3 apps that make everyday computer use less annoying for people with disabilities

I absolutely love when I find products that give me better access to stuff I want to do without being over-priced (have you ever looked at the cost of even basic medical and disability related products? Sheesh.). I’ve been using three apps on my Mac for a while that have made some everyday tasks, like saving passwords, typing email addresses, and launching apps faster and more pleasant.

Alfred

open_applications_files@2x

I just can’t say enough good things about Alfred. Not only does it give me the satisfaction of pretending like I’m a millionaire crime fighter with a wise and loyal butler, it also opens apps faster than you can say “Why so serious?”

As an admitted app junkie, my Application Dock holds more apps than I care to mention. And my Applications folder is filled with tons of stuff ranging from “This one’s the best!” to “I don’t remember this one.” Kind of like your Facebook friends list. But Alfred saves your mind from having to parse over all those apps to find the one you’re looking for. Instead, you simply press a hotkey combination and a simple, omniscient search box appears. Unbelievably, what happens next is that by typing just a few characters, you can do any of the following:

  • Open an app
  • Open a file or folder
  • Play some music
  • Look up a contact
  • Do math
  • Define a word
  • Get some text you copied a few hours ago
  • Search the web
  • Run a script
  • A gazillion other things

It’s not easy for me to use a keyboard, so I appreciate the plethora of tasks that are available with a radically short number of key-presses.

Alfred is free, with some features requiring the £15 Powerpack license.

TextExpander

te_ss1

You know what’s annoying? Typing something for a computer that a computer should be able to type itself. Let me give you a few examples:

I need to type my email address. My computer should be like “Oh, you wanna type your email address? I got you, dawg!”

I need to type my full name. My computer should know my name and type it for me. If it doesn’t know me by now, it will never ever ever know me…

In a pathetic need to brand myself, I need to leave my full name, contact info, and a ridiculous catchphrase at the end of every piece of digital communication I write. My computer should stop me from doing this (ideally), but should otherwise do it for me.

This is what TextExpander does. It lets you type something like:

-mail

And then automagically types your email address in place of the abbreviation.

You can do this for any bit of text that you want, with the possibilities ranging from short and simple phrases to long, complicated passages with fill-in-the-blank variables. In fact, while writing my failed NaNoWriMo 2011 novel, I got so lazy that I set up abbreviations for people and places in my story. So I could simply type “-flc” instead of “Frostlake Crossing” every time I mentioned the place.

TextExpander comes with a free trial after which it costs $34.95.

1Password

logins-large

If you are still using the same short password on every site you log into, you should really consider changing at least the important accounts (email, bank, shopping, social media) to strong, unique passwords. It’s better for the security of your online identity.

Of course, keeping up with a bunch of long, hard-to-remember passwords can be difficult for anyone. But if you have trouble typing, your going to be hesitant in changing your go-to password of “yourcatsname.” That’s where 1Password comes in. It can generate secure passwords and remember them. You just need to remember one master password (get it?). Maybe something a bit more secure like, “y0urC@t$nam3.” Then you can copy and paste any of your saved passwords.

Now you have the benefit of secure passwords without having to remember or type them.

1Password is available on multiple platforms at different prices. The Mac and Windows versions cost $49.99. Available on iPhone and Android as well.

More efficient typing with the Chubon keyboard layout

In my quest for finding an acceptable alternative method for typing, I’ve discussed the onscreen keyboard, iPhone remote apps, voice recognition software, and one really psychedelic desktop app. Now, I’m going to make the case for an alternative keyboard layout. That is, a non-QWERTY layout. But before we do anything drastic, let’s think this through.

What’s wrong with QWERTY?

Well, I’m not passing a moral judgement on it, but it’s just not very efficient. Just ask any Dvorak user. These strange people re-map their keyboards so that the letters are in a more efficient arrangement for two-handed typing. The problem is that I only type with one hand. One finger (or digit) to be exact. Try a little exercise for me. Open up Notepad (Mac users open TextEdit) and type the following sentence, but use only one finger.

The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog’s back.

You may have noticed that you had to jump back and forth across the keyboard. Often times, the next letter you want to type is on the opposite side of the keyboard from the letter you just typed.

That’s what’s wrong with QWERTY. If you are typing with one finger, you are traveling across the keyboard a lot more than someone using two hands (or even just one finger on each hand).

Who cares?

