Assistive Technology News Blog

By John M. Williams

          The National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) has asked Congressman Henry Waxman (D-CA), Chairman, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, to conduct a hearing on the status of employment of people with disabilities in the federal government, which should include review of the Schedule A Hiring Authority. Schedule A enables hiring managers to hire qualified applicants with disabilities expeditiously through a non-competitive process.

By John M. Williams

This is the third and final article on the impact of stuttering in my life.

I loved  college. I attended King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, PA between 963 to 1967. It is an excellent school. 

During college, I never had the feeling that I was different because I stuttered. I loved the independence I gained and the knowledge that my future was in my hands. My teachers called on me often. I joined the French Club and the Logos Society, a club composed of students who loved philosophy. Since I majored in philosophy, I fit right into the club.

During the second semester of my junior year, I started taking job intreviews. My grades were good, and I could write. I was stunned, stunned, shocked when interviewer after interviewer during my junior and senior years told me their company would not hire me because of my stuttering. Finally, I stopped taking interviews after at least 15 rejections, maybe more 

I garduated from King’s College in June 1967 with a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, It wasn’t until August 1967 that I got ny first job working at a Youth Camp in White Haven, PA. I worked with jeuvinile delinquents. It was a state civil service job. I left the job a year after I started. I was not suited for it.

In April 1969, I was hired by Army Times Publishing Company as an assistant production editor. The company is located in Washington, DC. Later I became senior production editor for Federal Times, one of four newspapers published by Army Times. My bosses and peers treated me as an equal. I never felt discriminated against. No one ever told me I could not do  my job. 

Between 1973 and 1975, I worked for Raytheon Services Company as a senior technical writer and editor. Twice my top boss denied me the opportunity to do indepth interviews with senior Navy oficers because I stuttered. He told me so. Each time, I told him he was wrong.  

Between 1975 and 1978, I was senior staff writer for United Way of America. My boss Mario Pellegrini was a gifted writer and movie director.  He utilized my writing talents as a press release writer, script writer, magazine writer, editor, speech writer and newsletter writer. I have never had a job that challenged my writing and creative abilities.

However, I knew of numerous circumstances in which he fought for my right to do my job before CEOs, football athletes, movie stars, labor leaders. Some of the higher bosses did not want me conversing with the CEOs, politicans, athletes and other well-knowns who visited United Way of America headquarters. Mario knew what I could do, and for him, it was my abilities that counted.

Between August 1978 and April 1981, I was the communications director for the American Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities. By 1978, my stuttering was atrocious. I was stuttering 90% of the time. My blocks were lasting longer than 30 seconds, and I was not fullfilling my responsibilities by refusing to testify before Congressional Committees on Capitol Hill. I was ashamed to stutter in front of others,

In Soetmber 1978, I started speech therapy lessons at George Washington University in Washington, DC. For 18 months, two-to-three times a week, 90 minutes a session, I worked with a speech therapist and a computer named Hal who resembled R2D2 in the Star Wars movies. I was connected to Hal through electrodes on my face, neck, arm and stomach. Hal spoke to me graphically. He graphed my blocks. I saw where my stuttering started, gradualy rose and then finally exploded. 

Over the 18 months, I learned to control my stuttering. I learned to stutter in a relaxed manner. I built confidence in my goal to achieve fluency.  In a yeat after I started  th therapy, I was apppearing on TV and radio, testifying before Congess and speaking before advocacy groups. I also had more energy.

Eighteen months after I started the therapy program, The director of the program came to me and said, “John. I can’t teach you any more. Go out into the world and stutter no more.” 

While I stutter, there are many, many times when I do not. There are times when I have 90% or higher fluency rate. The course changed my life.

In the 1980’s, I met Dr. Charles Van Riper, one of the titans in the stuttering field. He gave me great advice. He said, “Never allow stuttering to control you. You control it.” That’s great advice for people who stutter.

One incident that happened in 1989 is deeply imbedded into my memory. A good friend of my told me that a national organization working with terminally ill people was looking for a writer 20 hours a week. He arranged for me to be interviewed. 

About 10 minutes into the interview, the woman doing the interview shook her head and asked me the dumbest question I have ever been asked. It was, “Do you write the way you talk?” She was serious. I left abruptly.    

