Mouse Suggestions for my dad? He's got Parkinsons and randomly clicks the buttons.

[markjrubin]

My dad is in the beginning stages of Parkinson's disease. The main problem he has is tremors in his right hand. He is a very active computer user and the tremors are causing his fingers to randomly click the mouse. I'm looking for something that would help this. I looked at the Mac optical mouse (not even sure it works w/ windows) , but he needs a right mouse button.

More info:
He hates trackballs.
He hates pen/tablets
He spends about 30 hours a week in either photoshop or page maker so voice recognition would be wayyyy too slow and not precise enough.

Any suggestions would help.

Mark

 

[konichiwa]

There are specialized computer devices designed just for people with disabilities. A friend of mine sells them professionally; I will ask him about them and get back to you. Generally you'll spend quite a bit for the good ones but they come in all forms. A few off the top of my head:

- Mouse mounted to a person's head, not sure it wouldn't be overkill for Parkinson's, it's generally used for people who have no body control besides their head.
- Different mechanisms for clicking. There are switches and pedals that can be used to simulate mouse clicks and (AFAIK) you can eliminate the mouse buttons so he can move the mouse but not click with it.

Again, if you want me to, I will talk to my friend and get back to you. As far as I know most of these devices aren't necessarily available to the general public and you usually have to go directly to the manufacturer but you can get them and they are very popuplar with disabled persons.

 

[markjrubin]

That would be great.

Additionally, my dad used a trackball for a few years and hated it, so that's out of the question.

Mark

 

[Budman]

did you try installing the Accessibility Wizard in add/remove programs ?

With that installed you can add those features for people with dissabilites.

 

[Dufusyte]

Some other options,

- Pen/tablet:
http://www.wacom.com/graphire/index.cfm


- There are so many radically different types of "trackball" that it is hard to say you hate all of them just because you hate one. Check out these various designs; maybe one of them would be suitable:
http://www.logitech.com/cf/products/trackballs.cfm

 

[ShallowHal]

This may be stupid but what about voice recognition. I know nothing about it except that it exists.

 

[markjrubin]

Updated original message w/ more info.

Mark

 

[Slawsk]

Man, sorry to hear bout that. Well, they say where they're's a will, their's a way. One way is using your foot, but that is very unreliable. Another way is to have him use a big mouse and to have him grip it from the sides then have him move his fingers to the button. It's all in the technique. Another is to have him press a key while clicking on a button on a mouse for it to register. Another is to make a switch on the cord that when you put your foot down on it, you will have a connection, but you would have to wire it such that it won't cut out the power. It's very hard to operate the computer without a good set of hands - at least for now- so this just reminds us all how fortunate we all are to have a good set of hands!

 

[Scootin159]

How bad are the tremors? Would a mouse button with harder buttons be enough? How about a mouse like a logitech where your fingers don't rest on the buttons like on a microsoft mouse.

 

[ShallowHal]

Try This
and also you can
try this. Hope this is helpful.