Rockville resident Myrna Aiello grew up deaf in an age where she was totally reliant on the people around her.
To make a phone call, she would write a message on a piece of paper and ask a family member to relay it. She was lucky if someone around happened to know sign language and could translate what she wanted to say.
“It was very frustrating because I couldn’t get my message across the way I wanted to,” Aiello said.
Such an environment was never conducive to success, she said. In school, the teachers didn’t know sign language and had difficulty communicating with her, and often counted her out early on.
“They said, ‘There’s no way you could pass this class,’” she said.
But today, Aiello holds multimedia video conferences, can instantly reach a translator at anytime anywhere in the world and essentially lives and works unassisted.
“Technology has made my life much easier,” she said.
And with the help of technology, she has made her living out of providing technology, and an easier life, to others with disabilities.
Aiello is the CEO and president of Wheaton-based TCS Associates, a family company that provides assistance technology to organizations that support people with disabilities. Her daughters work with her: 24-year-old Jessica Moseley as the director of business operations and 22-year-old Carissa Aiello as the account manager.
Although Carissa and Jessica are not deaf, they have used sign language their whole lives. (Aiello’s husband is also deaf.) They constantly sign to their mother, who can read lips and wears a magnetic, surgically-implanted hearing device to distinguish between sounds.
Much like their mother, Jessica and Carissa say one of their goals at TCS is leveling the playing field for people with disabilities. They think of that one deaf person who is left out of a last-minute meeting because there is no interpreter around. If the company had access to international video interpreter call centers, that wouldn’t happen, Moseley said.
As the two have grown up, they say technology has also changed the ways they communicate with their parents. Flashing the lights on and off, stomping on the ground and screaming has been replaced with Web cameras, video calls and text messages.
More than anything else, “technology is the best tool for people with disabilities,” Carissa said.
But the kind of technology the family sells — among them speech-to-text software, portable translation devices, double-handed and mouth stick keyboards, and video telephone service — aren’t just being used by people with disabilities.
Surgeons now use the speech-to-text software to transcribe their notations during a surgery, and doctors are using similar software to digitize their records, Moseley said.
She and Myrna Aiello said the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which send home thousands of newly disabled soldiers, has forced many workplaces to start thinking about assistance technology.
“You’re looking at thousands of people who have to go back into the workplace with disabilities, and the world doesn’t know how to handle that,” Moseley said.
But one hurdle is the cost of specialized technology and software, said John Nousaine, the chairman of the assistive technology subcommittee for the Washington, D.C.-based National Council on Independent Living, a nonprofit that advocates for independent living rights for people with disabilities.
Nousaine said there’s no doubt technology has changed the way people with disabilities live. Technology offers “the ability to compete with their able-bodied peers” in the workplace. But he said 80 percent of people with disabilities live below the federal poverty line, so it’s up to the companies they work for to provide the at-work assistance they need.
Still, what has become an expensive niche field is on the horizon of breaking more ground and becoming more mainstream and affordable. Myrna Aiello said she’s heard of a Blackberry being developed in Italy that would allow callers, disabled or not, to have video conversations.
A device such as that would revolutionize her life even more, she said.
And technology will continue to grow from there, giving people like her mother and father a chance “to be able to be equal to a hearing peer and allow them to be just as successful,” Moseley said.
Spiral Shell Web Founder CM Boryslawskyj:
Wednesday’s Woman
Posted by Gayle Kesten
Wednesday, May 27, 2009, 11:08 AM ET
Give to get — that was a key takeaway from a panel I attended last week about how small businesses should incorporate social media into their marketing. It’s also a mantra some people follow in their daily lives, with the emphasis on give.
People like Cassandra “CM” Boryslawskyj, who won an HP Compaq dc7800 Ultra Slim Desktop PC in a contest sister site bMighty ran earlier this year. Boryslawskyj is the sole force behind Spiral Shell Web, an East Hampton, Conn.-based Web site development company she founded eight years ago to assist small businesses and nonprofit organizations with incorporating their marketing goals online.
“I always dreamed of owning a business and having a flexible time schedule,” Boryslawskyj told me in an email interview. (Scheduling conflicts prevented us from talking by phone, made possible by an interpreter who would have been on the line.) “Simply put, I followed my grandparents and my parents, who owned their own businesses — Italian restaurant, seamstress, barber shop, bookstore, antiques and clothes.”
But that’s only part of the picture. For more than two decades Boryslawskyj has been teaching American Sign Language to student interpreters and people who have lost their hearing; she also helped establish the Communication Advocacy Network, which provides advocacy, outreach, legal, education, and technology services for people who are deaf or hard of hearing. Boryslawskyj is a big fan of technology, which not only bridges her to the hearing world, but helps her to build relationships with clients and keep on top of the latest innovations that can help grow her Web design business.
Of note, we’re now one full year past our first Wednesday’s Woman profile. Female entrepreneurs and their unique “how I got here” stories continue to inspire me. Add in a physical challenge, like Boryslawskyj’s — or Ketra Oberlander’s, who I profiled in this space last month — and, well, wow. Read on for a peek at what Boryslawskyj faces while running a small business.
SBR: How did you finance Spiral Shell’s launch?
