Books & Reading
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Introduction
Reading is a wonderful hobby and very inexpensive. It provides so many benefits and is a hobby that can still be enjoyed despite having most Intellectual Impairments. Thanks to the wide variety of different types of books available, and with the help of a variety of assistive devices, books & reading can still be enjoyed, even with a severe Intellectual Impairment. The act of reading improves your ability to absorb and comprehend written information, helping you in virtually any career path. The more you read, the easier it is for you to execute your job better. Reading can be surprisingly social, too, thanks to book clubs, books and reading can become a truly social event.
Books can be acquired for practically nothing at your local library or used bookstore and can be read in small pieces when you have a five minute gap or in large chunks when you have a lazy afternoon. Most books are also incredibly portable & can provide you with many hours of entertainment.
Types of Books
There are a wide variety of different types of books available. Enjoying a book does not always require that you need to be able to read, or be able to read well. Some people with Intellectual Impairments suffer from a difficulty in reading and some cannot read at all. Thanks to the wide variety of different types of books, such as:
- Audio Books
- Picture Books
- Books for all ages or levels of I.Q
, books can also be enjoyed by those individuals that can't read or have difficulty reading.
There are also a wide variety of books on different subject matter containing information about almost anything you can imagine, including ones that:
- Are for entertainment purposes, such as story books, or fiction books
- Educational books that supply knowledge about a variety of different Intellectual Impairments and the difficulties and obstacles that people with these impairments may need to overcome on a daily basis.
- Inspirational books, about other individuals, who have Intellectual Impairments, but have overcome them to achieve great things.
Whatever it is that you enjoy, there's a book of interest for you.
Some people with Intellectual Impairments also find it difficult or impossible to perform tasks like turning pages, or even making out the words or pictures, due to also suffering from Mobility Impairments & Visual Impairments. With the aid of a variety of assistive devices, these tasks become possible so that the hobby of reading is possible, no matter what your disability. On this web site, we refer to these as Reading Aids.
Reading Aids
Reading Aids are Assistive Devices that enable a person with a Disability to be able to enjoy books & the hobby of reading. There are a variety of Reading Aids available for people who are Intellectually Impaired and include products and devices like:
- Audio Books - although this is not technically a reading aid, it can be used to enjoy books or information in books, or to help people with reading or learning difficulties.
- Book Holders - Some people with Intellectual Impairments, may need help to hold a book in an appropriate position to be able to read. There are a variety of different types of book holders to solve this problem.
- Page Turners - Some people with Intellectual Impairments, may also need help to turn the pages of a book. Both Manual & Automatic Page Turners can solve this problem and are available in a variety of different styles.
- Visual Aids for Reading - Some people with Intellectual Impairments, may also need help to see the information and images in the books, due to problems with there eyes. There are a variety of different types of Assistive Devices that can help with this, depending on the seriousness of your Visual Impairment.
- Books available on computers - whether it be online books or e-books, both solve many of the problems that some people with Intellectual Impairments may encounter when reading. These include:
To find out more about these Reading & Learning Aids that could assist you, visit our page on Reading & Learning Aids or Click Here.
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