Dr. Stephen Timmer
Founder, Premier Assistive Technology
www.readingmadeeasy.ca

Where were you born?
Grand Rapids, Michigan.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I was in the Marine Corps, I wanted to retire as an officer. Unfortunately, when you’re blind, they really don’t want you in the Marine Corps. So I got out. I was a nuclear engineer. I got bored with nuclear engineering; I was working in a power plant. They’re not as romantic as you would think they would be, so I got involved with computers. As I started to lose my vision, I started to build technology for myself.

What is your eye condition?
I’ve got what they call juvenile onset macular degeneration.

Who was inspirational in your life?
Thomas Edison. I read everything on Thomas Edison, just because he didn’t listen to anybody. He just had to do it himself. So Thomas Edison was my big hero.

So how did Premier Assistive Technology come about?
Here’s where it all came together. I went back and got my Masters in Business Administration at Central Michigan University and one of the things a lot of people asked me was, at what point are you disabled? This is kind of the breaking point for me. People take away your driver’s licence and a lot of people think that’s a disability. Well, that’s really not. That’s an inconvenience. When I felt disabled, when it hit me, is when I lost my ability to read by myself, for myself, when I wanted. Now I was at everybody’s mercy. And I didn’t realize how difficult this world was until I lost that thing. Because I was an avid reader, I love to read, and that was something very personal that was stolen from me. So I started to design technology for myself and my son (who has Asperger’s Syndrome, a neurological disorder) started using it and I started designing it for schools and that was the formation of Premier.

What happened then?
A lot of people struggle for the same reasons I do and I wanted to see what would happen if I created technology that allowed people to regain their independence and what kind of impact that would have. But I also realized many of people that I’ve been working with, people with disabilities, are generally the lowest of the income bracket. A lot of technology was astronomically expensive. And I’m saying, “That’s technology, I can build it cheaper.”  And that’s what I did. And my goal is to provide technology that’s affordable. Being blind is very expensive. One of the phrases I use a lot is “I want to make being disabled affordable.”

How did you do that?
I got into an argument—this is the honest truth—with a senior representative from Kurzweil (manufacturer of reading technology). And I was explaining that this technology needs to be cheaper, you’ll sell more, blah, blah, blah. He came back to me with an argument that research and development is so expensive. We went back and forth. He didn’t know who I was, and he didn’t know my background, as an engineer and as a lead architect for a major company. His last words to me were, “Fine, if you think it’s so easy, do it yourself.” So I did. Until that point, until I actually sat down and said, okay, if he’s right, I’ll know very quickly and if he’s wrong, I’ll know quickly. And that’s where it is because software doesn’t have to be expensive. I’m not the only one selling software for $40, $50 a copy. There’s many, many other software companies out there. And we’re talking millions of people that need to use computers on a daily basis that struggle with general accommodation.  The employer doesn’t care what you can’t do, they’re only interested in what you can do, can you do the work. And that’s what we want to do, get enough technology out there, so it’s commonplace, so people aren’t being left behind. That’s what we’re trying to do; we’re trying to build these tools. They don’t do it for you. Yet they allow you to be as competitive as possible so you can reach what your employer expects you to reach. Just like everybody else.

How does the product work?
We have 26 products. One of the technologies we created is the Premier To Go technology. It puts all the technology on a flash device. So if I have a disability, I have it in my pocket. I can walk up to any computer, stick in my memory stick that has my programs on it. They don’t have to be installed. I put my accommodations in my pocket, so wherever I go, it’s always there. I’m not impaired. That has made a world of difference to a lot of individuals. First of all, I don’t have to disclose my disability to my employer. That’s none of their business. A lot of people with literacy challenges, they don’t want people to know about it. It’s not written across their forehead. The employer didn’t ask how you can read; the employer asked if you can read. And so now these individuals don’t have to be stigmatized. So I’m trying to find ways for these individuals that are struggling with literacy to seamlessly integrate into society without having to disclose their disability. It’s none of anybody’s business.

What’s Premier done recently?
Every work station in every community college in Nova Scotia (now) has accommodations. We let every student know about it. So now we don’t have to isolate you, you don’t have to go to that special room. Most people are amazed that a blind person can do something. I don’t want them to be amazed. I want it to be commonplace. So integration is the key.

How have you made a difference?
It’s not big battles; it’s little battles. A lot of times you don’t hear about the successes. But one in particular was incredibly meaningful to me. One gentleman, he was an auto mechanic, he lost his job, very distraught, very discouraged, very disappointed in life, he didn’t money, so I gave him technology. I didn’t hear anything from him, nothing. It’s not uncommon. I get an email 4 ½ years later he went back to college and became a Special Ed teacher. I was invited to his graduation. I don’t care if I make another difference. I made a difference to one person.  And so you’ve got to look at it that way. It’s not whether you make any difference; it’s ‘I got to keep trying to see if I can.’

Do you still have dreams or goals you want to fulfill?
My goal is to get schools to switch their mentality and go from a testing society back to teaching and accept the fact that not everybody learns the same way. I’m going to continue to push for universal design, universal acceptance of diversity.