I don't happen to have RTM parents. Mostly because
they aren't the type to
read manuals themselves. I probably do it more than
they do. An
interesting story is when my mom was trying to set
up her Gmail account on
Outlook Express. I tried talking her through it,
but it wasn't working. So
I went to Gmail's website, found the OE instructions
and printed them out
for her. I told her to follow them and ask me
questions as they come up.
She quickly grew frustrated and gave up. So then I
tried my dad, and asked
him to set up OE for my mom and I gave him the same
printed sheet of
directions. He couldn't do it either! And
personally I think they were
some of the most straight-forward directions I've
seen. I asked him some
basics about his perception of the instructions, and
it was clear that he
had no grasp of what he was about to do. That
situation finally ended by me
installing JAWS on my mom's computer and setting up
her OE for her myself.
So, basically, my point is, to some extent, we're
products of our
environment. Monica's dad encouraged her to read
the manual, and she does
that still today. My parents aren't manual people,
and as a result,
neither am I. Although I've learned to be to some
extent. Perhaps Monica's
dad's way is better, but mine is just how it is.
Monica mentioned that part of her dad's reason
behind making her learn the
computer herself is so that she can use a computer
as well as sighted
people. I've never had any doubts about that. I
always figure I'm about as
good of computer user as I would be sighted. I too
hesitate to ask computer
questions of sighted people. That's not however
because I feel inferior to
them, it's simply because our techniques for
performing similar tasks are
just very different.
Interesting topic.
Best,
Allison
----- Original Message -----
From: "Monica Willyard" <rhyami@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, January 22, 2008 9:40 PM
Subject: [bksvol-discuss] Re: Google Desktop Broke
my Bookshare Books
> Hi, Cindy. You know, in one way, I agree with you.
In another, I
> understand what my dad is doing. He's requiring me
to be as independent
> as possible, to only rely on a sighted person if
it's absolutely
> necessary. He has done that since I was eight
years old and got my first
> computer. They didn't have a functioning
screenreader at that point, and
> he still made me learn to type and write
programming on it. Now over 25
> years later, I'm able to handle things well on
most computers, even if I
> lose speech for awhile. So for me, with my
personality and my situation,
> I think my dad actually did me a favor. He helps
me without complaint if
> it's something I really can't do. When he tells me
to "RTM," I take it
> as a reminder of his love for me and his faith
that I can work it out if
> I put my mind to it. If I've read the help files
and am still stuck, I
> do get the help I need.
>
> Monica Willyard
>
>
> Grandma Cindy wrote:
>> Thank goodness my husband is not like your dad.
He's
>> willing to help when I run into a problem even
when
>> it's one I've been told before how to deal with
and
>> have forgotten because I didn't write it down.
smile
>>
>> G.Cindy
>>
>>
>
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