One of the greatest eras of my life was between 1997 and 2001 when I wrote a weekly column for Business Week On-Line Magazine titled Assistive Technology News. Four months after I started writing the column, we were flooded with praise. My editors allowed me to go after every story I wanted. During the 2000 presidential primary season, I interviewed Vice President Al Gore, then Governor George Bush and Senator John Mc Cain (R-AZ) on where they stood on disability issues that impacted 56 million people. While I stuttered during the interviews, none of these men said, “hurry up.”    

In 2006, I was introduced to the Speech Easy, a fluency device (http://www.speecheasy.com/). I use it when I speak before groups. It makes a difference in my fluency. 

I have had the privledge in my life of working 30 years in the disability field. During these three decades, I have interviewed presidential candidates, actors, U.S. Senators and Congressmen and women, well-known writers, scientists, advocacy leaders, chief executive officers and labor leaders. I have learned that successful people judge people on their abilities and not disabilities. 

In 30 years, I have also received 9 awards, mostly as a writer.  

I have learned I that my stuttering is only a part of who I am. It is not the sum of my abilities.       

By John M. Williams

This is the second of three articles on my struggles with stuttering.

My eighth grade year in school is memorable for two reasons. The first is I was sick half of the year, and I was lucky I passed onto high school.

The second memorable event is I met Chris Manfre, a life-long friend of 50 years.  No one could ask for a better friend.

As a freshman in high school, I had the good fortune of making another  life long and true friend, Mark McDonough.

My high school years were the toughest years in my life when dealing with stuttering. Entering high school was a unique experience. I had five teachers instead of one to deal with. Throughout high school, each teacher treated me differently.  My French and Latin teachers never called on me to read either language after my first stuttering experience in their classes. I went two years in each class having read only once. In French class, even when I knew the answers, my French teacher ignored my hand waving. Several times I spoke to her about calling on me. They were fruitless efforts.

I never had a high school teacher call on me too much. My biology teacher Sister Mercia had the good sense to asked me if I wanted to be called on to answer questions and read. I said yes.

A huge disappointment happened during my second year in high school. I have always been interested in politics, the art of persuasion and debating. I asked to try out for the debating team as a sophmore and junior. Both times I was rejected and told it was due to my stuttering. The deate teacher and my peers were adamant in their refusal. They told m they were looking out for my best interest. I believe they thought they were right. I believed they were wrong then, and I believe so now. Their ignorance showed me they were excluding me from fully participating  in a school event without knowing anything about stuttering. 

There was a long-term dividend resulting from my association with my French teacher. She introduced me to John Seamon, a speech pathologist who became a life-long friend and confidant. I was a junior in high school when I met him. He worked with me for years, and he made a significant contribution in developing a positive attitude regarding my abilities and the impact if stuttering in my life. A positive impact was he arranged for me to attend a summer course on stuttering therapy at Bloomsburg State Teachers’ College in Bloomsburg, PA during the summer of 1962. It was one of the greatest summers of my life. 

Twelve of us, who either stuttered or had severe articulation problems, attended classes eight hours a day, Monday through Friday, for 12 weeks. We received individual and group therapy and social therapy.

When I started school that summer, my stuttering rate was 90%. I had stuttering blocks that lasted 30 seconds or longer. My self esteem was at rock bottom. My body and mind were worn out from three years of high school and working 35 hours a week during high school. I made first and second honors almost all the time during high school. I knew if I wanted to go to college, I needed good grades. And so I studied as hard as I could.      

By the end of the summer, dramatic changes occurred. My stutteirng rate dropped dramatically. All but seven or eight of my 70 secondary symptoms were gone. Physically, I had never felt better in my life. Severe stuttering wears the individual down physically. I was a new person. I was ready for 12th grade.

The most difficult task for me during high school was socializing. I was shy and embarrassed to speak, especially around female classmates. Until near the end of my senior year, I never had a date. Twice as a junior I asked girls for a date. I was told no. Shortly after the second refusal, I overheard the girl I had asked tell her friends that I had asked her. She mimicked my stuttering and told her friends that she did wouldn’t go out with someone who could not talk. I was deeply offended. I vowed to myself that I would not let that incident keep me down.

An incident, that I shall always remember, happened a few days before graduation. I believed I had a calling to the priesthood. I had spoken to one of the sisters at school and to a priest about my vocation. I was in school and I was asked to meet with the pastor of the parish. I did. He told me that I would never be accepted into the priesthood as long as I stuttered. It was a personal blow and humiliation to me. I could not understand how God could reject someone from serving Him.  

