ADAPTIVE EQUIPMENT EDUCATION
Using Voice Commands for Dragon Naturally Speaking:
When controlling a computer with your voice the commands need to be simple and clear. Your child needs to understand that it is not like talking to a person and adjust their speech accordingly. Your child will need to be able to produce clear speech. It does not matter however if there are any speech impediments as the software can accommodate for this. This is an education approach to therapy/activity.
How it helps:
Goals:
How to use voice commands:
Is it too easy:
Too much of a challenge:
When controlling a computer with your voice the commands need to be simple and clear. Your child needs to understand that it is not like talking to a person and adjust their speech accordingly. Your child will need to be able to produce clear speech. It does not matter however if there are any speech impediments as the software can accommodate for this. This is an education approach to therapy/activity.
How it helps:
- This will increase their independence and confidence.
- It gives your child another option if their writing is not a strong skill or they get tired quickly.
- It gives them the experience of learning how to use different technology.
Goals:
- Your child will be able to use the software effectively.
- They will be able to produce clear commands for the software.
How to use voice commands:
- Explore with your child the different things they may need to do e.g., open a word document and enter text.
- Focus on the terminology needed to produce a word document.
- Work through step by step; say simply to the computer 'open word', practice saying the command.
- Next step, formatting the document i.e. setting font style and point size. Get your child to say 'set font to comic sans' 'set font to 12 points', practice saying the command.
- When dictating words they need to speak clearly and at a constant rate, not too quick. Practice a simple sentence 'my name is ........, I am 13 years old'.
- Once a script has been devised your child can begin to use the software.
- Follow the previous steps using the actual software.
Is it too easy:
- Increase the number of steps to the formatting process e.g., starting a new paragraph or entering a comma, hyphen etc....
Too much of a challenge:
- Have word already open and the document formatted and allow your child to practice entering simple sentences.