BEST Audio Books for ALL Kinds of Readers

If you are a teacher or parent, you may already know the value of audio books and stories that are able to be downloaded from the Internet. If you are the teacher or parent of one or more auditory learners, you probably consider audio books to be one of the most important resources you can provide for struggling readers. However, teachers and parents of children with special needs will very often look at audio books as priceless.

Student learning styles that benefit most from listening must be addressed in the classroom and at home. Doing so will help these students reach more of their academic goals in ALL content areas.

As promised in our last blog article, we wanted to provide our readers with a list of current online audio book and story resources for auditory learners as well as others who struggle with traditional reading or informational media. This would include children, teens and adults challenged with various types of dyslexia, ADHD, autism, low vision, stroke recovery, TBI issues or other conditions that can impact reading success. As always, we hope you will find these resources helpful for the individuals you serve or care for each day.

BEST Audio Books & Stories for Children

Random House Audio Listening Library (for Young Children---Pre-K - 2nd Grade)
Various platforms (some FREE)
FREE and individually-priced audio selections for very young listeners
http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/listeninglibrary/catalog/results.php?grade_range_in=0-2&sort=best_13wk_3month

Random House Audio Listening Library (for Middle School---Grades 3 – 6)
Various platforms (some FREE)
FREE and individually-priced audio selections for middle school listeners
http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/listeninglibrary/catalog/results.php?grade_range_in=3-6&sort=best_13wk_3month.

Audiobooks - Kids (FREE)-by Audiobook Pop! LLC
Platforms: for iPhone and iPad
The Story of the Three Little Pigs, The Velveteen Rabbit, Anderson's Fairy Tales, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz and The Adventures of Reddy Fox
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/audiobooks-kids-free/id537856546?mt=8

FREE Audio Stories for Kids (great for shorter attention spans or younger children)
Here is a list of audio stories created especially for children. Listen by clicking on the story title to visit the story’s page where you can read along by downloading the audio file provided.
http://lightupyourbrain.com/stories/

Books Should Be Free-for Children
Platforms: iPhone, Android, Kindle & mp3 players
Many FREE public domain audio books & e-books for children
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/genre/Children

BEST Audio Books for Teens

Random House Audio Listening Library (for Young Adult---7th Grade & up)
Various platforms (some FREE)
FREE and individually-priced audio selections for teen listeners
http://www.randomhouse.com/audio/listeninglibrary/catalog/results.php?grade_range_in=7-up&sort=best_13wk_3month

Books Should Be Free-for Teens & Young Adults
Platforms: iPhone, Android, Kindle & mp3 players
Many FREE public domain audio books & e-books for teens and young adults
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/genre/Teen_Young_adult

Books Should Be Free-Short Stories (great for shorter attention spans)
Platforms: iPhone, Android, Kindle & mp3 players
FREE public domain audio books & e-books for teens & young adults
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/genre/Short_stories

BEST Audio Books for Adults

Books Should Be Free-Non-fiction Selections
Platforms: iPhone, Android, Kindle & mp3 players
FREE public domain audio books & e-books for adults (some for teens & young adults)
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/genre/Non-fiction

Books Should Be Free-Top 100 Audio Book Selections
Platforms: iPhone, Android, Kindle & mp3 players
FREE public domain audio books & e-books for adults (some for teens & young adults)
http://www.booksshouldbefree.com/Top_100

Audiobooks.com
40,000 mystery, romance, bestsellers and other selections via membership
FREE 7-day trial available
http://www.audiobooks.com/

BEST Audio Books for Everyone

Podiobooks (FREE)
Podiobooks has over 70,000 free audio books over every subject you can think of and includes audio books for adults and kids. Download the free audio books directly from the website or receive them like podcasts from an RSS feed. There is no need to register to get a free audio book from Podiobooks but if you do, and registration is free, you'll get a custom podcast feed that will make enjoying your book a whole lot easier.
http://freebies.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=freebies&cdn=hobbies&tm=96&f=00&su=p284.13.342.ip_&tt=3&bt=4&bts=22&zu=http%3A//www.podiobooks.com/

LibriVox (FREE)
For computers, iPods or other mobile devices, or to burn onto a CD
LibriVox has a huge selection of free audio books that are recordings of volunteers who have read chapters from books that are in the public domain. You can find a free audio book by searching by title, author, or status. You can also browse all the titles in the catalog or view only the most recent audio books. The free audio books can be downloaded directly from LibriVox or you can subscribe to them as podcasts.
http://librivox.org/

Project Gutenberg (FREE)
Project Gutenberg makes audio e-books available for some of the same great literature available in plain text. Listings are divided into two categories: Human-read and computer-generated audio books. These files can be very large, so are not well-suited for people using a modem or other low-speed connection.
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Gutenberg:The_Audio_Books_Project

