Do It Myself Blog – Glenda Watson Hyatt

For the past few years, my wonderful husband Darrell has been juggling teaching computer classes at three locations for the City of Surrey’s Park & Recreation.

Because of our sucky transit system, he typically wheels to and from each location. Last night he came home in the dark, drenched. Some days, like tomorrow, he wheels approximately 6 or so kilometres between two location, regardless of weather – in the cold, rain and wind. It is taking a toll on him and his wheelchair.

About a month or so ago he discovered Learn It Live, which offers a vast array of online courses taught by approved instructors. Darrell applied and was approved! Now he can share his computer knowledge from the comforts of his home office with anyone who has an internet connection. We are both hoping this turns out to be the solution he has been searching for.

Darrell has a knack for explaining computer concepts and terms in simple language, and a way of alleviating one’s fears when using the computer. He is also extremely patient. Those new to computers and seniors are drawn to him and appreciate his teaching style.

Darrell’s first online class "Quick n Simple Computer Maintenance for Beginners" is on Tuesday, April 23rd, at 5pm pacific/8pm eastern. This class is free to give him the chance to test the online classroom technology and to give people the opportunity to experience his knowledge (hopefully in exchange for a testimonial, if appropriate). If this free class interests you or might benefit someone you know, please check it out.

Good luck, Darrell! May this opportunity bring you further success.

Reading Robert Hummel-Hudson’s blog post Finding Her Own Voice has me thinking about the difference between “voice” and “communicate”. (I wonder how many people have ever sat down to really consider the difference between these two terms that might appear synonymous upon first ponder.)

Text-to-speech devices enable individuals to communicate, but are our voices fully heard? How can we reflect panic, softness or passion with these devices?

In my pondering, I recalled a moment at last summer’s ISAAC conference (the international conference on augmentative and assistive communication). One afternoon I attended a Town Hall, which had a somewhat futuristic sounding vibe because only people using AAC were allowed to speak. The talkies needed permission to speak.

At one point, I needed to swallow a giggle after an abrupt “No” came from a robotic sounding voice from somewhere in the dimly lit auditorium, in response to what the moderator had said from the stage. A few moments later came a response from a somewhat similar sounding voice elsewhere in the room. The slow paced conversation continued between the similar sounding robotic voices.

With spoken voices, the individual speaking can be identified and much information can be garnered from the sound of the voice: the speaker’s rough age, usually the gender and ethnicity, as well as the speaker’s emotional state and such.

However, with these synthesized voices, most of this information cannot be determined from the sound alone. These voices sound so alike.

This is one reason why, a few years ago, I was immediately drawn to NeoSpeech’s Kate, who I use in my presentations and videos. Kate’s voice is different, distinct; dare I say, even sexy. It was love at first sound byte!

Yet, Kate does have her limitations. When I am creating a presentation, part of the process is what I call “kate-izing”: tweaking her pronunciation to be as correct as possible, e.g., is “read” to be spoken as “reed”’ or “red”? Oftentimes the tweaks are fairly straightforward, but there are hilarious moments while I, with a significant speech impairment, attempt to correct the pronunciation of a synthesized voice. It feels like high tech speech therapy!

The tweaking of her pronunciation is relatively easy; the conveying of emotion is what I have yet to make her communicate. The excitement. The passion. The rant.

I acknowledge that this is one of my challenges as I move forward with my motivational speaking. I will need to rely even more heavily on the right choice of words rather than on tone and inflection to fully communicate the message I am aiming to get across. Yes,  I can also use my body language and facial expressions, but, with my cerebral palsy, that is not always under my full control either. It will be a learning process with much experimenting to find an effective way to use my voice fully.

An interesting ponderment, isn’t it?

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So…how do I communicate when I have a significant speech impairment?

It really depends upon the situation and degree of familiarity the other individual has with my Glenda-ish.

Allow me to explain.

Phone calls with individuals without any experience in Glenda-ish

In the last two weeks, the need arose for two phone calls with people not indoctrinated into my unique dialect. It is difficult for people to understand that, yes, I am a motivational speaker, yet chatting on the phone is not possible – until they master Glenda-ish.

Thank goodness for Skype!

I text chat while the other individual talks. Or, we both text, which results in a complete record of our conversation. There is no need to take notes. Yes!

Meeting with friends still learning Glenda-ish

When my friend Avril and I spent a wonderful afternoon at the Vancouver Art Gallery and then wandered around the Chinese New Year festivities, I spoke a few words, which she was fairly good at deciphering.

Once we had ordered our award-winning gelato – my choices indicated by saying “two” or “four” (from the top on the posted menu) – and were sitting at a table, I whipped out my iPad to use the keyboard with word prediction in Proloquo2Go. That allowed for a deeper and more equal conversation.

A few weeks later, when my friend Karen from Chicago came in to town for an all-day workshop the following day, I had the pleasure of greeting her at the airport and then going for lunch at Steamworks right downtown.

