Unsure question

[Andrew MacLean]

In my part of Scotland people who are registered blind get a free travel pass (busses, trains and ferries) that covers the whole of Scotland. When I had mine I used to assert that I could travel free all the way to Lerwick (Shetland Islands) and back!

Sad thing is that I never did

Andrew

[GarethB]

Where I live, if I get to the point I am unable to drive, but not registerd blind I am entitled to a bus pass to travel at off peak times. If I were to get a job and use the bust to get there, the pass would be upgraded to allow free travel anytime of day.

Better than when I lived in the Dales, we had one bus once per week to the village, so if you got on it to go to town, you would have to be in town for the whole week if you wanted the bus back to the village!

[Andrew MacLean]

It is a pity that there is no universal provision for the visually impaired. I think that he Scottish Executive is trying to iron out the differences in this jurisdiction by introducing a national travel pass, but even this is not as generous as the provision made by the various local authorities that subscribe to the Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive.

Then you always get into the problem of areas without regular public transport.

When I was in my teens I hiked over moor and mountain and arrived in a small highland village. I found a bus stop next to a local general store. In the store I was buying some chocolate and happened to ask what time the bus to Fort William was due (we thought we might give our feet and legs a bit of a rest and travel by bus to Fort William where we'd take the train back to the big city).

Without any sense of irony the woman in the shop said "the fort Willian bus will be along on Tuesday".

We walked.

Andrew

[John Smith]

The Greater London situation is a bit odd. Travel passes (called "Freedom Passes" for the disabled) are handed out by the boroughs, but are regulated by TfL (Transport for London, which superceded London Transport as the "PTE").

You don't need to be registered partially sighted to receive a Freedom Pass, the guidelines basically say that if you would fail the DVLA test, then you're eligible.

Freedom pass holders get 100% free travel on all LT buses and underground trains at all times, and on National Rail trains after 0930. (Some NR lines actually allow all times travel).

It's a good system, and it is a shame that the whole of the UK isn't similarly provided for.

[rosemary johnson]

John: Really?!!! I could have got my Freedom Pass from the time I couldn't reliably read a number plate at however many metres?? Wish I'd known that years ago!!
Yes, it's a good system - and you can buy rail tickets "from the edge of Zone 6" on most lines when you go further afield.
Note: the rules for the "disabled" freedom pass and the "elderly person's" card are not the same.
I think though that once you are registered, they will renwe it automatically and others have to get doctor's letters every two years, etc.

Pru: Everyone - well, all experienced readers - only actually read parts of each word/sentence and their brain fills in the rest. Apparently. People have researched this using sensors to tell where people's eyes are glancing. When we mis-read things, the brain has made a wrong guess, apparently.
But Oh my goodness! about your daughter. It could be hitting at just the wrong age. best wishes to her (and you, of course). I hope she can at least learn how to read before it gets too bad.

Rosemary

[Andrew MacLean]

Actually, John, I am pretty sure that my original suggestion that you had to be registered bline to qualify for a Stathclyde Scottish Travel Pass may have been mislading. Looking at the rules it may be that the same threshhold is set: sight not good enough to satisfy the DVLA requirements.

Andrew

[wheelnut]

Pru: Everyone - well, all experienced readers - only actually read parts of each word/sentence and their brain fills in the rest. Apparently. People have researched this using sensors to tell where people's eyes are glancing. When we mis-read things, the brain has made a wrong guess, apparently.
But Oh my goodness! about your daughter. It could be hitting at just the wrong age. best wishes to her (and you, of course). I hope she can at least learn how to read before it gets too bad.

Rosemary

Have a read of this......

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid. occdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer inwaht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt ihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit
pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? Yaeh and I awlyas thought slpeling was ipmorantt.

[Andrew MacLean]

"Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure." Actually, the proper form would be the colloquial: "Te audire non possum est. Musa fixa in aure sapientum est."

Sorry, but I couldn't resist I am a bad man I know, but I am wondering why you don't just take the banana out of your ear?

I lkied teh eaxmlep yuo gvae. You make your point well: we really do not read the letters, but recognize the words. sometimes we don't even read the words but recognize the sentence and if you are very good at it you swometimes recognize the paragraph.

It is only when we come across words we do not recognize that we slow right down.

Andrew

[jayuk]

Wheelnut, that was actually quite cool!!!...I actually read that as I would have normally in the smae amount of time!

[wheelnut]

So much for a comprehensive education! Duly noted and changed

Someone sent me that portion of text a while ago and I thought in was pretty good too!

Andy