Effectiveness of arm supports during typing for adults with neurological disorders

Four computer-typing accommodations were evaluated to determine if arm supports would enhance typing performance and/or comfort of adults with neurological disorders. Each of 12 adults (6 females and 6 males) participated in 7-min typing tasks under the following conditions: 1) without arm support, 2) Ergo Rest arm support, 3) custom arm support in fixed mode, and 4) custom arm support with movable mode. The objective dependent variables were speed, errors, and type of errors. The subjective dependent measures were reported body part discomfort, and arm support ratings. The data were found to be nonparametric in nature. Therefore, nonparametric techniques were employed to analyze the data. Only one of the objective dependent measures were statistically significant; Type of error (additional key). This result may be attributed to the wide range of disability manifestations among participants. Subjective dependent measures were found to be statistically significant, leading to the conclusion that typing with an arm support was more comfortable and easier than without an arm support.