Students with Disabilities

By Guest Blogger Jean Ashmore, President, Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). This article was originally published on www.disability.gov. It’s the time of year again when yellow school buses are on the roads, uniforms and school supplies are everywhere, and students and parents alike are excited and anxious about a new school year. Those years when a student switches schools are particularly salient, with much to be learned and encountered in the new school. This is especially true when a young person transitions to college. All college students bring along academic and social experiences and lots of expectations and…

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