My galaxy S III will not let me do anything. screens states to double click and swipe to do something. it will not do anything. also won't let me pull the screen down.

first make sure that it doesn't have anything to do with your phone's security lock screen settings as i dont have an A10.
uninstall any lock screen or screen saver app. or apps which affect screen settings. check
if still doesn't work try to factory reset which will wipe all phone data so make a backup

hi Linda.
How to factory reset the Galaxy S7

1. Swipe down from the top of the screen to pull down the Notification Shade.
2. Tap the Settings button. It looks like a gear.
3. Swipe up to scroll down on the settings screen.
4. Tap Backup and reset.
5. Tap Factory data reset. ...
6. Tap RESET DEVICE.
7. Tap ERASE EVERYTHING.

How to factory reset the Galaxy S7 ' Android Central

https://www.androidcentral.com/how-factory-reset-galaxy-s7
to read up more you could go to this link.
how to Factory resetting my Samsung Galaxy S7 Google Search

To disable the Screen swipe lock screen simply go to the settings menu of yourphone, then choose My device. Now from there, look for the Lock screen option and tap it.

Remove Swipe Screen To Unlock Galaxy S4 Marshmallow vs Lollipop ...

visihow.com/Remove_Swipe_Screen_To_Unlock_Galaxy_S4.......or see if this link helps you out. How do remove swiping on my phone Google Search

Samsung Galaxy S3: Talkback Mode On: Can't enter password:

If you have a password on your device then you will need to double tap on the screen to gain access to the lock pattern or code that you have on your device. While in Talkback mode you will need to double tap any selection in order to fully make that selection.

You need to double tap on the screen pause for a second then swipe your screen In order to gain access to your device. You cannot double tap quickly then go to the process of swiping to open our device

Reference Link:
Disable Talk Back Mode in Samsung Galaxy S3

Unlock Phone in Password Mode:

If you have chosen the Password Unlock mode on your phone and are unable to enter the password due to the Talkback mode, do as follows. First of all long press the password field and then double tap it. Now you will see the keyboard. Long press the alphabets/numbers of your set password and when you have typed it, long press/double tap the "Done" button on the keyboard. You can now follow the two finger swipe and double tap as described above to deactivate the Talkback mode.

Reference Link:
How to Disable Talkback on Android Devices

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If you have forgotten your swipe password you will have to do a hard reset. DOING THIS WILL CAUSE YOU COMPLETE DATA LOSS AND YOU WILL HAVE TO START OVER UNLESS YOU HAVE PREVIOUSLY SYNCHED YOUR PHONE TO GOOGLE OR HAVE BACK UP YOUR PHONE WITH SOME OTHER BACK UP APPLICATION. To reset PHONE TURN IN OFF, AND WHEN TURNING IN BACK ON HOLD THE POWER BUTTON AND THE VOLUME BUTTON DOWN UNTIL YOU SEE THE GREEN ANDROID MAN THAT LOOKS LIKE HE HAS A TOOL CHAIN BELT ROTATING AROUND HIS ABDOMEN

not good, as you may suspect

Here is another way to unlock pattern lock for Samsung Galaxy phones, and no data loss
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lw4ueft-t_I

right click on it, click settings and turn off start automatically. then right click on it again and click close.. Its a service that comes with the software, there are other ways to disable it but that's the simplistic one..

Double-click My Computer. Double click on the removable drive. Double click on the name of the backup? Double click on C. Double click on Documents and Settings. Double click on HP-administrator? Double click on Desktop. Keep or delete what you want. Click the Back button. Double click on My Documents. Keep or delete what you want. Hoe I remembered it all ok. Let me know if you need anything else. Nice talking to you Pauline :)