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"ALL I KNOW IS WHAT I READ IN THE PAPERS"
Will Rogers
If this is true, thousands of people in Ohio
miss considerable amounts of information.
- According to recent U.S. Census Bureau estimates, some three million Ohioans over 15 years old have some kind of visual impairment. Most probably experience only mild inconveniences but hundreds of thousands have vision problems which seriously affect their lives. More than 71,000 Ohioans have severe impairments or are legally blind.
- An unknown but substantial number of people find it difficult or impossible to use standard printed materials because a physical problem interferes with holding reading materials or turning pages.
- If you were blind, visually impaired, physically unable to turn a page or a senior with an age-related print disability, how would you stay informed?
- Commercial radio and television channels do not provide the depth of local information needed in our modern lives. They are in the entertainment business. Even the all-news channels are really headline services that repeat pretty much the same stories all day and most of those are national and international stories. Few are locally oriented and even fewer, if any, address neighborhood news and issues.
- Without timely news, opinions, events listings, consumer information and community service reports from printed sources, it is nearly impossible for people who have problems using regular printed materials to remain connected to the world around them and be fully participating citizens.
"Before I had it, I never knew what was going on in the world."
"It was a Godsend. I do not feel disconnected from the world."
ORRS and its nine Ohio Radio Reading Service members meet this need for information by daily broadcasts of topical printed materials including newspapers, magazines, ads and books enabling our listeners to be aware of local events, election information, grocery and department store ads, back-page stories, sports and even Dear Abby and the comics. Ohio's reading services provide fresh, useable information to print impaired Ohioans by turning printed material into sound.
- Ohio Radio Reading Services are generally provided at no cost to qualified persons who have difficulty using standard printed materials.
- Ohio Radio Reading Services are non-profit organizations supported by local community contributions
"Everyone's life revolves around seeing."
"[It's] absolutely essential to be able to have access to books and news."
If you or someone you know could benefit
from these services, please contact
a local Radio Reading Service, ORRS
or eTech Ohio.
You can locate the Reading Service nearest
you by using the Find a Service page of this web site.
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