Success Stories

	Name	Job Title/Disability
	Mark Bellone	Programmer Deaf
	Barbara Chernock	Software Designer Consultant Neck injury and Peripheral Neuropathy
	Donald High	Administrative Assistant Deaf
	Tim McInerney	Programmer Spinal Cord Injury
	Linda Pratt	Computer Resource Manager Spinal Cord Injury
	Blaine Souza	Mail Room Manager Visual Impairment
	Alex Tabony	Instructor/Technical Coordinator Partially Sighted
	Rose White	Volunteer Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Arthritis
	Dave Yan	Developer/Consultant Arthritis
	Karen and Ali	Volunteer Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Arthritis
	Ellen Thielman	Developer/Consultant Deaf

Mark Bellone
Programmer
Wells Fargo Bank

What made you interested in technology?
I had an Atari video game set when I was ten or eleven years old. As an only child video games were my substitute brothers and sisters. I got interested in programming because I wanted to make my own video game and I did do that.

What did you do before your technology career?
This is my first professional job but before this I worked as a bicycle mechanic and a customer service person at Vail ski resort.

What is your disability?
I was born deaf.

What does your work place do to accommodate you?
My workplace provides a sign language interpreter for meetings, and a TTY for phone access. When there is a last minute meeting instead of having a sign language interpreter we can use a lap top computer for communication. When I started work a consultant was hired to do an in-service training to staff on deaf awareness. Deaf people often miss out on sound cues. It is difficult for me to know when a meeting is over. Now my co-workers know to let me in on this kind of information.

What training in technology do you have?
Other than the computer programming training at CTP and training at work, I am mostly self-taught on a personal computer.

What are your hobbies and interests?
I am a board sport enthusiast. I enjoy surf boarding, skate boarding and snow boarding. I also enjoy drawing, photography and making tin sculptures out of recycled materials.

What work do you do now?
I am on the middleware team for mainframe computers at Wells Fargo Bank. The work involves driving the client message to its destination and returning the response back to the client. For example, when someone makes a transaction on the ATM, the message has to go to an online Wells Fargo mainframe computer. Our programs receive these messages, perform necessary functions like translating the code (ASCII to EBCDIC or vice versa), decryption and journaling. These messages would then be sent to the destination specified by a control file record that we own and maintain. From time to time, we maintain or update our programs to recognize new message formats or provide special routing or editing services for clients who need them.

What do you like about your work?
I like programming because I can be creative. There is always a way to make the program and there is always something to learn. Right now I want to learn Java programming.

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Barbara Chernock

Software Designer Consultant
California Department of Health Services/National Laboratory Training Network

What made you interested in technology?
I took a course in Career Path Development. After many career tests in the class, it was determined that a computer field would be a good fit for me. I started my journey into technology by taking a basic computer science class at my local junior college.

What is your disability?
I have a neck injury and peripheral neuropathy. The neuropathy means that I have tingling and pain in my hands and feet. This is a result of having diabetes which I did not know I had until the neuropathy started.

Donald High
Administrative Assistant
UC Berkeley

What made you interested in technology?
When I came back to the United States after living in Germany, I noticed that most jobs at the job agency I went to required computer skills. I had no interest in computers at the time but my department of rehabilitation counselor suggested that I look into the Office Systems Training at CTP.

What did you do before your technology career?
I have an art background and a degree in Graphic Design. Before I started on my technology path I landed a graphic arts job for three years, and then between travels, I had odd jobs. I went back to school for one year. The last job was in data entry for seven years.

What is your disability?
I am deaf.

What does your work place do to accommodate your disability?
My workplace provides sign language interpreters when necessary. I have a TTY machine so that I can make phone calls. I use e-mail and writing to communicate with coworkers.

What training in technology do you have?
After my Office Systems training at CTP I have had training in several topics related to my present job. These are Filemaker Pro, Corporatetime, Data Base financial systems (how to process/find office invoices and purchase orders).

