Programming for the Single-Handed

NullProg writes "Yesterday I was diagnosed with wrist-drop, and now my right arm/hand is in traction for a spell. It may or may not be related to me sitting behind a keyboard for the last twenty years. How have other programmers dealt with the loss of a hand or even multiple fingers? I moved my mouse to the left of the keyboard and can still type faster than my wife using one hand, but upper case keys are giving me problems. Has anyone experience with the smaller keyboards from Happy Hacking? Do they help one handed people? What editors did you find the most keystroke friendly. Gvim is bearable, is there a better one I can use for single key operations? What other tips do you have for someone in my situation?"

Comments

One handed?

[Anonymous Coward]

They just make it oh-so-easy... :)

Oh great...

[Anonymous Coward]

I see a whole wad of "one handed typing" jokes cumming up.

Are you sure you really have wrist drop?

[Mawbid]

A wrist drop is the characteristic deformity of a radial nerve lesion.

In order to demonstrate this phenomenon, if not already obvious, direct the patient to flex the elbow and pronate the forearm and ask him to extend the wrist. In a radial nerve injury causing wrist drop a patient will not be able undertake this manoeuvre.

Doctor: Flex your right elbow please.
Patient: <flexes elbow>
Doctor: Good. Now pronate your right forearm.
Patient: <blink>
Doctor: Aha! As I suspected! Yet another case of wrist drop!