Has anyone had success with a one-handed keyboarding program? I have a 3rd grade student with no usage of one hand and limited usage with the other. What program have you used and what problems did you encounter?
1 hand
there used to be a booklet put out by the federal govt for teaching 1 handed typing. It was written with veterans in mind. I used it for a severe bilateral cp student. the premise is the ‘home row’ position is with one hand over the middle row and the practice is similiar to traditional home row practice but different positions. It was written in the days of manual typewriters so they had a leg band for the shift key. My student was able to operate one shift key with her other, weak hand. We got along okay. Our premise was that it would be preferable for her to operate a standard keyboard.
I haven’t used the materials for a long while but an Internet search will show many resources and materials. the deciding factors are whether the one hand is fairly strong. there are specialty keyboards but that really limits the student. As I recall there were other options for touch typists who were moving from a 2 hand to 1 hand situation. My student and her family felt strongly about being able to use a regular keyboard.
Re: keyboarding
My suggestion is to go for an adapted keyboard or perhaps you can find a smaller (kid sized but normal keyboard). The reason is this: The keyboard is VERY large and a long ways to go around. It can be done with using the shift keys and so on but it is a LOT of stress. I know as I tried to do this. I think it is asking for carpal tunnel and so on. I think that though the family might be a bit resistant it is worth pursuing as I am sure YOU would not want to type this way! Nor would the rest of the family like to do so. It is simple expedient to switch keyboards in most cases.
Each state has adapted computer equipment centers. It might be good to hook up with one of these (I’ll see if I can find the address).
Another thing to decrease the amt of moving around a keyboard might be word prediction, the program which will type into anything will predict words based on structure of the sentence, usage and the first couple words. Though someone who is really fast on a one handed keyboard might find this a slow down.
I think that the computer is a great place to have the technology work for you and not the other way around and have the person be forced to use a technology designed to slow down normal typists in the first place.
—des
keyboarding
Check out www.onehandkeyboard.com
I found it on LD Resources website. Excellent for questions re: technology.
Good luck : )
Hello. I just walked around the hall to ask our 2 occupational therapists and one computer engineer what they would recommend, but they’re out in the field doing Computer Accommodations evaluations. I do know that they would want more information about the student’s physical and academic abilities before making a hardware or software recommendation.
Here is the link for the Job Accommodation Network’s list of manufacturerers of one-handed keyboards. There is a phone number if you would like to talk to one of their representatives. JAN is a wonderful government-sponsored resource for people looking for information on a wide variety of subjects.
John
www.jan.wvu.edu/cgi-win/OrgQuery.exe?One22
“Accommodations are evaluated on a case-by-case basis. If you need additional information or would like to discuss the information
presented here, contact JAN at 1-800-526-7234 (V/TTY).
SOAR is brought to you by the Job Accommodation Network, a service of the Office of Disability Employment Policy, U.S. Department of Labor. The information does not represent a statement of policy by the U.S. Department of Labor.”