CASE 1: Voice Recognition Technology

If ANYONE can appreciate the advantages of Voice Recognition Technology, it's Andy McGoweb who spent three and half years working on his recently published book- They laughed at this Man's Funeral. The mason the book took so long to complete was less to do with writer's block than the method by which he inputted the text. For the - past 22 years Mtowma& has suffered from motor neurone0 disease which has primarily affected his arms and hands. Four years ago, he started using an AppLe II which he operated with his foot. "The system had an on-screen keyboard. By using my foot I could move the cursor onto my chosen letter and it would then appear on the page," he explains. "It was a slow process but I stayed with it and succeeded in finishing the book" In the last few months, he has bought a new computer with the voice recognition system Solo Naturally Speaking. "I'm still very much at the learning stage' I can write a letter, for example, but I need more training on how to switch between programs," he says.
"Already though it seems like it will be a lot easier to use. Computers can contribute a great deal to people with disabilities. However, they themselves have to confront the challenge of actually using the technology," McCormack says. "Some believe that they cannot do that but, of course, the same is true of people without disabilities."

CASE STUDY 2: The Chameleon and The Lightwriter

SEVERE cerebral palsy means that, James Brosnan cannot speak and has limited movement, Despite this, he is currently in his second year at Dublin City University doing a Communications Degree.
Brosnan, who has been communicating with the help of various technological devices since he was a young child, now uses two systems for all-day usage, he controls them by moving his chin.
"The Chameleon is the primary and complex one with voice, word processor and Internet access, and the Lightwriter is the small and simple one that I have for casual talk and for travel," he says.
Heavy usage means that the Chameleon has a tendency to break down.
When this happens, the system has to be shipped over to Britain where repairs can take anything up to six weeks. For Brosnan< This means being cut off from his main means of communication for the repair period. It's not a particularly satisfactory situation.
"I cannot afford to exist within a limbo of death each time my powerful but fragile system fails. And I know I am not alone," he says. "Isn't the Celtic Tiger still with us? Well the disabled community hardly saw it I'd like some of the specialised computer manufacturer who neither England or America based, to set up periphery services here." Brosnan believes that he is one of the few extremely lucky people who have a communication device in this country. He says that Europe needs to follow the American example, where money is allocated thanks to the Technology Related Act under the 1988 American act.

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