People who use onscreen keyboards or remote apps, or who simply use one finger to type on a physical keyboard. If you have a disability that requires you to use an onscreen keyboard or a smartphone app like HippoRemote, you should consider an alternate layout that is optimized for one-finger (or single-digit) typing.

Who would make a keyboard layout for one-finger typing?

Dr. Robert Chubon, that’s who. Dr. Chubon was paralyzed in a trampoline accident when he was a child. In 1988, he conducted research that produced the Chubon Layout. On the surface, it’s a simple idea: put the most commonly used letters of the alphabet all together in the middle of the keyboard. That means that the letters you need in most of the words you type are very close to each other. The letters you use less often are out toward the edges. Think of it like a target. Here’s what it looks like on my phone (note that it is slightly different than Dr. Chubon’s original design):

Chubon Layout profile for HippoRemote Pro

Chubon Layout profile for HippoRemote Pro


Whoa! That’s weird!

Yes, it is not what you are used to. But trust me, if you are tediously pecking at an onscreen keyboard letter by letter, you will be amazed at how much faster and enjoyable typing can be with a keyboard layout designed for you. I spent a few hours practicing with the Chubon layout by playing free typing games on the web. That got me acclimated enough to use it for my daily typing needs. After a week of regular use, I was just as comfortable using Chubon as I was QWERTY. More comfortable really, because my WPM (words per minute) received a significant boost and typing was no longer a tedious, stressful activity.

How can I try Chubon?

Here are the ways I know of. There may be more.

1. Chubon layout for KeyStrokes

If you type with KeyStrokes, the onscreen keyboard for Mac, then I’ve got good news! The Chubon layout is a click or two away. Simply click the KeyStrokes icon in the dock (to make sure the app is in focus). In the Mac menu bar go to Keyboard > Improved Chubon. That’s it, you’re good to go.

Windows onscreen keyboard users: I don’t know if there is a way to remap the built-in onscreen keyboard. I also don’t know what other onscreen keyboard programs exist for Windows and if any of them can be configured to use Chubon. Sorry. Google is your friend, though.

2. HippoRemote Pro for iPhone

As I’ve written before, your iPhone makes a great mini-sized keyboard for your Mac or PC. HippoRemote Pro lets you use your iPhone to type on your computer. It can also make your iPhone act like a trackpad. But the interesting feature of HippoRemote Pro is called “profiles.” Profiles are a way to have diferent panels of buttons for different purposes. For example, here’s one for controlling Windows Media Center.

Windows Media Center profile for HippoRemote Pro

Windows Media Center profile for HippoRemote Pro

And here’s a game controller.

Game controller panel in HippoRemote Pro

Game controller panel in HippoRemote Pro

The developer of HippoRemote made the app so that anyone can make their own profiles. So I made one for typing with Chubon:

Chubon Layout profile for HippoRemote Pro

Chubon Layout profile for HippoRemote Pro

A panel in the Chubon Layout profile that helps you work with text

A panel in the Chubon Layout profile that helps you work with text

You can read all about the profile here, but here is the gist.

Pros:
– Optimized for one-finger typing
– Quick access to punctuation keys
– Extra panel for moving the cursor and working with text

Cons:
– Can’t simulate the shift key, so has a set of letters for uppercase at top and lowercase at bottom
– Doesn’t work with TextExpander (the snippet expansion tool for Mac and iOS)
– Setup requires Dropbox

Download the .zip file

3. Remap your physical keyboard

If you are using a physical keyboard, then you can remap the keys and then get some labels for your keyboard. I don’t know the specifics, but remapping keys is common and should be easily achievable on Mac and PC.

Is it really that useful? This looks like too much work.

Just as beauty is in the eye of the beholder, the usefulness of the Chubon layout is subjective and will vary from person to person. I like writing. I hate clicking keys on an onscreen keyboard. I like typing with my phone. I hate that with QWERTY, I constantly have to jump across the keyboard. So the Chubon Layout profile for HippoRemote solves this issue for me.

If you have difficulty typing due to limited strength and mobility in your hand, I encourage you to try typing on your computer with HippoRemote. If you like it, I encourage you to try the Chubon Layout for a week and see if you get the same speed boost that I did. If you need help setting it up, contact me and I’ll be happy to help you.

This HippoRemote stuff is still kind of confusing. Is there a guide or something?

I’m working on it. It’s a lot to write for one blog post. I’m going to create a guide that explains how to setup and use the Chubon Layout profile. In the meantime, hit me up and I’ll help you out.

