Feature Writer Introduction: Steven Famiglietti
My name is Steven Famiglietti and I am 37 years old. I was born 3 and a half months pre maturely and weighed only 1 pound 15 ounces at my birth. My head literally fit in the palm of my mother’s hand. As a result of my early arrival, I was placed in an incubator to assist me with breathing. This caused my retinas to detach, which caused me to lose vision completely in my right eye. My parents did some research and found a doctor who was able to save some of the vision in my left eye. I am able to see everything to the best of my ability and I am able to write and read large print. I do not have enough vision to use eye glasses or contact lenses but, I do use hand held magnifiers and a variety of other devices to assist me with daily living and work tasks.
I graduated from Western Connecticut State University with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communications. While at Western, I studied meteorology with Dr. Mel Goldstein and wrote and broadcast my daily weather forecasts on the campus radio station. I also won a National Collegiate Weather Forecasting contest, in which I had to predict the daily precipitation and temperatures for a specific location for a period of two weeks.
Currently, I am the Blind Services Vocational Manager at The Connecticut Institute for the blind / Oak Hill in Hartford, CT. Part of my responsibilities include training people to effectively use adaptive software programs to enable them to become employed. These programs include JAWS for Windows, Window-Eyes, Zoom text, Magic, Openbook and Guide. Another facet of the Blind Services Vocational Program is a week long summer program called “LEEP”. “LEEP” stands for Low Vision/Blind Educational Employment Program. During “LEEP”, young adults learn a variety of skills designed to help them transition from high school to college, or high school to employment.
When I am not working, I enjoy spending time with family, friends and my Fidelco Guide dog, Whitlee. I have a large clock collection that contains 18 cuckoo clocks, two grandfather clocks and one mantle clock. Since I have always been a weather freak, I love tracking thunderstorms, hurricanes and tornadoes. When I was a child, I could tell anyone who would listen the names of every major hurricane that hit the United States from 1900 to 1980! When I need a complete change to the wild side of life, I travel to the mid west and participate in tornado chase tours.
I will be sharing my life’s experiences with you and will also share some technology tips and resources to help you with situations you may encounter. I am excited to write for this magazine and hope everyone finds these articles to be interesting and informative.