College textbooks are available on audiocassette tapes and CD's from Recording for the Blind and Dyslexic (RFB&D) by students with diagnosed print disabilities. This includes students with visual impairments as well as students whose learning disability affects their reading ability (i.e. dyslexia and/or other types of reading disabilities). Students with diagnosed learning disabilities, whose reading comprehension is enhanced by listening or by simultaneous reading and listening, are also eligible for this service.
For additional sources of recorded texts, contact your coordinator. You may be asked to present the instructor with a form to expedite this process. CAAR staff will record academic reading material when all other resources to obtain this information on alternative medium have been exhausted. Materials recorded will be handled on a case-by-case basis. CAAR will notify you when the material you requested to be recorded is completed and ready for you to pick up from the CAAR office or on an agreed upon date.
All materials recorded by CAAR will be recorded on 90-minute tapes. All materials recorded on CAAR tapes must be returned at the end of each semester.
The cassette tapes from RFB&D and CAAR can ONLY be played on a FOUR-TRACK TAPE RECORDER. It is the responsibility of each student to obtain a four-track tape player/recorder. These special tape players/recorders can be purchased through RFB&D at 800-221-4792 or 609-452-0606.
CAAR has a list of other resources where players/recorders can be purchased. See your coordinator if you need assistance. Many students prefer to purchase recorders with a variable speed feature. These four-track tape recorders can also be used to tape record class lectures.
A one-time $50.00 application fee is required to register with RFB&D. In addition, RFB&D also charges a $25.00 annual membership fee. (Note: Students who registered with RFB&D prior to July 1, 1996 are not required to pay annual membership fees.) Once these fees are paid, you are eligible for this service for as long as you wish to utilize it. It is for this reason that students are responsible for paying the $50.00 application fee. There are resources available to assist students in paying the annual $25.00 membership fee while attending NIU. See your CAAR coordinator.
If you are a client of Vocational Rehabilitation (VR), you may be eligible for financial assistance to cover these fees. Contact your VR counselor to see if you qualify.
You may want to use the CAAR office as your mailing address on your RFB&D application. It is a stable mailing address for students who may change residence halls/apartments, etc. during their time at NIU. The CAAR office will notify you when your materials arrive.
Students who plan to utilize this service are strongly encouraged to take advantage of priority registration privileges through CAAR so they will know their schedules well in advance of each semester's starting date. Textbook information can be obtained from the Textbook Desk of the University Bookstore (753-1838), the instructor, or departmental secretary.
Order your recorded books directly through RFB&D by calling 1-800-221-4792. If you need assistance, make an appointment with your coordinator after completing priority registration and well before the semester’s starting date.
If a book is not available on tape from RFB&D you may request RFB&D to record the textbook. They will do so free of charge, but you must send them two print copies of the textbook to be recorded (these are returned when the recording is completed). It takes approximately two to three months to record the entire book; however, they will record and mail you a chapter or section at a time as the book is being recorded. Texts that are of a highly technical nature (eg. computer programming, foreign language, math) may take six months or longer.
It is highly recommended that you keep the box or envelope in which the cassette came in order to return them to RFB&D. A pre-addressed label is included when they are shipped. You may take the box or envelope to the Post Office window for return, or bring them to CAAR and we will get them returned. Boxes more than 16 ounces should not be placed in street corner USPS mail drop boxes according to USPS regulations.
If you have been given tapes that the CAAR office records, those tapes need to be returned to the CAAR Office after you are done using them.
Ask your instructors if the entire textbook will be used or only portions of it. It is unnecessary to have a reader record an entire book if only portions will be used.