Transcript
>> Good afternoon, everybody.
My name is Felice
[ Applause ]
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
I'm glad to see you all here and
I'm very pleased to welcome you
to today's lunchtime session,
Convenience for You is
Independence for Me.
So, hope some of you were able,
or many of you were able to
attend yesterday's session with
the amazing Dr. Christine Darden
[ Applause ]
.
I'm glad you enjoyed that.
So, I have to prepare you hold
onto your seats.
Today's speaker is incredible.
Todd Stabelfeldt was injured at
an early age in an accident that
left him paralyzed.
Some might have considered that
an insurmountable obstacle.
Not so with Todd.
He is simply a force into
himself.
So, I found personally from
working with him, that to know
him is to love him.
And I'm the only thing standing
in the way of you getting to
know Todd.
So please, it is my privilege to
introduce to you Todd
Stabelfeldt.
[ Applause ]
>> Thanks, Felice.
Todd Stabelfeldt.
AKA the Quad Father.
When you go on Facebook and you
click on the Quad Father
hashtag, you're just going to
see my big harry face.
And a bunch of dudes with
enormous muscles.
And I'm going to assume those
are quads.
I have no idea how muscles even
work, OK?
So, yeah I'm Todd.
Back in the day, back in
kindergarten days it was
Stabelface, but we promoted to
Stabelfeldt.
So, that's how we call it.
What am I doing, right?
This is a moment, this is a
bucketlist moment for a dude.
Especially a nerd.
You know, I've years dreams
wouldn't that be radical to go
to WWDC.
Now, I'm actually here.
So, I will, oh, thank, you.
Yeah.
[ Applause ]
So, if anything I don't really
care if I suck or not, this is
my moment
[ Laughter ]
.
So, I'm sorry folks.
OK. All right.
Let's do this.
I want you to see me.
I really, really want you to see
me.
Once you get passed the big
facial hair, this incredibly
lush mustache, and past the
disability, I want you to see a
dude. A dude name Todd from Port
Orchard.
Who's a nerd.
Wants independence.
And has found a platform to get
him that.
And not just me, but the
millions and millions of others
who sort of fit in that
demographic.
So, yeah, I've got a PhD in pain
and suffering.
Deal with it, handle it.
So, I'm going to walk you
through a couple of videos.
No pun intended on that walk
part.
You can laugh, go ahead.
How dare you laugh, that's
horribly offensive [laughter].
All right.
Two quads walk in a bar.
Oh, no. That's a joke too.
Quad, quadriplegic.
All right whatever you get it.
We'll stop there.
The jokes begin to fall apart
after that.
I'm going to go ahead and show a
couple of videos today, and
we're going to talk a little
bit, and then we're going to do
actually a live demo.
And that's what we're going to
do.
So, as I sort of kick up this
next video, I'm just sort of,
let's sort of see some of the
older stuff and get a sense of
where we're at today, OK?
So, we're going to take a few
minutes and watch this first
vid.
>> Hi. I'm Todd Stabelfeldt.
I was paralyzed in 1987 due to a
gunshot wound.
My cousin and I were playing
with some guns, and
unfortunately, that resulted in
what's called C4 quadriplegia.
I'm able to move from my
shoulders up, and from the
shoulders down is essentially
gone.
Once you're paralyzed, you're
almost sort of reborn.
And you start all over again.
Because now you can't do
anything for yourself.
I learned quickly as a young
kid, what my life was going to
be all about, putting solutions
together.
Back then, it was really, really
crude approaches to just try to
have any shred of independence.
And one of the real systemic
problems was communication,
especially at that sort of
mobile level.
You know, with a spinal cord
injury, essentially we are
reduced to our voice.
Voice recognition has come a
long way.
It's been amazing.
It's been awesome.
The one piece that was always
missing, you had to press a
button to start.
You had to press a button to
engage.
So, something that was so
amazing, and always so close and
oh, you could taste it.
To me was never going to be a
reality, because I can't put the
button.
And then, something fascinating
occurred.
iOS 7 was released.
And in that operating system,
came this concept and reality
that says, hey you know what,
you don't have to put this
button.
How about you push your button.
Whatever the configuration that
your story is, we are adapting
our operating system around you.
For me, communication is a big
deal.
Being intendent is a big deal.
And when I worked with Siri for
the first time, to interact with
her and understand how she
works, and to create a calendar
appointment with a colleague and
then check my computer to make
sure it was real.
I was blown away.
I mean, Apple is now touching
people at this human experience
level.
To be a part of texting my wife
without somebody else doing it.
