My Personal Journey through Post-punk, Art, Music and Radio
10. My conversion to computers
I am 43 years of age and have had MS for 21 years. I have been in a wheelchair for ten years,
and a motorised chair for the past 4 1/2 years. I worked for 16 years as a structural engineer designing buildings and bridges and stopped working in March 1998. I have limited use of my arms and legs and now, as of two years ago, drive my motorised wheelchair with a chin control. I have really mastered this to the point where my neurologist tells me that I get through the doorway to her office better than most people in manual wheelchairs.
All through my working life I tried to avoid using computers and was rather a technophobe (fear of computers particularly). I was determined never to get a home computer as I firmly believed that it would be more trouble than it was worth and would further complicate my life, which I believed was complicated enough (which I am sure many of you reading this could relate to).
In April last year I was staying for three weeks at the Multiple Sclerosis Centre at Lidcombe in Sydney. I had been feeling more and more left out by not having access to e-mail or the Internet, so I was very keen to find out all I could about computers and voice-activated control (which I needed due to limited use of my arms and hands). Well, much to my surprise and pleasure I became addicted and found voice-activated control of the computer to be not only easy to pick up but fun to use. I was then surfing the Internet very easily and was then very keen to set up a computer system for myself at home.
The occupational therapists at the MS Centre put me in touch with an organisation called "Ability Technology" based in Sydney. The OT's arranged my first meeting with them. In June last year Ability set up a full computer system for me, bought all the equipment and installed all the necessary software, I didn't have to do a thing apart from working out where to position it in the house. After it was all set up they proceeded with the training which went on for some weeks. They also sort out ongoing problems as they arise.
I am now fully conversant with the voice-activated control of the computer, the software is called Dragon Naturally Speaking Version 6. I use this for all text and e-mailing. I really only use the
computer for three things : Internet, e-mailing and a small amount of word processing (letters, lists and articles such as this). I am by no means completely computer literate.
I also use (suggested and installed by Ability Technology) software called Natural Point. This
consists of a small plastic unit which sits on top of my computer. It has an infrared device which
projects an infrared beam at my forehead on which I have a very small white adhesive dot. The dot reflects the infrared beam onto the computer screen so I can move the cursor with slight movements of my head. There is a very small on-screen menu which allows me to choose what the cursor will do when I position it on the screen (i.e. single click, double-click, click and drag or right mouse click).
I love my computer, but because reading and other activities are so important to me I try to restrict my computer usage to three or four hours per day. I have many diverse interests (music, art, current affairs, television, radio and film) and have found the Internet to be a whole world of information which I previously did not have access to. My e-mailing allows me to stay in touch with people all over the world. There is absolutely no need to fear computers or the technology, take it from me I have been totally transformed and use the computer as a tool. It provides me with independence and freedom. Previously, I had to rely on people to write out lists for me and to arrange typing of letters, I now do all this myself. I have well and truly been converted to computers.
John Blades
