DO-IT News December 2010: All Articles

Phase II Scholar Reese participates in the germ forensics lab at the Seattle Biomedical Research Center

"This is the best workshop of Summer Study," said Teryn Allen and Theresa Britschgi of Seattle Biomedical Research Center at the kick-off the Germ Forensics workshop. As Interns, we had the opportunity to participate in this super amazing class along with Phase II Scholars Allegra, Shelby, Anna, Chris, Alex, and Reese.

We started off the week testing our own bacterial flora using samples from our armpits, toes, eyelashes, and even beards. We then cultured the sampled bacteria on agar plates and made slides, so we could view the bacteria under a microscope.

Then we learned about the HIV virus in the HIV Testing and Epidemiology of Transmission lab. We learned that the HIV virus tends to replicate rapidly in infected people's blood, and in response to this, patients will start making HIV-specific antibodies and T cells. The presence of HIV-specific antibodies in the blood can be tested using a biochemical technique.

To conduct our own HIV test, we went back to the lab. One of the tools we used was a micropipette. This tool dispenses liquid in the range of microliters. For some of us it was the first time working with micropipettes, so we practiced for a while before we did an actual lab test. To conduct the test we coated the bottom of a well plate with an HIV protein. Patient serum was then added to each well, and, if HIV-specific antibodies were present, they would bind to the HIV protein.

In addition to learning about bacteria and HIV testing, we learned about malaria, how to test for bacteria-killing agents, and tuberculosis. Thank you to Teryn and Theresa for teaching us more about bacteria and germs. You were right, it WAS the best workshop of Summer Study!

I am thrilled to report the receipt of $3,750,000 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to expand our efforts along with the UW Computer Science & Engineering department to promote the success of people with disabilities nationwide (grant #CNS-1042260). See www.washington.edu/accesscomputing/ for details. DO-IT has also received $200,000 from NSF (grant #HRD-0929006) to lead collaborative dissemination efforts of other projects funded by NSF that support people with disabilities. See www.washington.edu/doit/programs/RDE for further information.

DO-IT Phase I Scholars participate in a two-week, live-in Summer Study session on the UW Seattle campus. They learn about college life; explore the Internet; interact with peers, staff, and mentors; and have fun. The DO-IT Scholars program started in 1993 as an experimental project for teens with disabilities nationwide. It is currently open to Washington State teens and is supported by the State of Washington, the Boeing Company, the Microsoft Corporation, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Visiting the zoo was a fun way to learn about animals from all over the world. From well-known lions and giraffes, to more exotic animals like Komodo dragons, there is something for everyone. It was fascinating watching the animals and fun spending time with new friends.

For a person with low vision, accessibility at the zoo is quite good. The zoo uses a large typeface on information cards, making the text easy to read. The wide walkways and ramps and spacious restrooms ensure that people using wheelchairs can easily maneuver. Railings throughout the park are at a good height so that visitors in wheelchairs can clearly view the exhibits. The zoo could increase accessibility to people who are hard of hearing by having captioned videos. Captioning would also help hearing people as well, since certain exhibits can be loud.

In our opinion, the zoo was the best field trip of Summer Study! We learned about animals and we also learned from each other?how to adjust to different environments and make accommodations that work best for each situation.

On Saturday, July 24, Scholars went to the IMAX theater at the Pacific Science Center to watch the documentary Hubble 3D, about NASA's Hubble telescope and the breakthroughs it made in space-related science. There were some accessibility problems concerning the IMAX building and movie.

For people using wheelchairs, the theater had an acceptable amount of wheelchair space for the public but, of course, not enough for all the wheelchairs in the DO-IT group. Four Scholars transferred from their wheelchairs to theater chairs, which is a task that, ideally, would not be necessary to perform.

For one of the Scholars, who is deaf, the movie was just a bunch of pretty pictures since the film didn't have captions. For people who are blind, the film was accessible because most images were clearly described verbally. This feature aided Scholars with learning disabilities as well.

Even though watching the movie was a pleasurable experience for most Scholars, the route to and from the theater was not easily accessible for people with physical disabilities. For example, there was a long, winding ramp for wheelchairs at the top of the theater. There was not a sign instructing viewers that walking down the ramp brought you, inconveniently for most, to the bottom of the theater. At the end of the film, the usher instructed us to exit the theater using the long and steep stairs on both sides of the seats?not a route accessible for people with mobility impairments.

