« Back document and the words appear on the screen at an incredible speed. They are appearing nearly as fast as they come out of his mouth. His arms never touch the keyboard.
Mr. Feldman is using Dragon Naturally Speak; a program he uses to do almost everything on his computer and a program that has become his livelihood since he lost the use of his arms.
Twelve years ago, he started to develop a weakness in his arms that doctors thought was a result of repetitive strain.
“Unfortunately it wasn’t that and after trying all sorts of tests, I went to a neurologist and what it ended up being was the nerve cells in both hands and arms were dying and there was no reason why,” he said.
He kept getting weaker until it got to the point where he couldn’t work or drive anymore; he went to see Human Resources Development Canada to get help.
“I kept thinking, what kind of jobs can you get if you can’t use your arms or your hands?” Mr. Feldman said.
After a year and a half of searching for answers he went to an assistive technology course where he was told to sit down and to dictate to a computer. The program he was introduced to would enable him to write and possibly find employment.
Mr. Feldman used Dragon Naturally Speaking to prepare a presentation for a business idea and while the idea didn’t amaze the business people Mr. Feldman presented it to, the way in which he presented it did. Some of them asked him to train them on it. Not wanting to live on a disability pension, in January, he launched his company – Computing by Voice – to teach other people, and not just people with disabilities, how to use the program.
“It allows you to input into documents at a speed of 160 words a minute,” he said. “I don’t know of any professional typist that can do 160 words a minutes let alone the average business man or business woman.”
Some of Mr. Feldman’s clients have included a business woman with carpal tunnel and another who shaved three hours a day off answering e-mails. He has started to learn other programs so he can help people with different disabilities, such as hearing or visual, learn the technology that could help them.
The need for technology to assist them is one barrier that keeps people with disabilities from being employed at the same level as people without disabilities.
Several people interviewed for this series who are involved with disability issues cite employment as one area where changes still need to be made when it comes to accessibility.
David Hamen, who works for Durham Deaf Services, believes employment is an area where progress needs to be made and coupled with that, changes to education. He is concerned with not only the unemployment rate of people who are deaf or who have another disability, but also the high percentage of people who are underemployed.
According to data from the Participation and Activity Limitation Survey, 2001, done by Statistics Canada, the unemployment rate among adults aged 25 to 54 with disabilities was 10.7 per cent compared with 5.9 per cent for adults of the same age without disabilities.
Many adults with disabilities who do find employment are often underemployed and make less money. For adults aged 25 to 54 with disabilities, 47 per cent have personal incomes below $15,000, compared with 25 per cent of adults without disabilities. (All numbers are based on 2001 data).
“That’s probably my biggest personal problem with where we’re at these days. I want to see that number decrease,” Mr. Hamen said of the unemployment figures. “I want to get out there and see deaf and hard of hearing people have the opportunity to increase their skills.”
Mr. Hamen had his own difficulties finding employment because he is deaf.
“It was a long-fought battle for me. I got a job as an employment counsellor and got laid off, I became part of my own client pool... I realized in that moment the huge gaps there were,” he said, adding he wondered about where the services were for the deaf community.
He ended up moving to Oshawa where he found his current job.
“I had to go and find a place where my skills worked,” he said. “I did find it limiting.”
Mr. Hamen believes for the deaf community, better education is needed to improve employment success.
“What I really wish most of all is that the school system be cleaned up. I really want people to have access to education and good teachers,” he said. “The solution for us is to give young children access to language and that has to be a visual language.”
Joyce Lange said while there is a growing awareness on the part of society to make changes to improve accessibility, one area where changes are still needed is in the employment sector. The Whitby resident works for the Canadian Hearing Society and is involved with issues affecting the deaf community; she was born hard of hearing and has been deaf since she was a young child.
“At one time most deaf people couldn’t think about making it to the management level, where the policy and financial decisions are made,” she said. Ms. Lange believes if changes happen at the top of an organization, they will flow down.
“Legislation is important, but at the same time we need a critical mass in any organization that believes in equality,” she said. Ms. Lange is an human resources manager for the Canadian Hearing Society. She said it is easier, both financially and logistically, than most people think to accommodate a person with a hearing disability.
“You’d be surprised how many things don’t cost a lot of money to get a deaf person started on the job,” she said.