Word: rsi
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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However, there are also many ways that Harvard can help prevent RSI and aid those who already have it to recover...
...Prevention through education. Although Harvard distributed literature to first-years about RSI, all students are at risk and such distribution should be expanded to cover the campus. In addition, in every House there should be at least one tutor trained to help those suffering from the early stages of RSI and who can help students design their work spaces more ergonomically. Companies including Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have specialists on ergonomics to help employees who are feeling RSI pain; Harvard students work extended hours at the keyboard, too, so it would be reasonable to have trained tutors performing this educational...
...Help those with RSI to recover. In the Adaptive Technology Lab (ATL), the work center for those with disabilities, and Lamont, three computers have dictation software, but it is very out-of-date. The program requires each word to be spoken individually, and it takes several frustrating hours to dictate a single page. A much better program exists (Dragon NaturallySpeaking), is inexpensive ($170 for the multiple-user edition) and allows one to write papers at roughly the same speed as one would type them. The program should also be available for use in all House computer labs--accessible to anyone...
Finally, care at UHS should be reexamined. Currently, even if one has been diagnosed with RSI, therapists are booked a month in advance, resulting in a long wait for the initial appointment. The staff is simply overworked, and more therapists must be hired. In addition, UHS needs to hire, at least part-time, a specialist in RSI. When I saw the hand specialist, he gave a cursory examination of my hands. Then he suggested cortisone shots (a method he pointed out had been quite successful with the post-partem mothers he had seen recently--despite the obvious fact that...
...have learned from my own experience how to work more carefully and safely. Unfortunately, this message came a bit too late. For most of you, simply revising your study habits slightly--making time for breaks and designing your workspace with care--will prevent RSI. Harvard can educate us further about these dangers and use the House and tutor system systematically to reinforce this message...