Serving 18 Counties in Northwest Kansas

Northwest Kansas 
Area Agency on Aging

Home     Counties Served     News & Events   Calendar    Volunteer

Free Test For Diabetes 

Services & Information

CARE (Client Assessment & Referral Evaluation)

Senior Health Insurance/ Prescription Drug Program

Nutrition Program

In-Home Services

Legal Services

Caregiver Program

Disease Prevention/ Health Promotion

Free Publications

Links

Contact Us

Site Index
Last Modified 07/22/04

Through Voice Comes Vision

Many of us know the frustration of misplacing, losing or breaking our reading glasses.  The newspaper that was going to tell us all we wanted to know about last night's basketball game, the mayoral election, the obituaries or our daily horoscope is now just a grayish blur of newsprint with dabs of black, unreadable headlines.  If we are lucky, we find our glasses and the paper looks as clear to us as a window that has just been scrubbed clean.  But what if the "window" was never clean?  What if the grayish blur never lifted or improved?  What if you could never sit down and read your newspaper, magazine or book again?

Sharing the Gift of Sight Through Sound

Audio-Reader Network, located at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, is a radio reading service for the blind, visually impaired and print handicapped.  Through means of a dedicated closed circuit radio and in affiliation with public radio stations throughout the area, we broadcast 80 different newspapers, 60 magazines and 15 books a month to people who no longer can read for themselves.

For 38 years, Audio-Reader has served thousands of Kansans and listeners in Western Missouri through the radio, the telephone, the internet, cassettes and CDs.  People who have been blind since birth, have macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, cataracts, dyslexia, palsy or who have lost their vision through stroke or accident are all eligible to receive this free service.  With a staff of 12 and with 300 dedicated volunteers, Audio-Reader broadcasts 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days per year to keep the print-handicapped in touch with their world and community.

If you or someone you know has lost the ability to read, please contact Audio-Reader at 1-800-772-8898 or visit the website at reader.ku.edu and learn more about this very special service.  If you would like a speaker or your service group or club to tell you more about Audio-Reader, please contact Peggy Sampson at the toll free number above or through email at psampson@ku.edu.

Janet Campbell, the Director of Audio-Reader says, "We are in the information business.  That is what we do.  We read.  It is a simple thing, but if you can't do it anymore, it becomes the only thing."