[otlist] Question regarding adaptive equipment.

[Connie Severin]

Hi,   I'm a PT but haven't worked rehab for a few years, so I figured y'all might be the best folk to ask regarding my dad.   He has a fairly severe essential tremor that affects primarily his hands.  They just moved 5000 miles (at least) to be closer to me so I could help them out - my mom has dementia and needs more and more assist, and my dad's tremor makes that difficult.  I've made some adaptive adjustments to clothing and the like with velcro instead of buttons, etc., but most of all I'd like to get my dad involved with the Internet to be able to keep up with all his friends back in Michigan.   Specifically I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the BigKey-type keyboard, keyguards, or voice-activated software?  I already have a couple of computers sitting around that I'd prefer to be able to give to him rather than buying a new one, and they're a bit limited in the speed and the RAM (233 MHz and 96 MB RAM) so the voice-activation might be difficult.  I'd appreciate any and all input regarding this in particular or any other adaptive items specifically helpful for tremor (we've tried weighted utensils - not that great...)   Mahalo in advance! Connie Severin, PT