Hi Edna,
I have been meaning to touch base with you about my progress on the steno machine. I have always been a rule-follower. So, if a teacher tells me to do something a certain way, I do it (thinking that they have more experience, so they should know better). Thanks to you, that is no longer the case. Just meeting with you that one time has opened up so many possibilities on how to comfortably finger the words on the machine…which lead to spelling the words differently, so I can write them comfortably. Since I am no longer considered a steno “theory student,” I now can finger and spell the way I want. The only catch is that I have to be able to read and translate my notes (even if my teachers cannot understand my notes). One of the reasons I am ahead of my classmates in speed is because I am typing pain-free and with ease.
Taking advantage of the digital steno machine’s capabilities is another area the teachers have not explored enough. Many of the teachers learned to type on the “paper machines”; where each stroke had to be typed simultaneously regardless of how awkward or uncomfortable the hand position was. They took that technique of typing and transferred it to the digital machine. But, as we discovered at our lesson, the digital machines will eliminate the awkward hand positions by holding a key down in one hand while separating the awkward stroke in the other. This allows those awkward hand positions to be eliminated.
Finding the correct seat height was a little trickier. I am sitting lower than I thought I would be as per your suggestion. This has helped a great deal. I was associating the seat height at the machine with the same height as when I sit at the piano. It is not the same at all.
I can’t thank you enough for meeting with me. I am not ready to discuss this information with my teachers as I have not learned everything I need to know yet (I am about one-third of the way through the program). But, I wanted to let you know how valuable the information was that you gave me. There is a real need for injury prevention in this field. In the end, I hope to help others in this field.
Thanks again,
Kris Rebar