Considering Andrew Begel's lectures

Some forms of assistive technology challenge our conceptions of technology enhanced performance. Voice recognition software for programming is very uncommon, yet necessary. One way to reduce the amount of typing while programming is to use speech recognition. Programming itself has a structured format that can be incorporated into an IDE that enhances speed of code production with fewer keystrokes and navigation through the display.

Its needs to be easy to learn, preferably using spoke constructs that the programmer already knows. But, would all programmers naturally speak the same language when they verbalize their program? This question was answered by Andrew Begel and his team in their paper: An Assessment of a Speech-Based Programming Environment. They conducted an experiment in which participants read a one-page pre-existing Java program out loud. They found that there does exist a common vernacular among programmers for speaking programs despite the diversity of their educational training. This enables us to create a verbalized programming language definition which will work for most programmers. 

There's a very specific issue to address, and it should be planned in the way of a whole new environment, taking advantage of the existing tools for programming but having in mind that it has to satisfy specific needs. Because the target is to program by voice recognition, the future work would be in the way of a whole new kind of interaction, a new kind of input. 

Creating awareness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTwXeZ4GkzI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8YZkubsKRPw

Like many others I didn't understand why people with disabilities got insulted when they were told that they were disabled. Now that I have seen the video with Amiee Mullins I understand why they get insulted for being called disabled. Saying that a person is disabled is like telling them that they’re useless and can’t do anything, which is not the case for people with disabilities. In many occasions they have to be creative in order to overcome a physical obstacle that they must face. This is something that is very important in life and in our society. Having said that, this doesn't make them more special than any other person because each and every one of us faces many obstacles in life and we all find different ways to face these obstacles. Therefore, people with disabilities should be treated as equals and we should all be conscious about how important it is to say or write it correctly because it can make a great impact.

Entry about the paper: "An Assessment of a Speech-Based Programming Environment"

Considering:

Begel, A. and Graham, S. L., "An Assessment of a Speech-Based
Programming Environment", In Visual Languages and Human-Centric
Computing (VL/HCC'06), pp. 116-120, 2006.

This study illustrates the viability of a speech-recognition program for daily work in a programmer's life. It closes itself in a period of the user's lifetime, meaning that he will use it in case of being unable to type for any reason or because of suffering from RSI. The results show the pros and cons, being the machine's errors in its job to recognize the programmer's voice vs. the time it takes the user to type. This, exhibits the need of the machine's voice recognition accuracy in order to interpret the commands rapidly to make it faster and more effective than typing. When computer science reach the required level of precision around this program, the user's mistrust in the machine's VR will not obstruct their normal pace programming; thus, it'll surpass the effectiveness of using the keyboard.

An Empowering Perspective

http://www.ted.com/talks/stella_young_i_m_not_your_inspiration_thank_you_very_much 

http://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_the_opportunity_of_adversity

http://www.ted.com/talks/ron_mccallum_how_technology_allowed_me_to_read

Stella Young's "I'm not your inspiration, thank you very much", as well as Amee Mullins's "The opportunity of adversity", illustrate the need of a collective change of perspective from society toward people with disabilities; the need to change to an empowering perspective rather than a condoling and belittling one. Furthermore, in his speech "How technology allowed me to read", John McCallum shows the speakers everything that the development of assistive technologies aided him to achieve, and the indispensable support that said technologies provided in his journey to becoming an outstanding man among people with and without medical disabilities alike. These thoughts lead to the understanding that the development of tools within the field of assistive technologies is part of this necessary change of attitude toward people that society has come to wrongly regard as "disabled". Assistive technologies are an empowering tool to help people with disabilities rise above their medical prognosis in a world designed for people without their own singularities.

What can you do?

This video teaches that the human will is stronger than any other force.
What can you do?
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9aHT-syZxs

Getting involved in the environment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTwXeZ4GkzI

While watching this video, a ship was installed in my brain. I mean that I, suddenly, understood our world and society from a new perspective ,the language. Also, I learned to what extent our point of view can carry us.

The way we construct our values through our language creates our point of view. We need to know the words we use to create an adequate thesis statement, a thought. Since our language hasn't evolved at the same rate as the technology, we need to be precise and careful with how we refer to others. If not, we can hurt others and make them think they aren't capable human beings. On the other hand, today's technology proves the human capability, that everyone, no matter of his physical conditions,  is capable to achieve his goals. For this, we need to prepare everybody to adapt(our greatest human skill) to the language and thus, to the society.This way, we will open ourselves to diversity and reach the maximum potential of the human will.