Strangely Enough

Now, why do people do the things they do? I don’t think I will ever find the answer to this riddle. Standing tall as a person with a disability (metaphorically speaking) I can tell you that we are noticed in public, but don’t think we don’t notice how weird you are. People seem comfortable enough to do the strangest things to disabled people, I have yet to figure out why.

I was sitting in Barnes & Noble enjoying a nice refreshing cup of iced coffee while reading the book Fight Club. I was rather pleased with the concept of the book and enjoyed being immersed in a world where civilized men can beat the shit out of each other and then not talk about it. I had previously seen the movie and I will not talk about it. As usual my assistant was sitting next to me. She was lost in an entirely different world of magazines.

I had your everyday paperback edition of the book propped up on another thicker book so that the angle was appropriate for reading. I have the means of technology for reading electronically, but sometimes a paper-book feels more noteworthy. Every so often I would ask my assistant to turn the page for me because I do not possess the strength to do so myself.

I was deeply in tune with my book and didn’t notice the stranger approaching me. At first I was startled when I looked up and realized the young man was towering over our table intently watching me read. “Hello?” I said briefly. “How does he read?” the stranger asked my assistant. “With my eyes?” I replied with a puzzled tone. “But how does he turn the page?” he asked my assistant again as though I were too incompetent to respond. “Does he use his mind to turn the page?” asking the assistant again. “Yes buddy, here is how I turn the page. Now try to keep up with me on this one. Kelly turn the page.” My assistant smiles reaches over and turns the page for me. The strangers face turns beet red and he doesn’t leave with a farewell or admittance to his ignorance, but quickly scurries off.

I eventually finished the book, along with my cup of coffee, and made my way back into the mall. I wanted to see what was going on in the fashionable world of Macy’s so I headed in that general direction. Sure, I got sidetracked a couple of times along the way. A teenage girl was clearly pretending to have an authentic Asian accent when she made the offer, “Fwee chickon shampul?” My assistant took her up on the offer, I declined. We continued onward towards the destination of the ever-so-desirable Macy’s. Before entering the department store, I had my assistant remove the now empty Starbucks cup from my cup-holder and throw it away.

One thing I’ve learned in my life is that you do not want to go shopping with the female sort in Macy’s (it’s enough to drive a sane man mad). Shortly after entering the store we parted ways momentarily. I was browsing through the men’s section when I noticed the wide array of colors they offered in Polo’s. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a strange looking man approaching me. I must admit that I was a little nervous. I was alone. And earlier that week there was a local shooting and they had not caught the gunman. He approached me in a very serious manner and started to digging in his front pockets. At this point I’m freaking out, debating on whether I should run or start screaming. I held my cool. The frightening man pulled out a handful of change and dropped it in my cup-holder and said, “God bless.” Now under such circumstances I should be extremely thankful and I know it probably meant a lot to this guy. I bit my lip and squeezed out the words, “thank you.” But I was really thinking, “What the hell, I’m sitting in Macy’s admiring a $167.98 Ralph Lauren Polo dress shirt, wearing clothes that cost more than the Polo I was looking at, my wheelchair cost 3x his car, but this man feels that I need his spare change.”

I could feel my face turn a beet red out of sheer anger. I immediately found my assistant and she asked, “What was that guy doing?” “The guy gave me his change,” I said with a puzzled look on my face. She started laughing, “Well let’s see what you are worth.” We dug the very little coinage from my cup-holder. I was worth $0.87 to be exact. Not even worth a buck according to this strange guy.

As we exited the mall, my assistant held the door and ended the shopping evening with the statement, “Let’s face it Phillip, we could all use a little change.”

Where shopping is a pleasure

I was rolling through a mall the other day when I noticed a GNC nestled between a Footlocker and a Starbucks. The not-so-good-half of me chuckled and said to myself, “This is going to be fun.” I entered the GNC with a straight-laced consumer look on my face. I eyed a couple of the products as though I was sincerely interested in buying something. I rolled over to the aisle lined with protein supplements. The label on the protein portrayed a man who seemed to be juiced up on steroids. The man on the label had his arms flexed so strenuous that the veins in his neck and forehead were bulging to the extent of exploding.

This was about the time when the sales associate behind the cash register took interest in me. He stood up, came from behind the counter, and made his way towards me. The salesman did not look anything like the image of the buff guy on the bottle of protein. Instead, he was a college student that looked as though Twinkies were his comfort study food.

