Two Interesting Survey Requests
- From: Catherine Thomas <braille@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 7 May 2006 05:53:23 -0400 (EDT)
Here they are below with only the identifying information stripped.
-----
Date: Sun, 7 May 2006
Subject: Optacon
I got this address from the vip-l list, however I am fairly new to email so not
sure how I would go completing a survey via email. Perhpas you could provide me
with phone contact details also just in case.
I learnt optacon at the age of thirteen and have been a great surrporter and
user of it for the past thirty years - I am up to my third, but the battery is
failing and I would literally feel like committing suicide if it ever does,
even though I have learnt to use a scanner.
For instance, I was an exchange student in Japan for a year. During that time I
was able to use the optacon to teach me the Japanese script and language, and
can now read letters written to me in that script. After that time I lived for
some years in a meditation ashram in India, where again I used the optacon to
teach myself basic Hindi. I could never have accessed these without an optacon.
Beyond that, how much quicker to read a bank statement or account when you get
one every month and know its layout, so can just immediately go to the relevant
lines or columns without reading all the crap!
How else would I know where the printing is on greeting cards and therefore
where the blank space is on which for me to write my message? And how could I
be sure that the pen had worked properly and my hand-written message and
addressed envelope are legible?
At school I also used it to follow electrical circuit diagrams and other simple
diagrams.
And what about reading info on curved surfaces, such as tablet bottles and
cnas. A bit tricky, but still possible with the optacon.
I've used it on my lap on the train, plus to read printed agendas during
meetings.
In INdia I used it to read the INdian scr4iptures I had to study, which,l
although translated into English, contained so many Sanskrit words they would
have been unintelligible with speech.
I worked for a few years as a legal secretary at the NSW Legal Aid Commission.
At first I had no speech on my computer for a few months, so luckily had two
optacons, one on which I had a video lens so I could read the computer screen
whennecessary, and the other for reading the clients' files. These files
contained forms filled out in hand printing. I never got very good with
runningwriting, but could certainly read hand printing, which a scanner still
could hot do I believe.
I could go on and on, so was ecstatic to see that someone else is showing an
interest. I can read out loud reasonably fast with my optacon, and have once
read an entire novel with it, though generally about six pages is enough before
I become tired.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
---- second excerpt ----
Subject: Optacon
My name is ---- and I am totally blind. I have
used
an Optacon since 1981 when I got training from a former teacher in my own area.
I think it is the most wonderful thing for independence and learning about
print formats so I can talk more intelligently with sighted people about
pictures and formats. I was devastated when I heard that it was not going to
be available in the US anymore. It was the thing I had always dreaded. I have
had several jobs where I could do things which I wouldn't have been able to do
without he Optacon. I can also do fun things, too, like reading MY VCR
onscreen menu. I read the Owner's Manual all through, and I knew how to
program it and this was way back in 1987 when most people didn't know how to
program their own VCRs. Anyway, my two Optacons are now in disrepair, but I
can still use it for a few minutes after unplugging it. I found out by using
it that my pre-amp on my stereo has a light on the left side of the display and
one on the right side. The goal is to have them both not shining. If the
balance is too far to the right, the right-hand light will be on, and the same
with the left-hand light. One of the people at Telesensory told me when I
called in frustration with their decision that I was a "diehard" Optacon user.
I don't consider myself a "diehard" because there are still things which the
Optacon can do that can't be done with any other equipment. Try to pull a
scanner over to the TV screen and read the menu. I think it is quite
impossible. Also, in one condominium where I lived, the oven didn't have knobs
that you turned, but buttons that you pressed to control the functions and the
temperature of the oven. If I hadn't had the Optacon, I wouldn't have been
very effective in using the oven, because as it got older, you had to push the
buttons harder and harder, so I really did have to check the display to see if
the temperature was right. That learning about print format has been so
helpful to me. Even when I started teaching Windows, with my Optacon I was
able to see how when you are on a menu with a submenu the arrow points to the
right and then when you get into the menu, the text is there. I'd love to hear
from you or help if there is any way I can.
End of Excerpt
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
-Catherine Thomas
braille@xxxxxxxxx /
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without the
quotes) in the message subject.
Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a message to:
optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without the quotes)
in the message subject.
Other related posts:
