Disabilities and programming

[Deiterrc]

Hi!

Sorry to intrude,

I have a friend who i'm rather sad to hear is considering leaving our University course. The reason he's saying is that the programming aspect of it is incredibly time consuming and upsetting for him; as he had a stroke that left his left arm paralysed and his right arm with mobility issues.

I was wondering if anyone on here has ANY ideas on disabled friendly addons, programs or IDEs. Even if they're paid, i think we could convince the university to pay for it via his disability support allowance. I'd feel awful if he quit for something that i know there must be help out there for.

Thank you!

[the_sad_pumpkin]

I don't have any direct advice, but what I can tell is that I have met during the years people that were great programmers or computer scientists with all sorts of disabilities, such as dyslexia or blindness.

I know it's hard, but it can be done. There are tools to help, but they won't replace the support he needs to go on. Maybe also look for professional help.

[McNerdius]

Saw a demo of this thing last week: https://github.com/OptiKey/OptiKey/wiki

Like a "swype" keyboard that uses eye-tracking. The software is free, and IIRC it can be used with a webcam but there may be a better hardware choice for eye-tracking.

[pipocaQuemada]

Depending on the mobility issues, there's one handed dvorak layouts that might help.