After he approached me the conversation started off casual with simple introductions. Then he asked, “So, how can we help you today?” I replied in a serious tone, “I was wondering, will this help me walk?” The guy looked dumbfounded. He was unprepared for my arsenal of humor. “I-I-I…” I interrupted, “I did a little research online and it says that protein will help build my muscles.” At this point the dumbfounded expression on his face turned into a look of sadness, “I don’t think any of this is going to help you.” I turned away from the protein supplements and made my way towards the door, “Thanks for crushing my dreams of ever being able to walk.”

As I exited the store a smile spread across my face and I couldn’t help but laugh at how bamboozled the sales associate must have felt. I wasn’t about to stop there, I was having too much fun. I decided it was time to pay a visit to Footlocker.

I made a left turn, dodged a few snot-nosed-germ-infested-monster children, and made my way into the shoe store. Now generally athletic shoe stores do not make it easy for people in wheelchairs to enter and honestly why should they? There is usually a post placed in the middle of the entrance displaying the popular shoe of the week.

As I dodged the post, knocking only one shoe off, I made eye contact with the sales associate. She smiled, laid the pack of socks she was holding down, and came to pick up the shoe. She knew that my knocking only one shoe down may have been done intentionally. I rolled past her and made my way to the men’s shoes.

After staring blankly at the wall of shoes, the lady wearing referee gear approached me and asked, “So, what size are you?” I couldn’t help but chuckle a little and think of all the ways this question could be answered. She caught my drift, smiled, rolled her eyes in a flirtatious manner and said, “Shoe size?” “I’m really just trying to find a style I like first.” This was a complete lie, I could care less about any of these overpriced shoes. “Well what do you plan on doing? Running? Sports?” She had a big smile on her face because she knew that I had no intention of buying a pair of shoes. “Well we could start with the basics first. Do you have a pair of shoes that could help me walk?” We both started to laugh and she pointed to the walking shoes. “I don’t think those are going to help much, not my style.” At this point I bid the referee farewell and rolled towards the exit. On the way out I bumped the shoe I had knocked off and smiled.

I had to cross the entrance of GNC before arriving at my next destination. I couldn’t help but notice the twinkie loving sales associate helping another person learn to lose weight one vitamin at a time. I rolled onward towards Starbucks, no cruel intentions were intended, I simply wanted a cup of coffee. After waiting in the maze of a line I finally reached the barista, “What’ll it be today Sir?” “A tall caramel macchiato please.” “Name?” “Phillip.” “Phillip, are you sure you don’t want an extra shot of espresso to help pick you up out of that chair?”

Inclusion is attitude, not policy

Policy stuff frustrates the mess out of me. I’ve determined that it’s because policy tends to manifest itself to me as useless bullcrap. Or worse, a cop-out for the government to be a jerk (although that’s another post altogether). In my experience, where policy is naught, life is a lot easier. I’m sure that’s not a safe generalization, but by the end of this post you’ll see why I make it.

I hate it when bureaucracies create policies regarding disability and see it as the end result. The win. Game over. Move along. Nothing to see here. Policy hardly changes anything immediately (if ever). I know of brand new or recently renovated buildings that still manage to completely blow getting ADA regulations right (do bathrooms with ADA-required turning space even exist?). Without the architect (seriously, it should start there) having the proper attitude, the ADA guidelines for accessible buildings are just useless stacks of paper in a dusty filing cabinet.

In short, attitude transcends policy.

People do what they want to do. Especially when it comes to rules (of any kind). Architects design buildings how they want to. Schools include kids with disabilities as much as they want to. “Equal opportunity employers” hire people with disabilities if they feel like it. The rules are just there. They are more like suggestions. And at that, they are really only the minimally accepted suggestions. But what happens when policy is put aside and people have the attitude of doing the right thing because it’s the right thing to do? As it happens, I can tell you because I experienced it.

That’s right. Unlike a lot of my disabled friends, I had a pretty good high school experience. My public school education was okay until middle school. During my sixth grade year, despite being around more people, I felt more isolated than I had ever felt up to that point in my life. One the only friends I had was a janitor at the school, because he was the only staff member willing to help me use the restroom (which, let’s face it, policy probably forbade). My grades dropped and my Mom said she didn’t care if we ate canned soup for every meal if that’s what it took to send me to a private school.

