Multiple Touchscreens not recognising fingers

I have never seen anyone else mention this but I had that issue when I first started noticing symptoms and that something was wrong. I was also dropping the phone quite a bit.

It could be not applying enough pressure due to sensory issues possibly. It still happens for me every now and then.

Jon, you probably already know that you can adjust touch screen sensitivity. https://support.apple.com/guide/iphone/adjust-how-iphone-responds-to-your-touch-iph77bcdd132/ios Some screens just lose sensitivity over time though.

That’s so funny you say that. I have a rare hereditary neuropathy with sensory and other issues. I’ve had trouble for decades with touch screens (public so you can’t adjust) not responding to my touch. I would press and hold, tap tap tap, nothing worked. I would always have to step back and let my son or friend or even a stranger push the buttons and they would work fine for them. It was embarrassing. I never thought of that being related to my neuropathy. I always wondered if my hands weren’t generating heat or electricity or whatever it took to make that work. I always felt the machine didn’t recognize me as being alive. It’s an odd feeling to have a machine reject you and I totally understand your wife’s frustration. Thanks for the post.

@californiazebra yup this happens to me too on touch screens like on multiple different bank machines and self check outs at stores, kiosk at hospital (not on just one device)and on my phone.Never happened before my diagnosis so Im pretty sure its not just a matter of adjusting setting to get correct haptics.

Have you tried using a stylus?
A bit of a nuisance to carry around, but it might be of some help.

@scottrl Thats a good idea. I didnt think much about it until I saw the original post and it rang some bells of repeatedly hitting the self checkout and having to call a worker over who had no problems with it (they gave me a weird look). Happened a bunch of times so I started to avoid those touch screen kiosks (haven’t used them in months). The original post reminded me so I started to wander if it could be related.

I have sensorimotor polyneuropathy so I wander if my brain and hands are not working together (feedback) with the correct pressure as I mentioned in another post here. Kind of like how I can develop ulcers in my feet, and other foot problems, injuries as I may not sense or not apply correct pressure when walking. Very interesting this post as I do remember wandering to myself if there was any correlation when it first started happening. Now if it would have only happened once and not on multiple devices I would not have paid it any attention.

@megidigo I have large fingers, and some of the small touchpads are a real problem for me. Even using my cell phone can be tricky, though I can more effectively use swiping instead of typing.

Good luck!

I will say it happens less often now than when I was younger which is interesting if related to neuropathy because my neuropathy is worse now than when I was younger. Hmmm. I just figured the machines have improved.

@californiazebra
Who knows? Maybe maybe not? Like one doctor said to me - neuropathy is weird.

Edit - I decided to look it up and stop wandering what if and it turns out what I was thinking about the sensory issues was indeed correct!

“ Neuropathy causes trouble with touch screens because it reduces tactile sensitivity, fine motor control, and finger pressure awareness.

Why Touch Screens FailReduced sensation: Numbness or a "pins and needles" feeling means your fingers cannot accurately sense the glass surface or register a firm press.

Loss of fine motor skills: Nerve damage makes precise tapping, swiping, and holding difficult.

Altered fingerprints: Certain medical treatments or conditions change or smooth out fingerprints, which can block both tactile response and biometric scanners”

@megidigo
Just one more reason to dislike neuropathy. 😊