Five winning stories will be selected by a panel of judges, and the winning entrants will each receive an Amazon Kindle 2 as well as Dragon NaturallySpeaking upgrades for three years.
Twelve years ago the doctors told me they had good and bad news... the bad news I had an autoimmune multifocal peripheral demyelinating neuropathy... a disease in the ALS family which was the reason I was losing the ability to use my hands, arms and one side of the diaphragm causing a negative effect on my lung function. The good news "it won't kill you". A company president, multi-engine instrument rated pilot, avid golfer, fishermen, in short a very active person I was faced with choices... sit on the sidelines or adapt. No medical procedure including chemotherapy stopped the progress of the disease and today I need help in the most basic aspects of daily life including dressing, having my food cut up etc.
Additionally 12 years ago people my age were just beginning to learn about computers and the notion of talking to one was Orwellian. As the disease progressed using the computer became more important to me and at the same time more difficult. As luck would have it I saw an ad in the Wall Street Journal for a competitive voice recognition product and purchased it... much to my surprise it worked. The more I used it the more I liked it and the more demands I placed upon it... which exposed its shortcomings. In a chance conversation a friend mentioned "Dragon Naturally Speaking", and asked if I knew anything about the product when I said no he suggested I check into it. I did and purchased version 5 or 6, upgraded to version 8.1. I am currently using the newest version which works wonderfully with all of the programs I use. Most importantly as a 71-year-old person needing a full-time job it has enabled me to work full-time as a bookkeeper, keeping multiple sets of books for one of the largest resorts in our area.
Without question "Dragon NaturallySpeaking", has been a blessing... it has given me independence, versatility, flexibility... the ability to function as a highly skilled "computer geek", without ever exposing my disability and that in itself is worth the price of admission.
Jack Chopin
Eagle River, Wisconsin