my husband has als lou gerhigs disease. He can't turn the pages of a book and enjoys reading.?

Question

We have a computer. Any suggestions would ne appreciated

Answer 1

There is software available to put books on computer screens, and other software that allows you to control the computer with your voice instead of with a mouse or keyboard.

If he still has enough vision to read, you may just be able to download books onto the computer.

There are numerous reading machines which scan books into computer formats, but many are designed to work with voice systems for the blind, where the scanned books are read aloud to the user.

Look into the National Council for support of disability issues at:

http://www.ncsd.org/

Or look at their links page:

http://www.ncsd.org/Link/adaptive.htm

Or go directly to Assistive Technologies, a company which helps people use their computer through just your voice. It is at:

http://www.assistivetechnologies.com/

If you have a friend who is a good computer tech, most of the assistive reading solutions can be set up using just MS Windows and either MS Word or OpenOffice Write.

Once he can operate a reader (the book in Computer format on the screen, using his voice to turn pages), you can look at downloading his favorite books from many different places on the Web, some for free like Project Gutenberg, and some for sale, such as through Amazon.com or Adobe Acrobat.

Please send me an email through Answers to let me know how you are doing with this project. Good Luck.

Answer 2

You can purchase books online to read if he is able to still work the computer. Amazon.com is the best site to purchase. Another option is audio books. I know it isnt really reading but I am sure he enjoys the story line as much as reading so it may be a good option. My Grandmother had ALS an we found that she enjoyed the audio books as they are produced by well read persons and seemed to give her enjoyment and comfort.
Best of luck, I hope this is helpful and provides him with a way to continue enjoying reading.

Answer 3

Is your husband able to sit in front of the computer and hit the space bar? If so he can buy books from www.amazon.com to download and read on the computer. To turn the page all he would need to do is hit the spacebar.

Answer 4

Hello to you and your hubby. I'm pretty sure that you can get a voice activated programme for computers, perhaps you could ask that Q on this forum, I'm sure some one will know. Here are the links to free on-line e-books for him.

Free eBooks

There are 19,000 free ebooks in the Project Gutenberg Online Book Catalog.

http://www.gutenberg.org/

http://www.thefreelibrary.com/

http://www.baen.com/library/

http://www.ebooks3.com/

http://www.bookyards.com/

http://www.redbirdstudio.com/E_Books/

http://www.free-online-novels.com/

http://www.bibliomania.com/1/frameset.html

http://www.starry.com/novel/authors.htm

http://www.bygosh.com/features.htm

http://www.bygosh.com/thebestnovels.htm

http://www.bookspot.com/ask/

http://www.bookspot.com/

http://www.online-literature.com/

http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/

http://www.infomotions.com/alex/

http://www.pagebypagebooks.com/

http://www.literature.org/

http://www.literature.org/authors/

The Celebration of Women Writers.

A Vast Collection of Works.

The Celebration of Women Writers recognizes the contributions of women writers throughout history. Women have written almost every imaginable type of work: novels, poems, letters, biographies, travel books, religious commentaries, histories, economic and scientific works. Our goal is to promote awareness of the breadth and variety of women's writing.

http://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/writers.html#B_Section

Short Story Classics:

The Best from the Masters of the Genre

http://shortstory.byethost6.com/index.html

Literature Collection - Free literature online

http://www.literaturecollection.com/

Read Free Classic Books Online

http://www.classicreader.com/

Greco-Roman Authors

http://classics.mit.edu/index.html

BRITISH LIBRARY On-Line Books.

http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/ttp/ttpbooks.html

Good luck.

Kevin, Liverpool, England.

Answer 5

you could download books where ever you download movies or you could download audio books