D.Currie said:
Peter,
People who post answers on this board don't necessarily know that you
have a disability. For one thing, it's doubtful that anyone has the
time or energy to read every post here, so some of the answers you're
getting are from people who are reading your posts for the very first
time. And some of the people who are posting back to you are not in
any way "regulars" who tend to be helpful. And you have gotten at
least a few helpful responses along with the rest.
Second, there are going to be a number of people who won't believe
you have a disability. No one can see you or know your background,
and unfortunately, the way you type could easily be misconstrued as
someone who is just fooling around. And there are those who do
nothing more on newsgroups than to be annoying. There's not much more
you can do about that, except to ignore them.
Here's a suggestion, though, that might cut down a bit on the
responses from people who are unaware of your problem: At the top of
your post, or in your signature line, you could include a sentence or
two that explains that you've got a brain injury and that you're
doing the best you can. Post a link to a website about it, if you
like.
You wouldn't have to retype it each time, just do it once, nicely,
and save it so that you can cut and paste it or create a signature
line for yourself. It wouldn't stop the people who are annoying just
because that's the way they are, but it would at least inform people
who will do something useful with the information.
As far as your computer problems, I've read a few of your posts, and
it seems that your computer has a whole lot of problems that need to
be solved. And going after it one snippet at a time may not be the
most useful way to handle it. And at some point in the fixing
process, you're going to be in a situation where the computer isn't
going to be able to get you back on the Internet. If you don't have
another computer to use, what will you do then?
You might be best off getting some in-person help. And I'm not saying
this because of your disability, but because of your apparent lack of
experience with fixing computers. At some point you'll have to make a
decision, click yes or no, whatever, and if you don't have the
experience or anyone there to help you out, you could easily make the
wrong click and end up in a worse situation that what you've got now.
The chances of him having a "brain injury" range from zero to none to yeah
right pull the other one it whistles Dixie. He claims to have had a stroke,
OK fair enough. But I know for a fact that a stroke does *NOT* affect the
areas of the brain responsible for reading, comprehension, cognitive
thoughtor rational decision making. A neighbour had a 'grand mal' stroke
just a few weeks ago. His mobility and - to a lesser extent, his speech -
are impaired, but he can still complete the Telegraph crossword quicker than
anyone else I know (though, obviously, someone has to write the answers in
for him).
He has been given many coping strategies by myself, but in particular by
Kath Adams (who has been most patient with him, but I think even her
patience has worn away by now!) He has chosen to ignore them all. It's funny
how he can hit all the small keys on the keyboard to make (reasonably)
accurate words, yet he appears unable to hit the largest. I have worked with
stroke victims and all of them would find bashing the space bar (relatively)
simple - but typing accurate words using the keys - I don't *THINK* so. Call
me cynical, but what we have here, IMNSHO, is a troll - a stupid troll, even
by troll standards, but a troll nonetheless. I just find it very hard to
believe...as do many, I know.
Think about it - doesn't it take a certain amount of manual dexterity to use
a keyboard? If you couldn't use your hands properly (as Peter is claiming)
wouldn't you find it nigh on impossible to hit the keys in a logical order -
your brain would be able to tell you what order the letters should go in to
make up the words, but you wouldn't be able to comply. Even with the
severest manual dysfunction you can still hit a space bar. Sorry, but I
cannot believe him. It just doesn't add up...