CMB: Thanks to the Bureau of Vocational Rehabilitation support, I had the capital to afford the launch of Spiral Shell Web (SSW) after providing the business plan. However, what I spent on tools, books and other necessities to sell my services came mostly out of pocket.
SBR: What unique business challenges do you face because you are deaf?
CMB: Communication is a big challenge, particularly when discussing with hearing customers the specifications of a complicated Web design project. Another challenge is that it is difficult to bid on contracts in my state because bidding meetings are often held on short notice. That makes it tough for me to afford interpreters and/or arrange the time to bring one for communication access.
SBR: Are you a PC or Apple shop?
CMB: I am a PC shop, though I like to play with the Mac if time permits. I use Sony Vaio and Dell XPS computers.
SBR: How has the Internet enabled your business?
CMB: The Internet lets me stay in touch with what’s going on with new software, hardware, and other technologies, all of which help speed up my Web design projects. Web 2.0 is one of the best examples because I am able to connect directly with clients to develop, incorporate, and implement new features. Social networks also help my customers reach me quickly and at their convenience for any purpose.
SBR: Do you blog?
CMB: Yes. As a member of the technology committee for the National Association of the Deaf, I share insights about technology for the deaf about such equipment as videophones. Blogging also helps me keep in touch with the vendors. It is important to provide pros and cons of Internet technologies so other people do not have to go through similar issues that I have spent hours to resolve. [Boryslawskyj's SSW Blog is here.]
SBR: I noticed on your Twitter page that you incorporate a video of yourself signing. How did you do that — and what are you saying?
CMB: You can create your own video for Twitter using BubbleTweet. In my video I am saying: Hello, CM here. Great you follow me. My work is Web design named Spiral Shell Web, SSW for short. I use ASL (sign language). Follow me. So long.
SBR: How has the recession impacted your business?
CMB: I lost several clients who decided not to continue their Web presence because they didn’t see any ROI from the Internet. Updated Web sites are not their priority at this time. They have cut down on their expenses for improvements or additional features.
SBR: How do you prospect for new clients?
CMB: By advertising my business on the program books at events, by attending workshops and other activities to offer business cards, by sending letters to new customers with discounts, and by sponsoring and adding my business Web address at other business sites. I also plan to offer workshops and presentations about my business this year.
SBR: What are the best and worst parts about running your own business?
CMB: The best part is to be able to spend family time with my son and husband, who works the night shift. The worst is customers’ lack of familiarity with Internet technologies. They are not aware of what is in involved in a Web design job, and as a result refuse to believe the prices are reasonable.
SBR: What advice can you offer to other entrepreneurs with disabilities?
CMB: Go for your dream and work harder. Patience, persistence, and positive are the 3 Ps. Remember to take a step at one time.
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Gary Viall more than met all of those criteria. Born in California, Gary was raised in Wisconsin and attended Oshkosh School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. He graduated from Oshkosh High School in 1963 and Gallaudet University in 1967 with a B.S. in accounting. He later earned his MBA in management from Gallaudet University in 1984. He was with U.S. Small Business Administration for over 40 years, ending as a senior accountant. He also served as a resource person for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing community by giving SBA pre-business workshops around the country, writing articles on small business in The NAD Broadcaster for 11 years and making referrals for potential deaf business owners to SBA’s district offices around the country.
Gary has been active in the local, state and national civic activities and is one of the founders of Northern Virginia Resource Center for Deaf and Hard of Hearing Persons in Fairfax, VA. He is a past President of the Virginia Association of the Deaf and a longstanding member of the National Association of the Deaf, serving on several of its committees. In addition, for many years Gary has contributed his time and knowledge toward supporting the Department of Business at Gallaudet University.
It is with heartfelt thanks that the members of the DOB at Gallaudet University thank Gary for his time and efforts in helping to develop a culture of deaf and hard of hearing entrepreneurship as encapsulated in his efforts at the SBA. The DOB¡¯s respect for him is reflected in this award as the Deaf Businessperson of the Year.
In addition to Gary’s award, the DOB ran its annual Sutcliffe Business Bowl, named for Dr. Ronald Sutcliffe, retired Dean of the School of Management at Gallaudet University. The Bowl was as always hotly contested by an initial field of 20 contestants selected out of a pool of 35 applicants. The first place winner was Jonathan Chanin, a senior Computer Information Systems major, and second and third place winners were Robert Siebert, a freshman business major and Timothy Putt, a senior history major, respectively. The audience had a wonderful time anticipating the answers to the progressively tougher questions asked during the event. Questions covered a variety of business topics including finance, accounting, economics, marketing, management, and computers, and challenged even the most knowledgeable observers.
]]>The comments Dr. Issac Agboola, Chair, Department of Business, made at the Business After Hours (BAH) ceremony at Gallaudet University were:
Through Louis J Schwarz’s dynamic leadership, creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, Schwarz Financial Services LLC has been one of the top financial services providers for the Deaf in this country for many years. For over 30 years, he has served as an excellent role model for many who want to go into business as well as being active in many organizations promoting entrepreneurship.”
The previous awardees were Jimmy Libman (NJ), Jim Macfadden (MD), Marilyn Smith (WA), David Birnbaum (MD), and John Yeh (MD).
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