When David Pogue was
diagnosed in 1996 with wrist synovitis -- a
painful, largely untreatable inflammation of the
lining of the wrist joint -- his doctor
recommended he quit writing and playing the piano
to relieve the pain.
That wasn't acceptable to the
patient. "I only do two things in life," said
Pogue, who writes a weekly New York Times column
on consumer technology and pumps out several books
a year -- on topics as diverse as opera and
Macintosh computers. "I write and I play the
piano."
Juliette Rizzo uses voice recognition software to do computer work despite arthritis. (Cathy Kapulka - The Washington Post)
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While Pogue cut back on the
latter, he looked for another writing solution. He
tried dictating to a stenographer. "It was fine
for laying down the text," he said, but polishing
his work proved a nightmare for both him and his
assistant.
Ultimately, the
Connecticut-based scribe found an answer in what
was then only an emerging technology: computer
software that transforms speech into electronic
text. Pogue suffered through several generations
of primitive programs that required him to speak
slowly and haltingly into his computer. But he
adapted, and the technology improved. Today, Pogue
said, voice recognition software allows him to
turn out clean and error-free copy at nearly twice
the speed the typical person types.
"It freaks people out," said
Pogue, who has no financial ties to the software
firms. "No one knows that a tool like this exists.
It's absolutely jaw-dropping."
To be fair, Pogue's work as a
tech reporter gives him an advantage over many
people in terms of adaptability. Still, the coming
of age of voice recognition products is good news,
particularly for those worried that an injury --
even a temporary one, like a broken arm or a
sprained wrist -- could cost them their jobs by
keeping them from their keyboards. Should a
hand-related injury or a motor-skills problem
cramp your style, a new generation of moderately
priced, user-friendly devices may get you back to
your computer sooner than you -- or your boss --
thought possible.
Look, Ma, No
Hands
Since the mid-1980s,
high-tech devices that "hear" what a user says and
turn the spoken word into electronic text have
held out promise to amputees, upper-body
paraplegics and others unable to type or
manipulate a mouse, according to Kristine Neuber,
an assistive technology specialist and director of
George Mason University's Helen A. Kellar
Institute for Human Disabilities in Fairfax. The
institute provides training and technical
assistance to students with disabilities and their
teachers. Like Pogue, Neuber said the early
programs' reputation for intractability was
well-deserved.
Not only did they require
users to speak at an unnatural pace, they also
turned out documents riddled with errors -- for
instance, typing "ice cream" when the user said,
"I scream." By and large, only people with the
most severe disabilities -- and few other options
-- were willing to put up with the glitches,
Neuber says.
The software also was
prohibitively costly.
Today, much of that has
changed. Voice recognition software packages
priced at $10,000 and up a decade ago can now be
purchased for less than $200. And they no longer
require users to speak as though a listener were
jotting their words in longhand.
While most of the
off-the-shelf products were not designed
specifically for people with disabilities, they
can be a boon to anyone struggling to use
traditional computer equipment, according to
Michael Young, manager of the Computer/Electronic
Accommodations Program, a free Defense Department
service that matches people with specialized
equipment needs to the appropriate assistive
technology.
Juliette Rizzo,
communications director of the Office of Special
Education and Rehabilitation Services at the U.S.
Department of Education, agrees. Five years ago,
she began using a voice recognition program that
allows her to continue working when her arthritis
flares up and typing becomes painful.
"People in the office enjoy
watching me use it," she said. "They see how easy
it is and wish they had it on their
computers."
Karen Jacobs, a Boston-based
occupational therapist and a spokeswoman for the
American Occupational Therapy Association, said
the learning period for speech recognition
software is short enough that it's become a
practical option even for those with short-term
impairments