Anyone know a good product? Have a third grader with required computer/typing class at school. Very little finger dexterity.
Thanks,
Kelli
one handed keyboard
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Karen McClune
- Posts: 746
- Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2003 4:58 pm
Re: one handed keyboard
Hi Kelli,
Ryan uses a one handed keyboard, infact he has 3 or 4 of them. The name of it is bat. for information look at www.infogrip.com
Hope this helps. If you need more information, let me know and I will ask Ryan. He won't be home from camp until tomorrow afternoon. Then I can ask him.
Hugs,
Karen
Ryan uses a one handed keyboard, infact he has 3 or 4 of them. The name of it is bat. for information look at www.infogrip.com
Hope this helps. If you need more information, let me know and I will ask Ryan. He won't be home from camp until tomorrow afternoon. Then I can ask him.
Hugs,
Karen
Re: one handed keyboard
Karen, why did you choose BAT over QWERTY one handed typing? Can a 9 year old use the BAT? I do not understand really how it works. Have you seen that Maltron keyboard? It looks awesome but complicated. Thanks for responding.
Kelli
Kelli
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Karen McClune
- Posts: 746
- Joined: Wed Sep 10, 2003 4:58 pm
Re: one handed keyboard
HI Kelli,
I didn't choose the Bat over anything else, Ryan did. Why he did, I think was at the time it was the only one around. He was 22 when he has his accident and was living on his own. He did learn to use it within hrs. I know he has brought a few other ones since, but I see him use the Bat more then any others.
As far as if a 9 yrs old could learn to use it. I am sorry I really don't know. There are only 6 keys and the combination that you use the keys is what makes the letters.
Wish I could help you more.
Hugs, Karen
I didn't choose the Bat over anything else, Ryan did. Why he did, I think was at the time it was the only one around. He was 22 when he has his accident and was living on his own. He did learn to use it within hrs. I know he has brought a few other ones since, but I see him use the Bat more then any others.
As far as if a 9 yrs old could learn to use it. I am sorry I really don't know. There are only 6 keys and the combination that you use the keys is what makes the letters.
Wish I could help you more.
Hugs, Karen
Re: one handed keyboard
Hey Ryan, are you around?
This keyboard looks neat. Maybe even for a 2 handed person.
It works with cords of keys. You have 4 keys and 3 thumb keys. That's 32 x 3 values or 96 values. That's a lot of characters. Might be interesting to figure how it works.
You could just use a normal keyboard and reprogram the keys. You'd have to know how the chords work to reprogram a normal keyboard works.
Hey look, I can type 60wpm with typing test. Wonder how a one-handed keyboard would work. I'm also using a dvorak keyboard.
This keyboard looks neat. Maybe even for a 2 handed person.
It works with cords of keys. You have 4 keys and 3 thumb keys. That's 32 x 3 values or 96 values. That's a lot of characters. Might be interesting to figure how it works.
You could just use a normal keyboard and reprogram the keys. You'd have to know how the chords work to reprogram a normal keyboard works.
Hey look, I can type 60wpm with typing test. Wonder how a one-handed keyboard would work. I'm also using a dvorak keyboard.
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ipeverywhere
Re: one handed keyboard
Truly one handed keyboards, those that only require one hand to access all 101 keys, are hard to find. The slowest part of my typing happens if I have to reposition my hand. For this reason I didn’t find even the one-handed Dvorak (I think this is what you mean by one-handed QWERTY) to be very efficient. Anyone can learn the BAT but it’s like learning how to type all over again. At first it’s slow and frustrating but eventually you figure it out. I forced myself to use the thing exclusively and after 3 months was fairly good with all of the letters. Now I can type fairly quickly across the whole keyboard.
The other one handed board I know of is the Frog Pad (http://www.frogpad.com/). However, this keyboard like most one handed boards is targeted at mobile computing. This doesn’t make it very efficient for using every day. I’ve had a frogpad for a few years now but never got any good at it. Being as they have a wireless one now I may try again as traveling with the BAT can be a pain.
I just looked at the Maltron one handed board and I have some problems with it. I don’t think it would be very easy to travel with. It also looks like you’d have to come off of the “home row” to reach some of the letters which, as I stated above, is the part that slows me down the most. Being as these are modified Dvorak keyboards if you learned the Dvorak layout and then went to a Maltron keyboard the transition would be easy. Anyone using a Windows XP computer can try the Dvorak layout. Just do the following:
Go to this site: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/trainin ... ayout.aspx
When you get to the step of actually adding a new keyboard the two options you are looking for are “United States-Dvorak for left hand” or “United States-Dvorak for right hand”. You can then remove it if you want to go back to the standard layout. Or leave both installed and switch back and forth whenever you want.
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/product ... board.aspx
That link has graphics of the Dvorak layout, one handed left, and one handed right. Make sure you download and print the layouts before you make the switch or you could find yourself very lost.
As some of you have figured out the BAT is a chording keyboard which simply means you press multiple keys at once to get a single character. The 5 grey keys alone are all letter keys. For example pressing all 5 keys at once is o. Pressing just the first finger is i. Pressing the red key once puts the thing into number mode. The grey keys then become 1 to 5, thumb + first finger is 6, thumb + middle is 7, and so on until you get to all five keys which is 0. Keys are mapped to their exact shift character on a normal keyboard. For example if you press the blue key (which is shift) then the red key (number mode) then the thumb + middle finger you get a &. This reduces the learning curve a bit for most of the characters. I scanned the chart that came in the box but don’t recall where the graphic is located right now. If people are still interested I can scan it again.
After 7 years of use I still find it to be the most efficient method of typing for me and the first one I bought still functions. They are expensive but have served me well.
