Program Unlocks Visual Boundaries

Army Capt. Ivan Castro has insight into a world that his fellow Special Forces Soldiers cannot envision.

He gained this view while serving with the 82nd Airborne Division in Iraq. While on patrol with his teammates, a mortar round landed just a few feet away from him and his team. Castro survived. His comrades did not.

When the clouds of battle cleared, Castro faced 17 months of recovery and rehabilitation to heal from multiple injuries including the loss of sight in both eyes. But the 20-year soldier found his strength to heal in his resolve to continue serving his country in uniform.

“This is what I know,” explained the Hoboken, N.J. native. “I’m a professional Soldier.”

One of only three blind, active-duty officers in the Army, Castro now uses various assistive devices to impart his operational knowledge, combat experience and language skills to other Special Forces soldiers.

Today, Castro has a different focus. He serves as the Assistant Operations Officer and Total Army Involvement Recruiting Coordinator with the Special Forces Recruiting Battalion at Fort Bragg, N.C. While his duties are far different than before, he feels that they are equally compelling.

“What I do frees up other Soldiers to serve in more traditional combat roles,” he said. “The Army is where I fit best.”

The former infantryman turned his energies into learning and understanding how to use a variety of assistive devices including a digital recorder, computer screen reader and i.d. mate, which scans barcodes and produces a voice output message. Besides relying on the technology for himself, he shares his experiences with others to help them understand how technology can help wounded, ill and injured experience new opportunities while improving their daily living.

“I think it’s important to take time to really focus on your adaptive technology,” he said. “I recommend getting one to two gadgets or devices and become proficient with those. There are a lot of devices out there, but it’s a matter of finding one with the most features, and one that works for you.”

Recent Innovations

In the past, Service members who became blind or visually impaired while on active duty were  medically discharged from the Service and relied on service dogs, canes and Braille as a primary means to ‘see’ the world around them. Today, many visually impaired troops have the opportunity to remain in service through a host of new innovative technologies including screen readers, scanners, closed-circuit television and portable note takers.

Innovative devices help blind and visually impaired Service members read documents, create spreadsheets and even browse the Internet. Screen reading software operates a speech synthesizer which vocalizes the contents of a computer screen to the user. The user can then navigate the electronic environment, hearing prompts, dialog boxes and other items on the computer screen which allows them to read word documents, spreadsheets, commercial web browsers and database packages.

Emerging technology also includes assistive devices for cell phones and related applications, such as the Oratio® software which provides text to speech technology for BlackBerry phones, allowing people with visual impairments to access most functions of the device. Other accessible functions include caller ID, contact lists, call log, scheduling, tasks and reminders, keyboard echo for text entry and partial access to the Web browser.

About CAP

To assist wounded Service members live the fullest lives possible, the OCIO’s Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program plays a pivotal role in the rehabilitation and integration back into the military or civilian work force. Since its establishment in 1990 and expansion to support other federal employees in 2000, CAP has provided accommodations to more than 87,000 federal employees and Service members. These accommodations provide individuals with the tools and services to gain employment and live productive lives regardless of their disability.

“When agencies take advantage of CAP, and when they take into consideration the accessibility laws to their electronic information technology, the people with disabilities, particularly people who are blind or have low-vision, can perform the job equally and be competitive with non-disability individuals,” said Mark Rew, team leader, CAP Blind and Low Vision Team.

“People with various disabilities can contribute just as much to an organization,” said Rew, who is blind himself.

Rew, who has been with CAP for seven years, explained how CAP provides a variety of tools and services for blind or low-vision disabled Service members and federal employees to help them live meaningful lives.

“We are helping provide the opportunity for people with disabilities to have employment in the federal government,” said Rew. “In extension to that, I would even argue that we are providing the opportunity for wounded Service members to have a full and productive life and participate in society.”

Castro certainly agrees.

He says that with the help of CAP, he dons his uniform with the same pride he has last over the last 20 years, and for him, what really matters is being able to serve.

Amee Roberson, Mark Oswell and Kristine Garfield, OCIO Communications, contributed to this article.