After the movie, a Scholar had to use the restroom. When she went to wash her hands, she noticed that one of the sinks was conveniently lower than the other two. However, she couldn't use the mirror because all three mirrors were the same inaccessible height. She wondered, "Why lower a sink but not a mirror with it?"

In conclusion, the IMAX movie experience was thrilling. There were some accessibility challenges that would be simple to fix. We hope the contractors, designers, and managers of the IMAX decide to make a few changes to the theater to accommodate everyone. We recommend adding captions to videos, making directions to wheelchair locations and routes clear, lowering mirrors in the restrooms, and training all staff to assist participants with disabilities.

Phase I Scholars Nicco and Benjy examine an exhibit at the Burke Museum.

Going to the Burke Museum at the UW Seattle was a fun and educational experience; however, there were some accessibility issues we encountered. For example, the museum did not provide a large print version of the information displayed near its exhibits to aid people with visual impairments. As one Scholar stated, "The Burke Museum was accessible to me. It wasn't that accessible for my friend Nicco, though, because he has poor vision." Additionally, the floor plan of the museum was extremely difficult for wheelchair users to maneuver through. The only way for someone using a wheelchair to get to another floor was to use an old freight elevator at the very end of the museum and the route to the elevator was not marked. We recommend that the museum provide large print text for its displays and clearly mark the path to the elevator. 

One of the trips during Summer Study was a visit to Microsoft. We toured the facilities and met with employees Loren and Jason. We also got a chance to design a robot dog. Loren helped us with the design and we came up with a lot of great ideas and even some crazy ones, including a pepper spray defense mode.

Overall, the Microsoft campus was accessible. One Scholar, who uses a wheelchair, said it was easy for him to navigate the wide hallways. Another Scholar, who also uses a wheelchair, said that it was hard to roll and turn on the carpet. To make Microsoft more accessible, we recommend that they replace the carpet with cement in places that have heavy wheelchair traffic and create wider aisles in the store for people with wheelchairs to navigate easier. For people with visual impairments, it would be helpful if the glass railing was more visible.

Exciting discoveries are underway in the field of neurobiology. With the aid of mouse brains and cockroach legs, DO-IT Phase II Scholars Bilal, Joey, Kristin, Sean, and Vanessa learned how the brain functions. The lab of Dr. Martha "Marti" Bosma uses the hindbrain of an eleven-day-old mouse embryo to measure the effects of various chemicals on the developing brain, in particular exposure to antidepressants. The results were amazing to watch. At this age, the chemical serotonin has just started production. Serotonin allows connections to be created in the nervous system. The creation of new pathways is a random activity that is measured in the lab as a control. When serotonin-inhibiting medications are introduced (such as antidepressants), the activity becomes more sporadic and intense, suggesting that neurons are being developed incorrectly and some pathways may not even be allowed to develop. Applying this lab knowledge to a real-world scenario, these results suggest that a woman who is pregnant and on antidepressants may cause the fetus to have abnormal development of neurons. Applying lab learning to the real world was very interesting.

In a different lab, with the help of doctoral students Stephanie Furrer and Hiro Watari, the Scholars listened to the sounds of legs. Cockroach legs that is. The nervous system of insects is very different from the nervous system in mammals, and the legs of a cockroach have an almost independent nervous system. By listening to a magnified, neurologically induced signal and recording it, adaptations in the nervous system can be studied. These adaptations allow the animal to prioritize signals sent to the brain. For example, when you put on a new shirt, your skin is very aware of the new material. To prevent an overload of information to the brain the intensity of the signal fades exponentially until the sensation is almost absent. This is beneficial because nonessential signals are filtered out so more urgent signals can get through. By understanding these neuro-pathways, we may someday be able to identify and fix damage in the brain and create medication that doesn't negatively impact the developing brain.

Ambassador Anthony poses next to his accessible van.

Hi, I'm Anthony Arnold, a DO-IT Ambassador and '94 Scholar from Grand Forks, North Dakota. DO-IT helped shape my interest in technology, especially assistive technology applications designed for people with disabilities.