The stereotype is probably that the public school’s poor quality was related to the fact that it was under-funded. That’s true to an extent but it might give way to the somewhat liberal policy of catapulting money in the general direction of the school grounds in order to fix its problems. Money helps, but it doesn’t fix attitude problems. The private school I went to was, coincidentally, even more under-funded than the public school I went to.[1. I assume since I know many of the teachers didn't get paid what they should have and that decreasing revenue eventually led to the school's closing.]

But oh how the attitudes were different. Almost every teacher I had was willing to help me use the restroom. The staff helped me whenever I needed it, but didn’t gloat or make a show of it. They treated me like any other student. They were also flexible. Since the school was K-12 they had an after-school program. They let me stay there until my Mom got off from work. Despite the fact that the school was unaccredited for some time and that they occasionally had unorthodox methods of teaching[2. In American History, we used The Complete Idiot's Guide to American History for our textbook.], I got a better education than public school would have given me. Was it because the school was top-dollar, top-notch, and super qualified? Hardly. It was because the people who worked there cared.

Inclusion should just happen. I think people who work with people with disabilities should aim for “radical” inclusion. Don’t settle. Don’t be “by the book” all the time. Be human. Try to think about what a person with a disability is going through. When a kid has to pee and his only options are holding it in pain, pissing himself, or you taking him, try being a little radical. It might not be your job to do such a thing but you try telling the kid that.

Seriously. Those folks at my middle school were freaked out by me. I’m just lucky the janitor was a human being who understood how the urinary system works. Axiom number one: what goes in must come out. I’m sure taking me to the restroom was nowhere in the vicinity of his job description. I’m not saying it should have been. I’m not advocating for policy that requires teachers, counselors, etc. to assist people with disabilities in the restroom (what an awesome, controversial policy that would be!). I’m just saying that the more people who give a damn, regardless of bureaucratic rules, the better life will be for everyone. Policy is only the beginning.

Inclusion shouldn’t be an initiative, program or effort, it should just happen. If it just happened we wouldn’t even need a word to point out that everyone is included equally.

– Danny Housley, Automatic Inclusion

Inclusion is attitude, not policy.

“Walk it off” vs. “Roll with it”

The other day I heard my father growling like a bear in the next room. Now, this is not an unusual occurrence for my father. He usually has the tendency of calling me into the living room only to immediately tell me to leave, “Move! Yur standin’ in front of the TV!” I can’t help but snicker each time he makes such a comment, because I’ve never actually stood in front of anything. I usually wheel past the television and park behind the couch out of the way. He then replies, “Where ya goin’? I’m trying to tell you something.”

But this time was different, he actually wasn’t growling at me. He was growling for the sake of growling. Not even growling really, more like wincing in excruciating pain. It sounded as though the bear had finally been shot and was crying out in pain with his last breath. Although I wasn’t summoned, I made my way to the living room to see what all the commotion was about. My father was squinting his eyes, gritting his teeth, and grabbing his shin in pain. After assessing the situation I soon realized this bear was just having his typical leg cramp. I simply chuckled and told the crying old man to “walk it off.” He rocked himself up out of the recliner and made his way into the kitchen to grab a banana. The potassium always seemed to help with his leg cramps. I personally think the big guy just likes bananas. I should probably start calling him a gorilla instead of a bear.

After telling my father to “walk it off” I couldn’t help but think that this is a luxury a disabled person doesn’t have. When a disabled person, like myself, has a leg cramp, we can’t walk it off. So I thought, “what do the disabled do in such occurrences?” I came to the conclusion, that we “roll with it.”

A couple of years ago I crossed paths with a black cat. Now I’m not one to believe in such silly superstitions, but my nurse insisted on dodging this black cat at all cost. We were driving home from the store when the black cat decided to cross the road. Coming from a middle-class family, my father decided that it wasn’t necessary to install restraints for my wheelchair. When my nurse slammed the brakes to keep from making the cat roadkill, my wheelchair turn into a 300 pound weapon of mass destruction. I was plummeted into the back of the front driver seat. After peeling myself off the back of the driver’s seat, all I could do was laugh. There was nothing I could do about the pain so I decided to “roll with it”. The accident happened on a Friday night and the orthopedic clinic didn’t open until Monday. When the doctor entered the room with the x-ray in hand, he said, “It doesn’t look good. It seems that every bone in your right foot has been crushed.” I chuckled with a sarcastic reply “So, tell me Doc will I ever be able to walk again?” The reality was that my leg was not going anywhere, nor was my pain. I decided to roll with it.

