Being Mute in 2021

[David R]

I use Proloquo4text on my computer, works well. Same as I use on my iPhone and iPad and you can just share any phrases you’ve set up on one of them

[Beemer]

Word recognition in Windows 10 very frustrating, and a waste of time, it didnt even recognise the swear words I ultimately threw at it.
Time to look at the commercial products.

[Beemer]

Also, Microsoft365 has a 'Dictate' function in Word and Outlook which is pretty good - I tested it whilst listening to an audiobook 😄

As for commercial products, look at Dragon software - no idea if it can be provided for you or if it's worth paying £180 for. x

Dragon software sounds familiar, I believe when I was being overloaded with information about MND, shortly after diagnosis, that was mentioned, so it must hold some credence. Thanks Ellie.

[Ellie]

Also, Microsoft365 has a 'Dictate' function in Word and Outlook which is pretty good - I tested it whilst listening to an audiobook 😄

As for commercial products, look at Dragon software - no idea if it can be provided for you or if it's worth paying £180 for. x

[Ellie]

Dave, check your PC settings to see if there is speech control. My Win10 PC has speech recognition (I have never used it, obvs!) and iPads have similar.

[Beemer]

Is there a speech to text application for PC's, and if there is, what would you advise please?
My keyboard typing is tiresome as I can only use my thumbs on the keyboard on a sliding shelf under the desk, whilst my fingers support my hands on the desk top, if that makes sense.
Dave

[matthew55]

I have sort of sorted phone calls. I save phrases on my speech app like name, yes, no ect. Then when the phone rings I put the speaker on and hold it close to the app. It has worked but not every time. 😉x

[Heather R]

Ellie, Barry, David, many thanks for your suggestions x

[David R]

Hi Heather and Matthew,

Heather, I sometimes use a small portable Boss Micro sound box strapped to by waist belt or in a pocket and connected to my iPhone app and it makes the voice very clear and as loud as I need it, several people have been very impressed how much easier it makes my voice to be understood.

Matthew, My voice app works on a phone call really well, I only really use it mainly to phone my wife when she’s driving or if someone rings me I have a few messages prepared to just hit the button's in response like, "sorry I can’t speak’ please phone back later or I can just listen to what you’d like to say” The app is the only ones I know of that can speak on phone calls. The apps are Proloque2Go and Proloque4Text. I use both versions. They are expensive but when I message them as an enquiry saying I have MND they gave them both to me FOC and they’re customer service and backup via emails is excellent.

Regards David

[matthew55]

Sadly I had a style of presentation that people wanted to hear. Do I miss my voice more? I don't think I can. 😄x

[matthew55]

I can still write faster than I can type. Although I'd be lost without text to speech with phonecalls. 😄x

[Ellie]

I agree that there is no emotion but I have made several presentations to MNDA branches and the message has been understood.

At least you have a valid excuse for your (PC's) montone delivery - we've all been to presenations given by human automatons, haven't we 😄

[Barry52]

[QUOTE=Heather R;n45312]I'm dreading being dependent on my SpeakUnique. Did I tell you I practised using it on my local mnda group zoom, and no-one understood what my unique voice was saying! Which isn't encouraging. It is quite quiet (and also posh says my daughter). SpeakUnique have tried making it a bit louder, and I am trying different volume amplifying microphones. Does anyone else have this problem with speak unique?

Heather,

I use it and my voice was reasonable at the time of recording. As mentioned by Ellie I use an amplifier when “chatting” on zoom and I also slow down the rate of speech. I agree that there is no emotion but I have made several presentations to MNDA branches and the message has been understood.

Whilst speech apps help us to communicate nowadays if we go back a decade this was not an option. As suggested by Matthew, in a one to one scenario pen and paper or a boogie board may be best.

[Ellie]

Hi Heather,

Have you tried using a little speaker, bluetooth or wired, to amplify the output and would it help if the speech output were slowed down, do you think?

My PC speaker is loud enough to be heard on Zoom calls, but I also use the 'Chat' facility - I can have pretyped text which I copy and paste into chat and can be seen (and be understood) by everyone (if they have opened their chat box) I don't use SpeakUnique, just the text to speech facility in Windows.

Love Ellie.

[matthew55]

I feel your pain Heather, and that time I resorted to an A4 note book and a pen. Good thing too as it turned out as a record of what I was trying to say. I could still make an official complaint but I'm not like that. As for speech apps I use Text to Speech which has rubbish voices but is free. I never got the SpeakUnique app to work. 😄👍x