About reading impairment
Reading impairment means that a person has difficulty reading printed text. MTM makes available printed books for persons with reading impairment, as include talking books, Braille books, e-textbooks, tactile picture books and sign language literature.
Most people with reading impairment use talking books. Those who can read Braille also have access to Braille books. MTM also lends out e-textbooks and sign-language literature. People with reading impairment can also read talking newspapers.
Statutory regulation
The right to borrow talking books is regulated in the Copyright Act. An estimated six per cent of the population of Sweden has a reading impairment that gives them the right to borrow talking books. You borrow these through your local library. You do not have to show an official document proving that you have a reading impairment, or state the reason why you have a reading impairment.
Read more about laws, agreements and governing documents
The right to use talking books
A reading impairment can result from several different causes, with visual impairment and dyslexia being the most common causes. Physical impairment, neurological defects or injuries or convalescence after an illness can also act as an impairment to reading printed text. Even those with a temporary reading impairment may borrow talking books, as long as their need for it continues. A person with reading impairment also is entitled to purchase talking books.
The right to borrow talking books
A person with a functional disability that results in he or she needing adaptive measures in order to be able to read a published work has the right to borrow talking books. Examples of functional disabilities are:
- Visual impairment
- Physical impairment
- Mental impairment
- Reading and writing problems
- Hearing impairment (for hearing training)
- Temporary reading disability
- Cognitive functional disabilities (e.g., traumatic brain injuries, aphasia, autism, ADHD/DAMP, dementia conditions, whiplash injuries and mental functional impairment)
Reading impairment in other languages
Difficulty in reading Swedish when a person has a mother tongue other than Swedish is not considered a reading impairment. If, however, a person also has difficulty reading his or her own language, that person will be entitled to borrow both Swedish talking books and talking books in the other language.
E-textbooks
A person with a reading impairment who wants to read digital text on a computer with the help of adaptation measures, can borrow e-textbooks. These loans are governed by the same rules as for talking books.
Read more about e-textbooks
Braille reader
Persons who read Braille and borrow or purchase Braille books through legimus.se.
College and university students
College and university students with reading impairments have a right to borrow their required reading in an adapter format through their college or university library.
Read more about MTM's service for students (to legimus.se, opens in a new window)