6. What are your hobbies and interests?
I enjoy traveling, film, art, especially drawing, and buying collectibles.

7. What work do you do now?
I work as an Administrative Assistant in the Disabled Students Office at UC Berkeley. I work in both services to students with disabilities and processing check invoices for vendors that provide services. I send out letters, maintain a filing system, send out mail and e-mail and work on a data base.

8. What do you like about your work?
I enjoy solving problems at work. First I do an investigation of the details of the problem (i.e. tracking down vendors on duplicate check payments) and then I suggest how to solve the problem or improve the situation. I suggested that online confidential student information should be transferred onto the student database. This made it easier and quicker to enter the information and maintain the files. I also suggested that once accommodation letters were done online they be transferred to the case notes in the student data base. This also saved time. I also solved the problem of faxed documents going nowhere. My suggestions have made the work more efficient and organized, and it is a good way for me to use my creativity.

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Tim McInerney
Programmer
UC Berkeley

What made you interested in technology?
There were two things that made me interested in technology. As a history major in college I thought learning technology could make research and study easier. Later when I wanted to work at Pacific Bell and I thought I could get in if I had technology training. I took a one year training program as a computer analyst and worked 2½ years at Pacific Bell.

What did you do before you got involved in technology?
I was a high school history and social studies teacher. The expenses of living with a disability make teaching not a good choice for me.

What is your disability?
I have a spinal cord injury. I am a quadriplegic which means I am paralyzed from the chest down. I don’t have use of my hands.

Do you need any accommodations to work?
I need a wheelchair accessible workplace, a special telephone, a printer in a good location for me and flexible work hours.

What training do you have in technology?
I did a one year training program at Pacific Bell to be a computer analyst. I worked with computer programmers and hardware contractors to make sure that the daily mainframe computer operations worked. I also took the computer programming training at the Computer Technologies Program.

What are your hobbies and interests?
I like politics, the outdoors, speaking Spanish and good food. I have gotten to use Spanish when I went abroad to Spain, communicating with my Spanish speaking personal attendants and when I volunteered to teach English to Spanish speakers.
I like good Latin American and Middle Eastern restaurants. Some favorite foods are Assyrian lamb stew over rice and shish kabob.
I recommend Maykadeh restaurant in North Beach in San Francisco for Middle Eastern food.

What work do you do now?
I am working as a programmer intern with a group that does accounts receivable at the University of California in Berkeley. We use JCL and COBOL which is being converted to DB2. I am working on converting the documentation from the old program to the new program.

What do you like about your work?
I like the mix of working alone and working with the rest of the group. I like learning from colleagues and I like problem solving. Sometimes it feels like solving a puzzle. I like the satisfaction of seeing the program work. I don’t consider myself the most tech savvy person. You don’t have to be a computer genius or have it seem natural to do well and have a place in programming.

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Linda Pratt
Computer Resource Manager
UC Berkeley

What made you interested in technology?
I heard about the CTP programming training while I was in a rehab hospital. Two years later after I went back to my job as an office manager I considered returning to school. That’s when I remembered what I heard about programming training in Berkeley. Programming was ideal for me because I am strong in math, I like numbers and have a logical mind. Since I’m dyslexic and have difficulty with spelling, the standard language in programming made it perfect for me.

What did you do before your technology career?
After I graduated from college with a Bachelors of Fine Arts, I worked as an office manager for a newspaper in Aspen, Colorado before I became disabled. After my rehabilitation, I went back to my office manager position. After a couple years of “mainstreaming”, I realized that I could do something more practical and increase my earning power if I went into a career in programming.

What is your disability?
I broke my back, suffered a spinal cord injury and now use a wheelchair.

What does your workplace do to accommodate your disability?
There is a carrier to evacuate me from the building if the elevator is not working. Also, I have a special narrow keyboard which helps prevent repetitive stress injuries.

What training in technology do you have?
I took the CTP Computer Programming Training in 1982. Since then my employers have provided training as new technologies and methods are adopted at the workplace.

What are your interests and hobbies?
In college, my focus was in “studio art”, I particularly liked sculpture and jewelry. Now that I have two children, I enjoy doing craft projects with them and for their school.

