Princeton, New Jersey, December 1, 1999
Bristol-Myers Squibb Worldwide Medicines Group has announced a $125,000 contribution that will help to change the way blind students and students with dyslexia will learn. This gift will further the development of new technology spearheaded by Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D), a national nonprofit organization that provides textbooks in accessible formats for students who cannot read standard print effectively because of blindness, a physical disability or severe dyslexia.
RFB&D's prototype digital technology demonstrated today will provide unprecedented user capabilities for students who have print or other physical navigation disabilities. In addition, when played back on a PC, digital audio textbooks can present students with electronic text in addition to audio, enabling them to follow the text as they hear it. This is an especially effective learning strategy for students with learning disabilities like dyslexia.
"Bristol-Myers Squibb's generous gift will help us continue the development of a digital product that will greatly enhance the quality of accessible textbooks for students with print disabilities," said Richard O. Scribner, president and CEO of RFB&D. "Digital audio technology will provide ease of use and new navigation capabilities that are not presently available to students who rely on brailled text or textbooks recorded in a standard analog format."
"Bristol-Myers Squibb is pleased to make this contribution to support RFB&D's development of a vastly improved accessible textbook for students with disabilities who cannot read standard print," said Dr. Hamed Abdou, Ph.D., president, Technical Operations, Bristol-Myers Squibb Worldwide Medicines Group. "Our involvement with this organization not only helps us live our mission to extend and enhance human life, but also helps provide the students of today with the tools necessary to find success in their future endeavors."
"Digital audio technology will give blind students the same kind of immediate access to specific information within a textbook that sighted classmates enjoy," said Siham Atshan of New Brunswick, an RFB&D member has been blind since birth. "It will level the playing field for students who learn through listening by giving us immediate access to specific pages, chapters and information within a book."
"Like many other students with dyslexia, I comprehend more when I can hear the words and follow them on the page at the same time," said Brandon Stone of Skillman, a junior at The Hun School in Princeton. "While the taped textbooks are readily available and a great tool for learning, I look forward to using a digital textbook where the text and a human voice are synchronized and easy for me to follow and navigate for research and school assignments.
Next month, RFB&D will begin the rollout of its prototype digital recording software to six of its 33 recording studios across the country. This software called a Volunteer Recording Workstation, or VRW, will be tested at the pilot studios through next year. The New Jersey Unit of RFB&D will oversee one of the six pilot sites at its studio on Hibben Road in Princeton.
Eventually, as the digital recording software is installed throughout the organization, RFB&D will begin to make new accessible digital textbooks available to its members on CD-ROM. A number of the most popular titles in RFB&D's master library that are now available only in analog cassette format will be converted to digital audio. In the future, RFB&D hopes to make digital textbooks available via the Internet.
RFB&D was founded in 1948 in an attic of the New York Public Library. Its founder, Anne Macdonald recruited volunteers to record textbooks for blind World War II veterans trying to pursue a college education under the G.I. Bill of Rights.
Today, RFB&D now operates recording studios in 30 cities across the country. More than 5,000 highly trained and specialized volunteers read and record textbooks in every subject area and grade level. RFB&D serves 78,000 members in kindergarten through graduate school and beyond with its library of 80,000 taped electronic titles in every subject area and grade level. Last year, RFB&D distributed 243,231 books to its members nationwide.
Bristol-Myers-Squibb, which is the largest private employer in Middlesex and Mercer Counties, has 10 company locations in New Jersey, including major sites in Hopewell, Lawrenceville, Plainsboro, New Brunswick and West Windsor.
Bristol-Myers-Squibb is a diversified worldwide health and personal care company whose principal businesses are pharmaceuticals, consumer medicines, beauty care, nutritionals, and medical devices.
Visit Bristol-Myers Squibb at http://www.bms.com.