UK Keratoconus Self-Help and Support Association

Hi Everyone,
As a new guy, I have been working through some strategies to make this KC easier. I am lucky compared to many of you because my KC is quite mild although my VA is 6/36 6/18 which isn't that great because my job requires 6/12 6/9 as a minimum but that's another (developing) story! Anyway, I am lucky that my employer is very good at all this DDA stuff and I can very probably get my PC altered to take the strain. I am working with OH to obtain some voice recognition and magnification software. Dragon Naturally Speaking has been suggested and a DVORAK keyboard has also been mentioned. Has anybody got any suggestions?
Matt

Hi Matt,

An assesment from the RNIB can also be very helpful as they are aware of all the Access to Work schemes and other funding to help you and your employer.

They can point out many issues and obveous solutions that you may not be aware of because you are so used to the job you do. As they are from outside, there is no prior knowledge so their questions can seem stupid, but are quite searching.

The employer leaflet that is available to download is a great help to employees and employers. The link to it is on the hompage of the main site.

Thanks again!

I'm surprised about the keyboard change to DVORAK (see the Wikipedia entry) - the only gain you'd have with that, surely, would be if you could touch-type on DVORAK. And I would think that learning to do that on DVORAK would be just as difficult as learning on QWERTY.

Did they give a reason for the recommendation?

No reason was given, this was just someone trying to be helpful. That's why I thought I would run by the KC group and get an expert opinion. I see your point though, ease of typing will not help much if you cannot see the screen easily. I think perhaps the keyboard is red herring. I am still very much at the "trying to work it out" stage. I thought it would be easier when I saw the Occupational Health guys at work to have some suggestions up my sleeve to begin with.

Hi Matt

Dragon Naturally Speaking, as I am sure you will already know is voice recognition so your PC will type as you speak. I am not sure what your job is or how useful this package will be for you. My employers suggested I have it however, it didn't work and I also think in reality with the job I was undertaking would not have been a great deal of benefit to me. To this day, I am not sure why they felt it would be ok for me. I was also assessed by the RNIB and they did not mention it. What they did suggest for me was magnification and speech software. SupaNova - a package of both magnification and speech output seemed most suitable however again my employers had some problems with it and I ended up with MAGic and JAWS which for me also proved problematic. I think a lot of this will depend on your companies IT platform, I was on windows NT which I am told is not great for these sorts of things however, I have also been advised by RNIB that additional scripting of programs can usually be done to get around problems.

As for a keyboard, I originally had something called a 'Cherry Keyboard' with high visibility keys, this has recently been replaced for a 'Visikeys' Large Print Keyboard (both of these were white bold letters on a black keyboard). The 'Visikeys' is available through the RNIB Customer Services (product code HK31) for around £65.

I also have a larger flat screen monitor mounted on a moveable arm, which is clamped to the desk. This allows me to move the PC as near as I need and push away when not needed, also stopping me looking like a nodding chicken whilst reading my screen.

I also have a daylight desk lamp, again available from the RNIB and a CCTV magnifier, which I am hoping will soon be replaced by a more user friendly and up to date model.

If you want any more info or have any questions let me know.

best wishes

Susan

Thanks Susan, that is really useful, I will ask the guys about those products. I am pretty sure they will get them, they are pretty good for that kind of thing.
Thanks very much!

Hi everyone!
My story continues to develop! I am a Navy Diver by trade which means I need to have annual medicals. Although I passed all the fitness tests and so on, my eyes are now well below the standard required so I have failed my medical and cannot dive at the moment. This is not an immediate problem because the Navy is currently employing me in a different role but it does mean I lose my diving pay (circa £400 pcm) which is a bit of a sting! In the Navy you tend to be trained in a number of areas but you also get broad management jobs in between specialist jobs. So altough I am in-between diving jobs I might get stuck and never get back to the diving branch. There are also a number of operations jobs I will not be able to do anymore. It basically means just doing management and leadership type jobs from now on.
The good side is that the Navy will pay for my lenses and it looks like they will get me magnification software and a viskeys keyboard and so on.
I just need the lenses now, I've still got about 10 weeks to wait, which seems like forever. The doctor thinks the Rose K lens is the way to go...

Matt

Keep us posted with the ay things develop.

Andrew

Andrew,
I certainly will. I see a Naval Doctor tomorrow, he is also a Diving Medicine Specialist and head of Occy Health where I work. I think I should get answers.....