What work do you do now?
I am a Computer Resource Manager at the University of California. I started 15 years ago as a senior programmer. I now design and construct software systems. My aesthetic background helps me build systems that are not too crowded and are balanced and efficient.

What do you like about your work?
I like to make things work. My interest and background in art helps me create computer systems that are as simple as possible and work without having to backtrack or zigzag. I like that my disability does not limit me in any way I can be as good in my work as anyone else.

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Blaine Souza
Pacific Coast Community Services

What made you interested in technology?
While I was trying to make a living as an actor in the 70’s, I worked as a file clerk in a law firm. They brought in a WANG computer and taught us data entry to index files so that attorneys could locate them. Then later at Charles Schwab as a file clerk, when someone was out sick, I was asked to do data entry billing. I completed what was supposed to be an 8 hour job in 2 hours.

What did you do before you got involved in technology?
I went to San Jose State University on a partial football scholarship and got a degree in theater arts. I performed at Berkeley Rep, Poverty Theater, Exit Theater, and did film work for Universal Studios. My most challenging role was as Hamm in End Game by Samuel Beckett.

What is your disability?
I have vision impairment as a complication of diabetes.

Do you need any accommodations to work?
I use a large screen monitor or software that enlarges the image on the screen.

What are your hobbies and interests?
I had a collection of about 150 orchids until an infestation of mealy bugs and other bugs reduced my collection to about 20 plants. I have mostly cymbidiums and dendrobiums. After I recovered from myocarditis (an infection between the heart and heart membrane) I started to explore shamanism and a broad spectrum of spiritualism. I have been seeing a Reiki healer. There is a shaman in Hawaii that has a school in a grass hut near the ocean in Hawaii that I would like to see. I would recommend the book The Urban Shaman by Serge Kahili King.

What training do you have in technology?
Other than the Office Systems Training at CTP, I am mostly self-taught. I was in some on the job training classes at work.

What work do you do now?
I am managing the mailroom for the IRS in San Francisco. I make sure that all mail coming in goes to the right people and that mail going out gets out in a timely manner. I will be using Excel and Word to prepare weekly reports. I am working for Pacific Coast Community Services, Inc. This is a small nonprofit outfit that has a contract to run the mail room. Pacific Coast Community Services is an agency that contracts work under the Javits Wagner O’Day Act. This act mandates that government agencies purchase selected products and services from nonprofit organizations employing people who are blind and severely disabled.

What do you like about your work?
I like keeping busy and I like having a variety of things to do.


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Alex Tabony
Instructor/Technical Coordinator
Computer Technologies Program

What made you interested in technology?
I have always been interested in technology. When I was young I enjoyed taking things apart to see how they worked. In junior high school we had one of the first school computer labs in the late 70’s and early 80’s. I hung out there before, during and after school learning how computers worked and studying computer programming.

What did you do before your technical career?
I have always had a technical career. After I learned how to use computers, I taught other people and fixed computers. This naturally evolved to a technical career.

What is your disability?
I am partially sighted.

What does your work place do to accommodate your disability?
My workplace has provided an accessible computer work station, written materials are given to me in larger font sizes or enlargements are made. Information that is inaccessible is read to me.

What training in technology do you have?
I have a Bachelors of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Cincinnati. Engineering is about how things work. The most interesting thing for me to figure out is a computer. I graduated from the Computer Programming Training at CTP; before that I took a few computer programming classes but was mostly self taught in programming.

What are your hobbies and interests?
Woodworking
Traveling in India
Music
Photography

What work do you do now?
I work at CTP teaching Java programming, and maintain the server, clients and network at CTP. As an independent contractor I do computer repair and back end web development and consulting.

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Rose White
Volunteer

What got you interested in technology?
I have always been interested in technology. I like games and challenges. A friend worked in technology in a large corporation until her retirement. Looking through her books, I found that I had an aptitude for technology.

What did you do before your technology career?
Several things. Most of my career has been in the social services field. I have been a mental health counselor and a pre and post HIV test counselor. I was a professional singer with the Walter Hawkins Love Center Choir, a gospel choir, and with various local jazz groups. I am a mother of four adult children, grandmother of five, and have one great grand child.

