Database Highlight #15: We've got the Font for That
It’s National Dyslexia Awareness Month! Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability “characterized by difficulties with accurate and/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.” – International Dyslexia Association 2002 definition. National Institute of Health research shows that dyslexia affects 5-10% of the population. It is the most common cause of reading difficulty in elementary school children.
Overdrive and hoopla are here to help. One of the best ways to help a dyslexic child succeed is to allow audiobooks. The most important part of reading is gaining knowledge and you don’t have to “read” to do that! By regularly listening to audiobooks, dyslexic children are able to acquire the same level of academic knowledge, vocabulary, and complex story structure as their reading-fluent peers. Many people with dyslexia are great writers and storytellers!
Overdrive also offers the OpenDyslexic font on all Overdrive Read books – both for children and adult. While there’s no concrete evidence that this font helps dyslexic readers, many antidotal reports suggest some benefit. If you’ve never seen the OpenDyslexic font – go check it out.
Pro tip: The Overdrive interface can be changed to OpenDyslexic by visiting Settings.
The week’s open site is the University of Michigan’s Dyselxia Help page on Fun & Games for Dyslexics. The page lists apps and online games that will help develop reading skills in a fun way.
Action Steps
- Open an Overdrive Read book (might I suggest Henry Winkler’s Here’s Hank series about a dyslexic second grader?)
- Navigate to the book settings
- Choose Reading settings
- Select OpenDyslexic from the font list
- Discover a famous person with dyslexia and post their name in the comments OR
- Suggest your favorite audiobook
Print ready flyers are attached to the post if your library is wanting to promote the font.
Free Libby pins and pens available for anyone who comments!
- Log in to post comments
Comments
Very cool! We definitely have library members who can benefit from this. I've also heard that the Geronimo Stilton series is good for dyslexic readers because of the variety of fonts and colors used throughout the text.
I am definitely a big fan of audiobooks, mainly because if I couldn't read and clean the house or drive to work at the same time, I wouldn't do half as much reading as I do now. The best audiobook I've listened to lately was "Salt to the Sea" by Ruta Sepetys. Each of the four main characters is voiced by a different narrator, which helped immerse me in the story...which is a sad but very beautiful one.
Its super sad, but the audio version is great.
Hmm, I don't know if I can do sad right now but, at the same time, it sounds lovely.
I hadn't thought of Geronimo Stilton, that's a great recommendation!
I love the OpenDyslexic font! Hopefully we can keep raising awareness about this feature.
I checked out Amina's Voice, learned that Steven Spielberg has dyslexia, and I recommend any audiobook narrated by Scott Brick (is that too broad? I don't care, his voice is perfect).
I'm enjoying reading my eBooks in this font and will be interested to see how it changes over time. Pablo Picasso was dyslexic and is an amazing artist. We have an audiobook about Picasso that is on my list: "In Montmartre: Picasso, Matisse and the Birth of Modernist Art"
https://metrolibrary.overdrive.com/media/1913738
I can never name a favorite book in any format because too many exist.
Oh wow, I had no idea Picasso was dyslexic!