Words, in this current language
do not even identify that
feeling.
[ Applause ]
>> That was a very difficult
film to create.
And a wonderful film to create.
And my buddy Mark McNight and I
did that.
It was a couple years back now.
But let me tell you real quick,
how I sort of got to that video.
Because that's where it sort of
explains sort of the situation.
So, I was born, now it seems
weird to say, a long time ago.
Back in the seventies, can you
believe it?
And mom, dad, sister normal
routine.
Grew up in a very Navy, very
southern, and very German
household; the trifecta.
Failure wasn't an option.
Everybody was valuable.
Everybody was responsible for
putting groceries on the table.
And you always told the truth.
That's the way I was brought.
That's the way I was raised.
Four years into my story,
unfortunately my dad died in a
horrific motorcycle accident.
Four years later, now in it's in
the eighties, mom decides to
remodel her bedroom.
She puts all these old antique
guns and bullets into a spare
room.
It was the eighties.
Come on man.
We had Bruce Willis Nakatomi
Building.
We've got little baby Sylvester
doing his thing.
And we had Commando, right.
WW 3 wasn't anywhere around the
corner.
Chewed my graham crackers into a
gun.
This is what we did back then.
So, sadly without knowing
anything really about guns and
how they worked, I got shot.
And that was at 8 years old.
Fast forward a bit more, when I
was a teenager, my mom got
remarried.
And in that process I got a dad.
Dan Alberts.
I got a dad.
And also in that acquisition of
marriage I got two brothers and
a sister.
That was cool.
I'm good with that, they call me
the baby, the broken baby.
That's what I was with the
siblings.
And about that time, it was like
well, what are you going to do?
My mom made it very clear, you
have until the age of 20.
You have to be out of the house.
She was going to give me two
years of the grace.
She called it tough love.
I either needed to be in
college, or I needed to have a
job, but that she didn't shoot
me.
I got shot.
Some might say today that might
be a little weird and tough.
But it was tough love.
And it was yes ma'am, no ma'am.
And I thought, well what am I
going to do.
I always wanted to be a Navy
Seal.
I wanted to be in the Secret
Service.
That was the plan.
And then my body got robbed.
So, what became the plan, well
I'll become a psychiatrist.
I wanted to go to med school.
I wanted to go to Berkeley.
And about that 15, 16 years of
age, parents sat me down, dad
and mom and said, hey, what are
you going to do.
What if something like med
school doesn't really work?
I said, OK.
You've got to have a marketable
skill son.
And I thought, well I'm not sure
what I'm going to do.
So, in that process of just sort
of being open and learning,
there was this thing called the
internet.
This was the mid-nineties.
And there was just over 100,000
websites.
And I begin to go to school
outside of my normal high school
process.
Actually, had to move away,
about 2.5 hours away from my
parents.
I had to become emancipated from
my parents as well, just because
the way some of these rules
work.
And I began to go to college and
high school at the same time.
And at the age of 17 years old,
I was done with my associates,
learned software development,
specifically in the
client/server platform
relationship.
And after that it was, well, but
I want to go to Berkeley.
Well, just go get your GED and
then maybe you can make it
happen for you.
Berkeley's not going to accept a
GED.
Well, you got to get a diploma.
I got to go back to high school?
So, I ended up actually doing
that.
I don't even know the high
school I graduated from.
I know its location Renton,
Washington.
But I actually never stepped
foot in that school.
So, I graduated high school
actually after I graduated
college.
Exactly. Completely jacked up,
right.
My degree wasn't even valid
until high school was over with.
So, I did that and during that
process did I find, wow.
I sort of like software.
I like this process.
This is really interesting.
So, then began the process of
well, get a job.
I'm 17 years old.
What do I know as a 17-year-old?
Plus, I'm a C4 quadriplegic.
Who was going to hire a dude in
a chair?
Again, just, you know you look
back and you sort of laugh.
173 resumes sent.
Every single tech job in the
Seattle PI.
I did a dozen interviews or
more, I can't remember now.
But they all ended with, you're
just not the right fit.
You're just not the right fit.
One was, you just don't have the
sort of the office skills that
we need.
Yeah, you got that right, you
know I can't staple worth crap
you know?
I can't even pick up a damn
phone. But OK.
And I won't mention the name of
that company.
Then it was like, how am I going
to get a job?
And I remember sending a fax
through my computer.
And the modem connected at 14.4
bod [phonic].
And I went, oh, yeah.
This place is legit.
I sent my res, and my cove.
And I got hired.
This big old dude, he's 6' 7".