My senior year was my best year in high school. I worked as a usher at the Comerford movie theatre. My grades improved. I had my first date. My stuttering rate declined significantly, and I was accepted into numerous colleges.  When I graduated from high school, I was ready for college.

By John M. Williams

This is the first of three articles. The second one deals with stuttering’s impact as a teenager, and the third article covers stuttering’s impact as an adult. 

I started stuttering around my eighth birthday. All the speech therapists and counselors I have seen over many years contributed the probable to a traumatic incident that happened to me during my second grade year on St. Valentine’s Day at a public school. I have relived that horrible incident in thousands of nightmares over 50 years. I do not wish to recite that horrible incident here.

When I first started stuttering, my parents, brothers and sisters and other relatives did not pay much attention to it. Neither did I. By the end of my third grade year, my stuttering was noticeable. I was stuttering all the time. My family decided that I needed to see a speech therapist. During my fourth grade year at St. Agnes Catholic School, I started seeing a speech therapist. I remember the man was bald, short and used steel crutches. I saw him once a month on Fridays. I remember Fridays because I would get out of school an hour early. I don’t remember much about the therapy. I know I did not make much progress. My parents thought so too and decided after a year to stop the therapy.  

I know that going into my fifth grade year, I was stuttering worse and my parents spent a lot of time trying to help me. They read a lot on books on stuttering therapies. They tried some of them on me. For example, one therapy was to think before I said anything and then speak slowly.  Another therapy was to practice speaking and reading in front of a mirror for 30 minutes a day. Another therapy was to memorize what I was going to say and then say it. Another therapy was to swing my arms forward and backward and speak in a rhythm. None of these therapies worked. 

 However, there was a positive development. At the start of my fifth grade year, my teacher Sister Francis Regis convinced my father and me it would be good for me to become an altar boy. I did and remained one until I graduated from college. I discovered that memorizing Latin prayers was a confidence booster. I also discovered that memorizing school work decreased my stuttering and increased my confidence as a speaker and student. 

The first time I blocked on my last name was in the fifth grade. I was introduced to a new priest after Mass. When he asked me my name, I stuttered severely on Williams and did so for decades afterwards. I have always been extremely embarrassed when stuttering on Williams.       

My fifth grade year was also the year I learned that peers my age in my class and my neighborhood could not play with me because I stuttered. It was their parents’ decision. They told their children there was something psychologically wrong with me because I stuttered. Parents also told their children that stuttering was contagious and, therefore they could not play with me.  Some of my classmates laughed at me. Some mimicked me. It was a difficult year. 

My sixth grade teacher Sister Mary Timothy was different from my teachers in grades three through five. She took n active interest in my growth as an individual. She started calling on me a lot to answer questions. When I was called on to read, she would keep me reading until I could read two or more paragraphs fluently. She encouraged me to memorize answers. Her methods worked. My reading improved to where I could read with minimal stuttering.  I won a school medal that year for knowing religious and history facts.  

Despite my gains in Sister Timothy’s class, I still stuttered. Classmates and neighborhood children still shunned me.  Through all of these situations, my parents, brothers and sisters and other relatives stuck by me. My parents always encouraged me (and my other siblings) to excel academically and to participate in sports. I played little league baseball and loved it. I was a switch hitter and averaged about five home runs a season. We played almost the entire summer. I knew I was accepted by my peers.  

During my sixth grade year, I tried out for our school basketball team, but I wasn’t even a mediocre player. One season was enough. Still, I found that I was accepted by the other players for trying. 

The most traumatic and dramatic incident in my life happened on February 12, 1958, My father died. He had been a rock in my life. He was there when I needed him. He consoled me. He encouraged me. He held me when I needed to be held. He would never let me get down on myself when I was struggling with my stuttering. Neither would my mother.  

My seventh grade teacher Sister Andrew also took an interest in me. She urged me to participate in school plays. She encouraged me to read out loud in class. She made me Reading Captain of our group. My responsibility was to pick books for members of my group to read and then to give an oral report in front of the class. My job was also to introduce the student giving the report  and give the title of the book. I was always nervous when doing this and I stuttered. Still, I did not asked to be relieved of the responsibility.  

During the summers when we lived in Cleveland, we would spend a week in Philadelphia, PA with my mother’s parents nd three aunts and uncles and an army of cousins. None of my relatives made a derogatoy remark about my stuttering. I loved visiting them.  

Speech therapy was to play a larger role in my life during high school. When I was taking speech therapy technology to achieve fluency did not exist. Technology would come into my life later.   