What is your disability?
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) which is a respiratory disease and I have arthritis.

What do you need to accommodate your disability?
I need a comfortable chair and I need to be able to move about on a regular basis. Every hour to hour and a half I need to move around. I need a convenient place to park and no stairs. Since my immune system is compromised I need a scent free environment.

What training in technology do you have?
I took the Office System Training at CTP. Before that I took typing classes and introductory computer classes at the Oakland Adult School. I also took one year of introductory classes at Merritt College which is a community college.

What are your interests and hobbies?
I am interested in people. I like to work in jobs that have people contact. My hobbies are music, cooking and gardening. Every year my partner and I go to the Monterey Music Festival. I like to bake desserts and cook organically as much as possible. I make homemade cobblers and pies. I grow vegetables and flowers. I have African violets and four or five varieties of irises. Now I am doing more gardening in pots.

What technology work do you do now?
I am currently seeking a technology job. In the meantime, I am volunteering with the Oakland Office on Aging helping to develop programs to focus on the needs of seniors in the community.

How are you using technology at home?
I use my home computer to pay bills, shop, communicate with friends and to play games such as chess. I also use my computer to listen to CD’s, catch up with weather, news and movie reviews.

What do you like about careers in technology?
I like the ease of being able to perform tasks on a computer. I like typing a letter, pushing a button to print it and that is that. I like instant results.

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Dave Yan
Developer/Consultant

What made you interested in technology?
As a student and as a community activist I used desktop publishing to produce newsletters. In general, I liked using computers.

What did you do before your technology career?
I worked part-time in clerical and secretarial jobs. For a while I was a student in the Social Welfare department at UC Berkeley. I also taught/tutored weekend English classes in the Oakland and San Francisco Chinatowns. The students were mainly immigrant women, many of them garment workers. We also did citizenship/naturalization classes for people who wanted to become citizens. Later, I also organized recruitment of students (as tutors) from the campuses and did the logistics to get the volunteers to the classes.
I’ve worked on a number of electoral campaigns from presidential elections to school district and county supervisor. I’ve also worked on campaigns for electoral issues involving immigration (Prop 187) and educational issues.

What is your disability?
My disability is a form of arthritis called ankylosing spondylitis. It affects the spine and extremities (arms, shoulders, knees) and causes limited range of motion.

What do you need to accommodate your disability?
In a work situation, I need a good chair to provide back support. I need assistance in setting up my work station so that I can reach things. Some work places require workers to be able to lift 50 pounds. I have worked around this by having the lifting responsibility shifted to a co-worker.

What training in technology do you have?
I took the programming training at CTP and also an Intro to Programming class at UC Berkeley Extension. When I worked at the San Francisco Unified School District I needed to learn the PeopleSoft Human Resources software so I went through the PeopleSoft training.

What are your hobbies and interests?
I like sports, especially baseball. I am a long-time San Francisco Giants fan. I also enjoy small stakes gambling like poker and mahjongg, as well as movies and theater.

What technology work do you do now?
I am presently self-employed doing website development and maintenance. Currently, I am working for CTP on the mentorship project website.

What do you like about your work?
There is always a sense (and pressure somewhat) to continue to learn new technologies and new techniques. Learning new technologies is very cool. Even in areas I do know, I’m always learning new ways, different ways to do things. Sometimes it's more efficient. Sometimes it may be less efficient than how I had been doing it, but in the process, I’ve learned about the technology even more thoroughly.

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Karen and Ali

Karen and Ali are one of several married couples who have graduated from CTP. Not only are Karen and Ali both Deaf, they have also spent their entire programming careers at Kaiser Permanente. When they get home at night however, Ali assures us they don't talk about computers. There are lots of other things to do and talk about, starting with their two children.

Prior to attending CTP, Karen had worked in the fashion design industry. When she decided that she needed a more challenging career with the possibility of advancement, her husband Ali, a CTP graduate, encouraged her to consider training as a programmer. As she walked into class that first day, Karen wondered if CTP was the right place for her. Looking around the room, she found that not only was she the only woman, but also only Deaf person. The class turned out to be very interactive, however, so Karen got to know the other students. She found that CTP created a supportive atmosphere for learning.