He's huge, named Steven.
My attendant knocks on the door,
opens the door.
He looks down at me.
I'm, I'm here to apply for the
software develop job.
He's like yeah come on in.
He had to move his office all
around so I could fit in his
office.
And he goes, how did you get
paralyzed.
Man, I think that's; you're not
supposed to say that [laughter].
That's the one rule they told me
they wouldn't do.
That's the first, the core first
question.
Second question, how much money
you want?
Well, they told me I could make
50 grand coming out of the
school.
No, you ain't going to make that
here.
Well, what do you want?
How about 25?
OK, sounds good.
I think I was 18 for about five
days.
I had no idea what I was doing.
Two days later got my job.
So, I'm 18 years old.
I'm working as a software
developer for a medical company.
Serving in the industry called
pathology.
Think of blood, think of sputum,
think of autopsies, right?
Things removed from the body.
And I begin my career as a
software developer.
About a year later, maybe 2
years later something profound
hit me.
I'm wanted.
I'm valued.
I have purpose.
Now, I can only speak of my
story folks, but man you give a
man respect and you give man
purpose, that man is going to
do.
And he's going to do it right.
At that same time, as always,
did the government come by and
say hey, Todd, no more Social
Services for you.
And I'm like well, yeah but I've
got to; you've got a job.
Yeah, but I'm not like, I've
still got a lot to go.
No, you're done.
You either got a job or you
don't.
So, they pulled the funds.
I had to go to my boss and say
man I've got to make a lot more
than 25K.
He said, no problem.
Done.
What? Why couldn't we do this
two years ago [laughter]?
Later he told me he took
advantage of me because of my
disability [laughter].
Ain't that tight.
Man, way to go Steve.
Mad respect.
I learned a ton from that dude.
I worked for that company for
years.
And I loved every minute of it.
I worked 24 hours a day, 7 days
a week.
I was mad sipping and puffing on
that software.
Just hitting it hard.
Fell in love with databases.
Every aspect of the Microsoft
SQL database.
Hope I can say Microsoft.
I just did.
Legit. Hardware, software the
marriage of ray to rays.
Straight up hard core nerd.
But, I don't know after about 15
years, you tend to get the, I
want to be an employer, I'm an
entrepreneur.
I don't know if I want to be
that employee anymore.
One thing leads to another and
it looks like I'm about to make
my exit.
And this really, really cool
lady named Judith, my lateral,
diagnosed with stage IV.
Move from the chest to the
brain.
A few months before she exited
her earth suit, she told me I
had to bounce.
You better leave that job, T.
You were made for something
different.
So, she died.
And I quit.
And I did the one thing my
parents never told me, they
never said to do you quit a job
before you got another job,
you've got a problem.
And I straight up did.
What am I going to do now?
No problem, we'll be a comedian.
I'm going to write books, I'm
going to blog.
T, you better not do
punctuation.
I'm doing a good day if I
putting a full sentence together
folks.
And I don't think my jokes are
too funny.
So, I made this business called
C4 consulting to make fun of my
disability.
I'm like ha ha.
I can do this.
Come to find out, that's not so
marketable.
Someone said to me, what's your
marketable skill, bro.
What you going to do for a job?
You all got to put groceries on
the table.
You know how it is.
I love databases.
Well, go be a DBA.
All right cool.
So, C4 consulting became a DBA
service, subscription model.
Rent, pure play 24/7, I'll be
your DBA to the end.
What's the name of your company?
C4. Wait a minute T, you going
to be a DBA but your company is
called C4?
That's an explosive [laughter].
Yeah, that cool?
You want to hire me?
I hope I don't blow it up.
And they did.
About that same time did I need
to go a wedding.
And I asked one of my staff, I
said I don't want to go to this
wedding, I'm crying like a baby
right now because it's real.
And she says to me, well who do
you want to go with?
I don't want to take an
employee.
I don't want to take a family
member.
I want to take a woman, and if
she's hot that'd be great.
You know Karen?
Who's Karen?
Then I met Karen.
And I fell in love with her the
moment I met her.
And what was cool was she did
the same.
And we went to that wedding and
it was like we were the only two
there.
She got up to go get second
rounds on bread and food.
This strange lady leans over and
says, hey, she's laughing at all
your jokes.
I said, is that a good sign?
She said, yeah [laugther].
Your jokes aren't so good
[laughter].
[ Applause ]
She says you also flirt real
well, too.
That's right.
I've got some skill.
So, Karen comes back and I'm
blown away, she got some bread,
she got some wine, and there was
more butter on the piece of
bread than bread.
