DO-IT News May 2005: All Articles

DO-IT Staff member, Scott Bellman, with DO-IT Scholars at an international conference

On December 3, 2004, DO-IT Ambassadors and UW students Chris and Ryan participated in the Assistive Technology and Augmentative Communication (ATAC) conference hosted in Kyoto, Japan. 

Chris and Ryan joined DO-IT program manager Sara Lopez at the Seattle office and connected to the ATAC conference using iChat technology—an Internet connection that supports video and audio. In Japan, Dr. Mamoru Iwabuchi, who was a visiting Scholar at DO-IT for one year, and I spoke to an audience of Japanese teachers and service providers who were interested in the role technology can play in K-12 education and college preparation.

This "panel of experts" answered questions translated into Japanese by Mamoru for an audience of 70 participants. Questions answered included:

• What have you learned from DO-IT?
• What accommodations do you have at school?
• What are your tips for an independent college life?
• What kind of concerns and challenges do high school students with disabilities have regarding the transition to postsecondary education?
• What can high school teachers do for their students' successful transition?
• Should students disclose their disabilities when submitting their applications and/or having job interviews?
• What are some tips for developing an online mentoring community?

Dr. Iwabuchi, DO-IT Director, Dr. Sheryl Burgstahler, and I partnered to present a paper at the conference entitled Transition Guide for High School Students with Disabilities. After the conference Mamoru stated, "People say that it was a big success! I could never have this great feedback without your contribution. All your answers were clear and contained a powerful message to the audience. I am sure you have made a good change here! You were fantastic DO-IT delegates!"

For more information about DO-IT's global efforts, visit DO-IT International Connections at DO-IT International Initiative.

I am a former DO-IT Scholar in my 7th year with the program. As a DO-IT Ambassador I've continued to stay actively involved with DO-IT through my online communication with other participants, recent internship, and by volunteering every year during Summer Study. In March I graduated from Highline Community College with two degrees in the business technology field—administrative assisting and office management—as well as 6 months worth of internship experience!

Staying in touch with the DO-IT family, even after I completed the Scholars program, has allowed me to come to staff for assistance in obtaining internships, updating my resume, and getting advice on career directions. In November I met with Tami, one of the DO-IT staff members who focuses on careers, to talk about doing an internship, a requirement for my graduation from Highline. The first question she asked me was, "Where would you ideally like to work?" I thought about it for a moment and knew, hands down, that Amazon.com was it. I like to shop for things like books/music/DVDs and knew Amazon was an international leader in online sales. Tami told me there was a possibility I could intern at Amazon! She knew someone who worked there and was willing to make a call on my behalf. I was absolutely thrilled but didn't want to get my hopes up in case things didn't work out. Luckily, this wasn't the case. Tami's contact put me in touch with one of her coworkers who was willing to meet with me.

Within two weeks of meeting with DO-IT, I found myself sitting in the corporate office of Amazon.com meeting with Glenys—my potential supervisor. The meeting went very well and I could hardly wait for a response. Later that evening, I sent a thank you email to Glenys for taking the time to meet with me; even if nothing came out of it, I was grateful for the opportunity. Waiting was the worst. It was getting close to Christmas and there were only a couple of weeks before I returned to school. I needed to have an internship site secured by the second week of class at the latest to ensure I could complete the internship hours I registered for in the 10 weeks allotted, and I was getting nervous. I awoke the morning of Christmas Eve to an early present; an email from Glenys stating I was approved and could start at Amazon.com on January 11th! You can bet I was bursting to tell family and friends my good news.

The week before I started, I got to take a tour of the company where I visited several different departments, met some of my new co-workers, and saw the office I would be sharing with a new hire. My first week at Amazon consisted of getting all my accounts and passwords straightened out. The second week, I was given my first project. I review documents to make sure things make sense to someone who is new and not yet familiar with the company. Since then, I've also made reservation changes statewide, learned how to use the copy and fax machines having NEVER used either before, created web expense reports for coworker travel reimbursements, created databases for coworker business contacts, and done filing and mail sorting.

There has been one challenge during my taking on a coworker's calendar using Microsoft Outlook. It was a little overwhelming and frustrating having never used it. I went to my supervisor and let her know that I was struggling with it. She was so glad that I came to her and asked for help and was happy to sit down and go through it with me. She was patient and understanding, knowing that my time there was a learning experience.

There are only a few weeks left in my internship. I am sad to leave but confident I have indeed learned a great deal. I've really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere at the company and the wonderful people I've worked alongside. I hope there is a possibility for full-time employment at Amazon.com, but, if not, I am grateful for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity fulfilled and the valuable experience to add to my resume.

