February 10, 2006 (Washington, DC) - His daily struggle with low vision is like "looking at the world through a coffee straw," but it wasn't enough to prevent Scottsdale, AZ, resident Scott MacIntyre from graduating summa cum laude from Arizona State University at only 19 years of age. For that, and his extraordinary scholarship, leadership, enterprise and service to others, MacIntyre was honored by Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic (RFB&D®) as one of three top winners of the 2005 Mary P. Oenslager Scholastic Achievement Awards (SAAs). RFB&D, a nonprofit organization, is the nation's educational library of recorded textbooks for students with visual impairment, dyslexia or other physical disabilities that make reading standard textbooks difficult or impossible.

Studying at the Royal College of Music and Royal Holloway University in London, MacIntyre was unable to attend the awards presentation in Washington, DC. Accepting the award on his behalf were MacIntyre's parents, Douglas and Carole.

Diagnosed with the rare genetic eye disorder Congenital Leber's Amaurosis, MacIntyre is totally blind in dim lighting and only has two degrees of tunnel vision in the center of his field. The now 20-year-old, an accomplished pianist who has performed with the Phoenix Symphony, is only able to see one note at a time on a sheet of music.

"Some would view my visual impairment as a tragic loss; however I don't view it in that sense any longer. My love for music has more than compensated for my lack of vision." A member since 1994, MacIntyre adds that "RFB&D has removed one of the most preventative barriers to my education, and I am now liberated to enjoy virtually any printed material imaginable."

In addition to graduating in May in the top 1 percent of his class at Arizona State and being named by USA Today as one of the nation's top 20 collegiate seniors, MacIntyre has honed his musical craft by studying in Boston, Austria and Canada and even performed the national anthem before thousands of fans at the Arizona Diamondbacks' Bank One Ballpark and the Phoenix Suns' America West Arena. MacIntyre has also been named a Marshall Scholar for 2005. When he is not creating and performing music, MacIntyre enjoys everything from musical theater and ballroom dancing to computer programming and skiing.

RFB&D's National Achievement Awards (NAA) include the Mary P. Oenslager Scholastic Achievement Awards (SAAs) for college seniors who are blind or visually impaired and the Marion Huber Learning Through Listening® (LTL®) awards for high school seniors with learning disabilities. In all, RFB&D bestows more than $50,000 in awards to deserving students each year. Some of this year's winners are scheduled to meet with first lady Laura Bush at the White House later this month.

"RFB&D's National Achievement Awards recognize the accomplishments of students who are outstanding role models, not only for people with disabilities, but for all of us who endeavor to reach our full potential as students and as citizens," said John Kelly, RFB&D President & CEO.

RFB&D serves more than 141,000 students from kindergarten through graduate school and beyond, including 1,441 in Arizona, with its one-of-a-kind collection of more than 109,000 educational titles on CD or four-track cassette. RFB&D's AudioPlus® digitally recorded textbooks on CD provide unprecedented navigation, ease of use and proven effectiveness as learning tools for students with print disabilities. Students rely on RFB&D's unique accommodation to access the printed page and to achieve educational success. All of RFB&D's accessible titles are recorded by volunteers working in 29 recording studios nationwide, including Phoenix and Peoria, AZ.

EDITORS NOTE: Photos of the award winners at the event will be available at www.rfbd.smugmug.com on February 9 after 11:00 p.m. EST. Interview opportunities are available by calling Mark Zustovich at 609-520-7993, or after hours at 609-610-4508.