Anyone out there have any experiences with voice recognition software, specifically the Dragon Speak 7.0? I was wondering how easy it would be for a child to use and for what age would it be appropriate? The one child I have in mind (age 10, grade 5) is very verbal but has issues with upper body strength and handwriting. His keyboarding is coming along, but is slow yet he is very verbal. An OT recommended strength training and a slant board but did not comment on technology for I guess a lack of information on the subject. The second child is 9 years in grade 3 and is also very verbal but her writing slows down for her lack of spelling and she looses her thoughts, writes less, etc. Any comments would be helpful. Thanks! KD
Re: Dragon Speak Naturally 7.0
What is always important to do when considering assistive technology is to see what the team has tried and already considered. (IDEA requires that all IEP teams consider AT for all children on IEPs.
DNS v. 7 can be very beneficial for students but the team needs to do an AT assessment and have a few trials of different types of technology with data collection to show effectiveness. I wouldn’t want to set up the student for failure if this is a type of software from which she will greatly benefit in a higher grade. There should be a process in place for this type of determination. Go to the www.qiat.org and the www.wati.org websites for excellent information about AT consideration and implementation.
Yes, I had good success with dragon speak naturally with a child between 5 and 6th grade. I trained the program for my voice so that I understood how to do it and then assisted my daughter in the voice training. The more training you do the better the results. There are passages for younger readers to read, sometimes I had to whisper in her ear but it was doable. She learned how to make corrections and then it really took off. Microphone placement is important.
She uses it less now as her keyboarding has improved.
The caveat is that she was always good at dictation-clear, good dictation, very little hesitation, well organized speech. - she just couldn’t write!
It is not an expensive program and well worth a try.