Eligible individuals and/or institutions in Washtenaw County need only return a completed Application Form to WLBPD at AADL in order to become certified to receive service. You may print the Application Form from our website, pick one up at any AADL location, or contact the WLBPD at AADL at (734) 327-4224, or wlbpd@aadl.org, to complete your application over the phone or have one mailed to you.
A "certifying authority" (someone other than the applicant's immediate family) must complete a portion of the application. See below for more information, or contact us if you have any questions.
Once an application is received and approved, a talking book player is mailed out and service begins. Players and materials are mailed at no charge as Free Matter for the Blind. Library staff is available in-person, by email, and by phone, to assist patrons with learning how to operate their players and ordering materials.
Eligibility
Anyone residing in Washtenaw County who is unable to read or use standard printed materials as a result of a temporary or permanent visual or physical limitation, or who is dyslexic, is eligible for service from WLBPD at AADL.
Qualifying Disabilities
- Blind: Visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye with correcting glasses or the widest diameter of visual field subtending an angular distance no greater than 20 degrees.
- Deaf-Blind: Severe auditory impairment in combination with legal blindness.
- Visually Impaired: Lacks visual acuity to read standard printed materials without aids or devices other than regular glasses.
- Physically Disabled: Unable to read or use standard printed materials as a result of physical limitations. Examples include: without arms of the use of arms; impaired or weakened muscle and nerve control; limitations resulting from strokes, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, muscular dystrophy, polio, arthritis.
- Reading Disabled: Organic dysfunction of sufficient severity to prevent reading printed materials in a normal manner.
This service is available to both individuals and/or institutions (e.g., adult foster care facilities, retirement centers, nursing homes, hospitals, etc.) who have eligible individuals among their regular clientele. Such individuals are eligible for service in the name of the institution or in her or his own name.
Service to schools is provided directly from the Braille and Talking Book Library (BTBL) in Lansing. Please contact the BTBL at (800) 992-9012 if you would like to receive information on how to receive service as a school.
Who is a "certifying authority"?
In cases of blindness, visual impairment, or physical limitations, "competent authority" includes:
- Doctors of medicine and osteopathy
- Ophthalmologists
- Optometrists
- Psychologists
- Registered nurses
- Therapists
- Professional staffs of hospitals, schools, institutions, and public welfare agencies (e.g. social workers, case workers, counselors, teachers, reading specialists, librarians and superintendents)