Before I became a DO-IT Scholar, I used a communication device by the Prentke Romich Company (PRC). It gave me a lot of independence. Combined with my experience at DO-IT, this technology fueled my interest to work at PRC or a similar company that develops and supports augmentative and alternative communication systems.

I first connected with founder of PRC, Barry Romich, thanks to one of the DO-IT Mentors. Barry and I communicated over email for a couple of years before a remote troubleshooter position in the technical service department became available. I decided to apply, got the job, and worked in technical service for seven years before a position in research and development (R&D) was open. I have worked in R&D for nearly two years, where I'm primarily responsible for testing current and future products. One of the newest products I worked on allows the user to have cell phone features directly on their communication device.

Away from PRC, I am a guest lecturer at universities about augmentative and alternative communication. I share my experiences, what PRC is currently working on, and where we are headed in the future. I have also presented at various conferences.

Recently, I participated in the writing of the book Transition Strategies for Adolescents and Young Adults Who Use Augmentative and Alternative Communication, by David McNaughton and David Beukelman. I met David McNaughton through my work at PRC, and we have partnered on various projects concerning education, independent living, and employment opportunities for augmentative and alternative communicators.

Regarding your career, I just want to say that you can do it too if you feel passionately. Always be open to learn something new; I learn something new each day at PRC.

DO-IT Scholar Erica

I received scholarships to attend the University of Washington, and it was well worth the effort. You can do it too, and here's how.

• Start a scholarship binder. The best time to start searching for scholarships is in your sophomore or junior year of high school. Begin by searching for information at scholarship websites and your school counselor's scholarship office. Collect copies of information about all of the scholarships you plan to apply for in your own binder. When your senior year arrives you won't have to spend time searching for scholarships, because you'll be too busy applying for them! Just remember to search for and use the updated version of the application when you apply.
• Apply for everything. Even if you think you don't have a chance at getting it, apply anyway. Don't underestimate yourself.
• Finish your applications. Follow the directions. Make sure you send in everything the application asks. The scholarship committees are not going to pick someone who only completes half of the application.
• Meet the deadlines. Organize the scholarships in your binder by date and follow those dates. I don't know of any scholarship organizations that take late applications.
• Stay motivated. It might seem like the applications are endless and time-consuming, but, trust me, when you have some or even most of your college education paid for, you're not going to regret having spent hours on scholarship applications. You can either work now and get that scholarship money, or work later paying off all of the loans you had to take out.
• Tell your story. When the application asks you to write an essay about your life, struggles, goals, or anything else, make sure you tell them who you are. The scholarship committee wants to get to know you, but it is up to you to decide how much of your story you tell.
• Get good recommendation letters. Pick teachers, community members, and employers who know you fairly well. You need to have at least two spectacular recommendation letters. Give them enough time to write the best letter they can. They also might be writing letters for other students, so it would be good to get first dibs.
• Edit. Teachers are here to help you, so ask them. Do not send in your applications without having someone else proofread your essays and responses. Other people will catch mistakes that you will miss.

Using social media tools is a great way to connect with others and share information. Be a savvy networker and reap the benefits of online engagement without succumbing to some of the pitfalls.

A recent article in the New York Times noted that the metadata associated with photos taken by smart phones and digital cameras may include geographical coordinates for photos, in addition to the usual information about camera type, date, and time. In the wrong hands this could be used by a stalker or burglar.

Let's say you place an advertisement on Craigslist for an item you are trying to sell. The seller contacts you and asks for a photograph of the item and you forget that your iPhone has location services enabled for photos. You send it off as an attachment and the person downloads a free add-on for Firefox to look up the coordinates on Google Maps. He writes back and says he'll think about it and call you this weekend. You go out for the evening with friends and return home to find that your expensive Martin guitar you were selling has been stolen along with a few other electronics.

Let's look at Facebook. Suppose you are going on vacation and are excited about your trip so you post, "I'm so excited. I'll be in Hawaii for the next two weeks!" If your address is listed in your profile, any pseudo-friend now knows the ideal time to break in and take your things. Similarly, sites like Foursquare that help you track down your friend's current location can also be used against you when in the wrong hands.

Think twice about what and how much information you share online. Connecting with the people you care about is wonderful, but be sure you aren't oversharing with the wrong people.

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