Hi, I am a big fan of Morse code and Dasher but if someone is typing at a rate of 70 words per minute that is going to be very hard to beat.  I have know some people who become very good with memorized abbreviation expansions for common words, phrases and sentence starters (eg: by the way, thank you, let me ask you a question, etc) which they use to speed typing.  I could fax you the list of abbreviations my best abbreviation expansion user uses.  He is amazing.  I never timed him when he was a touch typist (can't use his hands anymore) but it sure seemed like he typed (communicated) at an amazingly fast rate.  He still uses the abbreviations but needs alternative access).  I believe 70-80 words per minute without any strategy is about the max a touch typist can reach but someone who has mastered abbreviations for some core vocabulary, key phrases and sentence starters could potentially boost their speed.   I am very eager to see other peoples ideas.  Frankly this would benefit plenty of bulbar pts if we came up with something faster than 70 words per minute. Sincerely, Amy Roman, MS, CCC-SLP Augmentative Communication Specialist Forbes Norris ALS Research Center 2324 Sacramento Street San Francisco, CA 94115 P (415)600-1263 F (415)673-5184 CONFIDENTIAL OR PRIVILEGED: This communication contains information intended only for the use of the individuals to whom it is addressed and may contain information that is privileged, confidential or exempt from other disclosure under applicable law. If you are not the intended recipient, you are notified that any disclosure, printing, copying, distribution or use of the contents is prohibited. If you have received this in error, please notify the sender immediately by telephone or by returning it by reply email and then permanently deleting the communicationfrom your system. Thank you. --- On Wed, 1/26/11, xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx <xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx> wrote: From: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx <xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxx> Subject: Re: AT non-als question To: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Wednesday, January 26, 2011, 11:13 AM What about morse code? Sent on the Sprint® Now Network from my BlackBerry® From: "Alisa Brownlee" <xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sender: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2011 07:36:51 -0800 To: National ALS Association AT Listserv<xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> ReplyTo: xxxxxx@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: AT non-als question Hello all,   Anyone have any ideas on helping this person?    I'm a special education teacher in Harlem, New York, and I'm used to dealing with students with pretty serious cognitive delays. My friend is a professional accountant and he is about to have his jaw wired shut for 6 months to fix some chronic and astounding jaw pain. He needs an adapted keyboard with a text-to-speech output. His IQ goes well above genius (probably 150-170), and he'd like to keep working with clients. He has no physio-motor impairments to speak of. To keep working, the voice has to sound real and the rig needs to be portable and somewhat unobtrusive (no Dynavox slung around the neck with a yellow strap). Further, he needs some input system that moves faster than he can currently type on a standard computer keyboard (70 words per minute). He expressed that the speed of slowish speech (110-170 words per minute) should be adequate. Perhaps some phonetic system? I'm thinking of something akin to court stenography, but smaller and not taking three years to learn.       Alisa Brownlee, ATP Clinical Manager, Assistive Technology Services ALS (Lou Gehrig's Disease) Association National Office  and Greater Philadelphia Chapter Direct Phone: 215-631-1877