Independence Through Technology

October is AAC Awareness month and we are delighted to post this guest blog by Michael Cash‏, a product specialist at voice recognition company Voiceitt. Michael has cerebral palsy and uses Voiceitt voice recognition technology as well as other pieces of assistive technology to support his communication.

My early days and early intervention

I was born with cerebral palsy as a result of lack of oxygen at birth. My family started to be concerned when I was quite young that I wasn’t making the regular milestones of a toddler. My parents sought professional advice and it was established that I had cerebral palsy.

I began physiotherapy and speech therapy as I was unable walk unaided and most people couldn’t understand me. Whilst my family were unsure of my academic potential they were determined for me to attend mainstream school so I started at Goodwin’s Primary School, where my brother and sister attended, until the age of seven.

Michael Cash in Primary School and at his University Graduation

Technology to support my communication in the 1980s

One of my most significant challenges at school, with my disability, was to write as I have limited fine motor control however I did the best I could at that age.

I then joined Aylward Primary School in Harrow where my first piece of Technology was a standard electric typewriter which I typed with one finger.

A couple of years later in the early 1980s technology became more widely available to the general public and I was probably one of the first pupils in school with a computer a BBC Micro computer.

Many of my class members were quite envious of me being given a computer. However it was difficult to secure funding from the local authority to pay for the technology that I required at school and I recall at the beginning been given the school computer to use by the head master.

Heavy and cumbersome technology 

One of the difficulties with a computer in that year was it was heavy and cumbersome to take around school. I was also recommended by my occupational therapist to use a Microwriter a five finger keyboard which enabled me to take notes wherever I was without having my main computer with me all the time. I could then connect this to the computer at the end of the day in order to print off my work.

Given my disability I was also provided a teaching assistant to support me in some of my class work, especially maths. I found maths hard to do because given my limited ability to write I couldn’t always write down my workings out which I found frustrating. 

Images of a Typewriter, BBC Micro Computer and a Microwriter

Access arrangements and reasonable adjustments

At the age of eleven I moved to secondary school, Queen Elizabeth’s for Boys in Barnet. At this stage computers had progressed slightly, and we used to wheel the computer around school so I could use it in different classes.

One of my biggest challenges however, was how I would do my exams given my limited ability to write. The examination board were not keen for me to use a computer, however, my Headteacher was very supportive and organised for me to be able to type my exam answers on the computer and I was given double time for all my exams. At the age of 16 I left school having achieved the necessary GCSE’s and was given a place on a BTEC National Computing Course at our local college.

Tertiary education, graduate training and my first job

At age 18 I applied for a place at university in Leeds. Originally I was only predicted the necessary grades in order to gain a place on a Diploma course in computing. However, my results far exceeded my predictions and I secured a place on a degree course and graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a BSc Honours degree in Computing.

Following university I secured a place with Compaq on their graduate training programme. Subsequently I went on to  work with Whizz Education where I was selling educational technology for maths into schools. Having struggled with math in school myself I really saw the benefit of Maths Whizz.

Technology a key element to success

Technology has always been a key element of my success and given my disability I was really passionate about working for a company where I could use my insights and knowledge to influence the development of tomorrow’s technology for people with disabilities. I am currently working for Voiceitt as the product specialist where I am a key part of the product development team, supporting them in developing technology that is of significant value to the disability community that find it hard to use standard speech recognition technology.

Images of a Microsoft Surface Tablet, a 3D Conexions SpaceMouse, a Periboard and an Android Phone

What is Voiceitt?

Voiceitt provides continuous speech recognition technology for those with non standard speech which addresses the issues for people with speech problems as the result of a range of medical conditions for example Cerebral Palsy and Parkinson’s. Voiceitt2 is a web based application which can be used on any device or technology as long as the user has access to the Internet.

How does Voiceitt support communication?

From a personal perspective Voiceitt allows me to dictate emails, work related documents, and even WhatsApp messages on my phone or iPad which is so much easier and faster than using a physical keyboard. Voiceitt also integrates into video conferencing technology which means other people can see what I’m saying, making meetings so much more productive, where people don’t need to ask me to repeat myself.

I really believe that the introduction of Voiceitt into the assistive technology market is going to make so much difference to so many people’s lives and is really a game charger.

Voiceitt for Chrome Extension 

In the last six months Voiceitt has released a Goole Chrome extension which allows people to use Voiceitt to dictate directly into a Google Document, Gmail and a range of other websites. To access for more information please visit our Voiceitt For Chrome. The Google Chrome Extension is a great benefit to pupils in education that want to use Voiceitt.  

Clinician’s Guide to Voiceitt and sign up for a free trial 

Our team has created a Clinician’s Guide to support clients through the trial process.
Sign up for your free trial today. For further information please visit www.voiceitt.com or email me directly at michael@voiceitt.com. 

Voiceitt logo

Watch an interview with Michael

Student Ambassador Khamani recently spoke with Michael to discuss the technology he has used to support his communication from his primary years through to university and a successful career in technology.

Michael used Voiceitt speech recognition software in this interview as it can be difficult to understand Michael due to his non standard speech. The video includes closed captions and we have provided a transcript for accessibility.

Student ambassador Khamani interviews Michael Cash