Since graduation, Karen has worked on Kaiser's Medicare Automated Claims System. She enjoys the challenge of always learning new technology. The design skills she learned at CTP, taking a project from specifications to a fully developed program, have been invaluable. Karen credits CTP with giving her the confidence to know that she will continue to succeed in her programming career.

Ali has worked in the Human Resources Department at Kaiser Permanente for the past 12 years, the last two working on PeopleSoft Personnel and Benefits software. Ali enjoys the challenges of taking on large projects, specifically managing conversions to new software versions. The toughest part of his job has been trying to find interpreters in the wee hours of the night when he gets called into work to solve a payroll problem. "The checks HAVE to be on time", Ali said.

Ali learned about CTP through a teacher at Ohlone College in Fremont. He had received a degree from Ohlone College in Programming, but he couldn't find a job. The teacher told him that CTP offered the best computer training in the area and had an excellent placement record. Ali came to CTP, excelled as a student, and landed his job at Kaiser after graduation.

"CTP helped me become successful in my career", Ali said, "the logic skills I learned at CTP were particularly useful. Software may change, platforms may change, but the logic required is basically the same." Ali was thrilled to see his wife succeed at CTP. "Working in fashion did not provide her much opportunity. Now she is so pleased with her career, and it's just great to see her so happy!"

Ellen Thielman

Ellen Thielman was the very first Deaf person to be accepted into the Programming Training back in 1976. She paved the way for the many Deaf graduates who would come after her. She remembers meeting with CTP's co-founder, Scott Luebking, who said that although Ellen would be the first Deaf person CTP had trained, he saw no reason why she couldn't be successful. As the only woman and only Deaf person in her class, she wasn't sure if she could tough it out, but Neil Jacobson, CTP's other co-founder, wouldn't let her leave.

Ellen did make it through the program, and got her first Programming job at a railway company based in San Francisco. She began her career well before the era of the Americans with Disablities Act when employers typically provided no support services, such as Sign Language Interpreters or TTY's, for employees with disabilities. She watched orientation films without captions or interpreters and when her co-workers attended a week of offsite training, Ellen was left behind in the office, handed only a manual from the training upon her colleagues' return.

Her boss warned her that her co-workers were moving ahead of her technically. "Of course they are," she confronted him, "you just sent them all off to training!"

Because of the lack of support services that she needed to stay competitive, Ellen decided to leave the field of programming, and moved to New York City to work as an American Sign Language teacher. Some years later, her husband was offered a position in Sacramento. Sitting through the cold and snow of a recent blizzard in NY, Ellen jumped at the chance to move back to sunny California.

Initially, she taught sign language at several local community colleges, but when she and her husband decided to separate, she knew she had to find a more lucrative career to be able to support a household of two children. She heard that the State of California was looking for Computer Programmers and providing accommodations to their employees with disabilities. So Ellen re-entered the Information Technologies field.

According to Ellen, her experience working as a Programmer with the state has been "so much better!" Plus, advances in technology have improved working conditions remarkably. She can now email her boss about an appointment or to notify him about a sick day. Before the existence of telephone relay services and email, Ellen remembers walking over to a neighbor's house early in the morning when she was sick to ask them to call her boss.

In her current job, Interpreters are regularly available for staff meetings, training, and even birthday parties! Ellen says she can now participate fully as a member of the team, keep up with advances in technology, and enjoy the social engagements that her department sponsors.

Ellen currently works as an Associate Programmer/Analyst at the State of California's Department of Rehabilitation, working on enhancements for the department's Field Computer System. Ellen said she most enjoys analyzing problems and programming solutions to those problems.

Ellen feels her job success is due not to her college education, but to the training she received at CTP, and the support and camaraderie of her classmates when she was a student. Reminiscing at a Deaf Graduates Reunion held recently at the school, Ellen stated, "My self confidence soared here at CTP". To current and future students of the Computer Technologies Program, Ellen had this advice, "It is so important to be persistent, don't give up - you'll get there!"