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It is used daily. It is everywhere. It is one of the most powerful
tools society has ever used or ever will use.
It is the written word. This amazing tool enables us to exchange and
share opinions, experiences, stories, ideas, wants, needs,
instructions, information, etc. It comes in many forms -- books,
magazines, newspapers, journals, manuals, e-mail and Web pages, to
name only some. Mastering the skills of reading and writing is so
crucial to our well-being in today's world. In order to function
with competence in terms of employment, safety, recreation, health
and the general care of our lives, we must interact with the printed
word in one way or another.
My own journey into the huge text world was a long and difficult
one. Due to my lack of speech and inability to experiment with the
spoken word, I encountered tremendous problems learning to read and
write. I guess it is because of these difficulties that I hold the
gift of being literate and able to function in the print environment
in such high esteem. If you are reading this column, you, too, are
able to operate in the literacy world. We are blessed beyond measure
because, surprisingly enough, a high percentage of the population
has trouble when it comes to reading and/or writing.
I well remember that period of my past when I looked at a page of
text and couldn't decode the meaning of most of the words. Talk
about being scared and fearful! I firmly believe that if anyone
can't grasp the basics of literacy training in the mainstream
educational system, we need to provide alternative ways to learn or
to cope. I am thinking of the many literacy councils and other
programs in our community that offer ways to learn the skills
required.
Living in the age of the personal computer, we have word processors
at our fingertips, with spell checkers and thesauruses that provide
that little extra help many of us need. For individuals who need
further help when it comes to feeling comfortable creating text on a
computer, there are programs called word prediction that have the
capability of predicting the next word.
For the past two years, I have been blessed enough to be a member of
a team at Bloorview MacMillan Centre in Toronto working on this very
subject. Our department believes that we have developed a
state-of-the-art word prediction program called WordQ.
WordQ is a new product for people of all ages and levels of writing
ability. With its exceptional word prediction capabilities and
effective text-to-speech feedback, writing is made easier for those
who need assistance with spelling, grammar and punctuation. And
unlike other writing tools that require a dedicated word-processing
application, WordQ software can be used with any standard Windows
application.
Giving a state-of-the-art prediction tool to a child, a teenager or
an adult can be a great equalizer. I personally believe that WordQ
can offer a totally alternative way of writing for anyone who has
writing difficulties. Not only does this software predict the next
word, but it has text-to-speech feedback capabilities that I find
very useful.
On a personal level, I use the software day in and day out. Working
largely out of my home, I do most of my correspondence by e-mail. I
also do a lot of writing on disability issues -- for presentations
or to be published in magazines or this column.
WordQ levels the playing field in the world of text. It provides the
help that I need when I am preparing any document, from writing an
e-mail message to a friend to preparing an erudite column for
publication.
WordQ is able to give or predict the next word 90 per cent of the
time. My writing experiences would be hugely different and very
limited without this amazing application.
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