Now these two coined phrases do not end with the concept of pain. They can be applied in almost every aspect of life. Again, the beast was unleashed and he was on a warpath. The gorilla was working in the yard, hanging in a tree with a saw in hand, when a nosey neighbor confronted him about how his work had not been pre-approved by the Homeowners Association. Now, what sane man has the balls to approach a gorilla hanging in a tree with a saw, beats me. This was a big mistake. I could hear the grumble of the gorilla from inside the house. “Honey, get my gun!” The neighbor scurried off our lawn in shear fear of the mad beast. My father was not done though. He wanted to get pre-approved. He made his way into the house and headed for the gun safe. After several attempts of trying to break the combination, I soon realized why they call it a gun safe. It keeps the gun out of the hands of a very angry person. Therefore, keeping the victim safe. While my father was still red faced, out of breath, and making his way to the front door, I approached him with the comment, “walk it off.” It seemed to have worked because he went back to hedging the lawn.

I later realized that a person with a disability doesn’t have the privilege of bludgeoning someone to death out of sheer anger. Instead of using brute force we generally rely on our wit as our weapon of choice. We usually roll with the situation.

Any person with a disability can tell you that we get noticed more than the average celebrity in public. Now I know that people are supposed to be taught not to stare at an early age, but let a disabled person stroll through a mall and see how many heads will turn. Does this make me angry? No, I’ve learned to roll with it. When someone stares, I cock a sly smile and simply stare back at them. After about thirty seconds or so the person will look away in embarrassment and walk off rather quickly.

At the end of the day, it was easy to see that disabled people express emotion “cognitively”  whereas the able bodied people express emotion “non-cognitively”. Therefore, I conclude that the able bodied people are actually mentally incompetent in stressful situations.

How I’m using my new iPad from theGSF

If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook then you know that I was the recent recipient of a brand new iPad 2 from the Gwendolyn Strong Foundation (theGSF). I’ve been experimenting with the new opportunities and possibilities it creates and I’m ready to talk about all the iPad goodness I’ve discovered.

First of all, a big thanks to theGSF for what they’re doing with Project Mariposa. People with SMA and disabilities in general benefit greatly from all the advances in technology in the past few decades. Computers made it possible for people with disabilities to work and play in ways that would have been impossible before them. theGSF knows the value of new technologies to people with disabilities and began Project Mariposa with the goal of giving away 50 iPads to individuals affected by SMA. I believe this is going to do a lot of good for a lot of people.

Now, on to the findings of my iPad experiment. I’m going to start by talking about the two ways I’ve come up with for handling the iPad. Then I’ll discuss a few of the primary uses for the iPad that have emerged so far and highlight the apps that have been the most helpful.

My elbow propped up and my hand, with a glove on, sitting on an the iPad. My index finger is exposed where I cut the tip of the glove off.

Typing with iA Writer in portrait orientation

I can laugh about it now but I was a bit worried whether or not I’d be able to use the iPad without having someone touch the screen for me every time I wanted to do something. My early research indicated that the most feasible solution was to use a Bluetooth mouse. To do that, I would have to go against my gut and Jailbreak it. I was hesitant about it, but in the name of access, I decided to proceed. Now, let me warn you. Jailbreaking your iOS device can be great if you need the extra functionality of third-party apps that aren’t available on the App Store. But it also has drawbacks. For starters, it voids the warranty. It also means that you can’t upgrade your device’s software until the hackers behind the various jailbreaks crack the new updates from Apple.

But because I was just too weak to access all areas of the large touchscreen, I decided to take the plunge. After a surprisingly painless setup, I was up and running with with a Bluetooth mouse, courtesy of the BTstack Mouse app (via Cydia). I was able to prop up the iPad and use apps like Safari, Twitter, and Facebook fairly effectively by pointing and clicking with a mouse. But that wasn’t enough. I could do that at my computer. No, the iPad should be used to inspire creativity. To work and play in ways that a typical computer can’t facilitate. And let’s face it: iPads are meant to be touched.

So I took a glove for which the match had long been missing and cut out the index finger and thumb. With the glove on, I was able to slide my hand over the iPad’s capacitive touchscreen without inadvertently activating it and use the exposed finger and thumb to tap and swipe. But with my SMA, I didn’t have the range of motion necessary to reach enough of the screen. That’s when I remembered a product I purchased several years back. It was called Ergo Rest. It was a product that had not lived up to its potential for me, but suddenly seemed perfect for my current need.

