Technology in Post-Secondary

Technology in Post-Secondary

I was first introduced to the Dragon System when I was transitioning from secondary to post-secondary school.  At the time the only system I could use was the Discrete Speech which means the user says ‘one – word – at – a - time’ opposed to continuous speech where the use speaks in a natural rhythm. The discrete speech recognition was good but it was very time consuming.  To read more about continuous vs discrete speech recognition click on this link http://www.synapse-ada.com/naturallyspeaking/define.html  You must remember that this was the mid 1990’s so continuous speech recognition was not what it is today.

I used Dragon Discrete speech until I was in University and when the time came for me to get a new system things changed. I have been fortunate to have all my computer related needs met through the Technology Access Clinic at Chedoke in Hamilton and had the same Occupational Therapist for years. When I went to the clinic for my assessment I was informed that my O.T. was no longer with them and I now had someone new. This O.T. was great, not that the others we not good but this one was not afraid to try new things with me. Making sure that I had all my technology needs met.

As we started taking about my new system, at the time, he mentioned to me that Dragon had a new Pro edition that he wanted me to try.  If I remember correctly I think I laughed out loud and said something like ‘not with my speech’. My speech pathologist was there with me and talked me into trying it out which I reluctantly did, not expecting it to work. To my surprise it worked better than I thought. It actually understood the majority of words I was saying. It did take a long time in the beginning to train Dragon to my speech patterns but it was definitely worth it. I have used Dragon Naturally Speaking for about 15 years and have found it fantastic.  

When I use the computer I use a combination of keyboarding and speech recognition. When my fingers get cramped up or sore I switch to Dragon and when I get tired from speaking I switch back to keyboarding.