And folks I've got to tell you
right now, I'm all about that
butter.
And I was like oh, I've got to
get this one.
A couple months later she says
something like this, when you
ask it will be a yes.
What? Does that mean?
I got to grow up.
And I married Karen.
Karen Lynn Regal.
She became Karen Lynn
Stabelfeldt.
And about that same time, I saw
my boy, Samuel Jackson on a
commercial.
He says something like, 'Siri,
find me a recipe for gazpacho
soup.
I was like, what's gazpacho
soup?
And I tasted it, what a horrible
choice for soup [laughter].
Who would want that.
I was like, I said I can use
that phone.
And the button.
Well I can't press the button.
I can tell you all right now, I
tried hacking and rewiring that
headset thing.
That just didn't work.
A few months later, I'm at a
quad squad meeting.
Yes, it's a meeting with quads.
We're a squad.
And by day we're horribly
disabled, and by night, we're
still horribly disabled.
But we do fantasize about
fighting crime.
My boy Cody, he goes well check
this out, he turns his head and
his iPad does this and he turns
his head the other way, did
something else.
What's that?
It's called switch control.
Switch control?
What's that?
Don't know but I can do this
with my face.
And that's cool.
I said what's external?
I have no idea.
A few weeks later,
I'm with another friend and his
mom goes
you hear about that TechLa?
I said, TechLa?
TechLa's crap.
And she said, no the new one.
I said, oh what's the new one
do?
She said it works with a thing
called switch control.
And I'm like huh.
TechLa, iPhone, external.
Let's try it.
So, I went out and bought some
things, we hooked to together.
Me and baby girl, that's what I
call my wife Karen, deal with it
baby girl.
Baby girl all plugging stuff in,
flipping switches and doing what
nots.
And I text her.
I'm like man, I'm done with the
Blackberry.
That Blackberry had voice signal
on it.
I could do like three things.
Check my signal strength, okay
it's still bad [laugther].
Check my battery level, it's
still low.
You all don't even know what the
old days were like.
Real deal.
Baby girl says, you know you got
to tell people some stuff.
You got to get other people on
this.
I said no man, we just married.
We got three dogs, two cats.
I just got this little business
called Start Up, might not even
be named right.
She's like you got to tell
people, it's what you do.
And I'm like, oh, and then I
went OK.
Because every good husband
listens to his wife.
I got her, folks.
And so, using the charity that
we were part of, the TSF we got
a grant.
And we got to make that video,
which you saw part of.
And now you get to see another
part of it.
Because this is where it gets
really great, it's when you
begin to share it.
This ain't me folks.
This is us.
And my boy, Dreadlock, Ian McKye
[assumed spelling] comes on
scene and he says, I want what
you got man.
You demonstrated independence
bro.
So, you want to watch another
video, check this one out.
This is my boy Ian.
>> We no longer can manipulate
the physical world around us as
much, these digital devices, it
doesn't require fingers, it
doesn't require legs.
It's awesome, the power that
that gives you.
[ Music ]
I've always been, you know an
outdoors person, and I find that
I really regain my energy from
being out here.
Just being in the sun and it
really makes me feel a lot like
I did before my accident.
Having a communication system, I
can leave the house and be gone
for a couple hours.
If something arises, I make a
phone call.
It's made my life more fun and
it's opened up the world to me.
[ Applause ]
>> So, that began this race of
switch control.
Switch control.
Independence buttons.
Joysticks, sip-and-pulls, head
raise.
And man, did my wife and I, we
got on this like maniacal focus.
All day every day.
I'm on LinkedIn, friend
requesting every Apple employee
I can find.
I'm sending that video.
I'm writing personal letters,
right, I'm doing a lot of
sipping and puffing, folks.
Baby girl come in, what are you
doing?
I'm finding more friends.
We were afraid it would go away.
Straight up.
And it was too precious.
It was gold.
It was a game change.
We would go to every Apple store
we could find and just mob up in
there and go, hey we got a
video, can we just pull this out
real quick?
Check this out.
I was looking at these
headphones.
You watch this video real quick?
We're on vacation to
Pennsylvania, DC.
Guess what we're doing, Apple
stores.
Right, Saturday downloads before
the store even opens.
We just got to make sure
everybody knows the game change.
And then we got those really
cool, sweet words, which was
Apple ain't taking switch
control away brother.
It's just going to get better.
And it was like, it was a breath
of air right there, like
something so good.
And then the focus changed,
which was, oh man now we got to
start telling everybody who
makes an app, everybody needs to
know how to develop these apps
with accessibility.
