Jim S....

I've never heard of the "Cirque" pad, but if it's a 'touch pad," I'm
uncomfortable with 'em.  Also trackballs are a problem, tho I liked 'em when I
was physically able to use 'em...

I'll be going to one of the large electronic outlets later this week, and'll
take a look-see at the Cirque pad if they carry it.

Thanks, Jim!

Barb Mallut
[log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From:   Parkinson's Information Exchange  On Behalf Of James F. Slattery
Sent:   Wednesday, April 23, 1997 11:57 PM
To:     Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN
Subject:        Re: "Frozen shoulder"

> From: Barbara Mallut <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: FW: "Frozen shoulder"
> Date: Wednesday, 23 April 1997 6:04

> I find that my mind positively SCREEEEEAMS when confronted with virtually
> ANYTHING related to learning a computer program from a technical manual.
I
> mentally 'zone out" when confronted by an Microsoft manual, and
immediately
> buy one of the "Dummies" series (blush).  The problem is that as an
employee
> of MSN, we're working with alpha-beta test programs that don't even HAVE
> formal manuals yet, and I have no natural instinct as to how to use a new
> program.

As an IT teacher, you have my unqualified sympathy! :-)  >
I have to buy third-party books for each of the major Microsoft business
products every year, it seems, in order to find practical examples not
contained in manuals.  This comes out of *my* pocket, not the college's.
:-(

> So this isn't TOTALLY a "mouse problem," rather it's a
> mouse-aggravating-a-shoulder-problem

Have you tried the Cirque pad, or something similar?  I am rapt with it.
It sits just to the left of my keyboard, as my PD is mostly right-sided.
The feature I find most useful is that I can move the cursor about 1 foot
on the screen for about 1 inch on the pad.

> As I reread this I don't know if nay of it is making sense or not, but I
> actually feel MENTALLY disabled as well as physically disabled to a
certain
> extent.

In my "off" times, I can seem to "freeze" mentally at the computer,
starting or continuing something less important than what I *need* to be
doing, and not seeming to be able to stop it.  I think this is called a
"fugue state".

Jim