Heady published multiple volumes of children's books and poetry and was frequently referred to by the contemporary press as the "Blind Bard of Kentucky".

[1] He also cultivated relationships with poet John Greenleaf Whittier, physician Simon Flexner, and legal scholar Lewis Naphtali Dembitz, each of whom read to Heady.

[2] His first book, a children's biography of George Washington titled The Farmer Boy, and How He Became Commander-in-Chief, was written by Heady in 1864 under the pen name Uncle Juvinell; it sold over 8,000 copies.

[9][3] One of his most significant works was a book of verse titled The Double Night and Other Poems, which touched on autobiographical themes of loss.

[1] Heady devised several inventions in his lifetime, including several designed to make life easier for deaf and/or blind people.

[11] Another of his inventions was the "diplograph", a typewriter that with the flip of a switch would type in one of three different embossed scripts used by the blind: Boston line letter, New York Point, or braille.

Built a steam-powered embossing press for American Printing House for the Blind, and wrote and published prose, poetry, and songs.