With Karen being Deaf, another layer of communication is added to the mix. Because using my iPad on the SkyTrain is not overly wise, I pulled out a communication skill I learned many, many moons ago in Brownies: finger spelling! It did the trick quite nicely.

Likewise, a couple of years ago when I met my friend Jennison, his blindness required yet another layer of communication since he couldn’t see what I was typing on my iPad. Thankfully the Proloquo2Go app has a Speak button. Jennison listened to what I had typed. We proceeded with an easy flowing conversation.

Meeting with the Master

After seeing Karen to her hotel, I zipped next door to the Metrotown Mall to find an accessible washroom. As it was only mid-afternoon, I had the urge to ask Darrell if he would like to meet for coffee at our Tim Horton’s.

But I don’t have a cell phone. Not a problem. I whipped into Chapters Bookstore and parked close enough to the Starbucks area to borrow their wifi. Using the Skype app on my iPad, I texted my husband and arranged to meet him in half an hour.

Sitting at Tim’s with our cafe mochas in hand, we talked for an hour or so, which isn’t unusual for us, without any hiccups in communication, except for the “men are from Mars, women are from Venus” moments. I cherish the conversations we still have, after nearly fifteen years of marriage.

For me, having a significant speech impairment means having a toolbox of various communication methods that was I can mash together and switch out in a fluid manner, depending upon the situation and the needs in that moment. It truly is that simple.

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Reflecting on yesterday’s post Communication Devices: An Communication Equivalent, But An Equal?, I realized how it doesn’t portray my complete SOBCon experience.

Despite a moment or two of conversation ineptness, the last SOBCon was actually the best one for me, personally; largely because of my communication equivalent: my iPad.

Because of my iPad and because of some confidence accumulated over previous experiences, I participated in the Mastermind sessions – in both contributing and receiving – like never before.

Because of my communication equivalent, I was able to carry on several conversations during the informal times of the weekend.

Because of my chosen communication device, I was able to share my one main takeaway with the entire group – something that was not quite as possible merely two and a half years ago. Before my iPad, I likely would have passed on that opportunity and the pass would likely have been accepted by the group. This time around, my participation was expected and my method of contribution was accepted because I was surrounded by people who would not let me fail. The significance of that milestone was not lost as I held back a high-water moment.

Perhaps it isn’t a matter of whether or not communication equality exists, but rather what does equality look like in a particular social interaction, in a particular moment.

If equality existed, perhaps we would not experience the diverse richness in social interactions.

What are your thoughts? Share in the comment section below.

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Earlier this week I had the privilege of previewing one chapter from Kel Smith’s upcoming book Digital Outcasts: Moving Technology Forward Without Leaving People Behind, which addresses key trends in technology and their relevance to forgotten populations.

The entire chapter is refreshingly insightful, but one sentence in particular jumped out at me:

Achieving equivalency with technology is not necessarily the same as achieving equality, when interacting with others in social situations.

Thank you, Kel! You obviously get it.

Many people don’t. They seem to think: here’s the device, you can communicate and everything is all fixed now.

It’s not that simple; using a communication device during face-to-face communication, especially in a group situation, adds another layer of complexity. When an individual needs to tap out a response on a device while the conversation continues around her means the time-delayed response appears disjointed, even inappropriate, in the flow of the conversation. Her contribution might not have the same impact, value or meaning as it would have had she been able to interject verbally.

One-on-one can be a little more equal because, with the back and forth nature of the conversation, it is easier for one person to wait for response than for a group to pause the conversation while a response is prepared.

But, there are times when even one-on-one interactions are difficult. Take this one example: while attending SOBCon in Portland a couple of months ago, one fellow kindly came over to introduce himself. We knew each other from online and I had seen him at other events, but we hadn’t yet introduced ourselves, until now. As he stood there in front of me, my iPad at the ready, I knew I should say something intelligent, to ask him something, to hold up my side of the conversation. I mentally ran through a list of possible questions I could ask him: No, he is probably tired of talking about that. No, that is lame. No, that probably isn’t any of my business. Nope, I’ve got nothing. After a few awkward moments, he made his leave. I felt like a total dolt.

My iPad was on and ready, like it had been all morning. I had the ability to communicate. I had enough communication skills to know I had to take a role, a responsibility, in keeping the  conversation going. I even had a few possible questions in mind. But I lacked the confidence to ask one of them. I lacked the confidence because, really, I haven’t had that much experience carrying on a two-way conversation with someone not well-versed in Glenda-ish. I have had my iPad for only 2.5 years now; having the ability to converse with those beyond who understand my unique dialect is still new to me and I am still learning. And, that is hard to admit at the age of 46; an age when carrying on an intelligent conversation shouldn’t require so much conscious effort.

The iPad affords me a communication equivalent, but, because of the nuances of verbal communication (and the temporary lack of experience), I don’t feel my tapped responses are as equal as verbal ones – in some situations.

I look forward to reading Kel’s entire book. Digital Outcasts can be pre-ordered from the Elsevier Store.