[optacon-l] Re: Optacon List Archives
- From: "David" <elephant@xxxxxxxx>
- To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sun, 4 Nov 2012 20:34:01 +0100
Right. And people want things on their computer. Even when I talked to the
authorities here about some other equipment, they simply returned one
question to me: Can't you do that with your computer? Well, I tried to tell
them the benefit of not having to run around with a backpack of 6 pounds, so
as to bring my computer for whatever activity I wanted to do. And, I guess,
that would be one of the really heavy arguments for a new Optacon. It's
prtability and flexibility.
Locally, there no longer exist a school for the blind. Meaning that all kids
have to go to plain school, being taught Braille from teachers who only have
had a couple of weeks of Braille training themselves. All the rest, is put
on computers, and whatever is not, the blind child has little or no chance
of learning. Think what a great tool the Optacon would have been, even just
for learning to recognize simple drawings from your peers, or to read simple
maps of your local surroundings. Or, what about the time I had signed a
piece of paper, not realizing the pen was out of ink. Be you young or old,
but there is a load of occasions, where the Optacon is sovereign in its
simplicity. But to convince paying authorities or organizations, is a
nightmare. Add on to it, that when the Optacon was still being manufactured
and paid for, the local requirement over here, was no less than 50 hours.
Even with a small salary, fifty hours turned into a good chunk of money.
This was to be added on to the price of the unit. The end result, was that
only really inthusiastic persons, and people who could come up with steady
arguments for their need for the equipment, would get it. And,
unfortunately, the Optacon calls for a bit of work, if you are to get
effective use of it. Sometimes, i have been wondering, if the vibrating
array is one of the learning curves to climb. Just imagine, if your Braille
display on the computer was a vibrating one. Maybe a new model of the
Optacon should have been made with a more static kind of a displaying array?
----- Original Message -----
From: "Mallard" <mallard@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <optacon-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Sunday, November 04, 2012 8:05 PM
Subject: [optacon-l] Re: Optacon List Archives
> Well... At least in David's case it was "The Authorities"... Here in
> Italy it was the organisations for the blind that got in teh way of
> spreading the Optacon, although not everywhere in the country.
> Here the National Health Service pays (or should I say paid???) for many
> aids for the disabled, totally or partially. There was a list of
> approved aids, including braille diaplsys, watches, thermometers, you
> name it... But the Optacon was never included, because the organisations
> for the blind were afraid it would "kill" braille.
> Right... So, what did they do to protect braille onlya few years later?
> Nothing of nothing. They promoted audio all along, with the result that
> now even children can hardly read or write braille.
>
> This makes me mad, and I keep raising my voice against such shame, but
> apparently I'm one of few - once again Cassandra...
> Nevermind eh... I'm used to it by now...
> Ciao,
> Ollie
> to view the list archives, go to:
>
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>
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