Help! Need new computer.

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azgirl

Senior member
Joined
Jan 20, 2014
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961
Reason
PALS
Diagnosis
12/2013
Country
US
State
AZ
City
Tucson
I'm getting increasingly frustrated with my Kindle Fire tablet now that I'm down to one finger typing. I like using my iPhone for speech to text, as currently my voice is not affected. However, with the exception of my iPhone, I've been a Windows user. So I'm pretty comfortable with either format.

Here's what I want for a computer, or perhaps more likely, a tablet:

- speech to text options

- search the web

- email

- compose documents

- read books

Possibly there are other things I haven't thought of, such as if/when I lose my voice.

Any suggestions or tips will be greatly appreciated.

Kay
 
Kay,

I've been using a Nexus 10 for several years and have been really happy with it. The 10 is no longer being produced, having been replaced by a 9 inch model. In my experience, the android OS, v5 (Lollipop) is so much better at speech to text than apple's, its no competition.

Mark
 
I just switched to a MacBook Pro. Personally love it. Dictation on it is good too. And I lot of easy swiping gestures over the trackpad too.
 
tract can you send a link to the stap program? I will need an eyegaze soon. Thanks. Did you get a Tobii or Dynavox?

Neil
 
We tried the Tobii... but it was just too slow and cumbersome. So I took one of my small footprint system builds and added Dragon Naturally Speaking Professional. Darcey now uses a wireless headset to open Outlook to read, create and send emails. She can open Facebook and use it (as it was meant to be used... not how Tobii wanted it to be used) with her voice controlling most actions. She still has minimal use of her right hand... and can still just barely move and click a mouse. When I ask her about it she says, "I"m in heaven!"

Jim
 
We were really pleased with the computer and eye-tracker that the VA provided us from FRS-Solutions dot com. They have a try-out program according to their website.

The FRS computer was a full Windows system, hardened against breakage, with communication software right on top.
 
My speech therapist at my MDA clinic told me about it. Here is the link to the Texas site

DARS - DHHS Specialized Telecommunications Assistance Program

Here is a link to the system I got.
Assistive Technology | Eye Controlled Assistive Technology by LC Technologies |

The grants are paid with money every phone company collect a fee for the grant. It took eleven weeks to get it. It is a huge learning curve. I looked at a Tobii and this one. I preferred this one because it had a way for me to text from my Verizon web app. But I no longer have a voice and am losing my hands. We got a wheelchair mount with it. It is a touch screen laptop with a removable keyboard. I can shop on eBay and Amazon. Post on Facebook and Twitter. Read kindle books ànd watch Netflix.
 
YIKES! i am so far behind the 8 ball on tech. stuff like you Kay i am a one finger wonder,real slow. i don't even have a cell phone! and my cals is just as bad with tech. guess i am about to jump into the 20th century, i mean 21st. i am using an old Mac for e-mail, web search,etc. but that's the extent so far. i like the idea of voice activated stuff. got to get on the ball before i really need this tech. thanks chally
 
my wife used Dragon Naturally Speaking Professional until she no longer cold talk and is now using a tobii. It worked great for her and we did not have to add a new computer until she got the tobii You can also get a Dragon app if you want it.
 
I maybe scared some of you with huge learning curve comment. It takes practice times through the day. I get on it for ten or fifteen minutes throughout the day. I've managed to post on Facebook, check email, have conversations, access YouTube, Netflix and shop on Amazon. Next I'm going to post on here.
 
So here's the solution I came up with for now. I purchased an iPad air 2. It seemed like the easiest solution since I'm so comfortable with my iPhone. There are so many apps to explore. I'm using it right now for music, as a kindle, text messaging, and replying or commenting on the forum email and Facebook.

I'm using Dragon naturally speaking on my PC, but the iPad has been much more convenient from the PWC.

I did get to demo the Toby I gaze last week. It seemed a little difficult to use especially since eyewear progressive eyeglasses. The rep said it works better with just a single lens or no glasses at all .

My next step is to explore switches for the iPad. It's getting harder for me to use a touch screen as I'm down to my thumb of them and one index finger . Any suggestions about switches would be appreciated.

Please ignore the typos, I used speech to text to write this and I'm not very good at editing yet
 
Can you move your head? That can be set up as a switch for the iPad.

Some people (don't know your capabilities) mount the iPad and use a mouth stick.

As for regular switches, you will need a switch interface and then hopefully to borrow switches from your TAP lending library because it's really hard to predict which one(s) will work. I would browse sites like RJ Cooper first to get a flavor of possibilities. And check out atmac.
 
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