Re: remembering my first experiences with the Optacon
- From: Rachel <rachel720@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 19 May 2006 00:43:47 -0400
My experience learning the Optacon was very different than most any other
I've read on this list - I guess because I'm at least a good bit younger
than most of the people posting here. I was essentially forced into
learning to use the Optacon as a student at the Overbrook School for the
Blind. I remember early on being "tested," I guess you'd call it, to see
if I'd be a good candidate for training and not knowing what in the world
they were doing to me. I just remember them putting my hand in some
machine that made funny buzzing noises and tickled my finger! In fourth
grade, I believe, I began my training with the Optacon. I don't remember
actually learning to use it, though I do remember many days when I'd cry, I
guess in frustration, during class. My teacher would get angry at me and
tell me to turn the machine off till I calmed myself down. I knew the
point of learning the machine; but as a child, I guess learning to read
print wasn't of such importance to me. (I learned to type around this same
time and just took off with it. I loved to type so much and got so good at
it that I'd write my parents notes instead of asking them things; and my
father bought me a Royal electric typewriter for my tenth birthday.) I
don't remember how often I had Optacon class or for how many years, though
I probably had it for two or three, until I finished elementary school. I
remember at one point reading a book of some sort in class and being able
to read at a reasonable speed, though I have no idea how fast it was. The
Optacon teacher also taught typing; and because of this, I was introduced
to the typewriter lens for the Smith-Corona. Someone either from the
school or my parents set it up where I swapped typewriters with the school
so that I could use the typewriter lens with my Optacon and be able to read
what I typed. So I took home a Smith-Corona from the school, and they took
my Royal, which was still there years later, as I found out when I
visited. (We eventually swapped the typewriters again, though I don't
remember why or when it was.) While I was in elementary school, I remember
working with the music teacher to learn to read print music. I don't know
how often I actually used the Optacon after that, though the school had
given me one and only asked for it back years and years later; luckily, my
father told them I was still using it, even though I wasn't at the
time. The Optacon stayed in my parents house for years, untouched, until,
living on my own, I encountered problems with my scanner and couldn't scan
my mail anymore. It was then that I got the idea of using my Optacon. I
was surprised, but I was still able to use it, even after all that
time. It's funny, but now that I have the Optacon here with me, I'm always
finding uses for it and would never want to be without it; I don't know how
I lived without it all those years! I certainly don't have the speed I
used to have; and in truth, I can't even use it for more than a few minutus
at a time before my finger goes numb. But boy, am I glad I was forced into
learning it as a child and that I still have access to such a wonderful
machine.
Rachel
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