Does anyone have a child that uses dictating software? What is the minimum age for something like this? Does it work well? how would I find out more about it?
Does anyone have a child that uses dictating software? What is the minimum age for something like this? Does it work well? how would I find out more about it?
I have personally used voice recognition software (Dragon Naturally Speaking) when I badly injured my right hand. I’m a writer, and was in the middle of several projects when it happened. My hand was completely unusable for 3 months.
I found that for a very motivated adult, who did LOTS of “training”, it was definitely better than typing with just my left (non-dominant) hand. But even though I still don’t have full use of the fingers in my right hand, as soon as my hand was even partially useable, I went back to typing. I am much faster with 7 fingers than I was with the voice rec. software.
My 11 year old NLD son was completely unsuccessful with it, even though he worked really hard with the training software too. PArt of that may have been his age, but he also has a speech dysfluency that I think made it worse. There are other limitations as well. It tries to turn absolutely every sound it “hears” into a word. So if you have a cold, and sniffle, it types that in. If anyone else is talking or the TV is on in the background, it tries to turn that into text. You could never use it in a classroom!
I think for a child with a significant physical handicap, it might be a good option. For any child who has the physical ability to use a keyboard, I think that the keyboard is still a better option.
Karen