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geekhack Community => Keyboards => Topic started by: Moleboy on Mon, 28 November 2011, 11:22:27
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My mother is heavily Arthritic and as of recently, has been diagnosed with Parkinsons. She spends a lot of her time emailing through her computer in her room, and I was wondering if my sibs and I got her a mechanical keyboard, it might make typing that much easier? The cherry's with the least amount of force required, etc. Since, as I understand, you don't need to "bottom out", wouldn't they be a lot easier? It may seem trivial, but life is getting hard for her, and this is one thing we can do (if it's a good idea).
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Doesn't Parkinsons make your hands shake? I'd take a heavy board...
EDIT: Seems like Arthritic makes your hands stiff and hard to press keys.
MX Reds are very light, 45g (while a regular rubber dome/scissor keyboard is like ~70g).
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Not only her hands but her entire body shakes. She's getting a two stage brain surgery that theoretically will stop the shaking, which is why the issue shouldn't be as applicable to a keyboard soon. I'll look into mx reds, but I'm still a bit confused on buckling springs x.x I really want to understand, though I'm not sure I do quite yet.
I appreciate everyone's help so far, I really do. :)
--Sam
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If she does have shaking, MX reds will be a problem with their light activation. I second the Buckling Spring suggestion. The feedback alone would be worthwhile, but the firmer switch will prevent accidental key presses.
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Is she having problems with a regular keyboard(accidental keypresses), if not reds are light and easy to type with. If she is accidentally hitting keys on a rubber dome, I would go for Buckling springs too. You should get one from unicomp, they make great buckling spring keyboards and have really good customer support so you can ask them these questions.
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I don't know what your mom uses, but my mom uses a Razer BlackWidow. Reminds her of the good ol' clicky keyboard days, apparently.
If you REALLY want to piss her off, get her the TIPRO Anti-Spasm Keyboard!
-I'm joking, but the Anti-Spasm Keyboard is real: http://keyboardporn.com/mx-switch/tipro-anti-spasm-keyboard/
And I lied, it has stabilizers. This would be a last resort for someone who suffers from severe shaking or tremors.
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This is kind of shameless, but I have a keyboard on sale on ebay right now that really is good for this situation.
It has been discussed to absurd lengths on this forum, but it is a nice light keyboard with very large key caps (full 1" pitch) and white simplified Alps that register nicely when they connect. The layout is strange, and I would not use it myself, nor would any touch typist, but for your situation it might be just the ticket.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/270824320226?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/270824320226?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649)
Contact me through the forum and you can have it shipped domestic for $27.65
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I too am guessing that something uber-tactile is probably appropriate, I'm thinking buckling springs, blues, or Alps (even though I really don't like them.) Do you have any mechanical switch boards that she could try before you buy something? Browns, blues, or reds might be too light for someone with Parkinson's, but then again if the blues turn out to not be too light she might find them useful.
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This is kind of shameless, but I have a keyboard on sale on ebay right now that really is good for this situation.
It has been discussed to absurd lengths on this forum, but it is a nice light keyboard with very large key caps (full 1" pitch) and white simplified Alps that register nicely when they connect. The layout is strange, and I would not use it myself, nor would any touch typist, but for your situation it might be just the ticket.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/270824320226?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/270824320226?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649)
Contact me through the forum and you can have it shipped domestic for $27.65
I was going to recommend your keyboard, but you beat me to it.
Anyway, It's something to consider. I'd say either this or a BS would be best.