So...I intended to write this blog bimonthly; however, an unfortunate accident occurred on (of all days) Friday the 13th. I lost the use of my right hand because I had fractured my index finger while trying to catch a forcefully passed basketball. Fortunately, only the index finger was damaged. Judging from where the ball was thrown to me (under the basket) and where the ball impacted my hand (at the three point line), the velocity and force definitely exceeded what was needed to pass the ball. What I had not taken into account, shooting hoops with a few gentlemen at my church, was that the individual who passed the ball to me had a disability. Suffice it to say, I had made a mistake in allowing this person to play with me; that is not to say that I should not have had a person with a disability play basketball, but rather I should have been aware of what that person was capable of doing. For the moment, I have decided to take a break from any competitive sport, regardless of how harmless it may be. I value my health much more than I had when I was younger. I have come to embrace the idea that: Health is wealth.

Being without the use of my right hand has brought me new challenges. At work, I am constantly on the computer; I use both my hands to navigate software and data. This injury has made it difficult for me to do my tasks. Fortunately, I am aware of technology for persons with physical disabilities, which I am now using to aid me in completing my tasks at work and at home. I am also finding new ways to work on the computer without the use of my hands. This has been especially useful to me since it allows my arms and wrists to relax from the constant repetitive motion that I perform on the keyboard and mouse. The software that I am currently using to make all this possible is Windows 10's Speech Recognition software, which I am using to write this blog.

Windows 10's Speech Recognition software allows the user to dictate to the computer text as well as commands. It even has a feature that allows you to control mouse movements and clicks. The software's functionality amazed me, at first, because of its versatility as well as how well it understood my pronunciation. Don't get me wrong. It's not perfect, but it can get the job done. Unfortunately, I cannot use it with other software as I would like; for example, Speech Recognition does not work well with LibreOffice Writer; you actually have to use the PRESS command in order to type into Writer instead of just dictating the text. Another drawback for Speech Recognition was the inability to use number pad's numbers; this may seem trivial, but some people actually do use those numbers in conjunction with other keys. Dictation performance does drop due to corrections; the user's voice is not always interpreted correctly, and changes are needed to correct misinterpreted commands and words.

The software that works best with Speech Recognition, in my opinion, is Notepad. You don't get all the fancy corrections that you would expect from Microsoft Word, but you can dictate much more easily. I typically write my text in Notepad first, and then I will Copy-and-Paste the text in the application of my choice. From there, I can do any additional editing or manipulation needed. For me, it is the most efficient way to dictate to my computer. That's not to say that there is another way to utilize Speech Recognition when dictating; it is what I have found that works best for me.

I do intend to look into obtaining Dragon Naturally Speaking from Nuance. My understanding is that Microsoft has acquired the company as well as the software. It is possible, somewhere down the road, that Dragon Naturally Speaking, or a form of it, will end up in the Windows operating system. From what I can tell, Dragon Naturally Speaking appears to be superior to Speech Recognition. I do not believe it is flawless, as I have read statements regarding compatibility issues with other software. That being said, it does seem to integrate better with other software than Speech Recognition. The price for Dragon Naturally Speaking his hefty, but if it is much better than Speech Recognition, it might be a worthwhile investment, especially if I want to preserve my arms, hands, and wrists. And in the end, isn't that what I truly want? Isn't health wealth?