Gregg C. Vanderheiden,
PhD
Born: October 27, 1949 -
Michigan
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Entry into the AT field:
1971
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How I got into the
field
I was tricked into this field.
At the time, I was a senior in electrical engineering at the University of
Wisconsin-Madison. I was working in a research lab as a technician when another
student came in looking for one of the researchers to see whether that person's
eye-gaze research might be used to give a young boy with severe CP a means to
write and talk. I started making suggestions, and after listening and claiming
he could not understand, he convinced me to leave work and just "show him what
I meant" at the local school. Well, I went, I failed, I got hooked. (Actually,
one idea worked but was even slower than the technique he had). I never met
someone with a disability before (times were different then). I met a lad who,
through home schooling, had learned to (sometimes irreverently) communicate
using a piece of wood on which the letters of the alphabet had been burned with
a wood burner. It was slow, tedious and required the undivided attention of a
second person, which was not available in the classroom or, for that matter, at
home for extended periods of time. Intrigued with the problem, I quit my job at
the lab and joined with David Lamers (the person who had tricked me into going
out to the school). We formed an interdisciplinary group of students to try to
discover an effective method for this individual to speak and write. As we
succeeded and word spread of our work, we began getting inquiries from
throughout the state and from outside the state from individuals, parents and
clinicians working with individuals who were similarly unable to communicate
effectively. David Lamers had a wife and two children, with a third on the way,
so that April when we both graduated with our bachelors degrees, he went off to
work at G.D. Searle. I never did escape. And that undergraduate student group
eventually grew into the Trace R&D Center.
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Important event(s) that influenced
my early decision to get into the assistive technology field
The major influence was the people with
disabilities that I met. The incident above was where it started. But the
continual flow of interesting new people who happened to have disabilities is
what kept me.
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Why I chose the AT
field
I did not really choose the
field; it sort of chose me. My motivation at first was just to help one
individual, and then another, and then to gather the information that I needed
(through reading, research, and education) to address the problems of these
individuals better. The numbers of individuals and the range of problems just
grew from there. I never intended to do anything as a long-range plan, just
solve the problems in front of me and learn how to do a better job of that. I
had no intention of forming a group or building a center. I just found that the
problems required more expertise and effort than I had, and as other people
joined...
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My inspiration and
mentor
There were many. I actually
made a list and it was half of this page. When I started this work, there was
no one at my university that was doing any work like this nor did I know of
anyone anywhere else. However, that changed as I started digging in - and the
list is long. A few key people who were mentors or who opened doors that
enabled me to succeed were Professors Richard Marleau, C. Daniel Geisler,
Dudley Childress, Vincent Rideout, David Yoder, and Lyle Lloyd.
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Why the field is important to me
and the central focus of my work
It
is important to me as a tool; as an instrument. Mostly, it is important to the
people that we serve and work with. The field is a means for those of us
working in it to learn from each other, to practice what we have learned and a
way to help others, and to share what we have learned with others - who can
help still others. Kind of like air, water, and money, the field is important
because it allows us to do what we do.
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My memorable successes and
greatest contributions to the field
Lots of memories. As to 'greatest'… Some
were the term "augmentative' to re-enforce that we supplement what people have,
the KEI, GIDEI standards, the Access features now in Windows, the Mac, and
Unix; EZ Access now in Post Offices, airports, and memorials; and the standards
work. All were done by my team - not me but I think they are what will
contribute most over time outside of students - which we can make no claim to
but which are our best contributions to the future.
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My most memorable
failures
That is a good question. We
tend to quickly forget those, eh? I failed to get a big NIH contract once and
failed on my first attempt to get an RERC. Many failures turned out to be just
setbacks since, if it was important enough to do, it was important enough to
keep coming at it. Probably the most memorable failure though was when my first
ideas about how to create a communication aid for Lydell (the boy who got me
involved in all this in the beginning) failed to survive contact with the
client. That failure, and a determination to figure out a solution, is what got
me hooked in the field. Other than that, no failure stands out from the rest.
It seems like I am always failing and trying again. The story of my
life.
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Significant changes and advances
in the field since I first entered it
Well it has matured so much it is hardly
comparable. More funding now, but less than there was for some groups in the
past. In the beginning, there was also more of a sense of adventure and
pioneering. The different disciplines all gathered at RESNA as the only place
where they could really focus on technology and disability. As each discipline
developed its own specializations in these areas, they came less to RESNA for
this. Also, as the fields have grown you lose some of the flavor of the smaller
efforts. I think I also see a little less exploration going on. People seem to
play it safer and work for "deliverables" and milestones. There does not seem
to be as much open exploration. This may change however if more resources can
make funding less tight and involve more, newer and younger people.
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My role within RESNA and what it
gave back to me
I have had many roles
over the years. When RESNA was first founded, I was its publication chair and
helped shepherd in its first journal. I served on a bunch of committees and
eventually as president, past president and now jolly good fellow. RESNA really
helped to provide a connection to and knowledge about a wide range of ways that
engineers and technologists and people with technology interests can make a
positive impact on the lives of people with disabilities. It also gave a place
to share information and to help others. Mostly I have been a
student.
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On the future of RESNA
Providing a way for the members of RESNA to
serve. Most people think of RESNA as being a place that should do something for
them. What really made RESNA work was when people saw it as a way for them to
contribute to the field. If RESNA can be the mechanism to allow people to
contribute to the field in a broader way than they can in their daily jobs,
then it will be a thriving organization. It has to be a place that people come
to give and to share.
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My suggestions for those just
entering the field
It is a great
field. It is not as monetarily rewarding as many others, but you will find as
you get older that you will never regret what you did with your life when you
spend it in service to others in a way you enjoy. Just pick something
(anything) you love that helps people and do the best job you can. You will
never be sorry.
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