title: Adaptive communication systems for patients with mobility disorders.
abstract: An adaptive communication system has been developed for individuals with mobility disorders. It uses specialized computer software and hardware that compensate for this disability. For an individual with a motor-control impairment who is not able to use a keyboard effectively, a computer voice-recognition technology now removes this communication barrier. Speech-recognition systems consist of three basic components: speech processing, speech recognition, and speech understanding. The new Dragon Dictate (Dragon Systems, Inc., Newton, Mass.) is the first large-vocabulary speech recognition system in the personal computer industry that interactively learns a user's vocabulary and mode of speaking and responds to natural language rather than to limited sets of words. This speech-recognition system requires a microprocessor, a display monitor, a printer, and specific software packages, including word-processing and enhanced memory-management software. Important considerations in the use of this speech-recognition system include microphone positioning and training of the system. With the advent of this new voice-recognition computer system, another communication barrier between the disabled and society has been overcome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plastic Surgery, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville 22908.
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Zimmer
authors.forename: P M
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Devlin
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Werner
authors.forename: C V
authors.initials: CV
authors.lastname: Stamp
authors.forename: K T
authors.initials: KT
authors.lastname: Bellian
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Powell
authors.forename: R F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: Edlich
mesh_terms: D003143:Communication Devices for People with Disabilities; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D006801:Humans; D012984:Software; D013067:Speech Perception