A New Story on World Cerebral Palsy Day

On World Cerebral Palsy Day

I remember Langtham

I remember my poem: Dear Langtham 2.0

I remember the words I penned in my poem about living with cerebral palsy; my frustrations as a writer

I remember that Voiceitt has rewritten my story by allowing me to write mine.

I met Langtham in Lusaka, Zambia, outside his home. I was on a trip with CBM Australia to visit their projects. CBM works to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities who live in poverty. 

Langtham was one year old. He, like me, has cerebral palsy. 

The words that flow through my mind

find resistance through fingers that don’t flutter along keys.

They stub keys.

Fingers through which words must squeeze

to grace screen

must audition

for selection

for expression

within my physical capacity

it’s incompatibility

with my passion, creativity.

Rubbed raw.

This was my reality. The constant friction between my passion for writing and being a slow typer. This reality, I thought, was for life. But Voiceitt rewrote my story. It transformed my life by enabling me to write it.

Voiceitt is a speech-to-text technology that is empowered by AI to recognise non-standard speech. 

My new reality? I am passionate about writing. I'm a slow typer. But now I just speak and I watch Voiceitt transcribe my words onto the screen. I don't have to choose which words to write, becaase many of them can find their place on the screen.

Maybe in a few years Dear Langtham 3.0 will tumble onto the screen.

But for now, here's my poem; Dear Langtham 2.0