workplace: desk accommodations?
 

For those of you who work outside the home in an office environment/ desk setting, I'm wondering what accommodations you've found helpful to make a full day of desk working palateable?

For me I am thinking about a chair with a head rest built in. Our workplace nurse says they don't have anything like that on hand but it could be obtained if needed.

I also wonder about my eyes... the more I read the blurrier they become. Goes with the rest of the MG symptoms, "use the muscle too much and it craps out on you".

Hi - I worked as an accountant for 10 years with mg before I had to retire on disabiliy related to the mg. I found that a large screen for my computer helped a lot with the reading problems and I kept a magnifying glass in my drawer just in case I needed to read small print later in the day. I was okay in the morning, but as the day wore on, my eyes got worse

Also, I found that if I took a 45 minute nap in my car at lunch, it made the afternoon a lot easier. I took a sandwich and moved my car to a nearby park where I could park in the shade. Since I'm in the south, I did leave the a/c running, but the shade helped a lot.

Good luck and hang in there!

I use a special mouse and keyboard (requiring less force and movement) and support for my arms.

You can easily adjust the size of the fonts on your screen, the contrast and the brightness. I have found that relatively dim brightness, high contrast and large fonts work best for me.

For me all this made the difference from being able to use the computer for less than an hour to being able to work for a few hours.

I also take frequent rest periods during the day.

I have learned that stopping for 15 minutes at the first symptoms (before they become truly bothersome) is much better and more efficient than waiting for a full blown crash.

Also alternating between different muscle groups to accomplish the same task.

Many times I rest without any body noticing that I do. In fact the best way to do that is to let someone talk to you. Listening requires very little muscle strength.

I work from home (part-time). I have an upholstered chair whose back is just the right height for me to rest my head on if I slump back and put my feet on a step-stool. Sounds bad, but it makes all the difference. I encourage you to get a chair that allows you to rest your neck.

I also have a little table that's the height of my elbows when I'm sitting down. I put my mouse on it and keep it right next to my chair. That means I don't have to extend my right arm and hold it up while I'm using the mouse. And I have a wrist pad for my keyboard so I don't have to hold up my arms while I'm typing.

Abby

All wonderful ideas, and all based on your personal experience. Thank you for sharing. I will see about incorporating them into my work routine.

I am fortunate that my employer allows working from home on a periodic, as-needed basis. Also, I checked with the web site Job Accommodation Network (JAN) and a specialist there sent me some workstation ideas for a person with MG.

The chair ideas she sent me look especially great. Like these:

http://vitalityweb.com/backstore/NeckRollindex.html

http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/prod...p?SKU=15047496

She also recommended anti-glare monitor films.

The nurse in my work's Occupational Health department (another benefit to this workplace) said that they don't have any chairs like that on hand but would be glad to work with me on obtaining one. But as I think about it, I think the executive people have high-backed chairs. Would probably be against all rules for a non-executive cubicle person to have one of those :wink:

I have an "executive chair" at work and it works very well for me.