PeterPan Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Just wanted to share that we're finally getting going with this! We qualified under reading disability. Ped signed the form without a problem, and the state branch was very quick processing our application. The lady actually called to ask if we wanted a digital reader, which I hadn't thought I had. Really though, it's pretty fascinating! It came with nice headphones, and it's a solid, sturdy unit. Ds LOVES it. He likes the talking buttons, how clear it is. He totally figured it out and found that it has a USB port on the side. It took us a little bit of figuring, but NLS has a list of supported formats NLS Factsheet: Digital Audiobook Players So it won't play audible books (aac, drm protected), but it *will* play librivox, anything you load in mp3 from a cd, etc. I'm not sure if we can get things from BARD onto it, so that will be our next smart thing to figure out. Really though, for the price (free), it's really quite a marvelous device! I think I'm going to put it in his school room/office and have him use it there. He thinks the handle means he can haul it all over, haha. Oh, and it has a 24 hour, yes you read that right, 24 hour battery!! The other thing I'm psyched about from NLS is their book club. What a joy! I had SO been wanting someone to validate to ds that ear reading is as valid as eye reading. I never approached our library about it, but the kid book clubs from NLS are even better! They award prizes or medals or something for these goals that are whack high. I'm really thrilled. He'll likely hit them over time, and I'm just SO excited about that. He needs someone to recognize that what he does is real and worthwhile. And the tiers for each award, what a hoot! They're like 100, 300, 500 books! That will take a while. :D Oh, the other cool thing they do is these marvelous catalogs and bimonthly update catalogs. At first I thought it was a waste of text, but then I realized how nice it will be just to flip through there, highlight ideas, and be able to select. What a relief! It has been a challenge to shop on amazon, hoping things are available on audio, wishing they weren't (typically) $10 a bite. So this is really nice to be able to shop for free in a catalog! :) Well anyways, that's just sharing our excitement. I'm excited to have access to non-fiction, shorter books, all sorts of things. I also want to try magazines on him. NLS=National Library Service BARD=their app (itunes, amazon, android) It's free with doc sig stating print disability. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom28GreatKids Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 (edited) Oh my word, this is so totally awesome. I am so happy that your little guy is getting this. And I am so happy you are ahead of me a few years, paving the way, sharing the resources you discover, and helping those of us behind you a few years. The info you have imparted to me just this weekend alone is invaluable and may save me countless heartaches and $$$$$ in the future. Thanks so much for this as well. My little guy has just started to listen to audio books- he loves Little House on the Prairie and Ramona. It was actually you who inspired me to try AB with him in an effort to get more language in his head. Since he only has a 50 word vocabulary, what comes out does not reflect what is in there, but I want to continue filling his brain with good language. Yes you read that right, 50 words. He has gone from 5 to 50 this year, and about 40 of those since starting PROMPT! Woot woot. We are a couple of years from being able to prove a print disability, so I will file this info away. Edited August 21, 2016 by Mom28GreatKids 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Ds loves BARD. We moved away from the physical device and just use the app on his iPad now. The range of digital books is enormous compared to the number of physical cassettes available. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom22kids Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 What a great resource! Your enthusiasm and excitement is palpable and I am happy for you guys!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Oh, and as far as getting into BARD goes, call your state library and they will approve your request. From there, it's just a simple download. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 21, 2016 Author Share Posted August 21, 2016 Can we access BARD online and download books to put them onto a thumb drive to go with the digital reader? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 21, 2016 Author Share Posted August 21, 2016 Mom28, yes the AB are probably why ds has a 99th percentile vocabulary, lol. It's pretty weird in fact, because he has issues with your normal autism things (rigidity of constructions, stereotypie and echolalia, idioms, prepositions and wh-words, etc.), but his vocabulary (which is often low with ASD) is great! And that's not just on one test that it's great. Multiple tests, multiple testers. It actually sort of blows their mind. I guess it just means he has this ability to memorize? I don't know. They just retested him and it came in as an 8th grade reading level. He reads with comprehension (as in he can answer multiple choice questions) multiple, multiple grades above what he is decoding. So yes, by all means get him on AB! Hours a day. If he's not getting 1:1, he should be listening to AB. We've been using a kindle, but I'm thinking I'll keep my old phone when we upgrade my phone. The new iphones are losing the headphone jack, and I don't want to deal with that. So anything you can throw books on is good. I like the kindle fire though, if you are looking for hints for grandparents. Get the one with the double speakers. Ours is an HDX. That's the trick to getting enough volume. You need the unit with the double speakers. We spend a lot of time in the car, so he always has his kindle going with earbuds during trips. That's part of how he gets so many hours in. Do you like the reader for Ramona? It seems like the more obnoxious the voice, the more my ds LOVES the reader, lol. I hate the Ramona reader. There's another one, I forget, but when that is on I tell him to go downstairs. Henry, that's the boy name by Cleary. Ds LOVES the Henry books. And don't be too age-particular either. My ds will listen to Teaching Company (Great Courses) lectures and adult books. Basically he'll listen to anything that autoloads onto the kindle. He didn't really get into Little House, but I'm not sure I tried hard enough. Actually, I should figure that out! I have it on cd from years ago with my dd, and we don't use cds anymore. I keep thinking I TRIED to get it through audible and they didn't have it. Do they? We could load the cds as mp3 onto a thumb drive and play it in the digital player. That would be brilliant. Yeah, I'm not looking forward to the whole cartridge thing. If I can figure out how to download the books and throw them on a thumb drive for the reader to play, that will be smarter. But the cartriges are nice for the *effect* of book selection and making it obvious what they are. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 21, 2016 Author Share Posted August 21, 2016 Mom28, there can be a big gap between his receptive and expressive. So when I say his vocabulary is x level, that's not saying he says all those words all the time. It's saying he can recognize them and use them in a context correctly or explain them. There definitely was a long time there where there was a gap between what was coming out and what was going on in his mind. Actually, it's hard to tell now. You know there is, but now we see more of the glitches, so it's more like between what he can/could do and what he can organize and make happen. The language gets more complex (sequencing, narratives, etc.), so the glitches show up more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 OhE, that's how I understand it, but I never did that. Ds wanted to be wholly independent in his use of the device. 🙄 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanin Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 Awesome!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prairiewindmomma Posted August 21, 2016 Share Posted August 21, 2016 OhE, you can also take Bookshare books and put them onto a NLS player.... here's how: https://www.bookshare.org/cms/help-center/transferring-books-nls-player 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 Prairie, I was kind of behind on things and hadn't gotten Bookshare done, so thank you for the shove! Turns out the NLS will confirm proof of disability to Bookshare, so I clicked through to make that happen, boom. This will be good! His appetite for books is pretty insatiable. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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