Imagine for a moment that you are a high school student with dyslexia. You have a big biology test tomorrow and you’ve been staring at Chapter 8 of the textbook all night. You’ve read your notes from class, but you know there are going to be questions from the book. None of the words are making any sense, and you just can’t get through it. Frustrated as always, you know you’re not going to finish the chapter anyway, so you close the book and turn on the TV…
For millions of students in this country, reading is an ongoing struggle. RFB&D, and its research-documented program, can help these students. With textbooks for all grade levels available in an audio format, RFB&D lets students learn through listening. RFB&D has textbooks in practically every subject for every age group, from algebra to zoology.
Our History
Founded in 1948 by Anne T. Macdonald to serve blinded veterans returning home from World War II, Recording for the Blind® — as we were then known - began in the attic of the New York Public Library, where Anne Macdonald and fellow members of the New York Public Library's Women's Auxiliary began recording textbooks for servicemen, using what was then state-of-the-art technology: six-inch vinyl SoundScriber phonograph discs that played only 12 minutes of material per side.
Demand was so great that by 1951, the organization had incorporated as the nation's only nonprofit to record textbooks. The following year, Anne Macdonald traveled across the country to establish recording studios in seven additional cities. Today, in addition to our National Headquarters, we have 29 recording studios across the United States.
By 1970, RFB&D was serving an increasing number of people who had learning disabilities. In recognition of this growing member population, we changed our name in 1995 to Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic, to serve all people with "print disabilities" — those who can't effectively read standard print because of a disability. Today, we serve over 200,000 members worldwide. Even more remarkable, more than 70 percent of our membership — which includes students in kindergarten through graduate school, as well as working professionals — are recognized with learning disabilities.
Our recording technologies have changed with the times. SoundScriber discs were long ago replaced with the high-fidelity, four-track cassettes still in use today. In September 2002, RFB&D's AudioPlus® digitally recorded textbooks on CD were released. As of July 1, 2007, RFB&D has transitioned to an all-digital library collection in our CV Starr Learning Through Listening® Library. In August 2008, RFB&D introduced AudioAccessSM. With AudioAccess, it's now possible to download RFB&D audio textbooks directly to your computer.
As our member population and our technology continues to evolve, our commitment to all of our members remains strong, and we continue to be guided by Anne T. Macdonald's simple declaration that "Education is a right, not a privilege."
Using RFB&D
To use RFB&D, a student must have a documented disability that affects his or her ability to read, such as dyslexia or a visual impairment. A school can get a membership for all the students that need it, purchase a special CD player, computer software program or compatible portable media player to play the books and then browse the online catalog to order all the books that students need.
Thousands of schools are already finding RFB&D to be an effective tool to motivate, engage and teach students who may otherwise slip through the cracks. Browse through this section of the website to learn more about the program and how you can use it in your classroom.
You can also learn more about RFB&D on its website, www.rfbd.org.