"I'm a little afraid to take a class that has a lot of programming," he says.

At the height of Goodman's RSI, he says that he could not even hold a can of soda. Even brushing his teeth was a painful task, he says.

Goodman says his RSI was so severe that he had to make many changes in his everyday living. He switched from cereal to bagels for breakfast, used plastic cups instead of glass cups and opened doors with his elbows to avoid pain.

Goodman also had a friend take notes for him in class since writing a couple of sentences made his hand hurt for at least an hour.

According to Goodman, he began using DragonDictate, a speech-recognition software program that enabled him to work on his dissertation and use e-mail without using his hands. He spent a year without picking up a pen or typing on a keyboard and says he has since greatly improved.

"I can drive, I can cook," he said. "I can type for a limited time."

But Goodman, who has had RSI for almost three years, says that he does not know if he will ever completely recover.

"I am continuing to recover and am optimistic," he says. "But I doubt I'll ever be able to do what I use to do completely."

Grimmelmann also says his condition has improved. He says that he got RSI at Microsoft and got rid of it at Microsoft the next summer. During his second summer there, he says he paid more attention to his working conditions.

"I took the arms off my chair, watched my typing habits and wound up improving," he says.

Grimmelmann also says that going to physical therapy at UHS helped him get better. Therapists massaged his arms and lead him through strengthening exercises. They also gave him new stretches to do.

Learning About RSI

The RSI Action Group at Harvard--spearheaded by a group of graduate students--aims to educate students and Faculty about RSI and advocate on their behalf.

Goodman says that the group, which meets once a month at Dudley House, has about 100 students on the mailing list, 50 of whom are from Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS) and about 25 of which are undergraduates.

RSI Action has focused its efforts on education to let students know how to prevent RSI.