Learning Hybrid Control

Last week, I had my annual visit to the dentist. The dental hygienist said everything looked good, but the dentist had a concern. After an x-ray, his thought was confirmed that one of my front teeth is absorbing the root. This is the same thing that happened in 2019 when I finally ended up with an implant in spring 2020.

For now, all is fine as I'm not having any pain. However, I'll likely need more intervention by next year if nothing changes. The doctor said my tooth problem is probably due to decades of using my mouth stick and having extra wear. Therefore, I've taken up a project to learn a hybrid approach for computer control.

Apple computer's operating system has voice control built-in, I just haven't used it. After my appointment, I briefly read about the voice option and activated it. Since then, I have been attempting to use it for regular tasks and decrease my stick use.

So far, I've used it to open and close programs, some mouse work, and dictation. Programs have done pretty well, but some that I regularly use don't seem to register. Reading is easier as I can just say "scroll down" and it automatically moves. Dictation isn't as bad as I expected, but still not great.

Trying to learn voice software while doing school work is not the best idea. Saying short phrases are better, but not single words. Trying to delete words sometimes works, but I often resort to just correcting with my stick. 

An issue we're learning though is to pay attention to what I say. Using a voice monitor, my parents hear me say scroll down, they hear I need to go down. So, I'm trying to pronounce more clearly and ask for help with more volume. I also need to drink more, which causes other needs.

Living the quad life has unusual challenges. I hope this hybrid method will help my teeth, but I don't see me completely switching to voice, at least not yet.