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Barbara--I am using IBM 386 with Windows 3.1 and have made and/or found the following adjustments: 1) MOUSE: From the Applications\Control Panel I chose Mouse icon. a) Set double click speed to as slow as possible for two-button mouse. [For three-button mouse, program middle button to be the double click in this window.] b) Adjust mouse speed slower if tremor is causes hyperactive mouse movements. [My personal setting is between slow and middle. I will adjust that to slower as nessary.] NOTE: IF YOU ARE LEFT HANDED, THIS IS THE PLACE TO CHANGE THE BUTTON SETTINGS ON MOUSE TO ACCOMMODATE YOUR LEFT HAND. Exit and save settings by clicking OK button. 2) KEYBOARD: From the Applications\Control Panel choose Keyboard icon. Keyboard Speed window appears. Adjust the "Delay Before First Repeat" rate between Long to Medium Long. Adjust the "Repeat Rate" between Slow to Medium Slow. Exit and save settings by clicking OK button. 3) Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard (works with Windows 3.1 or Windows 95) This keyboard looks funky, but it offered me some unexpected benefits. My personal bugaboo letters when typing are L, O, P, and I. My fingers stutter these letters much to my dismay :) While testing the Microsoft Ergonomic Keyboard I discovered that my hands are placed in a more natural position on the keys and my little finger and ring finger on my right hand do not add as many extra Ls Os Ps and Is. The keyboard takes getting used to, but I like it. My wrists tire much less easily. The weakness in my right hand/arm/fingers is offset somewhat by the more natural position of the hand on the keyboard. I wouldn't suggest anyone go out and buy one until they test drive it. (Store clerks are often more accommodating if you explain why you want to test the keyboard for 15-minutes or more.) 4) Trim your nails short. Long nails interfere with finger movement across the keyboard, especially on the affected hand. Just as the affected foot scuffs the floor, so do the affected fingers scuff across the keyboard. Longer fingernails indrease the likeligood of finger scuffing. 5) There is a program that involves use of a microphone to carry out simple voice commands for various programs. On a spreadsheet, these commands include functions like sum, copy, paste, etc. It does not matter if your voice is somewhat amplitude impaired as the microphone comes with volume control and the program is taught to recognize your personal voice. (I can't remember the name of the program--anyone out there know?) 6) For the severely limited, there is a "DragonPlay" (Spelling?) program that is a voice controlled word processor. What you speak is typed on screen. It copies, pastes, changes font sizes, bold/italicizes/underlines, and has lots of other neat features. When you tell it to print, it does. It comes with a microphone that can be worn on your head or set otherwise. We saw it featured on the program INNOVATIONS which aired on our PBS station last Tuesday night. The cost is $1800--but for the severely impaired it would be well worth it. 7) A chair with an enhanced armrest for the arm/hand using the mouse is a neat feature for lessening energy needed to support the arm and control the mouse at the same time. Make a padded board that is raised to the level where your arm can rest on it comfortably when using or between using the mouse and securely attach this to your computer chair arm. 8) Adjust your monitor colors to those that are easiest on your eyes. (For windows, this is found in the Applications\Control Panel under the Colors icon.) Adjust the brightness and contrast features, too. 9) Adjust your monitor height to your comfortable eye level. For some people this means raising it, for other people it means lowering it. If the room where your computer is uses fluorescent lighting, get a screen cover to help cut down on glare. If possible, switch to softer lighting. 10) If one hand is very weak, full of "hops" and tremors, re-train your other hand to use the mouse and keyboard alone. Because my right hand is increasingly affected, I've been using only my left hand at home to use the mouse and to type! For the mouse I started out playing solitaire (which comes with windows) then progressed to some other more demanding games we have. The typing is by sight now but I am increasingly getting the movements faster. To further train my left hand I eat at least one or two meals a week with it using chopsticks! 11) Use a footrest that is angled at least 30 to 45 degrees. This stretches your hamstrings and helps avoid some of the dreaded leg cramps. 12) Set an alarm program that pops up a window on your computer screen to remind you to get up and walk or stretch in place at least every 45-60 minutes. These simple breaks with simple stretching exercises or walking make a difference in the amount of leg/foot cramps I have at night. There are several shareware programs available for downloading on AOL, Prodigy, Delphi, Compuserve etc. (But, if someone doesn't have access to these and could use a Windows 3.1 version alarm, email me and I'll make arrangements to get you a copy of the shareware alarm I use.) Hope these ideas help. ***** Llyn Gruber <[log in to unmask]> ***** **** Whatever you can do, or dream you can, **** ***** begin it--Johann W. von Goethe *****