akachankami

[akachankami]

Ming-Na Wen

[akachankami]

If we wanted to engage in nuance (lol, lmao) on the "are audiobooks reading" debate, we really do need to bring literacy, and especially blind literacy, into the conversation.

Because, yes, listening to a story and reading a story use mostly the same parts of the brain. Yes, listening to the audiobook counts as "having read" a book. Yes, oral storytelling has a long, glorious tradition and many cultures maintained their histories through oral history or oral + art history, having never developed a true written language, and their oral stories and histories are just as valid and rich as written literature.

We still can't call listening in the absence of reading "literacy."

The term literacy needs to stay restricted to the written word, to the ability to access and engage with written texts, because we need to be able to talk about illiteracy. We need to be able to identify when a society is failing to teach children to read, and if we start saying that listening to stories is literacy, we lose the ability to describe those systemic failures.

Blind folks have been knee-deep in this debate for a long time. Schools struggle to provide resources to teach students Braille and enforcing the teaching of Braille to low-vision and blind children is a constant uphill battle. A school tried to argue that one girl didn't need to learn Braille because she could read 96-point font. Go check what that is. The new prevalence of audiobooks and TTS is a huge threat to Braille literacy because it provides institutions with another excuse to not provide Braille education or Braille texts.

That matters. Braille-literate blind and low-vision people have a 90% employment rate. For those who don't know Braille, it's 30%. Braille literacy is linked to higher academic success in all fields.

Moving outside the world of Braille, literacy of any kind matters. Being able to read text has a massive impact on a person's ability to access information, education, and employment. Being able to talk about the inability to read text matters, because that's how we're able to hold systems accountable.

So, yes, audiobooks should count as reading. But, no, they should not count as literacy.

[akachankami]

This is flagged "potentially mature content" and at first I thought naaaah... But on second thought this is HOT DAMN!

how to say "I love you" in x-files [35/?] ⤷ 5.14 — “The Red and the Black”

[akachankami]

[akachankami]

So... I guess I'm not reading 😅

I wouldn't have time to breathe this week anyway but from the little I've accidentally caught i just better forget this book ever existed 🙃

[akachankami]

Mr. & Mrs. Babcock.

[akachankami]

You STAB caesar? You stab his body like the salad? et tu? et tu? jail for brutus! jail for brutus for One Thousand Years!!!!

[akachankami]

[akachankami]

My ides tiramisu, if you even care

[akachankami]

[akachankami]

The defeated and bloodied king was chained to kneel in front of his enemy and he says weakly: "Is my wife still alive?" His enemy nodded. "You fools," he said smirking, and the king starts laughing as the sounds of explosions getting closer shake the room.

[akachankami]

1998 Golden Globe Awards | 2025 SAG Awards

[akachankami]

È che io sto ancora pensando a "topino" e alla serie di scenari che mi si è aperta in testa

[akachankami]

I so love this! Carson can’t even…

[akachankami]

i survived a tuesday, and for what? wednesday? disgusting.

[akachankami]

[akachankami]

👒 Behind The Scenes Of Downton Abbey 👒