All true, Peggy. I do the same. I knitted for three years before I owned
an Optacon. People had to read the instructions to me and I'd transcribe
into braille. What few knitting patterns were in braille were published
by National Braille Press. Quite limited.
Regards!
Maureen
On 11/2/2018 7:32 AM, Peggy (Redacted sender nocyou for DMARC) wrote:
I use my Optacon to read knit and crochet patterns that are written with
charts. A scanner could never read that. Braille wouldn't work either.
Peggy and Dixie Marie
Sent from my iPhone
On Nov 1, 2018, at 8:49 PM, Maureen Hogg <m.e.hogg@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
ThThe Optacon can still be used to access material you'd never get in
digital talking books, braille, or as a download into your iPhone.
American Printing House for the Blind just suspended production of the
Reader's Digest in braille and audio format; and Newsweek in audio
format. There is no funding to continue those programs. I switched to my
iPhone and looked for the Reader's Digest app in the App Store. Well,
it's there, but it is not accessible to either VoiceOver or braille
only. Strangely, RD Digital is image capture that bears no resemblance
to anything access technology has yet seen. I simply went to the
subscription page on RD and ordered a print subscription for two years
at $15. I'll use the Optacon to read it.
Regards!
Maureen
On 11/1/2018 6:17 PM, Marsha Macchi wrote:to view the list archives, go to:
Hello, Petra. You might not remember me. My name is Marsha. It was LaBelle
when you knew me. I got my training in Palo Alto in 1976. I also worked with
people to train them in the use of the Optacon.. I believed then--and still
do--think that the Optacon is useful as you learn how documents should be
formatted, how print pages are laid out in a book, looked up drug names,
medical terms, lab values and the like when the Optacon was about all we had
if you wanted to have access to the needed stuff that went into making up a
patient's chsart. I remember my first book was also The Girl Who Knew R ule
One. It's funny how we remember our first print books with that then
newfound tool that gave us access to print directly for the first time.
UYes, we have all the digital books that you can download from Bookshare,
BARD, Learning Ally, Audible and the like, but there's nothing quite like
being able to run around in the bookstores like some kid in a candy shop
just because here was access to all kinds of books that up to that time we
couldn't read directly when they came out. By the time they were on talking
books, they would be old hat.
Well, I'm sure this is all you probably never wanted to know about the
efficacy of the Optacon and how sad that it isn't being made anymore.
Marsha
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of petra
Sent: Thursday, November 01, 2018 4:59 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx; optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: I Can Read Again!
Good afternoon:
I went through Optacon training inPalo Alto in 1972 I think. I'll never
forget my first book, "The Girl Who Knew Rule One".
When I got home from training I went to a book store and bought so many
books I could hardly carry all of them.
Later I became a trainer myself and started a non-profit to help others get
Optacons because I believed the Optacon would open the world. It did for a
deaf-blind woman I trained and me. Because of the Optacon I was hired by
United Airlines and worked for them for 25 years. And because of that, My
daughter and I went to Hawaii, London, Thailand, and Kenya.
I wouldn't trade my Optacons for anything I can think of.
Petra
----- Original Message -----
From: Carolyn Arnold <4carolyna@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: Thursday, November 1, 2018 2:54 pm
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: I Can Read Again!
Oh yes, I forget the name of my first book about a characterquotes) in the message subject.
named Anne-Louise, and then I read "Amberwood," both paper
backs of my mom's about some pretty terrible characters.
Anne wasn't as bad as Amberwood.
Best regards,
Carolyn
-----Original Message-----
From: optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:optacon-l-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of peter
wilkins
Sent: Wednesday, October 31, 2018 7:15 PM
To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: I Can Read Again!
I did my training in 1982, and my first book was The Moon's
A Balloon, by David Niven.
I used to practice every night, but my breakthrough came
when I bought a very complicated cassette deck, which had
all sorts of facilities on it which you don't see on many
decks, and I got so engrossed in reading the manual that I
forgot about the discomfort in my finger, and from then on I
was able to read for longer periods without getting
irritated.
Peter
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