Re: Switching Back
- From: "Linda Gehres" <ljgehres@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2007 04:50:08 -0700
Hi Catherine and List,
I had access to an Optacon from 1974 to early 1986 as an employee of Social
Security Administration. The man who became my husband in mid 1985 was
sighted and would read anything to me that I needed or wanted to have read.
We divorced in 1998 at which time my family gifted me with a computer,
printer, scanner, Kurzweil 1000, JAWS Version 4.2, a Braille 'n Speak and a
disk drive. In fact, this is in large part why the marriage disintegrated
as my husband resented my desire to improve my computer skills in hopes of
getting a better job. An Optacon was donated to the rehabilitation center
where I worked in 1999, and believe it or not, I was the only person who
showed any interest in having it.
The most difficult task for me without the Optacon was being able to read my
bills and yet not always being sure as to whether or not the enclosure
showing the address was in its return envelope in the proper position.
Sometimes I could get the scanner to read just enough information through
the plastic portion of the return envelope to verify that I did indeed have
everything aligned properly. Sometimes I just had to ask a sighted person
for help whether I wanted to or not. Of course, reading columns on pages
with scanners has always presented difficulties. I would have to hope my
checks (the Guideline type of checks written on a typewriter) were correctly
written and signed, although I could usually read the typed portion of
checks with the scanner. It took a great deal more time for me to discern
what pieces of mail I could pitch and which pieces I needed to attend to,
unlike my present experiences with having the Optacon accessible to me. I
feel so lucky to have it!
Linda G.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Catherine Thomas" <braille@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Friday, September 28, 2007 3:53 AM
Subject: Switching Back
> Lerae and others who had Optacons repaired,
> As you know, this list is interested in some day re-developing the Optacon
> with modern updates. A part of the information needed for such a
> re-development is how the presence of an Optacon enhances your life.
> It would be helpful if those on this list who were without an Optacon for
> a while and returned to it could send a few posts describing how they
> managed during the time without the Optacon, particularly describing tasks
> that were impossible or very inconvenient to perform. I'm sure the rest of
> the list would look forward to these contributions. Thank you.
> Catherine
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> -Catherine Thomas
> braille@xxxxxxxxx /
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
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