A computer user is affected by the electromagnetic fields generated by electrical equipment - especially computers. Their question was whether there is a solution available to overcome or minimise the effects of this sensitivity. From what I have read, it is a very contentious area of ‘disability’ and either not fully understood, or at worst not even recognised in the UK.

The bottom line is, that everyone appears to be affected in an individual way. Those who use computers will need to consider various methods of screening in an attempt to minimise those effects. It will be a case of trial and error, as there is no ‘off the shelf’ package available. There are so called ‘neutralisers’ on the market, which claim to minimise or stop these electromagnetic disturbances, but I am unable say if or how well they work. One of my more experienced and knowledgeable colleagues related a story of one individual we tried to help some time ago. We tried absolutely everything, including putting the computer behind a glass screen in one room while the user sat in another – and still without success.

Here are some useful links to further reading on the subject:

What is electromagnetic sensitivity:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrical_sensitivity

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electrosensitivity

http://www.electrosensitivity.org/

Is your home making you ill ? : http://style.uk.msn.com/wellbeing/mindbodysoul/article.aspx?cp-documentid=5580415

Life & Style blog: http://blogs.theage.com.au/lifestyle/renovationnation/archives/2007/04/does_the_wirele.html

Neutralising electro magnetic fields at home/work: http://www.nontoxic.com/electromagnetic/neutralizingmagnetic.htm

Bodyshield products: http://www.e-lifeshields.com/products.htm

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I was asked whether it was possible to replace the CD Rom unit from the PlexTalk PTR 1 Daisy player, as the one on the user's device was no longer recognising CD disks. An enquiry with Plextor Europe has revealed that they hold a stock of spares for this device at their Brussels location, including a replacement CD drive. They were extremely helpful and responded to my enquiries within a matter of hours. Their contact details for anyone else in this situation: support@plextalk.com

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Hi, has anyone out there found that some Mouse Pointer Options (Start>Control Panel>Mouse>Pointer Options) are greyed-out as unavailable? On some machines I've been using various features like Snap To, Ctrl Locator and Pointer Trails cannot be selected - the odd thing is there doesn't appear to be a standard, on some machines it can be one or two, on others it can be all of them.

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A colleague has recently given a 30 minute presentation to a Disabled Association, as part of the government’s Digital Challenge programme. The topic was new technology, so they asked for a remote presentation. Using a web-based facility called 'GoToAssist' (http://www.gotoassist.com/) she took control of a laptop rigged up to an external screen and loud speakers . My colleague played some You Tube videos about assistive technology products amongst other things. For audio she spoke using Skype and the audience asked questions which were repeated back to her via a facilitator rigged up with a Skype headset. An innovative and cost effective way to show a group of people what can be done with today's technology.

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A colleague of mine who uses the JAWS screenreader has been finding it difficult to use Office 2007, much preferring the layout of the previous version - Office 2003. The two pruducts are very different in the way the menus are presented, Office 2007 now using a menu ribbon instead of drop-downs. There is a solution - called Classic Menu for Office 2007. What this 'add-in' does is to give Office 2007 the same look as Office 2003. My colleague has installed it and absolutely loves it, finding it much easier to navigate with JAWS. Get it from: http://www.addintools.com/english/menuoffice/

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Soneone recently told me about a student they were working who able to use a mouse but keeps clicking the
right button by mistake. She asked me if there was a way of disabling it. Yes there is. After some googling, I came up with a script called 'killrightclick', obtainable from: http://lifehacker.com/358799/disable-the-right-mouse-button . You download and run the script and it sits in the background. Right click function on the mouse is disabled, but if you need to right click, just hold down the left shift key while clicking. I tried it and it works a treat. This was the feedback that I got back from the person who originally asked me: "Thank you for the information. It worked brilliantly and made a huge difference to what he could do. Once it was loaded it was quite easy to stop it running by either clicking on the icon on the task bar or using the task manager to stop it running".

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Does anyone know of a digital dictaphone which responds to voice commands eg start/stop/record/pause? This is to support a youing adult with note taking in lessons. She has physical difficulties and is not able to move her hands or fingers.

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Can you add a link to TechDis and the resource of the hardware listing?

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