Ergo Rest has an armrest atop two swivelling arms that ar attached to each other. My elbow is resting on the arm rest and my hand, with glove, sits on top of the iPad.

Ergo Rest being used with iPad

The Ergo Rest attaches to the table and supports the arm on a pad atop a swiveling arm. This removes the friction of moving one’s arm across the table. The weight of my arm actually begins to work for me instead of against me because I can can use my own momentum to sling my arm around. The Ergo Rest even gives me enough power to slide the iPad around as needed, effectively giving me access to the entire area of the iPad’s display. With a technique for using the iPad figured out, I was out to discover the amazing things I was sure I could do with iPad.

A lightly colored, simple barn with a path leading toward the viewer and a small tree in the yard.

A barn I drew using Paper by FiftyThree

One of the things I have lost the strength to do that I miss is the ability to write and draw. On paper with a pen. You know, the old-fashioned way. As it happens, the perfect app was released just after I received my iPad. Called Paper by FiftyThree, this app simulates writing and drawing in notebooks with surprisingly beautiful effectiveness. It has a minimal interface and a handful of utensils from a writing pen and drawing pen to a sketching pencil and watercolor brush. The entire premise of the app is to spend time with your ideas. It works perfectly to that end. I can sketch out website layouts, ideas for projects, and doodle for fun. Paper has been a huge hit with me. And I’m not the only one. Paper has shot up the charts on the App Store. The app is free and comes with the drawing pen and the ability to create multiple notebooks. The other four utensils can be bought as in-app purchases for $1.99 each.

Another thing I had been hoping to do on the iPad was write and not be tied to my computer as I am much of the day. I’ve been a fan of iA Writer on the Mac for some time and iA Writer for iPad has been a joy to use. In fact, this blog post was written using iA Writer on my iPad. It doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles and it doesn’t need them. Writer is to your words what Paper is to your ideas. It’s sole purpose is to help you focus on writing–and that’s all. As an accessibility benefit, it adds a few oft-used punctuation symbols (such as that hyphen and these parentheses) to a toolbar just above the keyboard. It keeps you from having to pull up the extra keyboard screens as often, saving you keystrokes. At the time of this writing, iA Writer for iOS (same app works on iPhone and iPad) is on sale for $0.99. That’s an absolute steal as you’ll be getting one the most popular writing apps on the App Store.

Sketching and writing are two big uses for my iPad, but I’ve also been exploring another. Reading. One of the great things about the iPad is that it can transform into your own personalized magazine. Reading on the iPad is a relaxing activity for me. I can, again this is important, get away from my computer desk and enjoy catching up on articles I’ve saved. My preferred app/service for this is Instapaper. Instapaper lets you save articles for later reading and, when you’re ready, presents them in a beautiful perfect-for-reading format. The service itself is free, though you can get a few more features by subscribing for $1.00 a month. The Instapaper app syncs with the web version and costs $4.99 for a universal app that works on both iPhone and iPad.

I’m thinking about reading a novel on the iPad and seeing how that works (suggestions? The Hunger Games?). The interface is beautiful but I haven’t tried reading for long periods of time.

Now we turn to gaming. My favorite so far has been Angry Birds Space HD. Here’s a demonstration of my mad skills:

I’ve also been playing the space-based and fast-paced real time strategy game, Galcon, that has been my addiction on iPhone for quite some time. There is also a controller called Joypad available for iPhone which you can connect to your computer to play video games. Joypad’s website lists a dozen or more iPad games that support it. So you could prop up the iPad and play these games with the Joypad controller on your iPhone or iPod Touch, though I haven’t tried it yet. If you want a game that requires little physical effort but that is fast-paced and thrilling, I’d recommend Canabalt. It only requires that you be able to tap anywhere on the screen. Along those same lines, if you can only reach a small portion of the screen, try The Last Rocket. It’s a get-to-the-exit game in beautiful retro 8-bit graphics that requires only tapping and swiping, which can be performed anywhere on the screen.

This wraps up the main things I’m currently using the iPad to accomplish. Other notable apps include the built-in Mail app, Facebook, Twitterific for Twitter, WriteRoom for notes (works with Dropbox were I sync wth Notational Velocity on Mac), Day One for journaling, and WordPress for updating my blog.

If you have any techniques, tips, or must-have apps, let me know in the comments.