More tools and methods

I have a lot of trouble with using computers, but at the same time, computers allow me to do so much more than what I would be able to do with just my hands. I came up with a list of rules for myself regarding computer use. I wrote this list to remind myself just where the best use of each technology is. It would be nice to have just one method that works for every occasion, but I have yet to find one. My computer rules:

Typing

There are four methods of typing available to me. These are dictation, cut-paste, mouth stick and fingers.

Dictation should always be used for in-line writing that involves just one portion of one document, with minimal editing. This would be appropriate for the following:
• Journal/reflection writing
• e-mail/letter writing
• short answer test questions
• non-edit writing in a long document
MacSpeech Dictate gets very confused when you switch between programs, documents, and places in the document. There are certain navigational commands to "insert before___", but this is little help when you need to scroll up a page or more to find your insertion point.
While I would like to avoid all instances of hand typing, the following are more suited to this, and if done in moderation, will lead to greater productivity, less software crashes, and more accurate results. The down side is that I have a lot of these instances and it always leads to more pain and being grumpy. These are the acceptable "cheats" where it is acceptable to use my fingers:
• editing PowerPoint
• editing a multiple-choice test
• spotty edit of a long document

Cut-paste is a little clumsy, but as long as you have a foot mouse, you can get by with a few tasks you might need to accomplish. The concept is this: you cut and paste words, letters and phrases from the documents and websites you already have access to, in order to construct the word you need. For example, if I wanted to research the Egyptian pyramids, I would try to find keywords to Google that will lead me to a page of this sort. Perhaps I already have a travel website bookmarked, and from there I could copy Egypt and Google it. From that search, there would likely be many pages with pyramid information. There are also many documents already on my computer that I could mine for words and letters if I wanted to construct from scratch.

The mouth stick will probably be of more use once I have a dedicated workstation with a good stand to hold the mouse stick ready for use at any time. Even then, I expect only to use it in extreme circumstances, such as when I am already in a great deal of pain. It works well for brief periods of typing, and typing that does not require any control, shift, alt or command keys to be pressed simultaneously. However, it can be useful for the following
• password login
• brief e-mails

My fingers are a last resort, but I have yet to find any system that completely frees me of using my fingers.

Mousing

There are four types of mousing available to me at this point. These are nose mousing, head mousing, foot mousing, and finger mousing.

Nose mousing is not yet practical until I have a dedicated workspace with a good mouse for the nose pad. Once I have this set up, the nose mouse will be a good alternative to integrate into my mousing behavior. It would probably never be used entirely on its own, but would be a good way of taking the pressure off of my other overworked body parts.

Head mousing should always be used for dedicated computer work. It is appropriate for
• surfing the Internet
• creating documents
• dictation
• reading
Because it is configured to track a location on my head, it is best if I do not use this for tasks that require looking at off-computer resources. For example, it would NOT be good for
• scanning documents
• grading homework
• using physical book resources
• data entry from physical paper/book/file

Foot mousing is by far the most precise, most versatile, most comfortable means of mousing. However, it has its limitations. It does not work well on all surfaces. It does not work well in all motions. The first fatigues quickly if it has to struggle. These are its major limitations:
• No carpet. Using the mouse pad on carpet doubles the resistance. It also tends to make the mouse pad creep, and you soon find your foot reaching further and further.
• Minimal scrolling. Using the left-right scroll wheel is acceptable for occasional document navigation of two pages or less. However, when working with larger documents, or lots of Internet pages, the foot fatigue from this motion quicker than any other foot mousing action.

Finger mousing or hand mousing is a last resort, but is acceptable in brief instances.