Working with our founder Bill Cameron in research and development, Stan’s history with our organization dates back even before the formal founding of our Society in 1984. While he moved on early in our history, he’s remained a steady presence around Neil Squire, attending our annual general meeting year after year.

Recently, however, he accessed our programs for the first time, taking part in our Distance Computer Comfort program.

When Stan was 22, he was in a house fire that caused severe burns on both hands, leaving him with limited use of his fingers. Previously apprenticing as an electrician, he couldn’t continue in that field. After a long recovery, he switched tracks to study mechanical engineering, overcoming discriminatory attitudes towards his injury.

“These kinds of encounters that I had strengthened my resolve to do what I want to do,” he says.

In the early 1980’s, he began working with Bill Cameron and the early incarnation of the Neil Squire research and development team, working as a designer on robotic solutions to help people with disabilities do tasks independently. On the R&D team, he worked with Gary Birch, our current Executive Director, and Harry Lew, who is our current Director of Research and Development.

“Bill Cameron’s opened a lot of doors for different people all around. He was quite a person, I admired the guy. He was very persevering. And he didn’t take no for an answer,” he shares.

He went on to have a long career as a product designer for a number of different companies, designing a wide variety of machines including one that would automatically spray paint lumber, and a machine that would produce rice cakes. He retired 10 years ago.

At the suggestion of his daughter, Stan decided to write an autobiography. Unable to type because of his burns, he needed help writing, but the process was arduous.

“I used to dictate into a tape recorder and have my wife type it out, and that took forever,” he says.

While he didn’t see himself as having a disability, he realized he was having a really difficult time writing his autobiography and wanted to find a better solution. He decided to join our Distance Computer Comfort program.

“I never thought of the day that I’d be a client of Neil Squire,” he explains.

He began working with his tutor, Jody, on Dragon software, which allows him to use dictation to write text instead of needing to type. Through Digital Jumpstart, he also received a laptop, in addition to the software.

“It went really well, [Jody’s] really good at it,” he says. “I think [Dragon’s] a very powerful and effective program. I think it’s great for my needs.

“I’m glad that I did sign up as a client.”

With his newfound skills using Dragon, Stan looks forward to continuing to work on his autobiography.