 In June 1958, my mother, my brothers, sisters and I moved from Cleveland, Ohio to Wilkes- Barre, PA, Wilkes-Barre was our hometown. One part of my life was over. A new life was beginning.       

By John M. Williams

In electing the next president of the United States, voters will decide if they want to enhance their quality of life or experience a steady erosion. Should voters elect Senator John Mc Cain (R-AZ) President of the United States they will see their quality of life decline. Should voters elect either Senator Barack Obama (D-IL) or Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) they can expect their quality of life to improve.

If elected president, all three senators have said they will tackle global warming. The three Senators deserve credit for tackling this issue. They will exercise international leadership in dealing with this crisis. Improving the enviroment will see a worldwide decline in the number of people dying and becoming sick due to environmental illnesses. This is a win-win policy. Whether they stand equally committed to solving this pending global disaster remains to be discovered. 

By electing a Democrat commited to bringing home U.S. trooops  from Iraq,  the U.S. will see the elimination of U.S. soldiers dying and being wounded, the end of veterans’ suicides, a decline in the break up of veterans’ families, a united country and a policy that takes care of all the ills of our veterans from the time they are diagnosed until their deaths.

If elected president, John McCain promises to continue the war until a military victory is achieved, without defining the elements of a victory. The war could continue another five, 10, 20 or more years. As the war drags on, so do all the ills associated with it.

Senators Obama and Clinton reocgnize the decaying infrastructure challenges this country must address to butress our quality of life, and they have promised to deal with them by redirecting the money spent on fighting the war in Iraq to domestic challenges. They may even have to ask Congress to deal with this horrendous situation. They recognize that by improving the infrastructure at home they are reducing deaths, injuries, car repairs, slow downs in commerce transportation and other pitfalls. They also recognize that rebuilding the infrastructure creates tens and tens of thousands of jobs.

Senator McCain lacks a plan to rebuild the infrastructure in the country.

The Democrats will make Herculean efforts to make health insurance available to and affordable to everyone. They see the need for greater federal involvement in solving tis national crisis.  A president McCain won’t foster federal involvement because the insurance industry does not want the status quo changed. McCain is willing to allow 50 million to remain uninsured and to allow bankruptcies asociated with astromnomical high helathcare costs to continue. His healthcare program relies heavily on the free market with the market dictating prices and the level of care. His approach to dealing with this issue is not working now, and it won’t if he is elected.

Senators Obama and Clinton have programs to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities. Except for dealing with autism, Senator McCain does not have a plan. He should be asked, “Where is your program to promote opportunities for people with disbailities?” How can he ignore 56 million people, or more? 

Every presidential election is important. This one will determine whether we want more people to have their quality of life enriched on whether we want fewer to enrich their lives. I want more people to benefit.

By John M. Williams

Two or three times a year, I receive calls from people asking me, “What can assistive technology products for people with disabilities?” I am always pleased to learn that people want to discover what these products can do for users with disabilities. Because, I know they can do a lot personally, physically and psychologically. 

 Assistive technology is technology used by individuals with disabilities to perform functions that might otherwise be difficult or impossible. Assistive technology can include mobility devices such as walkers and wheelchairs, as well as hardware, software, and peripherals that assist people with disabilities in accessing computers or other information technologies.  

Assistive Technology products breakdown traditional communication barriers that have kept blind people from having access to information they need; they provide visual opportunities to people with low vision; they give voice to the speech challenged; they give fluency to the person who stutters; they allow people who are deaf to use the Internet and telecommunications products; they provide learning tools to people with intellectual disabilities; and they provide individuals with physical or dexterity an opportunity to use a computer.  They are empowering tools. 

For example, Braille Note and Braille Display user William McKay tells me, “Without Braille, I could not read by myself. I could not learn by myself. I could no write by myself. I could not be employed. I could not be independent.”   A Braille display is a tactile device consisting of a row of special ’soft’ cells. A soft cell has 6 or 8 pins made of metal or nylon; pins are controlled electronically to move up and down to display characters as they appear on the display of the source system - usually a computer or Braille note taker. Soft Braille cells have either 6 or 8 dot pins depending on the model. Advanced Braille code features 8 dot Braille, but most will probably only use the 6 dot code. Dots 7 and 8, if present. can be used to show the position of the cursor in the text or for European 8 dot Braille. They can also be used for advanced math work and for computer coding.