Audio books online

By David Faucheux

I recently received an e-mail telling me about an audio book site from its owner. It looked interesting. Books, unabridged and abridged, were arranged in various categories and subcategories. For instance, there was under Biography a section called Royalty and Heads of State that included books about Elizabeth I, Henry VIII, and one written by Mary Cheney. Fiction was divided into Historic, Science Fiction, and others. I have not as yet tried downloading an MP3 book as I do not have an iPod and would have to try playing it on either my computer or a Victor player that I am using while participating in the NLS Download project. I need to learn how to rip an MP3 to a CD as well.

But why not visit the web site and give me your feedback? Be interested to hear others' opinions.

IMAGINE That!

Reflections by a Blind Talking Book Reader (It'sNot Me)

Recently, a member of the private listserv run by NLS that is composed of beta-testers of the Digital Download Project posted a link to an article that appeared in the June 2006 Braille Monitor.

I found the walk down memory lane interesting. I recognized many of the names of the older narrators and can even recall several. NLS has truly assisted in giving the blind a unique audible heritage.

I cannot predict where the next 75 years will take us and whether there will be an NLS overseeing the production of audio books, but you can be sure if there are still novels and nonfiction and blind people (nano-medicine and genetic engineering may not have cured everyone), they will still be enjoying audio-recordings and will have learned about the excellent narrators of the past.

I was pleased to see some of my favorites in Mr. Benson's list: Patrick Horgan, House Jameson, Merwin Smith, Suzanne Toren, Lisette Lecat, Graeme Malcom, Nimet Habachy, Mitzi Friedlander, Jill Fox, Bruce Huntey, Laura Giannarelli, Ed Blake, Andy Chappell, Jack Fox, Gordon Gould, Julio de la Torre, Gabriella Cavallero, Catherine Byers, Michelle Shay,
Martha Harmon Pardee, Norman Barrs, Carolyn Byrd, Yvonne Fair Tessler, and Bill Wallace to name only a few! I added a few more to his list as he did not mention several newer ones who are very good. There are many more I have enjoyed. That's another blog item.

IMAGINE That!

Book review: Able! How One Company’s Disabled Workforce Became the Key to Extraordinary Success

By David Faucheux

Nancy Henderson Wurst has written Able: How One Company’s Disabled Workforce Became the Key to Extraordinary Success! (RC 60457). Quoting a summary of the book, it "tells the inspiring story of Habitat International Inc., a global indoor-outdoor rug manufacturer where three of every four workers have a physical or mental disability, or both."

At Habitat, people with schizophrenia drive forklifts next to those with Down syndrome, autism and cerebral palsy. Hearing-impaired employees cut floor mats alongside co-workers who have endured strokes, severe head injuries, or loss of an arm. For the past two decades, the company’s owner has been hiring people with disabilities, urging other entrepreneurs to do the same thing, and defying the naysayers who said it couldn’t be done. The result: A multi-million-dollar corporation whose special-needs workers outproduce the nearest competitor 2-1.

I found the stories in Wurst's book to be encouraging and the philosophy of the company enlightening. The working environment sounded fun; not the normal way one would describe a job that sounds as physically demanding as rug packing and carpet cutting. We learn of the employees who play records for the company radio station during breaks while coworkers shoot a little pool and the picnics and camaraderie of the owners and their workers. We hear of the uniquely colored and bold artwork that is everywhere in the facility. I was concerned, however, that the only mention of a visually impaired or blind person was of an employee who did not work out because she was too dependent. People may think that the company takes advantage of government subsidies and supports to hire the disabled; Wurst says that the company does no such thing!

Kudos to Ms. Wurst for writing the story and to Habitat International for making it all happen and hiring the people no one else wants!

IMAGINE That!

/////////////////

A response from the author:

Hi David,

Thanks so much for writing and for including my book in your blog. I’m glad you’re enjoying Able!

Even though the visually impaired employee didn’t work out, there are many, many people with disabilities who have. In fact, Habitat has grown quite a bit since the book was published and owner David Morris now spends much of his time working to improve employment opportunities on a national level.

Yes, I’m hoping to write another disability-related book soon. In the meantime, I’ll keep writing magazine articles on the topic as often as I can.

Thanks again and take care,

Nancy Henderson
(formerly Nancy Henderson Wurst)

A year in review

By David Faucheux

For the past two years on or about May 9, I have posted a blog piece that looks back over the past year. During the past 12 months, visitors to my blog were treated to several book reviews including: Outwitting History, I Am Charlotte Simmons, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, and The Power of Nice. All are worth reading.

In the category of blindness-related subjects, I have discussed the following: I posted about a lawsuit brought against Target for having an inaccessible web site. I mentioned a talking pill bottle and talking menus. I explained that I had been chosen along with 99 others to participate in the NLS Digital Download Project. I am debating with myself whether I should now withdraw to let another person have a shot at trying out the downloadable books. (I’m so scared I miss something.) I discussed a blind painter and how baffling that seems to me. I delved into the Concierto de Aranjuez and its blind composer. I also did an interview with the publisher of Choice Magazine Listening—it’s the service that produces a bimonthly magazine for the blind and print challenged that consists of articles and fiction taken from other magazines and read onto two 4 hour cassette tapes. Last October I touched on my job search. I had applied for a position that came open at a library serving a blind population. I did not get that job. (SURPRISE!) I explained that I would not be producing audio segments after October 2006 because the web host did not plan to continue the service that allowed me to phone in 5 minute segments. There was more. Take a look over the past year in the archives section.

Recently, I have been thinking about the future of this blog. I have had some health concerns and am wondering where the blog phenomenon is headed. It seems that as more and more people blog and continue to create content, we all become drowned out by others’ louder and cleverer postings throughout the blogosphere. (My attempts remind me of a firefly circling a supernova.)

IMAGINE That!

Thank you for visiting Blind Chance this past year. Check back to learn where this blog is headed.

Inspiration: Blind pilot and a blind poet laureate

Links of interest:

--Blind Pilot Flies From London to Sydney

--A blind poet laureate

Found by David Faucheux.