by: Christopher Marsh, Maryland Rehabilitation Center alumnus and D T I employee
Where: Maryland Rehabilitation Center, 2301 Argonne Drive (north of downtown Baltimore), Baltimore, MD 21218-1696, auditorium
When: February 24, 2000, about 10:20 to 10:31 AM (eleven minutes).
Accessibility Note: Contractions and abbreviations removed, and grammar and spell-checked for consideration of users with disabilities.
Thank you Mister (Mike) Breeden.
(Mister (Mike) Breeden: You are welcome.)
Good morning, graduates, family members, support staff, D T I Associates employees. I am sure you have all seen this Master Card commercial:
(Audience applause)
My name is Christopher Marsh, and I live in, or at least I sleep in, Greenbelt, Maryland. I work at D T I Associates in Arlington, Virginia. I have been employed as a database analyst, database specialist since August 1999. And I was a Maryland Rehabilitation Center student between January and June of 1999 in computer programming.
Now, I know that a lot of us have common ground, both in our lives before (the) Maryland Rehabilitation Center, and (in) our lives in (the) Maryland Rehabilitation Center, and now our lives after (the) Maryland Rehabilitation Center. I am not going to spend too much time talking about our common ground, but trust me, I have been there. I do not want to focus on my disabilities, or the pain that they caused, too much, but just a quick mention that I have been there.
I want to help you, tell you, how you may overcome these disabilities, perhaps as I have.
I was probably born disabled, with Asperger's syndrome, which is similar to high-functioning autism, and maybe also attention-deficit disorder with hyperactivity. This may be genetically based, because my dad had similar symptoms, or because I was born two-and-a-half months premature.
Other difficulties came later.
It was hard to learn how the other kids played together. I could not fit in with them very well. I was laughed at and I was left out.
Later, I had depression because I could not manage my friend relationships. In high school, I could not manage my girl relationships, and after college, I could not manage my employment search.
Now, I lived in Waldorf (Maryland, northern Charles County just south of the Prince George's County line on U.S. route 301) for ten years (November 30, 1977 to January 29, 1988). "Retard" is an ugly word, especially when intelligence tests prove it is not true. Even if intelligence tests prove that it is true, it is still an ugly word. Many things happened in Waldorf, both that broke the law, and (that) just broke common decency. I am not going to go into those.
(completed up-to-date personal job history)
But I will say that with respect to job searches, like most people with Asperger's syndrome, I was frequently underemployed. I was unloading a truck (January 1998), or cleaning out a dust bin (August 1997), with a Master's degree.
I often left these jobs. I was frequently not told what I was doing wrong, but I was fired instead. Or I was laid off with little explanation. Finally, I had a manager who was hostile towards me.
Job interviews are a minefield when you do not know how to walk through them without blowing up your opportunities. Also, many interviewers do not explain how the interview went, even if you request that they do.
I am lucky, and I am going to stress that. I have people on my side.
My mom, (who is in the) front row, first discovered poor eye contact, which later turned out to be Asperger's syndrome.
My dad, who cannot be here because he is deceased: Even when my dad and I did not get along in the last years of his life, he still stood by me.
And after he died, Mom continued to take care of me. Mom and Dad have both spent thousands of dollars taking care of me: food, electricity, heat, water, clothing, medical and dental care, and the use of their car.
I helped Mom by doing her driving, shopping, cooking, and cleaning. Mom now lives with me in Greenbelt, Maryland.
I have always had good teachers, and later, professors. They are often your best friends.
My special education teachers, in my first eight grades of general education, they helped me deal with harassment. Special education teachers often have extra training and almost always a lot of caring.
In high school, in Waldorf, Maryland, Thomas Stone High School, I had at least seven good teachers.
In college (Shepherd College, Shepherdstown, West Virginia, 1988 to 1992) and graduate school (Marshall University, Huntington, West Virginia, 1993 to 1996), professors always took an interest in me, especially professors in my chosen fields of sociology, psychology, and educational research. (Sociology) professors also immediately, in college, in the first semester (August to December, 1988), discovered Asperger's syndrome symptoms (ignoring social cues) eight years before I was diagnosed (March 1996).
In the rehabilitation center, the Community Living Skills Training program, the Maryland Rehabilitation Center technology training program with E.C. Townshend, and Community College of Baltimore County staff Shawn Lane and faculty Joe MacFarland and Bill Buckley were there for me too.
And let us not forget the people of D T I who are still behind me, encouraging me to continue. (D T I co-workers who attended the ceremony from our Disabilities Services Group: Eileen Keefe, Sara Bjerde, and director Gilbert Sanchez.)
And I was also, got aid from state and Federal governments. West Virginia provided food stamps, rehabilitation counseling, and Medicaid. Maryland provided aptitude testing, computer training, and unemployment compensation. The Federal government, finally, provided student loans, a pause on my student loans when I was unemployed, and also Earned Income Credits, which are tax credits even for low income adults over age twenty-five whether or not they have children.
Now, I never stopped looking for a job and that is what will help you. I kept searching for jobs and finally I tried a new field, computer programming.
There are companies that reward perseverance. D T I is one of those companies. When I was losing my job in the U.S. Census Bureau, in August of 1998, I read a Washington Post employment section ad. (I sent a resume.) And then I had an interview three months later (with Gilbert Sanchez), in Novemberr of 1998. Mister Gary Smith (D T I Technical Director and equal opportunity officer), who is (now) my boss, could not hire me in social research at that time because the job required people skills I did not have.
The important thing is that Mister Smith is honest. He told me why he could not hire me. He suggested that I go into computer study. He helped me commit to it (computer study) and also we built a relationship of trust long before I worked at D T I .
He suggested that I re-interview after graduation, and I did. Unlike the mock interview training I had here, I was trained to expect a hostile interview, but I had a very friendly one: a very friendly interview that ended with an offer of an internship, which I accepted. After eight weeks of internship, I was offered permanent salaried employment, which I have accepted and will hope to be in for a number of years to come.
Now you stand where I stood last June. You need advice before you move ahead.
We are lucky. We have all heard about school violence. Many kids, some of who are disabled, get harassed, get angry, get revenge, and get in trouble.
There was a moment in my life when I was twelve (years old) when I might have done the same thing.
But God made sure I went down the right road, and even though it is a rocky road, seven years ago it became the highway to Heaven, when I met Jesus Christ.
I thank God that we are here today preparing to be a part of society and not being locked up away from society. I commend you for choosing the good road and not the bad road.
Now, I want you to go out there, work hard, pay bills, pay taxes, have fun, make us proud. You can get my web site address after the ceremony (laughter starts and increases) for a speech transcript and other helpful ideas.
(Applause) Thank you and God bless you!
E-mail me: chris.marsh@excite.com
[speech ends]
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Arlington, Virginia 22206
Voice: (703) 299-1600
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E-mail: myfuture@dtihq.com
Website: http://www.dtiassociates.com
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Last updated: March 8, 2000