New Vision

For David Paul, each day is filled with learning and discovery. Paul is a computer science engineering student at Arizona State University. He can see a world of opportunity before him, despite the fact he is completely blind.

Paul is one of two visually impaired students working toward a degree in computer science engineering through Professor Sethuraman Panchanathan’s iCare project. The program includes a team of researchers who are using a blend of high technology, low-tech concepts, and support to make the degree path more accessible.

To date, no visually impaired student has completed a computer engineering degree at ASU. That is due in part to the intense reading, mathematics, and hands-on skills needed to complete the degree.

“If you think about it, there is a lot that goes on visually in the program,” says Terri Hedgpeth, a student support specialist with the ASU Disability Resources for Students (DRS) Office. “Computer science is primarily symbolic and visual, so there are a lot of obstacles for a blind student to navigate.”

Paul, however, is accustomed to obstacles. The biggest came on Thanksgiving Day in 1998. While returning to Phoenix from Las Vegas, his car veered across the center lane and collided with an 18-wheeler. Although he has no memory of the accident, he believes he just fell asleep.

Paul suffered severe injury to the visual cortex area of his brain. He also sustained critical injuries to both legs that resulted in amputation. He was in a coma for months.

After a year of hospital stays and visits, Paul began the process of restarting his life. He learned to read Braille with his mother. He also attended a local training program that taught him to use a computer program that converts text into audio. The program uses key commands in place of a mouse.

Paul enrolled in the ASU College of Business for the fall 2000 semester. But he wasn’t sure what he wanted to study. Then he began working with Hedgpeth at DRS. She saw Paul’s incredible will and determination to succeed, so she recommended him as the first student for the iCare program.

“I would have been crazy to pass it up,” Paul says. “When the accident first happened, I wasn’t sure what I would be able to do. Now, every single day is fantastic.”

Panchanathan’s team of researchers and students developed a fully accessible, wireless laptop computer for Paul. Using the laptop, he can access all of his course materials and notes on a dedicated server.

The laptop also has software to convert all of the text information to audio, so Paul can listen to it through headphones in class. The team is working toward adding a refreshable Braille display. Also in the works is a “reader.” When pointed at any block of text, the reader will either output audibly or through a Braille keypad.

Panchanathan also partners with Hedgpeth and DRS, along with Paul’s instructors to make the program work. The group meets regularly. They discuss obstacles to providing notes or presenting visual aids in a form that Paul can use. Paul’s parents help guide him to and from class. They also attend the meetings and provide their own perspective.

Most charts and graphs needed for Paul’s classes are printed by DRS on a special paper. When heated, the paper produces raised bumps in areas of text or shading. In other cases, some instructors have produced home-made diagrams using lima beans to denote shading.

Paul considers himself to be part guinea pig, part pioneer. As he works through each day’s challenges, Paul helps Panchanathan and the ASU researchers to better understand what works best and to devise future improvements.

As his own learning progresses and his technical skills develop, Paul himself will help to create new devices. He could not ask for more. —Gary Campbell