I know this is a bit off-topic, yet been wondering and wanted to hear people's opinion on the matter. it seems this somehow have been discussed before, still, what do you think.
As any Braille user will know, we are supposed to use 8 fingers for reading fast and effeciently. That is, the fingers on both hands, except our thumbs. True enough, thumbs ar on the page, but I am not aware if anyone would claim that they really read with their thumbs. When discussing Braille reading back in time, my impression is that though we use 8 fingers on the page, seemingly particularly ONE finger stands out to be the number-one for reading. That finger is the one the user will prefer, should he ever need to read something with only one finger. And you often do want to do one-finger-reading. Whenever you are to find a volume in your bookshelf, or you are to read the Braille tag telling the color of your cloghing, or any other narrow and tight places. Try searching for the page number in a book, using 8 fingers. Smile. My big wondering here, could be three-fold - at least. First of all, is this the case, that you have one "main finger" for reading Braille? Secondly, if so, say you are a right-handed person, is your prefered finger then on your left or right hand; and consequently same question for left-handed people. Number three, which finger is your prefered one? Will it be your Index-finger, Middle-finger or does your preference sit with any of the others? Even, we could be tempted to ask if people find the same finger being their main "seeing" finger, whenever you are to explore your way on any surface, or perform daily tasks around the house, office or workshop. Those who happen to be users of the no-longer manufactured reading equipment named Optacon, would be using mainly one finger, due to the very shape of the Optacon itself. And though it might be nice to know alternative on that equipment, my question widens out for Braille users in general, due to that being a more representative group. For one, I find that I have one finger, that is of special good service. Whether it comes to Braille, or simply just "seeing" what I am doing when working, that one finger is my top preference. Should I - for any reasons - find that the finger is out of business for a day or two, braille reading as well as many daily living tasks, become somehow more challenging. And I could think of people suffering from Diabetes - who have to punch their finger tips seveeral times a day - probably they prefer to leave their prefered-finger untouched by any puncher. Not to disturb you all in making up your own mind, for now I will leave it untold which finger I personal find most useful. If anyone feels like sharing their experience, or know of any study that has been dealing with the matter, it would be nice to hear your feedback. Otherwise, maybe this message might just have made you aware of something of lesser interest, yet quite puzzling. Sorry, to those who find it too much off-topic. _______________________________________________ Any views or opinions presented in this email are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Ai Squared. For membership options, visit http://lists.window-eyes.com/options.cgi/talk-window-eyes.com/archive%40mail-archive.com. For subscription options, visit http://lists.window-eyes.com/listinfo.cgi/talk-window-eyes.com List archives can be found at http://lists.window-eyes.com/private.cgi/talk-window-eyes.com