My advice to DO-IT Scholars and Ambassadors is don't hesitate to ask the DO-IT staff for employment/internship assistance. You'll be amazed at what connections they have!

I started college last fall at the UW with a very heavy course load of 18 credits. My reading disability made the work quite a challenge, especially in chemistry. That was why I jumped on an opportunity posted on the DO-IT online discussion list-free tutoring for students with disabilities pursuing science, technology, engineering, or mathematics (funded by the National Science Foundation as part of the AccessSTEM project). It was really easy to set up. I just contacted the Chemistry Department and they gave me a list of tutors. I contacted several of them via email, and I was able to find a great person. She just had to fill out some paperwork at the DO-IT office, and we were all set.

We met at Starbucks once a week for an hour. I created a list of questions and homework problems beforehand, which we would go over during our session. My understanding of the material really improved. One of the things I was having trouble with was synthesizing all of the little pieces of information I needed to learn in a way that made sense. My tutor was really helpful in this respect. She drew pictures of what the molecules were actually doing, which cleared up at lot of confusion I had when reading the textbook.

I want to thank DO-IT for making this tutoring possible. It really made my first quarter go much more smoothly than it would have otherwise. I recommend that other students consider getting a tutor or finding out if there is a free tutoring center on campus. With the help of my tutor and a lot of hard work I was able to get a very good grade in the class!

My name is Karen Braitmayer and I am a DO-IT Mentor and practicing architect. I have osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), a collagen disorder that affected my skeleton, musculature, growth, and, most recently, hearing. I use a wheelchair for mobility and found that experiencing life from a largely seated position gave me a unique perspective on the built environment. I fell in love with architecture as a way to make change in my community towards more inclusion for people with disabilities. I now specialize in analyzing facilities for compliance with accessibility regulations and standards, as well as designing more accessible environments.

I am particularly happy when I can design a home or facility to meet an individual's needs, especially people with disabilities. I was invited to participate in a recent episode of ABC Television's Extreme Makeover: Home Edition when they remodeled the home of a family with a son who had OI. I provided a list of recommendations for accessible features specifically suited to the young boy's needs and was shown on camera explaining why modifications can benefit those with disabilities. It was a fun chance to share my passion for accessible homes and communities.

I truly enjoy any opportunity to share with younger people that same passion. I am especially thrilled when those young people also have personal knowledge of disability and can see their environments in novel ways. DO-IT gives me a chance to connect with students who are ready to consider careers in technical fields such as architecture. Occasionally, DO-IT invites me to speak to students about my choice of career or work directly with a student who has expressed an interest in architecture. Recently, I had the pleasure of introducing Andrea, DO-IT Ambassador, to my office and work through a day-long job shadow. Andrea challenged me to think critically about what I do on a daily basis and refueled my enthusiasm for my work. I hope a bit of my love of architecture rubbed off on her!

DO-IT staff member Noell

Hi! I'm Noell. I support overall facility operations and staff in the building where the DO-IT Center is located at the University of Washington in Seattle. I also support specific DO-IT activities. I believe that DO-IT is a fantastic program that is extremely important to any educational system.

I graduated from the University of Washington with BA degrees in English and history. I am a Lewis Carroll fiend. My emerging interests in literature are comics and graphic literature. My favorites are Sandman, TinTin, Fables, Scud, and Maus. As far as history goes, I most enjoy ancient history, including Egyptian, Greek, and Roman, as well as World War II history and East Asian history.

Practically a native, I grew up in the Seattle area after brief periods in North Carolina, Alaska, and California. I graduated from Cascade High School in Everett, with every intention of becoming a high school English teacher. I still plan to pursue that path, but, for now, I am taking time to get to know the world and myself, as well as revel in opportunities to participate in wonderful, educationally-directed programs like DO-IT.

Recently I posed the following question in our Internet discussion forum and offered a $50 prize for the most outstanding contribution. Below you can read the rich conversation that ensued. Congratulations to DO-IT Ambassador Priscilla for her prize-winning contribution!

Sheryl: We are writing an article for DO-IT News with ideas about how technology that was not designed specifically for people with disabilities is useful to people with disabilities. We're hoping to have lots of examples from people with a wide variety of disabilities. So what technology benefits you and others with your disability, or what technology have you noticed benefits people with other types of disabilities? We will have a prize for the best contribution from a DO-IT Ambassador, Scholar, or Pal, but others can suggest items for the article, too.

DO-IT Ambassador: This is kind of an obvious one but I thought I would just throw it out there. The technology is modern word processors, specifically the spell check functionality. These features are so important for me as a student with a learning disability. I will always struggle with spelling, but spell checkers allow me to communicate effectively and efficiently.

