Career Advice

Imagine trying to install software when you can’t see what you’re doing or writing a computer program without using your hands.

For tech professionals Randy Hammer, blind since birth, and Todd Stabelfeldt, a quadriplegic, it’s their daily reality -- one made possible by technology that lets them do their jobs and learn more to advance their careers.

As teens, both Hammer, 24, and Stabelfeldt, 22, enrolled in the University of Washington’s DO-IT Program (Disabilities, Opportunities, Internetworking and Technology), which provides training, equipment and mentors to transition high schoolers with disabilities into college and jobs.

Adapting to the Workplace

"I grew up in a small town where I was only one of two disabled people," says Stabelfeldt, who was paralyzed from the neck down at age 8 in a gun accident. At first, he was apprehensive about attending school with other disabled people. "But it was the right thing to do. My attitude turned around, and I started working with computers and helping other people."

Stabelfeldt, who lives and works in Bainbridge Island, Washington, is a computer programmer at Cortex Medical Management Systems, Inc., which creates software applications for pathologists. He attended the DO-IT Program and the (now defunct) Resource Center for the Handicapped Technical Institute concurrently while in high school. He earned an associate’s degree in occupational studies in 1996, one month before he received his high school diploma.

He does his job with the help of a customized workstation, adaptive software and supportive coworkers. A remote headset, one monitor for his programming work and another for an onscreen keyboard, are part of his toolkit, and he uses a mouth stick to move the mouse and operate the Adap2U software system. "It’s a unique system that puts me on a level playing field," he says.

Hammer of Lacey, Washington, is a change management analyst and tech support person for Olympia-based telecommunications company Illuminet. Hammer also attended DO-IT and received college credit from Puget Sound Community College while in high school. He earned a general bachelor of science degree in 1997 from The Evergreen State College in Olympia.

Hammer carries a laptop and wears a headset that lets him listen to Job Access with Speech for Windows software. He doesn’t use a special keyboard. "I learned to type in second grade," he says. "I built up speed and accuracy just like anyone else. I just didn’t look at my fingers."

"The ability for a disabled user to work in a normal environment is getting closer," says Hammer. "I have no problems now working with the latest technology sitting on my desk." Hammer’s desk partner and guide is Haig, a yellow Labrador retriever.

Learning How to Stay Current

Like other working learners, people with disabilities have difficulty finding the time, money and convenience to fit education into their lifestyles. Both Hammer and Stabelfeldt have taken Microsoft certification prep classes and other offsite professional development seminars, yet both prefer self-directed study using books, online and CD-ROM tutorials and peer support. "Traveling with a disability is expensive," Stabelfeldt says. "Third-party software comes with a tutorial, like an online learning CD. In software, you need to learn more and more about the technologies. If you don’t keep up, then you’ve sunsetted yourself."

Hammer agrees. Whether you’re disabled or not, if you don’t stay current with technology, "you become a computer dinosaur," he says. He, too, prefers self-study as his mode of learning. "Though classes are a lot of fun, and I like getting free bagels, it’s not a great learning environment for me," he says. "I have trouble getting to a comfortable level in a classroom. I get books in electronic format, so I just read them on the computer." Hammer also uses a small study group to prepare for Microsoft Windows 2000 certification.

Next on Hammer’s educational agenda: An MBA. "Getting reading materials will be the hardest piece," he says. "We don’t just need books in electronic format, but the new editions" specified by the instructor.

Teaching Others to Assist

Both Stabelfeldt and Hammer volunteer as advocates for the disabled. Stabelfeldt sits on the rehabilitation department board at the Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle. He speaks to high school assemblies about injury prevention through the Think First program and aspires to move into motivational speaking full-time. "I want to travel this country speaking to hospitals, rehab clinics and urgent cares, to say when you see a quadriplegic, this is what you do." He is also a usability tester for Microsoft, "which gives me exposure to the disability community and helps [Microsoft] make the right decisions about software compatibility."

Hammer works with a California group called Bookshare.org, which strives to get copyrighted books legally scanned into electronic formats for visually impaired and dyslexic readers.

People with disabilities also have to educate their coworkers as they advocate for themselves. Working cube-to-cube with a person in a wheelchair or someone who is blind shows what differently abled people can do and challenges employers to work toward better accessibility. "My coworkers are just awesome," Stabelfeldt says. "They feed me. If my shoe hurts, they take it off. If my wheelchair is acting funny, they kick it. Yesterday my secretary had to pick my nose." And they are willing to help and learn. "My disability is a part of me, my attitude and my mindset. I think it gives me an advantage as people listen to me a bit longer."

Hammer concurs that learning among officemates of all abilities is reciprocal. "You will always be able to go home and say, ’Hey, I learned something new today,’ or ’Hey, today I helped someone learn something new.’"

Author: Heidi LaFleche, Monster Contributing Writer