At nearly 16, Kyle Glozier is no stranger to public speaking. His speech at the 2000 Democratic National Convention was only one of many he has made over the years as part of his ongoing mission to protect the civil rights of people with disabilities.

Kyle, who has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair and a Liberator voice synthesizer. Since 1994, he has also been using recorded textbooks from RFB&D. “They make reading easier for me,” he says. The recorded books allow him to read independently or to follow along in the text while a human helper turns pages. Because Kyle also has a cortical visual impairment, it is difficult for him to see smaller print, so RFB&D’s books eliminate the need for those texts to be enlarged for him.

“I am just an everyday boy,” says Kyle, when asked about himself. He is a sophomore at West Greene High School in Waynesburg, PA, who enjoys language arts and creative writing and complains that he has too much biology homework. “Disability is just a part of life,” he adds. “I hope that someday, hopefully soon, people will realize that we aren’t very different from everybody else.”

Along with his mother and father, Kyle has been raising his voice against the social inequalities he has encountered. He has challenged inaccessible businesses in his hometown, spoken at numerous independent living conferences and will appear before the UN General Assembly’s Special Session on Children. One of his biggest concerns is the current system of placing people with disabilities into nursing homes and other institutions. Kyle, along with members of ADAPT, a national grassroots disability organization, has been vocally supporting the Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act (MiCASSA). In his moving speech at the Democratic Convention, Kyle invoked the ideals of John F. Kennedy by quoting from his 1963 West Berlin speech. In referring to the newly built Berlin Wall, Kennedy said “ It is... an offense against history... an offense against humanity, separating families... and dividing a people who wish to be joined together.” Kyle realizes, that although he qualifies for specific medical and education aid now as a minor, the attendant care he requires may be withdrawn once he turns 18, greatly increasing his chances of being forced to enter a nursing home. For someone who wants to be the first person with CP to be elected president, this is just totally unacceptable.

"RFB&D makes life easier."

AP photo/Ron Edmunds

Graduation day is fast approaching for Natan Zeichner. Unlike most of his classmates at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, GA, Natan will be graduating six months early — the result of advanced courses and hard work.

In fact, as a “joint enrolled” student at the University of Georgia, Natan has already completed college up to the sophomore level. At the University, Natan conducts his own experiments in a genetics lab. These are accomplishments that Natan says may not have been possible without recorded textbooks from RFB&D.

In third grade, teachers concurrently discovered that Natan was both gifted and dyslexic. This creates a far-from-unique situation for many students with learning disabilities. While being validly diagnosed as learning disabled, such students are sometimes denied school resources because of the student’s ability to make passing grades. “But,” says Natan, “this extra help can make the difference between Cs and As.”

In tenth grade, Natan was introduced to recorded textbooks from RFB&D, just in time for him to tackle AP history. “The recorded books saved my life that year,” he says. “They give me both the auditory and visual input I need to learn.” Since that time, Natan has become a voracious reader, especially when it comes to his two favorite subjects — science and philosophy. He is particularly fascinated by genetics and recently excelled in a neuroscience class at Brown University.

Politically savvy and knowledgeable, Natan wrote the Israeli-Palestinian Amendment for the Georgia Green party. He heads all the youth social action for the Reformed Jewish Community of Northeast Georgia. He is also on the Youth Advisory Board for the Board of Health in his hometown and has recently begun helping disadvantaged children learn to read. His perspective of being both gifted and dyslexic helps him recognize these same traits in many of the students he works with.

After graduation, Natan plans to use the time before continuing college to do volunteer work someplace where he can “change the world.” It is a fitting ambition for this gifted student, who refuses to let dyslexia, or anything else, stand in his way.

"RFB&D opens doors and gives students
the opportunity to succeed."

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