Seattle Times

Wednesday, November 15, 2000, 12:00 a.m. Pacific

Event gives disabled teens a look at tech careers


by Colleen Pohlig
Seattle Times Eastside bureau

Chris Schlechty has a head start on the wired world, and not only because
he is a computer-savvy teen.

The high-school freshman uses voice-activated software for homework,
carefully speaking into a microphone, commanding the computer to type his
words.

But the often-frustrating technology - he must say each word perfectly - is
nothing compared with the challenges Schlechty faces every day battling
muscular dystrophy.

The disability and his interest in computers landed him and about 140 other
teenagers a spot at Microsoft's first Career Day for High School Students
with Disabilities, held yesterday at the company's Redmond campus.

They heard from Microsoft employees who are disabled and learned about
existing and future technology that can help with their disabilities. Some,
like Schlechty, carved out some post-high-school plans.

"I'm interested in finding out more about the tech jobs I can do, and what
I need to do to prepare for them now," he said. He plans to take a
beginning computer-science class next semester at Cedarcrest High in Duvall.

Microsoft presenters had two goals for yesterday's event: for disabled
students to see themselves in high-tech fields, and for them to sample some
"accessible" technology such as voice-activated software and head-pointers
for those who can't use their hands.

Laura Ruby, a Microsoft program manager who organized the event, said the
company has worked on assistive technology for the past 10 years and wanted
to reach out to potential future employees.

"Many students with disabilities don't picture themselves in high-tech
jobs, so one of our goals is to get them to understand they can leverage
technology in school now to get where they want to go," she said.

While some challenges such as blindness or cerebral palsy were evident
yesterday, most students' disabilities were not.

Senior Josh Hancock and sophomore John Lissner, both of Auburn's Riverside
High, have learning disabilities.

Lissner, who spends hours designing Web pages for friends, wants to be a
network administrator. But he said that before last year, when his dyslexia
was diagnosed, "I didn't understand anything because my eyes would skip
over whole blocks of text."

"I got D's and F's, I skipped class all the time, I fought with my parents.
But since they diagnosed me and I went through a dyslexia program, I get
good grades and now I think school is pretty easy."

He plans to attend Bellevue Community College next fall and hopes to land
an internship at Microsoft.

Hancock, who says he has trouble concentrating "unless it's something I'm
interested in," wants to be a network designer.

Presenters at the all-day conference stressed that Microsoft works hard to
hire a diverse work force. Several students seemed captivated by one of the
six panelists, Bryan Smart, who is blind. Still in college, he is a
Microsoft intern, working on voice-activated software.

"I've always had to be inventive in how to work around my disability, but
in this case, my disability is an actual asset to me," he said.


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