Focus on the Hands: A Beginning Approach to Teaching Typing to Visually Impaired,Multiply Handicapped Students

Abstract

Typewriting is a skill that visually impaired and multiply handicapped students need, and finger and hand exercises increase dexterity and strength in the hands of such beginning typing students. In this article, the author gives her rationale for a good typing curriculum, describes the students’ abilities before and after typing instruction, and describes the hand and finger exercises she used to motivate students to become skilled in writing with the typewriter. The benefits students derived from focusing on the hands as well as on both the rudiments and the total communicative value of typing far exceeded the author's original goal of good typing ability.