Hi everyone

[Michelle]

Hi everyone, I'm Michelle, and I'll be your hostess this evening. I created these boards because I saw a need for a place where the last users of DragonDictate can communicate with each other, and at the same time realized the disability community in general needed a place to discuss other accessibility issues in computing as well.

I was born with a neuromuscular disease called Dejerine-Sottas, and have been ventilator dependent for nearly ten years now. (My anniversary is coming up on October 4th! Just eight days after my birthday... not the best birthday present I could think of, but I'm sure glad to be alive!) I do web design and programming, and occasionally get paid for it. I have several projects in the works, some of them for the benefit of the disability community; I'll talk more about them as they near completion. I'm also (when I find the time, and don't feel like slacking off!) working on a novel. Feel free to kick my butt over that one; I certainly need it.

I think this is an exciting time for people with disabilities; technology is allowing us to participate in society--and, hopefully, be accepted into that society--like never before. Disabled people are the guinea pigs, the pioneers, the early adopters, the people who put their computers, wheelchairs, and other assistive devices to uses they weren't intended for. Personally, I can't wait for the neural interface...

Michelle

[Victor]

Thanks for putting together this message board, Michelle! I am looking forward to meeting other DragonDictate users here and maybe learn a thing or two from them.

Anyway, I am Victor from Malaysia. I was involved in a car accident in November 1994 and suffered a spinal cord injury at the C3 level, leaving me without the use of my hands A friend managed to get the DragonDictate for me and I have been using it since 1997. I am currently running version 3.02 on Windows 2000.

Hope to meet more of you all soon!

Cheers,
Victor