Typing with difficulty

[GerriGoddard]

Does anyone have a suggestion as I am struggling trying to type using my laptop!

[parkie13]

If you have a smartphone you can use your voice recognition and dictate your message. Depending how old your laptop is you might have voice recognition on it or you might be able to buy something called " dragon" and download it on your laptop and be able to use voice recognition.

[park_bear in reply to parkie13]

There are also websites out there that will translate for free. No guarantee of privacy however so assume what you say/write is being overheard.

That said, I personally think it important to exercise affected parts as much as possible so I still use my affected hand to type.

[MBAnderson in reply to parkie13]

the VA provided me Dragon voice recognition software about a month ago. They also provided four, two hour training sessions to go with it. I think the home version is $80. It's really very slick. If you take the time to really learn it and fully exploit it, you can do anything with it that you can do with the mouse and keyboard. I, too, had greatly reduced my communication via email and Parkinson's forums. Voice recognition software has given me a new lease on life/communication. I highly recommend giving it a try.

[nelo23 in reply to parkie13]

Google Docs has a free voice recognition feature under TOOLS. You just need a microphone. Then copy and paste to transfer it to any other app.

[johntPM]

There's a number of things you can change to make typing easier.

In Windows 10 try Control Panel/Ease of Access

I like sticky keys. This lets you type one handed. So, for instance, to type A, you press shift, let go, press A.

It is worth learning as many short cuts as possible, e.g. to go back a page in the browser: Alt Left Arrow

Depending on your machine, you should be able to change how your mouse behaves, e.g. if you have a tremor, you can stop a tap on your pressure pad being taken as a click.

John

[NanCyclist]

I wrote nearly my whole book using Dragon software. It’s great.

[JohnPepper]

My experience is that I try to type too quickly, with the result that I hit the wrong keys or I hit two keys together or I don't hit the key hard enough and it does not print.

Purposely go slower, which in turn gets finished quicker.

[GerriGoddard]

Thank you John for your suggestion, I will take it on board.