Maine AIRS radio helps visually impaired citizens

A hot cup of coffee and the Bangor Daily News is a non-negotiable morning routine for me. Regardless of the time I have to get up, that half-hour is factored in. Even with Dixie-Cat lying across whichever section I am attempting to read, the experience is an enjoyable one.

For many visually impaired people, the above scenario is not possible.

Meet Les Myers, director of Maine AIRS, who thrives on the impossible.

“Empowerment is what we are all about, and getting people the information they need and want,” he said. “Maine AIRS, which stands for Audio Information and Reading Service, does just that.

“With this service, visually impaired folks don’t need to rely on family or friends to read to them,” he said. “We provide them with the ability to get the news themselves over the airwaves. I am so grateful to our volunteers who make the service a success.”

Every day, pairs of volunteer readers sit behind microphones at the Maine AIRS studio in Brewer and read the Bangor Daily News and other daily and weekly Maine newspapers.

The broadcasts can be heard statewide through the SAP setting on a stereo television that is tuned to the Maine PBS station. If necessary, a special SAP receiver may be obtained through Maine AIRS. It also is possible to hear the broadcasts on the Iris Network’s Web site at www.theiris.org.

Maine AIRS, with studios in Brewer and Portland, has 84 volunteers, with each reading team working a 90-minute shift. Broadcasts can be heard 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 6:30-8 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 7-11 a.m. and 4-8 p.m. Sunday.

“For people who lose their sight – the bell curve is sort of ages 60s to 90s – their source of printed information dries up,” Myers said. “Many of these people have been reading all their lives, and now the news they’re used to getting is unavailable. Through Maine AIRS they can hear what they used to see.”

While some information is available on television newscasts, many items in which people have a personal interest are not. The volunteers do read news, but also obituaries, wedding and birth announcements, town council meeting stories and even store ads.

“We read the things people wouldn’t ordinarily have access to,” said Myers. “For instance, we read the calendar section of The Weekly. How else would our audience learn about what is going on in town and where the bean suppers are being held?”

The Iris Network, celebrating its centennial this year, provides services to blind and visually impaired people throughout Maine. A needs assessment survey conducted by the Edward S. Muskie School of Public Service found that access to and availability of information are important factors in a person’s ability to live independently. The results of this survey were instrumental in developing Maine AIRS.

Myers couldn’t be happier. Nor could everyone involved.

“We have a volunteer who reads for us because she saw how much this service meant to her visually impaired mother,” said Myers. “We get letters from families whose loved ones’ lives have been changed by Maine AIRS, and that means the world to me. To all of us. We help the blind and visually impaired to gain independence, and that’s what it’s all about,” Myers said. “They don’t have to rely on others for their information. What could be more empowering than that?”

What, indeed.

For more information on Maine AIRS, specific instructions on how to access the broadcasts or the opportunity to volunteer, call Myers at 989-0058. For information about The Iris Network, call (800) 715-0097.

Carol Higgins is director of communications at Eastern Agency on Aging. For information on EAA, call 941-2865 or log on www.eaaa.org.