Taken as read
Blind and partially sighted kids in the People’s Republic are being denied the right to read, according to a report published by the Royal National Institute of the Blind (RNIB).
The brilliantly-titled Where’s My Book? study highlights the ongoing ‘book famine’ which children with sight problems face. Nine out of 10 fiction books never make it into a format that a blind or partially sighted child could read, such as large print, audio or braille.
Even school textbooks are not automatically produced in accessible formats – only 12 per cent of maths and eight per cent of science GCSE textbooks in England are available in braille or large print.
The report also discovered that not one of the dictionaries or atlases most widely used by 14 to 16-year-olds in England is available in a format that a blind or partially sighted child can read.
There are some 2,000 children and 150,000 adults in the South West with sight problems, which is why the RNIB has launched the Right To Read Declaration, calling for the end to the book famine faced by blind and partially sighted people.
Over 40 high-profile authors and celebrities have signed up to the declaration, including Ruth Rendell, Frederick Forsyth, Joanna Trollope, Jacqueline Wilson, Fay Weldon, Joanne Harris, Maureen Lipman, Andrea Levy, Julian Fellowes, AS Byatt and (oh yes!) Alan Titchmarsh.
If you believe that blind and partially sighted people have the right to read the same books at the same time as their sighted peers (like, duh! Bit of a no-brainer that one), add your name to the Right To Read Declaration.
Posted by Thin White Duke
If you liked this story, you could buy us a coffee --------------------------------------------------------------------November 5th, 2006
