What Does a Coder Do If They Can't Type?
This won&#x27;t help anyone who has lost the use of their hands, but I have some advice for touch typists who use a standard keyboard like a laptop or typical desktop keyboard: don&#x27;t bend your wrists.<p>Of course most people know about the ergonomic advice to have your keyboard at the right height so your wrists don&#x27;t have to bend up or down. But I often see people typing with a <i>horizontal</i> bend in their wrists so that their hands are pointing straight forward as they type, like this crude sketch:<p><pre><code>      | | |   | | |
      | | |   | | |
      +---+   +---+
      &#x2F;  &#x2F;     \  \
     &#x2F;  &#x2F;       \  \
    &#x2F;  &#x2F;         \  \
</code></pre>
If you do that, try this instead: don&#x27;t bend your wrists to make your hands straight. Relax your wrists and let your hands be at the same angle as your arms:<p><pre><code>      &#x2F; &#x2F; &#x2F;   \ \ \
     &#x2F; &#x2F; &#x2F;     \ \ \
    +---+       +---+
    &#x2F;  &#x2F;         \  \
   &#x2F;  &#x2F;           \  \
  &#x2F;  &#x2F;             \  \
</code></pre>
Your fingers will still be able to find the keys, but it may take some getting used to if you&#x27;ve been using the &quot;bent wrist&quot; position. Once you get the hang of it, this may reduce the stress on your wrists.<p>I&#x27;ve been typing on standard keyboards nearly every day for about 50 years without any significant problems. I tried using the &quot;bent wrist&quot; position as a quick experiment and it was really uncomfortable. So while I can&#x27;t say for sure that it will help everyone, I&#x27;m pretty sure the &quot;straight wrist&quot; position has helped me.