[Blindtlk] Uncollated and Unbound Braille Material

Sun Dec 11 18:50:55 UTC 2016

I do think that many times we can become part of our own problem, instead of being part of the solution.  It's important to analyze what the problems really are by looking at the big picture.  So many things we can solve very easily on our own.  For those issues we can't, there are times we have to wisely pick our battles.

Judy

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of James Kelm via blindtlk
Sent: Sunday, December 11, 2016 11:46 AM
To: S L Johnson; Blind Talk Mailing List
Cc: James Kelm
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Uncollated and Unbound Braille Material

Hello all...

    Well I thought that I'd jump in here, but first I want to make clear that I am, nor do I want to disrespect anyone, or suggest that I have all the answers!  We all have to deal with our own reality, and that can be much different for each of us.

    With regard to my own reality, I am often rather surprised over how much additional drama both the blind, as well as the sighted world create for themselves.  Of course I am a bit older than many of you, but I have learned over my life-time that a basic rule that governs the universe is that life isn't fair.  It would be great to live in a world that was totally accessible for us blind folks, but that just isn't the world that we live in.  It is good to stand up for our rights, and the battles that we fight today may just help those who come after us, and make their life a little easier.  But in general, life isn't fair, we live in a sighted world, and it is frequently a little pleasure when someone, who also lives in this sighted world, goes out of their way to help us blind folks navigate through our day.  But in general, most people not only don't think about our needs, but they are so caught up with their own life struggles, that they don't really care whether we get everything perfectly accessible for us.  This is obviously unfair to us, it shows a bit of absence of feeling toward us, and most often causes us to live a life that is harder than it needs to be.  But the world does not think about how to make life easier for us, and that is the reality that we must learn to live with.  If we do not, we simply even add more struggles to our already challenging life, and that doesn't do us, or anyone any good.

    This is just the ramblings of an old road dog, who just doesn't expect the world in general, to really go out of their way for me, just because I happen to be blind.  For those who have done that little extra, I say thank you very much, tell them how much they have personally helped, and politely suggest ways that someone might even help more in the future, but that I am happy that they did what they already did.  I find that people are more likely to help in the future with sincere good feelings, if they have not dealt with negativity in the past and are now just trying to keep from being yelled at.

Respectfully,
James

-----Original Message-----
From: Ericka via blindtlk
Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2016 10:39 PM
To: S L Johnson ; Blind Talk Mailing List
Cc: Ericka
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Uncollated and Unbound Braille Material

In a perfect world, yes braille would be perfectly printed and collated, staples etc. However in the print world as stated things are just shoved in a bag and nobody proofread anything for the sighted world. I agree that we should be happy braille medication labels and information is in existence. 
Welcome to the real world here. The real world of misprints, duplicate copies, missing information, and miss information. As long as the medication in the bottle and the medication on the paperwork is the same you have what you need. I'd be more concerned if you had the wrong medication in the bottle than the label or the wrong strength. That can be more dangerous than a misspelling.

In short, we do have equity – everyone has missed spellings and poorly printed information. Deal with it.

