Equal Footing on the Net by Paul Secic

First let me tell you a little about myself. I am a forty nine year old man with a severe case of cerebral palsy. I have been using computers for nine years now. I have always wanted to be able to communicate with people on an equal footing but was unable to do so due to poor speech.

About five year ago I heard of the Internet. At that time I had no idea of what it was, or how to work it. So I just jumped in and had my attendant call a local ISP and they faxed me some information on how to sign up. The next two weeks were a nightmare because I didn't know how to set up my computer to get on the Internet. They sent a kind young man out and he configured my Internet settings and I was on the Internet in no time.

A typical day for me is going straight to my computer after breakfast at ten o'clock. My first stop along the information superhighway is to check my email. You can email me at this site or at my home psecic@pacbell.net Then I open Netscape and go to news.com where I read the latest computer and Internet news. Then I check out several web sites that deal with the online gaming business. These links are pcgamer and multiplayer.

When I was a young boy in the 1950’s I did all of my writing and homework on a standard IBM typewriter with a stick that was strapped to my head. Using the hunt and peck system I could get one page of text completed in about three hours. If I made a mistake I couldn't hit the delete key, I had to start from the beginning. Since the advent of computers, things have changed drastically for the better. I can now type one page in about 90 minutes.

Assistive technology and computers have opened a whole new world by developing accessibility features, such as, Sticky keys and Mouse Keys. Both are built into the operating systems of the Mac and Windows platforms. Now I am able to push the Shift key and another letter which allows me to capitalize a word, without using two hands. Mouse Keys, on the other hand, allows me to use the numeric keypad as a mouse, the up arrow moves the cursor up and so forth. I use CoWriter made by Don Johnston Inc. ®, which is a word prediction program. CoWriter predicts words as I begin to type them. I simply chose the correctly predicted word by typing the number next to it. Prediction is based on spelling, frequency of word use and syntax.

So you see that without assistive technology and computers I would still be plunking around letter by letter. My biggest frustration is with the computer industry, because they keep coming out with faster computers. I live on a very tight fixed income and I can't turn around every six months and purchase a new computer, let alone upgrade software. If I could have anything it would be something that could read my mind, that could operate everything in my house, such as, open doors, turn televisions on and off etc.

Typically when people are born with Cerebral Palsy it can effect many parts of the body, including speech. As a child I rarely spoke to many of my peers because I was self-conscious and afraid I wouldn't be understood. This made me feel angry because normal children would sometimes make fun of me. Unfortunately at that time they didn't even dream that computers could actually help people to talk. Now with the help of an Apple® Power Book and CoWriter I am able to have a semi-normal conversation with complete strangers and feel good about myself. When people see me they probably say "Oh look at that poor man in the wheelchair, he must be retarded." That is the biggest misconception people can make. I am just the same as everybody else, I eat, sleep, and I am in debt. Most persons with disabilities want to own their own homes, go out to dinner once in a while and have relationships. So you see persons with disabilities are the same as non-disabled persons. It's their perception that stands in the way. If some people would treat me like they treat non-disabled people, that would be Utopia.

The Internet has revolutionized my entire life beyond my wildest dreams. On the Internet I am equal to everyone else. This is the most empowering aspect of the Internet, because people can't see my spasms and wheelchair, which tends to freak people out. I am now able to read a newspaper or magazines without having someone hold it up to me and turn pages. If I read something that I disagree with I'm able to interject my opinion to the author by just clicking on their E-mail address. I just have to dial my ISP or soon TCI @home and read to my heart’s content. The best thing about web browsers is that you can enlarge the font sizes, if the print is too small. You certainly cannot do that with traditional print media! The Internet has made me a part of society probably more than any piece of legislation can ever do. The Internet has torn down walls for me, just as they tore down the Berlin Wall and made the German people free to do whatever they want.

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