Intern Cornelius McGrath discusses the power of dictation and other assistive technology – and how it’s helping him develop the ‘gift of the gab’.
Cornelius describes his vision as “a weirdly psychedelic dot” in the middle, which results from a condition called Leber’s Hereditary Option Neuropathy or LHON. It affects his central vision.
The dot, he says, occupies 20-30% of his sight.
Adapting to different methods of learning
He first noticed a change while in sixth form, which led to a steep learning curve as he adapted to different learning methods and interacted with technology. “I was undertaking my A levels, so it was a turbulent period while the school was figuring out what to do. They were great [but] SuperNova [screen reader and magnification] didn't quite work for me,” said Cornelius.
In addition to new technology, Cornelius learned to touch type and gained support from a classroom assistant. “The teaching assistant helped me out. He was a great guy closer to my age than the teachers. When I struggled with SuperNova, I dictated my answers to him, and he read the documents to me, which worked well.”
“Dictating is interesting. You can't check what you've just said, and you can’t frequently look back, especially in the A-level examinations they have. You've got to log them in your mind. But I'm articulate when dictating. Possibly because of my vision impairment, I have a pretty good memory. So, all these things came together, I think.”
Learning in the workplace
Now 21, Cornelius works as an intern at Channel 4, a placement secured through the Thomas Pocklington Trust. The role is as a sales intern across various departments. “Every month or month-and-a-half, I’m bouncing between departments,” he said. “It’s a great experience.”
So far, social media and digital sales has been the departments Cornelius particularly enjoyed. “I did enjoy the world of social and digital advertising sales, selling ads on our streaming platform or social media, whether that's Instagram, TikTok or Snapchat. It was the first team I was going out to agencies to present rather than being office-based.”
He’s embraced assistive technology and is using it to check emails, his Teams calendar and more. He’s now using Jaws as a screen reader and says his earlier experience with SuperNova helped him get to grips with it.
“The more you use it, the more you pick up new things. If you accidentally press a key on a keyboard, you hear what it does, and you're like, oh, I didn't know that I could do that. It's been a bit of a journey, but it's part of my day, especially in the office,” said Cornelius.
In addition, he’s using technology included within devices and software – including the standard Microsoft Dictate feature to write Outlook messages. “I can enhance my cursor size, make the screen yellow and black, and use Siri on my phone.”
He uses the Meta/BeMyEyes glasses, which help read physical documents. “They are great at reading documents, especially physical documents because obviously, you can jump on and just use Jaws or a natural screen reader, but it's a real pain for someone who is vision impaired when you're handed a physical document.
“I had it the other week while checking into a hotel. If you're at the doctor's or dentist and you’re handed a form to fill out, it's a pain. The glasses can't fill it out for you, but at least you can tell people I need you to answer this question on my behalf.”
So, what’s next? Cornelius says the media industry is “super cool” and would love to stay in sales: “I think I’ve got the gift of the gab.”