Ericka

from my iPhone 6s

> On Dec 10, 2016, at 1:23 PM, S L Johnson via blindtlk 
> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> Hello:
>
> I can speak to this a bit because my local pharmacist and I have been
> discussing how to get the Braille prescription labels for me.  As I
> understand it, the pharmacies who use the system to provide Braille labels
> get a printer to hook up to their computer system.  That prints out the
> labels and any accompanying information just like the print papers given 
> to
> the sighted public.  Those pharmacists do not know Braille nor do they 
> have
> proof readers on staff every time a blind person orders their meds.  Their
> job is to get the medications out to you as soon as possible.  They do not
> have the time to send the document out to be proof read and bound.  Also,
> that would cost way to much money just to fill a prescription.  As for the
> sighted, all they get is a bunch of papers thrown into their bag along 
> with
> their meds.  They are not collated or stapled in any particular order.  I
> think you are asking too much for prescription information.  If it were an
> important  lengthy document, then I can see making a fuss but for the 
> stuff
> that comes with your prescriptions, you are making too much out of it.  Be
> glad that we now have this information available to us.  Things might not 
> be
> perfect but it is a lot better than it used to be.
>
> -----Original Message----- 
> From: Peter Donahue via blindtlk
> Sent: Saturday, December 10, 2016 11:20 AM
> To: steve.jacobson at visi.com ; Blind Talk Mailing List
> Cc: Peter Donahue
> Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Uncollated and Unbound Braille Material
>
> Hello Steve and everyone,
>
>     As previously mentioned we've been to national conventions and have
> been given Braille material that first needed to be put in order before
> it could be read. It's still the NFB's responsibility to be an example
> of how Braille should be presented to the blind. The Education Service
> Center, the Via Metropolitan Transit Authority, and the San Antonio
> Lighthouse for the Blind deliver Braille publications colated, bound,
> and ready to read. Nothing less will do! All the best.
>
> Peter Donahue
>
>
>
>
> Steve Jacobson via blindtlk wrote:
>> Peter,
>>
>> While I tend to agree with Brian and Mike, I would like to propose some
>> thoughts on this and see what your reaction is.  Your statement that
>> sighted
>> people wouldn't accept documents that are not collated really doesn't
>> apply
>> to this directly.  For example, the information I have seen that
>> accompanies
>> a prescription in print is not colated at all.  In fact, how it is 
>> printed
>> is not all that consistent.  We routinely receive information in the mail
>> that consists of multiple sheets of information, sometimes folded
>> together,
>> but not bound.  Printed prescription information is sometimes on the 
>> label
>> attached to the bottle and sometimes also on a sheet from which the 
>> bottle
>> label was printed.  Such documents are printed and mailed quickly along
>> with
>> the order.  They often are not even stapled in my experience.
>>
>> As you know, one of the issues we have is that braille takes up more 
>> space
>> and is printed on heavier paper.  This can mean that what we receive in
>> braille may well be more of a document than text printed on a couple of
>> unbound print pages.  This means that the people making these decisions
>> are
>> not even going to think in terms of binding documents since it is not at
>> all
>> a consideration for their print documents.  Further, those producing
>> braille
>> are likely going to have a flat charge for binding that is based more on
>> the
>> number of volumes rather than the number of pages.  Therefore, binding a
>> small document as are prescription warnings, is going to add 
>> significantly
>> to the cost of brailling each document.
>>
>> Therefore, it seems to me that we have to be careful about drawing the
>> parallels you draw between collating print and braille documents and give
>> some consideration if it is worth the increased cost of making braille
>> available in all cases.  With all of the issues that face us, I just 
>> can't
>> see mounting a national campaign, especially when you will probably read
>> the
>> document once and throw it away.  We just have to think these things
>> through.
>>
>> Best regards,
>>
>> Steve Jacobson
>>  I
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: blindtlk [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Peter
>> Donahue via blindtlk
>> Sent: Friday, December 09, 2016 10:32 PM
>> To: 'National Association to Promote the Use of Braille Mailing List'
>> <napub at nfbnet.org>
>> Cc: Peter Donahue <pdonahue2 at satx.rr.com>; 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
>> <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
>> Subject: [Blindtlk] Uncollated and Unbound Braille Material
>>
>> Good evening everyone,
>>
>>
>>                 This afternoon, in addition to receiving two prescription
>> medicines from CVS/Caremark Mail Order Service, I also received some
>> braille
>> documentation describing the dangers and the side effects of the two
>> medicines. While I appreciated CVS/Caremark including the subscription
>> information in braille, the pages were unbound and uncollated. Would we
>> stand for that if we were sighted? Absolutely not!
>>
>>
>>                 Needless to say, I called CVS/Caremark Customer Service.
>> There was not much the representative could do, so she transferred me to
>> one
>> of her managers named Orion. Orion sent an email directly to the pharmacy
>> since the pharmacy was responsible for packing and shipping the medicines
>> to
>> me.
>>
>>
>>                 We have received such unbound and uncollated
>> documentation
>> from our local transit service, and for the past year, any documentation
>> we
>> receive has been collated and bound properly. In addition, when the Texas
>> Division of Blind Services was the Texas Commission for the Blind, I
>> received an unbound, uncollated document. Even NFB has given out
>> uncollated,
>> unbound documentation at national conventions.
>>
>>
>>                 I strongly urge that if any of you use CVS/Caremark as
>> your
>> subscription drug provider, or if you receive braille documentation from
>> any
>> other groups, please call and/or send them a letter or email. We do not
>> need
>> to tolerate unbound, uncollated pages. I know if I transcribed and
>> proofread
>> such documentation, I would make sure the pages were collagted and bound
>> before shipping.
>>
>>
>>                 At any rate, those are my two cents on this matter.
>> Here's
>> hoping you enjoy the rest of your weekend!
>>
>>
>> Mary Donahue
>>
>>
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>>
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>
>
>
>
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