AudioBooksForFree.com (FREE)
All types of literary genres including non-fiction are available here.
http://www.audiobooksforfree.com/home

Audible.com
Audible has a 30-day free trial going which means that you can download any audio book of your choice for free during that time. Audible has a great selection of audio books and you'll be able to find just about any audio book you are looking for, including best sellers and new releases.
http://www.audible.com/t1/30trial_at?source_code=COMGB900TWS022912&AID=1644783&PID=6448496

For information on customizable reading tools:
www.FocusandRead.com Tools for struggling readers of all ages!
www.BrennanInnovators.com Info & support for struggling readers
314-892-3897

Image courtesy of: William Milner Photography: http://www.milner-photo.com/images/people/headphone_kid.jpg

Helpful Stroke Recovery Resources

Updated November 3, 2014

Did you know that stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S.? Unfortunately, this is true. In addition, approximately 795,000 strokes will occur this year, one occurring every 40 seconds.

This past March, we published an article providing lists of apps for stroke recovery. Since that time, we have seen an increasing number of visitors to the webpage for that article (Apps to Shorten the Road to Stroke Recovery http://helpforstrugglingreaders.blogspot.com/2013/03/apps-to-shorten-road-to-stroke-recovery.html). In fact, we have seen the readership for that post average more than 300 visits per week.

As a result, we thought it would be helpful to create a list of “go-to” resources for stroke recovery and prevention to help the many readers who visit our blog searching for helpful information on these all-important topics. So, for this week’s post, we have gathered together here the BEST resources available to inform and support individuals and families affected by stroke. We have also included organizations that offer information about stroke prevention. We think you’ll find the list of links below to be helpful---but let’s hope you or those you care about will never need it!

National Stroke Association
This organization's website provides much information to support stroke patients, their caregivers and families affected by stoke. It is the “go-to” stroke resource for so many.
http://www.stroke.org/site/PageNavigator/HOME

HOPE: A Stroke Recovery Guide
This guide is divided into four sections and contains a collection of important post-stroke issues and suggestions for how to address these concerns. To order a bound copy of this guide call 1-800-STROKES.
Download the full, FREE guide or individual sections via this link:
http://www.stroke.org/site/PageServer?pagename=HOPE

American Stroke Association
Created in 1997, the American Stroke Association is dedicated to prevention, diagnosis and treatment to save lives from stroke — America’s No. 4 killer and a leading cause of serious disability. The organization funds scientific research, helps people better understand and avoid stroke, encourages government support, guides healthcare professionals and provides information to enhance the quality of life for stroke survivors. To learn more, call 1-888-4-STROKE or visit the following website:
http://www.strokeassociation.org/STROKEORG/

Helpful Tips for Stroke Prevention
Studies show that almost 80 percent of strokes can be prevented by working with a healthcare professional to reduce your personal risk. This means that it is absolutely vital that you manage your personal risk and know how to recognize and respond to stroke signs and symptoms. This link contains a list of helpful tips to help prevent stroke.
http://www.healingsinmotion.org/stroke-prevention/

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS)
The mission of NINDS is to reduce the burden of neurological disease - a burden borne by every age group, by every segment of society, by people all over the world.
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/

Reading Focus Cards (Patent 7,565,759)
Inexpensive and customizable reading tools to help challenged readers with stroke recovery (especially for aphasia or alexia), ADHD, dyslexia, low vision and other issues that affect reading success. For stroke recovery, darker "face" colors are recommended (black, brown or blue). Colored filter choice may vary, but the 3 different colored filters (recommended by developmental optometrists) are included in every package.
www.FocusandRead.com

Apps to Shorten the Road to Stroke Recovery
This article contains lists of both iPad and Android apps particularly helpful for stroke recovery patients.
http://helpforstrugglingreaders.blogspot.com/2013/03/apps-to-shorten-road-to-stroke-recovery.html

Reading Focus Cards App (Patent 8,360,779) (for Macs & Windows PCs---Price: $5.99)
From Brennan Innovators, LLC
This DESKTOP app is the digital version of the physical Reading Focus Cards (Patent 7,565,759), solutions for struggling readers. This app for Windows PCs and Macs provides practical READING SUPPORT for children and adults with ADHD, dyslexia, autism, stroke recovery (aphasia) and other conditions that can affect reading success. It promotes more FOCUSED online reading of almost ALL digital media (webpages, PDF files, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets & more.) In addition, the Reading Focus Card app is compatible with and supports touch-screen technology. The application can be moved on the screen over text by the fingers, mouse or arrow keys as needed.

1. For Windows PCs:
Visit the Microsoft Windows Store and search for the app called "Reading Focus Cards."
(No URLs are ever provided for apps in the Windows Store.)

