Equipment Help

[DeeDee]

Can anyone suggest what type of equipment I might be able to get for my fathers computer? He is using a wireless keyboard but this is getting too hard for him as he is losing the function in his right hand, (he has no function in his left). Also, if there is any type of magnification for the screen.
Thanks!

 

[REDNECKCA]

computer without the keyboard

I don't know if your father can still speak or not, but if he can speak, here is one good solution.

I lost the ability to type about a month ago. My voice is still pretty good, so I installed a voice to text computer program. There are several, but I think the best one is Dragon Nine. That is what I'm using right now to type this message. It is a product By Nuance. Cost about $100, and requires 1 GB of Ram.

Took me only two or three days to learn how to operate the system. Dragon nine as a large vocabulary, and does all of the punctuation, except the periods. If the wrong word comes up on the screen, you can verbally make modifications.

If my voice holds out, I'm set for a long time.

If you need more information, ask me here on this site.

Red neck -- Dragon

 

[quadbliss]

Hi DeeDee,

Does your Dad use a PC or a Mac? If he uses a PC, what operating system is on the computer?

Mike

 

[Peg B]

Dragon and periods

Hi,

I have used Dragon voice recognition for about 15 years and trained teachers and students with all sorts of different disabilities. I have version 7 at home and used 8 at school. All of the versions beginnig with 1 have made periods. Hold the control key down when you say period to teach it that you want it to put a period on the document. I hopes this helps. Dragon is the best voice recognition program.

I was thinking about it today and Dragon NaturallySpeaking Preferred which costs anywhere from 150 to 200 (cheapest on the internet than in stores) also records your voice as you dictate. There is a way to save the voice files so Dragon can be used to start building a verbal response menu to be used by simple strokes on the keyboard so a person who cannot speak can execute pre recorded and printed responses. I know there are other programs out there that can do that but they usually cost a lot more money. Just a thought. God Bless, Peg

 

[Peg B]

screen magnavcation

Hi DeeDee,

You can make the screen font and pictures bigger by going to the control panel on a PC and click the disability icon to change your screen to bigger icons and text. Play with it and see what size works for your dad. Best Wishes, Peg

 

[conniej]

My brother lost the use of his hands and we got him a hands free mouse. I actually just posted both of them. They work on infrared dots that we put on his hat. You can put them on your glasses or nose or whatever. It was AMAZING- it opened back up the computer world for him. He surfed the net, wrote letters and emails, etc. We used the SMART NAV systems but there are several out there.