Adapted Speech Recognition

You never know what tidbits you'll pick up at a conference.  I've evaluated and trained many people on the use of speech recognition as an alternative to typing, including people with speech impairments.  But there's always something new to learn.

Doug Bowes of SET-BC (Vancouver, Canada), presented on training those with speech impairments in the use of Dragon Naturally Speaking.  He spoke about students whose speech is intelligible to other people, but for whom speech recognition software might be difficult to use.  We've always talked to our students about enunciating, taking breaks, making sure they get enough breath support.  But one little tip from Doug was to encourage students to enunciate the ends of words.  This bit of advice can be easier for students to understand and follow, and naturally leads them to avoid combining the end of one word with the beginning of the next.

SET-BC has a great website with lots of AT training resources:  www.SET-BC.org.
Here's a form they use when considering speech recognition for any student:
Speech Recognition Consideration Form

Talk to your iPAD

I know...everywhere you look recently there is another article about the iPAD and how it is the next greatest must-have device. With the iPAD coming out tomorrow, the amount of press is sure to increase (if that is possible!).

This post won't be about that - if you want those kinds of articles check out:
Crave - The Gadget Blog from C/NET
Gizmodo - Search for iPAD
or visit the official Apple iPAD Store


Instead, we will focus on the ability to use the FREE (yes..I said it!) Dragon Dictation app on the iPAD! According to Nuance, the application runs the Dragon Naturally Speaking speech engine and will allow users to dictate directly into the iPAD.



As the iPAD starts to get in the hands of users, we will update this post with user reviews of this software. Using Dragon on the iPAD may be a viable alternative to a laptop computer and would provide an additional level of flexibility to speech recognition users.

Do you have an iPAD? Want to be a guest reviewer? Leave a comment below and share your experiences.

Do You Have Questions About Dragon Naturally Speaking?

When I first started learning how to use Dragon Naturally Speaking, a powerful voice recognition program, I found it exciting, yet overwhelming. I got myself in lots of sticky situations and wasn’t really sure how to get out of them. For example, typing my email address, microphone problems (Why won’t my microphone work…oh, the mute button…), etc. Through reading (and re-reading, and re-reading) the manual, perusing various websites and listservs, asking lots of questions of my co-workers, and most of all tinkering around, I’ve come to understand and love using this tool.

I recently revisited the website, www.nuance.com/naturallyspeaking and was very happily surprised at the wealth of information I found, and wished I had it when I was learning this program. I was on this website for hours. Here’s some of what I found under the “For Customers” link:

• There are a whole slew of instructional videos that are easy to use. If you don’t have someone to help you learn Dragon, videos are the next best thing.
• I found some PDF “cheat sheets” that would be helpful if you are learning Dragon or teaching it to others.
• You can read stories from Dragon users, including students, professionals, and home users.
• You can view their blog, which has lots of news about Dragon’s acquisition of MacSpeech and Dragon apps for the iPhone.
• Dragon has a monthly newsletter that you can sign up to receive. This is where I spent most of my time. There is some really helpful, practical information here.
• Second to the newsletter, I loved the Tips and Tricks sections, which gives some of the lesser known tricks that can make a big difference in one’s success with this tool.

Having this information readily available online has helped my consumers be more independent in their training process. Check it out!

Can elementary school students use speech recognition (i.e., Dragon Naturally Speaking)?

We have used DNS with students, but usually with older students. There is a lot of practice that is needed, learning to correct the software when (not if) it makes mistakes. For those who cannot use a keyboard (due to physical disability), and meet all the other criteria (ease with computers, need to type longer material, quiet environment), it is great. For those with learning disabilities, who have difficulty with spelling, there are more barriers (since you need to be able to spot errors and spell corrections).

However, I always say that each person is an individual, and I wouldn't say that an elementary school student couldn't use it. Usually, what overcomes these barriers is a need and desire to use the tool to meet the goal, some level of maturity, and training on how to use the program so that your voice file gets better with time, and not worse.

Here is a personal story from an adult with cerebral palsy who used it from elementary school.
click here.

And here's a video of a high school student with a learning disability who started using it at age 9. (note that the video is dated- from 2007)

Are you talking to me?

Voice recognition technology can be a powerful tool for struggling writers. Have you been thinking about voice recognition either for yourself or someone you work with? Are you working with someone who can describe ideas verbally but is unable to write it down? How about a person with a learning disability? A speech impairment? Or a physical disability? Not sure how reliable the available systems are?

Assistive Technology Services will be hosting a full day workshop on voice recognition on August 18th, from 9 AM to 3PM at our Ewing, NJ office. This workshop will be a great opportunity for you to experience first hand the power of this technology solution. Each participant will have their own computer system, loaded with Dragon NaturallySpeaking, to test drive during the session. Through instructor led examples and hands on opportunities, participants will gain a better understanding of this powerful technology.

To sign up, please click here.