Touch typing is not about speed to start with, its about the correct placement of the hands. Yes not looking at the keyboard is a useful side effect, but from

Touch typing is not about speed to start with, its about the correct placement of the hands. Yes not looking at the keyboard is a useful side effect, but from ergonomics point of view, not over stretching to reach a key really is important. I was forced to learn touch typing when I was about 11. I hated every moment of it. It was an interactive program, and I had to have a box over my keyboard so that I was forced to use muscle memory to get the right key. But, it meant that I have my hand in the right place, the correct angle, and use the correct force. As a side effect, I'm not thinking about where letters are, and having to look at my keyboard(as much). This means that typing is almost like speaking, in terms of cognitive load. (hand writing is much slower and arduous for me)