2. Another option to access this Windows PC version:
Visit Gumroad at https://gumroad.com/l/ReadingFocusCards

3. For Macs:
Visit the Mac App Store and search for "Read and Focus" or go directly to
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/read-and-focus/id920617853?mt=12

For information on customizable reading tools:
www.FocusandRead.com Tools for struggling readers of all ages!
www.BrennanInnovators.com Info & support for struggling readers
314-892-3897

Image courtesy of: http://mothe.us/stroke-2/

Apps to Shorten the Road to Stroke Recovery

Updated December 2014

Developmental optometrists and occupational therapists continue to tell us that the Reading Focus Cards (Patent 7,565,759) help some of their patients recovering from stroke. These low-tech, reading tools can help patients with alexia to re-learn how to read. In addition, these Reading Focus Cards are providing help for patients with Parkinson'sand even dementia, helping them to focus and concentrate with greater success.

We also know that technology today, such as e-tablets and e-readers, is helping to level the playing field for all readers and learners with special needs. The access and use of this technology are not only advantageous for these readers and learners but is and will continue to be a great benefit to all of us. The iPad and Android apps are improving the quality of life for so many, and as a result, an increasing number of individuals with special needs are becoming a little more independent, a little more self-sufficient. This new independence will continue to be advantageous for all of society.

Stroke recovery is no different. Many of those who have experienced the devastating effects of a stroke can attest to the strong need and desire to regain independence, but the struggle can be a long road. However, with the new technology of apps, the road back to independence is being shortened considerably. When the technology of an iPad or a Kindle is combined with the Reading Focus Cards, recovering stroke patients challenged with alexia can benefit even more with the improved focus and concentration the tools provide.

This week, we wanted to give our readers some lists of iPad and Android apps particularly helpful for stroke recovery patients. It is apparent that at the time of this writing, there are considerably more iPad apps for this particular patient population than there are Android apps. This will mostly change as apps in both formats will increasingly be needed. We hope you will find the resources gathered here to benefit someone you know who is facing these unique challenges.

iPad Apps for Stroke Recovery

i-Pad Apps Help Stroke Patients---by Anne Sigmon
Short article with links to app lists for stroke recovery patients
http://annesigmon.com/blog/i-pad-apps-help-stroke-patients/

Using the iPad 2 in Stroke Recovery – My Family’s Experience---by Janet Cloniger
Article includes iPad apps for stroke recovery as well as information, insights and recommendations relating to the use of the iPad for this purpose.
http://the-gadgeteer.com/2011/09/30/using-the-ipad-2-in-stroke-recovery-%E2%80%93-my-family%E2%80%99s-experience/

iPad Apps for Stroke Patients---from The Stroke Recovery Blog
Article with brief summaries of several apps for aphasia and other issues resulting from stroke
http://www.neuroaid.com/en/blog/other-information/ipad-apps-for-stroke-patients/

Android Apps for Stroke Recovery

Apps for Stroke Movement Recovery
List of apps that encourage post-stroke movement recovery
http://androidapp.lisisoft.com/android-apps/stroke-movement-recovery.html

Speech Assistant---by ASoft.nl (FREE)
A single Android app that designed to communicate with people who have difficulty speaking but are able to read. This may be in the case of aphasia, after a stroke, in case of vocal cord problems or other speech problems. The app can also be a tool to practice during rehabilitation.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nl.asoft.speechassistant&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsIm5sLmFzb2Z0LnNwZWVjaGFzc2lzdGFudCJd

Desktop Apps for Stroke Recovery

The Reading Focus Cards App (Patent 8,360,779)
This innovative desktop app can help readers focus on one or more lines of text AND block out more surrounding text than any other app available at this writing. It can assist challenged readers recovering from stroke (with alexia, aphasia or other similar conditions) to more easily locate, focus on the next line of text and track subsequent text lines.

To learn more about the Reading Focus Cards app (Patent 8,360,779), please visit http://helpforstrugglingreaders.blogspot.com/2014/11/new-desktop-app-now-helps-even-more.html or http://www.focusandread.com/page/488513590.

Direct links to access app download:
1. For Macs: Visit the Mac App Store and search for Read and Focus or go directly to
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/read-and-focus/id920617853?mt=12

2. For Windows PCs: Visit Gumroad.com at
https://gumroad.com/l/ReadingFocusCards. You may also visit the Microsoft Windows Store and search for the app called Reading Focus Cards. (No URLs are provided for apps in the Windows Store.)

For information on customizable reading tools:
www.FocusandRead.com Tools for struggling readers of all ages!
www.BrennanInnovators.com Info & support for struggling readers
314-892-3897

Image courtesy of: The Stroke Recovery Blog-http://www.neuroaid.com/en/blog/other-information/ipad-apps-for-stroke-patients/