sarahmatthews

sarahmatthews, 1 year ago to books

My new#audiobook includes music in the background at times and beautiful singing from the narrator which is a new experience for me and it’s taking me a while to get used to! Very atmospheric. I guess I tend to read backlist titles so I’m out of touch with current production techniques or something?! Anyone else read a book on audio that has this style? #fiction #bookstodon #Reading @bookstodon @audiobooks

miki, 1 year ago to random

I just found this in my qAudio favorites, and OMG this makes me laugh every time

sarahmatthews, 1 year ago to random

Just had confirmation that a #Braille copy of British Vogue is on its way to me, I’m really looking forward to seeing what it is like, so exciting!

sarahmatthews, 1 year ago to accessibility

This is a lengthy apology from accessiBe and it comes across as genuine so I hope they’ve learnt something. I don’t know enough about web #accessibility to understand whether overlays are inherently bad though? I just remember seeing lots of criticism of their marketing tactics and agressive responses to people online in the past. And I believe Jonathan Mosen did an episode on the issue a couple of years ago | ‘Over the past two years, we focused on seeking guidance and training from disabled leaders, activists, individuals, and disability-led organizations willing to teach us where we fell short and what we needed to do to revise our approach.’A Heart-felt Apology and a Chance to Start Again https://nfb.org//images/nfb/publications/bm/bm23/bm2305/bm230503.htm

sarahmatthews, 1 year ago to random

So here’s the link for anyone interested in an #audio or #Braille version of the recent British Vogue issue which ‘features 19 brilliant, beautiful and impactful Disabled talents from across fashion, sport, the arts and activism’ #disability | How To Get Your Audio And Braille Editions Of British Vogue’s May 2023 Issue | British Vogue https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/may-2023-issue-audio-braille https://www.vogue.co.uk/article/may-2023-issue-audio-braille?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=onsite-share&utm_brand=vogue-uk&utm_social-type=earned

sarahmatthews, 1 year ago to random

I’d really like to see @rnib make a similar commitment to Mastodon, I started following them over here in Nov and they’ve done precisely nothing with their account so far! | National Federation of the Blind Moves Away from Twitter, Establishes Mastodon Server and Account | National Federation of the Blind https://nfb.org/about-us/press-room/national-federation-blind-moves-away-twitter-establishes-mastodon-server

sarahmatthews, 1 year ago to disability

#BookReview #DisabilityReadathon IlL Feelings by Alice Hattrick
360pp.
Fitzcarraldo Editions
Read as e-book

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In this memoir, Alice Hattrick describes her illness and that of her mother and how they were not believed, deemed hysterical by health professionals. She talks of the strain of living with an undiagnosed illness and how this puts huge pressure on them both . Alice goes into detail about how the understanding of ME/CFS has evolved and talks of the frustration felt by patients who were dismissed by doctors over a span of many years.
When diagnosis does come, it comes with mixed feelings as treatment is not straightforward and a range of medication/exercise programmes are tried, often with horrible side effects that can’t be tolerated.
I very much enjoyed the way writers such as Virginia Woolf, Susan Sontag and Elizabeth Barrett Browning are weaved in, alongside other famous figures like Florence Nightingale to illustrate her points.
Louise Bourgeois’s insomnia drawings and writings of the 1990s are discussed alongside her well known spider sculptures.
And I was really interested to read about the origins of the term “crip time” which is something that resonates with me as I live with chronic pain/fatigue. Alison Kafer coined the term and here, Alice states ‘Crip time is different from productive kinds of time, which is really just one … version of time… You do things slowly in waves rather than stages”
Kafer states that “the present takes on more ergency as the future shrinks.” This is something I’ve experienced and which will continue to be part of life I’m sure. It can be hard to explain this to family and friends and find ways to make sense of it yourself in order to ask for accommodations at work for example. Pacing has become a kind of art over the years that I’m still getting wrong all the time!
All in all a powerful read.
#bookstodon #Disability @bookstodon @disability

sarahmatthews, 1 year ago to books

For #EarthDay 🍃via Penguin Books | ‘Grappling with the enormity of the climate crisis takes a mental toll. The vast majority (84%) of young people in particular are worried about climate change… we’ve picked a selection of fiction, nature writing, non-fiction and manifestos to offer at least slight reprieve, with realism balanced with a pinch of hope.’
#bookstodon #Reading @bookstodon
Earth Day books to inspire hope about the planet’s future | https://www.penguin.co.uk/articles/2023/04/earth-day-hopeful-climate-change-books

sarahmatthews, 1 year ago to random

The brilliant author Elle McNicoll has set up The Adrien Prize to champion the writing of authors who include positive depictions of #Disability and #ChronicIllness in their children's books following the closure of The Blue Peter Children’s Book Award earlier this year. The shortlist has just been announced, as follows:
The Secret of Haven Point by Lisette Auton, Puffin Books
Wilder Than Midnight by Cerrie Burnell, Puffin Books
A Flash of Fireflies by Aisha Bushby, Farshore Books
This is a brand-new prize to get behind and it’s great to see that The Book Trust have recently given away copies of the longlist to schools in a competition.
This article has a little more information about the prize > https://www.lovereading4kids.co.uk/blog/elle-mcnicoll-launches-new-childrens-book-prize-the-adrien-prize-6408

A committee of young judges will now decide on a winner and I look forward to the announcement in early 2023!
#KidLit #ChildrensBooks #AdrienPrize #inclusion