I apologise for multiple posting of this message, but it's an important topic and I want to make sure that is recorded properly in each of the relevant forum categories.

Have you tried using dictation software? I use it a lot and it really helps reduce the strain on my hands caused by typing.

If you have Windows 7 or 8 then there is pretty good voice recognition software built into the basic operating system and all you will need is a decent microphone, for which a headset is recommended because it keeps the microphone at a fixed distance from your mouth, which helps with accuracy.

If you can afford it, then the best dictation software out there, bar none, is Dragon NaturallySpeaking.

For those of you in work, a copy of Dragon NaturallySpeaking is one of those reasonable changes that an employer is obliged to make to accommodate your condition. If you use a PC at work then you should press your employer to purchase a copy for you. Amazon has it for £53 for a home user, £77 for an educational user and £95 for a commercial user and most it, if not all, come with a headset in the box, good enough to get you started.

If you are wondering how good it is, this entire post has been dictated with just a few minor keystrokes for formatting corrections. The software really is very good.

Is it better than the speech recognition software built into Windows? Yes, without question. I started with the native Windows software and quickly switched to Dragon when it became clear that the native Windows software did not interface well with some applications, including Microsoft Office! So, if you can afford it, or you can persuade your employer to buy it for you, it is a worthy investment. Also, you are entitled to install the application onto two computers. So, if your employer buys it for you at work there should be no problem with installing it on your home computer.

In use, not only will it reduce the impact on your hands, it will also allow you to adopt a much more comfortable sitting position while you are dictating, because you hardly need to use the keyboard. With sufficient training on your behalf you can also use the software to issue application commands such as "send email to..." I have to say though that I don't bother with that because remembering all of the commands for all of the applications can be daunting. I find that using the application to create my text means that my hands are much more able to handle the command work.

The only word of caution that I would give is that voice recognition is one of the most complex tasks a PC can undertake so if you have a very old, very slow PC you might want to be careful before proceeding. Most PCs, apart from real budget models, of the last 3 to 4 years will probably be okay but the simple fact remains that the more processing power and memory you can throw at the application the better. I am extremely fortunate to have a very powerful home PC which I treated myself to recently for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was that as a heavy PC user I knew I needed to use Dragon very frequently. I appreciate that not everybody will be in the same position. Of course, at work, upgrading your PC to a more powerful model to accommodate the Dragon software is another one of the reasonable accommodations that an employer is is obliged to make.

I'm going to cross post this information into the equipment part of the forum.

Bumping this message up so Natalie can see it