Sounds to me like a couple of things might be in order Don, if you think your patient is serious. First, I think I'd try out some height and angle arrangements using a table and books as shims or whatever to establish the playung angle that's most comfortable and then whip-up some kind of stand to hold the autoharp that matched the dimensions.

Then I think I might try some different felt materials that might block the strings with less pressure......I don't know whether or not that's practical and perhaps just using new felys would be best. But some of the synthetic stuf used on capos for instance might work adequately with less pressure too....I dunno, just a thought.

Spaw