The other one handed board I know of is the Frog Pad (http://www.frogpad.com/). However, this keyboard like most one handed boards is targeted at mobile computing. This doesn’t make it very efficient for using every day. I’ve had a frogpad for a few years now but never got any good at it. Being as they have a wireless one now I may try again as traveling with the BAT can be a pain.
I just looked at the Maltron one handed board and I have some problems with it. I don’t think it would be very easy to travel with. It also looks like you’d have to come off of the “home row” to reach some of the letters which, as I stated above, is the part that slows me down the most. Being as these are modified Dvorak keyboards if you learned the Dvorak layout and then went to a Maltron keyboard the transition would be easy. Anyone using a Windows XP computer can try the Dvorak layout. Just do the following:
Go to this site: http://www.microsoft.com/enable/trainin ... ayout.aspx
When you get to the step of actually adding a new keyboard the two options you are looking for are “United States-Dvorak for left hand” or “United States-Dvorak for right hand”. You can then remove it if you want to go back to the standard layout. Or leave both installed and switch back and forth whenever you want.
http://www.microsoft.com/enable/product ... board.aspx
That link has graphics of the Dvorak layout, one handed left, and one handed right. Make sure you download and print the layouts before you make the switch or you could find yourself very lost.
As some of you have figured out the BAT is a chording keyboard which simply means you press multiple keys at once to get a single character. The 5 grey keys alone are all letter keys. For example pressing all 5 keys at once is o. Pressing just the first finger is i. Pressing the red key once puts the thing into number mode. The grey keys then become 1 to 5, thumb + first finger is 6, thumb + middle is 7, and so on until you get to all five keys which is 0. Keys are mapped to their exact shift character on a normal keyboard. For example if you press the blue key (which is shift) then the red key (number mode) then the thumb + middle finger you get a &. This reduces the learning curve a bit for most of the characters. I scanned the chart that came in the box but don’t recall where the graphic is located right now. If people are still interested I can scan it again.
After 7 years of use I still find it to be the most efficient method of typing for me and the first one I bought still functions. They are expensive but have served me well.
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ipeverywhere
Re: one handed keyboard
tomp,
do you use a dvorak keyboard or a dvorak one handed keyboard. the reason i ask is that the layouts are different so its important to specify.
do you use a dvorak keyboard or a dvorak one handed keyboard. the reason i ask is that the layouts are different so its important to specify.
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Christopher
- Posts: 845
- Joined: Wed Jun 18, 2003 10:09 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: Date of Injury: 12/15/02
Level of Injury:
-dominant side C5, C6, & C7 avulsed. C8 & T1 stretched & crushed
BPI Related Surgeries:
-2 Intercostal nerves grafted to Biceps muscle,
-Free-Gracilis muscle transfer to Biceps Region innervated with 2 Intercostal nerves grafts.
-2 Sural nerves harvested from both Calves for nerve grafting.
-Partial Ulnar nerve grafted to Long Triceps.
-Uninjured C7 Hemi-Contralateral cross-over to Deltoid muscle.
-Wrist flexor tendon transfer to middle, ring, & pinky finger extensors.
Surgical medical facility:
Brachial Plexus Clinic at The Mayo Clinic, Rochester MN
(all surgeries successful)
"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
~Theodore Roosevelt - Location: Los Angeles, California USA
Re: one handed keyboard
One-handed QWERTY used to be software that could run a PC. The company stopped making it because they had too many conflicts with other software, so they say. Now they manufacturer one-handed keyboards that are quite expensive.
http://half-qwerty.com/
I heard about the software from my occupational therapist when I was first injured. You could use a regular keyboard and keep your functional hand in the normal typing position, and when you held held down the space key bar the other half of the keyboard would flip over, so you can have full access of the whole keyboard without moving your hand.
You can give this a trial run on their website.
I looked for quite a while for this old software's availability, but never found it. I am now currently training voice recognition software by Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and it works great. I'm using it now. Saves a lot of time from pressing the backspace key to correct mistypes.
Chris
http://half-qwerty.com/
I heard about the software from my occupational therapist when I was first injured. You could use a regular keyboard and keep your functional hand in the normal typing position, and when you held held down the space key bar the other half of the keyboard would flip over, so you can have full access of the whole keyboard without moving your hand.
You can give this a trial run on their website.
I looked for quite a while for this old software's availability, but never found it. I am now currently training voice recognition software by Dragon NaturallySpeaking, and it works great. I'm using it now. Saves a lot of time from pressing the backspace key to correct mistypes.
Chris
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Carolyn J
- Posts: 3424
- Joined: Tue Apr 06, 2004 1:22 pm
- Injury Description, Date, extent, surgical intervention etc: LOBPI. I am 77 yrs old and never had a name for my injuries until 2004 when I found UBPN at age 66.
My injuries are: LOBPI on upper body and Cerebrael Palsy on the lower left extremities. The only intervention I've had is a tendon transplant from my left leg to my left foot to enable flexing t age 24 in 1962. Before that, my foot would freeze without notice on the side when wearing heels AND I always did wear them at work "to fit in" I also stuttered until around age 18-19...just outgrew it...no therapy for it. Also suffered from very very low self esteem; severe Depression and Anxiety attacks started at menopause. I stuffed emotions and over-compensated in every thing I did to "fit in" and be "invisible". My injuries were Never addressed or talked about until age 66. I am a late bloomer!!!!!
I welcome any and all questions about "My Journey".
There is NO SUCH THING AS A DUMB QUESTION.
Sharing helps to Heal. HUGS do too. - Location: Tacoma WA
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Re: one handed keyboard
Hi, if it helps I use an old fashion type pencil, the type with a rubber erasser on the end, I've taught myself to hold the pencil in my fingers and type using the rubber end to type with / hit the buttons, it works for me and in fact that's what I'm using right now..Good Luck...Regards Rob.