Re: Some comments on the Optacon
- From: "Michael Bowman-Jones" <mikebowmanjones@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Wed, 17 May 2006 10:57:10 -0700
Pam,
The reference to speed reading reminds me of the time I used the Optacon on
a work document and as I expected the text to read a certain way, (which it
did, for the most part), I somehow missed the word "not" which changed
things quite a bit as one can imagine. Having been burned by that, I always
double checked text to make sure such ugly words did not appear when
unexpected again.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Pam Drake" <pamdrake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, May 16, 2006 12:56 AM
Subject: RE: Some comments on the Optacon
> Bob,
>
> You remind me of one afternoon when I returned to my desk from lunch and
> found a note on my desk. I figured it was handwritten but decided to try
> it.
>
> As I moved the camera along the print I read, "Grimes...hosp...hours...
>
> I shot up from my desk and practically ran to the supervisor's desk, sure
> of
> what the message was telling me.
>
> Indeed, my friend whose last name was Grimes was in the hospital and was
> expected to be there for at least 48 hours.
>
> Although I couldn't read the full message, just those few abbreviated
> words
> told me this was something that needed immediate attention. Not only was
> I
> able to call her and found she had slipped on an icy sidewalk that morning
> and had gone to the hospital on an emergency basis, but I was able to go
> to
> the drugstore on my way home from work, pick up a toothbrush and a couple
> of
> items she needed, and take them to her. Without the Optacon I might have
> just tucked the note somewhere and waited for help, provided of course I
> hadn't forgotten the note by the time I found someone to read it.
>
> Of course there are times when speed is important and it's faster and
> easier
> to ask a sighted person, but when there's no one around, which is often if
> not usually the case, I find the Optacon is usually the quickest and most
> reliable way to do what needs to be done.
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> On Behalf Of Robert Feinstein
> Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 11:31 PM
> To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: Some comments on the Optacon
>
> I am probably one of the least skilled Optacon users on this list, judging
> from what I have read. I am bob in NY. However, despite this, the
> Optacon
> is a tremendous help to me in many ways: identifying mail, seeing if my
> printer is working, checking an envelope I address, etc. I recently
> received some medication (I take a great deal now) and I needed to know
> what
> was in each vile. I took the optacon, and tried to read the name of the
> medication. I could find words like "do not" or "take this" but not the
> name. After working at it for about an hour and a half (nobody has more
> patience than Optacon users) I found the name of the medication, written
> in
> the middle of the vile, to the right. I took a mental note of where the
> name was, and found it to be uniform with each vile. I was able to read
> the
> name in about 3 minutes as opposed to an hour and a half. Now the
> question:
> is it worth struggling for over an hour to read the name of a medication
> when a sighted person could have done so in a second? In the scheme of
> things, I'm not sure, but I had no sighted assistance, and I wanted to
> braille my medication viles. The next time I receive these viles, the
> task
> will be infinitely easier.
>
> But to read books, long letters, bank statements, that, sadly, would not
> be
> possible for me because of the effort and time. Still, I'm glad I have
> the
> Optacon. I wanted to share this because I believe the Optacon can be well
> worth the investment, even if one is not very fast with it.
>
> Bob
>
>
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