Re: O/M and the Optacon, was: Modern Optacon
- From: Pam Drake <pamdrake@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 21 Nov 2004 11:25:43 -0800
Nicky,
Your story sounds at least somewhat familiar. =20
I to have to concentrate on my mobility skills and often have
difficulty remembering a route until I have negotiated it several
times. I do have spatial problems. if I'm not careful I can bang
into the wall in my own home, especially if some reason my hearing is
thrown off by a cold; or if I'm listening to music in the other room
and not having my mind on looking for the doorway. Because our home
has a number of so-called half-walls which allow the sound to come
from one room into the other, this happens quite often. Boom! Ouch!I
am now living in a suburban setting and this has been a challenge to
my o&m skills. In New York City travel was much easier because there
were always people to ask. Now I can stand on a street corner while a
gazillion cars go by, and if anyone stops he or she is likely not to
know how to direct me after I tell them my destination. =20
Despite all this, I, too, took to the Optacon immediately, and have
used it from 1976 to the present. I'm fortunate to still have my R1D
which I bought in 1978 when I left my employment with Social Security.
I had been so unhappy in that position that I knew I would never go
back to government employment, so I took out my full five years of
retirement contributions and bought the Optie. I have never looked
back either. =20
Pam
On sun, 21 Nov 2004 16:55:06 +0100, you wrote:
Hi listers,
This discussion reminds me of my experiences when I started learning
the=20
Optacon back in 1978 or 1979. I attended a secondary boarding school
for=20
visually impaired girls in the UK and I was about 16 at the time.
There=20
were around 80 pupils and only five or six optacons, so choices had to
be=20
made. The Optacon was normally taught to the girls who were the most=20
"academically able". I was considered to fall within this category
and I=20
was very keen to learn the Optacon, but my headmistress refused to
allow me=20
to try it, as I had acquired a reputation for having poor mobility
skills.
I had a very supportive social worker from my home area who felt that
this=20
decision was unfair. She travelled about 250 miles to visit the=20
headmistress to discuss the situation. She tried to persuade her to
at=20
least allow me to take an aptitude test. At first the headmistress
flatly=20
refused, but a week later I was timetabled for my first Optacon
lesson!
To cut a long story short, I learned the Optacon with no problems and
have=20
never looked back. A friend once heard my Optacon teacher say that I
"took=20
to it like a duck to water". I don't claim that this is necessarily
true,=20
but I certainly had no difficulty learning to track. I used the
Optacon=20
extensively during my university studies. I still use it daily and
for all=20
kinds of different tasks. I am currently learning Czech as part of my
job=20
as a conference interpreter and I don't know how I'd manage without
the=20
Optacon. I've always handled my mail independently except in cases
where=20
help is absolutely unavoidable.
Although I'll never be really gifted at mobility, I've improved a lot
over=20
the years. Learning to use the long cane made a huge difference.
Although=20
I have to concentrate hard when learning new routes, I'm highly
motivated=20
and do a lot of independent travel. I don't really consider myself to
have=20
poor spatial awareness.
Of course I don't dispute the fact that spatial awareness can have
some=20
bearing on the ability to learn the optacon, but I think it's very
important=20
not to stereotype people and put them into rigid categories. If ever
there=20
is a replacement for the Optacon - and I desperately hope there will
be - I=20
think as many people as possible should have a chance to learn it and
should=20
not be deterred by negative expectations.
Bye for now and so sorry for the very long post!
Nicky
----- Original Message -----=20
=46rom: "Steve" <k8sp@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Thursday, November 18, 2004 8:47 PM
Subject: Re: Modern Optacon
> Mike,
>
> I tend to agree with your observation about the correlation between
good
> mobility skills and Optacon use.
>
> I would posit that the reason for this may well lie in a high
spatial
> orientation ability. Good spatial orientation, in terms of sense of
> direction, distance traveled, and the ability to walk in a fairly
straight
> course are elements necessary for good traveling. Similarly, the
ability=20
> to
> track a camera requires good spatial orientation and hand
manipulation; as
> well as the ability to discern shapes and identify letters requires=20
> spatial
> conceptualization.
>
> Steve
> Lansing, Mi
>
>
>
>
> To unsubscribe at any time, just send a message to:
>
> optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "unsubscribe" (without
the=20
> quotes) in the message subject.
>
> Tell your friends about the list. They can subscribe by sending a
message=20
> to:
>
> optacon-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word "subscribe" (without
the=20
> quotes) in the message subject.
>
>=20
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. =20
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. =20
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:
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in the message subject.
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