[optacon-l] Re: An Interesting Message,
- From: "Linda Webb" <rtfan@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 16 Jan 2009 17:10:14 -0600
Brian, I thought your comments were very well stated about charities and who
they can and want to serve.
I am impressed that some on here have more than one Optacon as I know had
mine not been purchased, I sure couldn't have afforded it at the time on my
own. I don't personally know now what I'd do without it but the one
draw-back for employment I ran into was employers wanting to know if you
were dependent on it, what happens when it needs to be sent in for repair.
It wasn't like you could just take it somewhere immediately and have it
done.
Although for the most part, that wasn't an issue but it was two times that I
recall. One time I was able to get a loaner from the Commission for the
Blind in Austin; another time I had to just take a couple of days of
vacation because my job was dependent on it.
So as unique as it is, there were those situations and questions from
employers that I am sure would still come up.
But there is no doubt in my mind, there is nothing really that has taken its
place yet. I'm just glad to know they still can be repaired.
Always and Forever...A Randy Travis Fan
Linda and Guide, Greg
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Brian Procter
Sent: Friday, January 16, 2009 1:04 PM
To: Optacon List
Subject: [optacon-l] An Interesting Message,
Good Morning,
I was interested in Catherine's question about how an Optacon user in the
United Kingdom could get the idea that the Optacon was nothing but a memory.
The message did not surprise me. I do not know Mr. Payne personally, but
his name has been mentioned by British pen friends I have been in contact
with over the years. I know of the list because of my interest in reading
American Braille magazines. I read a letter from Catherine a few years ago
which appeared in an American magazine for deaf-blind people called Good
Cheer.
Communication does not seem to be a strong point amongst the British, or so
I have thought for several decades. I exchanged letters with Dr. James
Bliss in the mid 1970's because we thought that the Optacon was not
receiving the publicity it deserved. I now believe that the major charities
serving blind Britons were apprehensive about the Optacon if demand for it
became too great. Helping clients to purchase Optacons would have required
much of their financial resources, added to that would have been the cost of
employing instructors and maintenance engineers. Charities like to spend
their money in a way which benefits their clients collectively, not
individually. I presume this is why Mr. Payne created the charity,
Electronic Aids for The Blind. I expect most Optacon users in Britain, like
myself, bought their Optacons despite the negative attitude of the blind
establishment. I taught myself to use the Optacon - I had been a good print
reader before I went blind in 1957 - and the training sounded so slow and
difficult that I considered it would be a waste of money, especially as it
would have involved staying in London for some time.
Is this an original use for an Optacon? My bank recently sent me a new
cheque book. At the front of the book are pages for noting cheques made out
so I had to find the last of these pages and fold it over to separate that
section from the cheques. At the back of the book are paying-in slips so I
had to find the first of these , fold it over to separate them from the
cheques. About five cheques from the end is a coupon for obtaining a new
cheque book if one is not received automatically. I have to remove the
coupon or I would put it into my typewriter like any other cheque. I did
not buy a typewriter attachment for my Optacon although I remember being
sent an advertisement for it attached to a Smith Corona electric portable
typewriter. I have never used an electric typewriter. I have devised my
own method of typing cheques based on the principle that if you do the same
thing the same way, 99.9 per cent of the time you will get the same result.
Best wishes for the new year and if anyone would like to discuss anything I
have said in this message, my e-mail address it:-
Brian@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Yours sincerely,
Brian Procter.
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