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Spell checker

spell checkerHav­ing dys­graphia, my spelling was (is) pret­ty bad. More­over, the nature of dys­graphia is such that I often don’t see spelling errors, as well as oth­er omis­sions and com­mis­sions. Even when my work was proofread—and it always was—when I re-typed my man­u­scripts, I would cor­rect old errors but I would add just as many new ones.

It was, I think, about 1988, when I got my first com­put­er, and with it a spell check­er. I remem­ber when I first learned how to use it. It was one of the hap­pi­est moments in my life, and that is not an exag­ger­a­tion. It seemed like a gift from the gods.

It remains an essen­tial tool. But, as I would learn, it is far, far from per­fect. If I sub­sti­tut­ed words, a com­mon prob­lem with dys­graph­ics, (like lead for dead) it offers no help. The spell checker’s abil­i­ty to untan­gle man­gled sen­tences is, at best, poor. And, it too often is sim­ply wrong, or blind. 

So, all hon­ors to those who invent­ed the spell check­er. But remem­ber the Third Com­mand­ment: Do not wor­ship false gods. Now, pro­fes­sion­al proof­read­ers, there is divinity.

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