FAQs: How My Computer Works

How does someone who doesn't have use of their hands use a computer? It's a great question that I've been asked several times, so here's a post explaining how things work. I have a laptop computer and there are two programs I use to help me navigate around the computer by myself.

The first program is a voice-activated/voice dictation program called Dragon NaturallySpeaking. You train your voice into the computer by reading a script that comes with the program. After you train your voice, then the computer recognizes how you speak and say words. I wear a headset with a microphone attached to it, and when I speak, the program recognizes the words and commands I give it. (However, the program isn't 100% accurate and doesn't always write down everything I say correctly. When it makes mistakes, I have to go back and correct them.) In the 7+ years that I've been using Dragon NaturallySpeaking, several new editions have come out, and each one has gotten better and better at correctly recognizing what I say.

The other thing I use that enables me to use my computer is called a head mouse (made by a company called Natural Point). A piece of equipment that looks very similar to a web cam attaches to the top of my laptop screen, and a special infrared sticker (about the size of a hole punch) is stuck to the microphone on the headset I wear. When I move my head from side to side or up and down, the head mouse tracks the movement of the infrared sticker and moves the cursor on my screen. When I have the arrow or cursor on the right spot, I give a command like "mouse click" or "mouse double-click" to make the computer do what I want. When I want to write an e-mail, leave a comment on Facebook, work on a Word document, etc., I just put the cursor in the right spot, and then I begin dictating. I can also set my Natural Point head mouse on what is called "dwell clicker" and that enables me to navigate around the computer without using my voice to issue commands at all. I simply move the cursor around the screen by moving my head, and when I want to click on something, I just stop moving the cursor for a second, and the computer knows to click when I do that. If I want to double-click, do a right click, or drag and drop something, I can easily change a setting so that the mouse does one of those things instead of a traditional single left click of the mouse.

Several people have also asked me how I use my camera. Unfortunately, there isn't any adaptive technology that I'm aware of that would enable me to take my own pictures. It would be great if I could, since I've always had a fascination with cameras and photography, but since there isn't anything like that, I'm at the mercy of other people to use my camera to take pictures for me. Sometimes it's frustrating to have to try to explain to other people what sort of technique to use to capture the exact sort of shot that I'm envisioning, but I think I fare pretty well for the most part. My sister Chandra or my mom are usually the ones that take pictures for me.

Unless I have somewhere to go, I spend the entire day on my computer when we aren't involved with my personal care. I spend between 10-12 hours a day on it. Lots of people have asked me what I do when I'm on my computer. I can do anything that able-bodied people can, like e-mail, blog, Facebook, shop, work on various projects (like my family's annual year-end slideshows or my Shutterfly photo books), research things, listen to audio books, watch movies/shows, etc. I'm always busy doing something!

I'm so grateful for modern technology and for the programs that enable me to use a computer all by myself without needing the assistance of others. It's really a liberating feeling to do something so normal, especially since there are so many things I can't do (or need assistance doing).

Here are a few pictures of my laptop. I have a nice 17.5" screen (if it were a smaller screen, I wouldn't be able to see things as well, so that's why I get the biggest laptop I can). Next is a close-up of my head mouse.

And here's a picture of me working on my computer: