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Are you wondering about a last minute holiday gift that the entire family could utilize? Over the past few months I have heard many commercials about Dragon Dictate and I’ve spent the past few months testing it out. I first learned to use dictation with my work in a hospital setting, where we often dictated our reports to save time, using templates as guides. It is definitely somewhat challenging initially to put your brain in “dictation mode” as you speak out loud every punctuation mark, command and thought. However, being that I also work with children with disabilities in the school setting, we are constantly trying to help them achieve as much independence as possible and this software is an amazing asset to their education.

Many children have a variety of learning disabilities that make it challenging for them to organize their thoughts and handwrite them effectively on paper with good legibility. Some children, after years of occupational therapy, due to a variety of disabilities and reasons, still have difficulty with the coordination of their fingers for typing. Typically at the middle school level, we make recommendations to teachers and parents for children to begin to access technology as an alternative form of written communication.

Dragon Dictate software is not only a great way for adults to improve their productivity, but a fabulous alternative for students with either learning or physical disabilities to be able to effectively communicate their thoughts in an organized way so that others can read their creative ideas. Not to mention that once the students get the idea of the software program, they may be able to complete their work assignments much faster than typical. Wouldn’t it be easier for you as a parent to find a faster alternative for your child who could more happily and independently complete their homework?  Many kids are more efficient at telling you their thoughts, but can get roadblocked by the motor skills of handwriting. As a result, they often choose to take short cuts in their work to accommodate for their disabilities and as educators we know they might not always be working to their fullest potential.

I did complete this review using the Dragon dictate software. So I will have to admit, it has been an adjustment to get used to speaking out loud without a template- when for many years I’ve been used to organizing my thoughts in a typed way. However, as long as you follow through with the calibration of the microphone, I have been very impressed with the accuracy of what has been typed, as well as the speed at which it is typed. After you download the software, to calibrate the microphone system you need to read lengthy passages, which could pose a challenge for those kids with a reading disability. However, this software is intuitive and over time we have been able to utilize this program successfully.

There are also two modes with the dictation software – dictation mode and command mode. Command mode will literally run your computer without the need to even touch the mouse. With a simple command you can open, close and access all sorts of programs. Though I wasn’t all that successful myself transitioning back and forth between each mode and there is definitely a learning curve to remembering and using the commands appropriately, I did see some nice video’s on the Nuance website demonstrating the capabilities of this awesome software.

Being that I am very busy with working full time, raising a family and creating this blog, I am hopeful that I can learn to dictate more effectively – so at the very least I can use it to quickly create my blogposts. I do wish I had used this when Gavin was an infant while I tried to learn to type fast while using the one free hand I had available! If you decide to purchase this product for our use, please be aware there is a Windows version and a MAC version.

Nuance provided this copy of Dragon Dictate free to facilitate a review. The opinions expressed in this blog post are my own.