Steven is in the middle of the rehabilitation process following a C3/4 injury. His primary objective is to get equipment and strategies in place that will enable him to get back to his job as an executive. He has been focusing on speech recognition software in particular. As well, Steven recently made some big-ticket purchases for the first time, including a power wheelchair and a modified minivan.
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As a vice-president of a food distribution company, Steven’s job involves a lot of computer work. He says, “Probably half my day was sitting in front of a computer.” These work-related computer tasks have shaped Steven’s goals to a large extent. Specifically, his objectives include, “word processing and communicating through email … [and] spreadsheets, used to communicate sales objectives and reports on things that our clients would be asking us to respond to them about.” While Steven is very familiar with his business software, he needed to learn new ways to interact with these programs. “I know exactly what they’re going to require me to do because I’ve done it previously. My objective is to be able to do it with programs that are accessible to me.”
To address the computer accessibility issue, Steven applied for state vocational rehabilitation funding to receive training on speech recognition software. He says, “They first required someone to do an assessment of what my needs would be, and that was done over the course of about three weeks…. Once the assessment was done, we met with a representative from the [state government] who then agreed to pay for the majority of the cost of approximately six weeks of training.” Steven has found the training “very easy” and the speech recognition software “pretty useful.” He says that part of the process is teaching the software your speech patterns. “It’s approximately 16 paragraphs worth of reading that you do to get it up and running initially. Then, each time you use it, it gives you the option of adding that into your vocabulary and each time that you do it successfully, your overall performance with the product should improve.” Overall, Steven has been impressed. “I would say it’s working very well. It may not be quite as fast as I was able to do prior to the injury but it isn’t a whole lot slower.”
The software is not without its frustrations though. Steven has mounted the microphone on a boom in front of him instead of wearing it on a headset, because putting on the microphone and taking it off requires someone else’s assistance. For him, this boom arrangement is workable, although he observes, “With any changes in the microphone, or possibly the positioning of the microphone, you may disrupt the performance of the product. So on two occasions, I have had to go back and reprogram my voice [files] in order to work. And that’s probably no more than half an hour of effort each time. But it’s still a little frustrating when it happens…. We used a fair amount of our training time in trying to troubleshoot particular issues.”
Steven has decided to get used to the new computer by practising what he will need to do once he is back at work. “As far as the technology goes, and getting back into the workplace, I’ve employed a strategy of simply asking people that I work with to send projects my way that I can take a look at and try to do, without the pressure of being the person who’s responsible for the work. It’s just when I have time and I can mess around with it. I take a look at it, try it and then find out what shortcomings there might be … or how to do it with the technology I have.”
Steven believes that speech recognition is going to get him where he needs to be at work. “I think the process wouldn’t be much different than someone who isn’t handicapped. I think you have to work with those products in order to generate a certain level of competency, and I’m not there yet, but I don’t see that it’s too far off or at all unattainable.”
The decision-making process for buying a wheelchair is very fresh in Steven’s mind, since he recently purchased his first one. He says, “The issues are manual or electric, and if you do choose to go the electric route, you have to decide front-wheel, mid-wheel or rear-wheel drive, all of which have attributes that make it perform better than others in certain situations. And then, once you determine what type of drive would work best, you need to look at tilt or recline, elevation in the chair, leg extensions … options you may or may not need. Then, of course, you have to work with your insurance company to find out which of these things they feel are necessary for your type of injury and whether or not they will reimburse you for that purchase.… You’re pretty much in the chair from the moment you get out of bed until you go to bed. So you know, you need one that’s going to be comfortable.”
Steven’s personal situation has played into his decision making as well. “I’m moving back home, which isn’t totally accessible, so turning in and out of rooms will be difficult without a fairly tight turning radius. I have a couple of young children. We’ll be spending a lot of time outdoors and I will need something that will allow me to manoeuvre in grass and on fields … as well as getting in and out of a modified van that I have purchased.”
Steven’s minivan is also new, modified with a ramp and a lowered floor. It does not currently have adaptations that would permit him to drive, but it is still early after Steven’s injury and he is waiting to see how much physical function returns before he makes a decision about driving. The space for him and his wheelchair is in the middle of the van, with a bench seat in the back for his kids, and driver and passenger seats up front. Although the insurance company will not pay for the van itself, Steven says, “The hope is that they will pay for the modifications needed for me to get my wheelchair into the van…. It’s a work in progress. They haven’t said no, but they haven’t said yes. They just want to make sure that it’s their liability and not someone else’s before they go ahead and start committing funds.”
Steven has had an accessible speakerphone for several months. When it rings, he can answer it by hitting a switch or by making any kind of loud noise between rings. To make calls, he can program 20 numbers into a speed dialer. When he hits an accessible button, the phone begins scanning through these pre-programmed numbers. He hits the button again when the scan is at the number he wants to call. Steven says, “It works well—the only problem would be trying to make a phone call to a number that’s not already pre-programmed.” Steven is working on a physical strategy that will allow him to dial numbers in this situation.
Although he has had some good experiences with vocational rehab, Steven has noticed that this is not the case for everyone. He believes that the voc rehab system could be doing more for people who are injured at a younger age and perhaps do not have the type of work experience that might translate into productive employment following a spinal cord injury. In Steven’s opinion, “The younger the injured person is, the less experience they have and are probably not aware of what types of jobs are available that would allow them to be productive and rewarded for their production in a job.… Other residents who have lived here who haven’t taken advantage of the training that’s available, I think it’s primarily because they’re not aware of the type of employment that exists out there which would allow them to get back to work and be productive people…. So if I would recommend an improvement in the process, it would be to somehow get those people exposed to what types of things are out there and give them a clear picture of that—how they can get themselves up to speed to be considered for those jobs…. I think the most important thing is to make them feel that in spite of their injury, they can be of value. And a significant value.”
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