DO-IT Mentor: ...my deaf friends and I have found text pagers (or text messaging features in cell phones) to be helpful communication devices!

DO-IT Pal: Tape players are a big one for the blind, especially when listening to textbooks. Also, being able to assign a certain ring to a certain person on a cell phone helps blind people know who's calling. Some regular phones now have talking caller ID, which is also nice.

DO-IT Ambassador: ... spell checker, and not just in word processing programs, but EVERYWHERE—email, Excel, etc. It gives me a lot more confidence in my writing. The built in thesaurus and dictionary fall into that category as well.

DO-IT Pal: Spell checkers as well as grammar checkers are important to the blind as well. Because of contractions in Braille, a blind person might not know how to spell something. For example, "receive" is simply "rcv".

DO-IT Ambassador: I have a reading disability and one tool I use a lot on the computer is the "find" function. Especially on web pages where I'm looking for one thing in a sea of words. Also my email provider allows me to Google search all the text of my messages so I can find a message without reading anything. Good topic!

DO-IT Mentor: I love e-books particularly because of the convenient use of the "find" command. That's not just because I'm basically lazy, but also because I don't have the fine motor skills that makes turning pages easy. So, for instance, if I'm looking for "genome" I don't have to look in the index and then at twenty-five different pages. Instead I can use the "Find" command. Reading newspapers online is easier for the same reason.

DO-IT Ambassador: Word processing was the first thing to come to mind for me... but I got thinking, and one that is equally important for me is the Internet. It helps me in a variety of ways: first, many books are available free in electronic formats, and this has been a tremendous resource for me... even aside from text-to-speech software. Because I am not able to skim books to find quotes (especially for papers) if I can find the full text online, I can search it using my web browser.

Another place I find the Internet incredibly powerful is when I need to look up information. I am dyslexic and have trouble alphabetizing things, so finding something in a paper dictionary, thesaurus, or encyclopedia is slow. With the Internet I can go to Google and type define:MyWord, and it comes back with sometimes 20 different definitions from different places with a brief description, and all I need to do is skim them down for the one I want. In the same way, instead of needing to do research in a library, I can find materials online and search them for the specific information I want. The Internet, and Google, are probably my pick.

DO-IT Pal: I find computers, especially the Internet and email, are useful to blind people who can get screen readers. The Internet is a good way to look up information, especially because Braille is not easy to skim through when looking for information, not all resources are available in Braille, and Braille takes up a lot of room. Email is nice because you don't have to worry about the Braille getting crushed in the mail. Also, you can send your sighted friends email without having to worry about making an envelope. They can also send things to you without transcribing it into Braille. The computer itself is helpful for formatting papers. Current programs make it easy to apply styles without worrying about how it looks.

DO-IT Ambassador and prize winner: Being a person who has a few disabilities at the same time, I benefit from a number of different technologies out there.

• Cell Phones—I use a cell phone for mainly emergencies, such as if my power wheelchair quits working, I can call for help. This actually happened to me once when I got my first power wheelchair. I learned the hard way that I was desperately in need of new batteries.
• Cordless Phones—A cordless phone allows me to use a headset (on almost all cordless phones) to hear better and be able to carry it with me, instead of having to struggle to reach or not be able to get it at all.
• Headsets & Speakerphones—I have a hard time holding the phone for more than a couple minutes, so headsets and a speakerphone really help me when I'm not using a TTY. Plus, nowadays many headsets allow me to adjust the volume to hear the person better.
• Audiobooks—Although I'm a visual learner, I use audiobooks in addition to the printed book so that I can read faster and longer.
• Remote Controls—For the computer, DVD, and TV, if I didn't have a remote control, I would need assistance to operate them.
• Spell Checkers—I usually know how to spell, but when I write down or type, letters are flipped around, and I may not realize it. A spell checker corrects my spelling mistakes.
• Computers & Internet—The computer and Internet allow me to connect to/with the outside without the difficulties of getting to places, even when I'm in the hospital.
• Instant Messaging & Email —This allows me to communicate with others much more easily, more conveniently/effectively and for longer periods of time.
• Glider Point Mice—This type of mouse is easier for me to use, allowing me to use the mouse with a single finger.
• Voice Recognition—Speaking to my computer allows me to get things written faster.
• Portable Notetakers—As a person who types much faster and easier than I write, I use a portable notetaker to take notes.
• Scanners—A scanner allows me to scan text and have it transferred to my computer so I can enlarge text that would otherwise be too small for me to read.
• Tape Recorders—Tape recorders allow me to record class lectures and make notes of things I may have missed during class time.

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