Monday, December 06, 1999
Reading machine would open world
BY PHILIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Alberta Stinson, who is blind, wants to read the Bible.
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Despite her blindness, Alberta Stinson has spent her life helping others. It's an ethic based in her family and her religion.
She has volunteered her efforts at a number of Tristate social agencies. And when her two ailing, older brothers were dying, she took care of them. After all, they read to her and described things to her that she could not see throughout her life.
Now at age 66, Ms. Stinson is making do on her own. But she has to depend on the kindness of neighbors and friends for tasks such as reading her phone bill to her. A reading machine would give her independence.
It would also allow her to read letters, newspapers and even books. To Ms. Stinson, who attends the Good News Church of God in Christ in Finneytown regularly, it would open a whole new world of opportunities.
“I really want to read the Bible,” Ms. Stinson says. For years she has attended services and Sunday school classes. While there may be versions in Braille and even on audio tapes, she wants to read the book as others see it.
An Alladin Ambassador reading machine is a sort of scanner that will read over a page of written text. A voice on the device will then repeat out loud what's on the page, says Patsy Williams, a development specialist at the Cincinnati Association for the Blind.
Ms. Stinson listens to the radio for entertainment and does work around her well-kept College Hill home. But the world has always worked to the benefit of those with their eyesight. Simple tasks such as going through her bills can pose challenges.
She now relies on a reader from the Association for the Blind to read through her bills, tax papers and legal issues that remain after the deaths of her brothers. She'll often depend on neighbors to read her any papers that she feels are too important to wait for a visit by the volunteer reader.
“A reading machine is an empowering tool,” Ms. Williams says. Ms. Stinson is determined to remain as independent as possible.
Introduction to the Wish List
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How the Wish List works
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