Sunday, January 8, 2012

Sticking it to the disabled

Early last month, there was an article on the front page of the Los Angeles Times about an author named Peter Winkler. Fine. I always enjoy seeing the arts and artists - and especially writers - get some attention. So much the better if it’s on the front page of the paper.

It was clear enough, however, that the reason why Winkler was featured on the front page isn’t so much that he is a fine writer. No, what was worthy of the front page was that, because of being disabled, he wrote his recently published biography of Dennis Hopper (“Dennis Hopper: The Wild Ride of a Hollywood Rebel”) by using a chopstick to type out one letter at a time. Not only that, but Winkler’s agent didn’t know of his rheumatoid arthritis and that he puts so much physical effort into his writing.

Indeed, the article is titled “Really sticking to it” and doesn’t just say that Winkler is disabled - he “increasingly is trapped,” “ravaged by arthritis,” which “has battered him for 48 of his 55 years.” That he doesn’t make this a big deal - he didn’t tell his agent of his disability and says that tapping one key at a time with a chopstick is “not so bad” (“He’s gotten pretty fast, and anyway, ‘I was always a two-finger typist.’”) - only makes it more of a big deal, suitable for the front page.

My first reaction when I read this story was: why doesn’t this guy use a word-prediction program like the one I use? I too type one key at a time, and I have been using this program (SoothSayer) for the last four or five years, and it has made writing - and my life - so much easier. Indeed, I wish I had it years, decades, ago!

Then I thought that if Winkler had such a tool, it would be less likely that there would be a big article about him on the front page. After all, there are thousands of disabled folks who use word prediction programs and other tools and not many (I hope) who use a chopstick to write. It also occurred to me that if Winkler really doesn’t consider his disability and his chopstick-typing a big deal, he wouldn’t have gone along with this article, which included photographs.

This situation - Winkler typing with a chopstick - is another example of how society makes life harder for the disabled, of how society disables people. Yes, there are many wonderful devices and technologies that make life easier for the disabled, but they are too often not easy to get.

What’s more, in a weird twist, as this article illustrates, this is used as a source of inspiration. And - trust me - being an inspiration is oh-so attractive.

3 comments:

  1. a most poignant point you make John. one that many of us could not see other than through your perspective. again, thank you.

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  2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. "My first reaction when I read this story was: why doesn’t this guy use a word-prediction program like the one I use? I too type one key at a time, and I have been using this program (SoothSayer) for the last four or five years, and it has made writing - and my life - so much easier. Indeed, I wish I had it years, decades, ago!

    "Then I thought that if Winkler had such a tool, it would be less likely that there would be a big article about him on the front page. After all, there are thousands of disabled folks who use word prediction programs and other tools and not many (I hope) who use a chopstick to write. It also occurred to me that if Winkler really doesn’t consider his disability and his chopstick-typing a big deal, he wouldn’t have gone along with this article, which included photographs."

    I want to make sure I haven't misread your intent.
    So let me ask you a question. Are you suggesting that I use a chopstick to type because I planned months before publication to later exploit this for an article?

    If so, you are so wrong. I type with a chopstick because it works for me and gives me direct physical contact with the keyboard, short of actually putting my fingers on the keys. I've never heard of word-prediction software and have used and owned computers since 1985, and am technically well read. I tried speech to text software several years ago and had problems with putting the necessary headset with mic on and off as needed.

    After reading your post, I Googled word-prediction software and came up with several sites that offer such software. There are several problems, at least potentially, with these applications. There are only one or two Mac OS X-compatible programs, and they require the use of Microsoft Word. I used NeoOffice, an open source adaption of Open Office for the Mac, when I wrote the book. More recently, I installed a 2007 edition of iWorks on my MacBook Air and am using Pages.

    Looking at how word-prediction apps work, by dropping suggested words down on menus, loooks to me like it would impede the continuity of my thougt processes while writing. I don'think I can complete a complex thought if a program is intruding every few seconds when I type a new word.

    Also, the cost of these programs isn't trivial. First, I have to buy MS Word, then buy the prediction app.

    I'm more inclined to revisit speech-to-text software using a USB mic that allows me to do away with he headset.

    Yours,
    Peter L. Winkler

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