Advice for families

Helping someone you love keep listening

Plain guides to audiobooks, players and presents for someone who is older, blind, hard of hearing or living with dementia. They come from building a player for my grandmother Ruth, who is 101.

Tara Button, Ruth's granddaughter and the founder of Reading to Ruth

Audiobooks and players

A simple audiobook player for an elderly parent or grandparentWhat families usually try, why it so often ends up in a drawer, and what to look for instead. Audiobooks for someone who is blind or partially sightedThe free and low-cost UK libraries, and what to do when the books are easy to find but the player is the problem. Audiobooks for someone living with dementiaWhat tends to help, what gets in the way, and how to set a player up so there is nothing to remember. Is there a Yoto for adults?Families love the idea of a Yoto for a grandparent. Here is how that works, and the alternative we built.

Presents

Gifts for a parent or grandparent who is losing their sightTwelve presents that don't need to be seen to be enjoyed. Gifts for someone in a care homeTwelve ideas that take up little room, ask nothing of the staff, and get used.

Using your player

The set-up guideEvery step for iPad, Android, Amazon Fire and laptops, including how to keep the player on the screen and connect speakers or hearing aids. A good startSeven small things that help someone take to their player in the first weeks.

Is there something you'd like us to cover?

Write to hello@readingtoruth.com and a person answers, usually the same day. No question is too small.

See how Reading to Ruth works