See, I say like this.
Apple brought me to a phone, and
they did a radical job of that.
But everybody out here in the
room, you bring me, you bring us
to the world.
Because you all smart people in
this room.
You got brains and you're making
apps.
And when you make an app that's
convenient for you, written in
just the manner of rightness, it
could be independence for me.
I'm not one person.
I'm a part of millions of
people.
So, baby girl and I, we build a
house.
We call it the quadthedral.
And we begin to focus and
change, how do we make sure we
talk to app developers, where do
we go with that?
How do we help them?
What do we do?
And over the last couple years
it's just demonstration.
It's a video, it's this
blogging.
It's getting more people.
There's well over 20 people now
in this country that have a
setup, which I'm going to
explain to you here.
I'm in a wheel chair called a
Permobil F5.
Black on black.
West coast.
Murdered out.
this is Luis and Clark stuff
man.
Ok, cool you've got a phone on
your wheelchair, how is it
charge. Well, back in the day,
and back in the day that just
means like 2 years ago.
This thing was plugged into a
you know cigarette adapter
plugged into a battery on the
back of the chair.
Permobil is like well maybe we
should do something different.
Sounds good Permobil.
So, now there's integration.
And TechLa, the Bluetooth device
that pairs to the iOS.
I can do buttons which I'm going
to show you here at any second.
It was like people started
realizing, well this is legit.
This is real.
We need to keep moving forward.
So, now I'm going to show you
how this works.
You dig?
[ Applause ]
So, I use a TechLa, go for it.
I use a TechLa and an eye device
to control my wheelchair, my
phone and everything.
All right.
So, we got that there, we got
that coming up.
Now you about to see my big ol'
hairy face.
Now, I'll tell you right now, my
company we had to do an app real
fast, back in November.
And I don't know who puts an app
up in a month and a half, but we
did.
And I told myself I'm going to
grow out my hair.
So, this right here, I'm just
going to move my mustache hair.
That's how I do it, OK
[laughter]?
That's for you Felice.
All right.
There's a lot going on folks,
but I'm cold old school.
I'm going to call it direct
access.
So, what I'm going to do is
explain some buttons and show
you some things.
Okay, so give me a second here.
All right starting from my left
to right, I have buttons.
And I'm going to use my tongue,
and now you just all got to
handle it.
Button number one.
It's called move bad, move
previous.
OK? Middle button or second
button, select.
All right.
Third button, move next.
OK? Get all that?
Another button on this side for
the wheelchair.
Another button, wheelchair.
Another button volume down,
volume up.
Woot, woot for long press.
Water straw for drinking.
[ Laughter ]
And it's just water, folks.
Okay, it's just water.
No smell no tell.
Here we go.
All right.
I'm so glad the front row's
laughing [laugther].
I don't have no idea if any
other rows are laughing.
Legit. OK, so.
If I also want to, I can go into
a particular mode in my
wheelchair for Permobil it's
called in eye device.
Now, I can use my joystick to
drive.
OK? This is legit people.
This is harnessing everybody.
You have a workforce that is
disabled, that could be
employees if given the
opportunity to do so.
Thanks, brother.
All right.
Here we go.
Now, we're just going to go
through some apps and we're
going to show you some things.
So, we're good on the face
unless you just want to stay
here, bro.
You can keep going.
All right.
So, for example, I'm just sort
of navigating a bit, so you can
sort of see how some of this
works.
Leveraging all these fantastic
apps to do fantastic stuff.
Emails, right.
I'm not going to go into my
email boxes people.
OK? I'm sorry.
But just to show you that you
know that you can.
All right.
Standard menus.
I can do everything you can do.
I want to say that again.
I can do everything you can do.
[ Applause ]
Now I'm going to do something
fun.
I saw TC do this the other day.
I want to do it too.
[ Applause ]
Sorry folks, I got make sure
baby girl's in this one.
And I have to find her though.
Where you at?
The other way?
Am I almost there?
Oh girl. Yeah now.
[ Applause ]
This one is for Felice.
[ Laughter ]
There it is sister.
All right here we go, on three,
ready?
Big faces.
[ Applause ]
And just because this is my
moment.
All right.
[ Applause ]
So, I can message, I can email,
I can do the whole thing.
Okay, bottom line.
But then we got to go next
level.
Which is what independence,
independence, independence.
I'm a grown man.
I want to be able to take care
of my girl.
And my kids.
And my two dogs, Olivia and
Beatrice.
So, we'll check out HomeKit.
Again, folks.
convenience for you is literally
independence for me.
All right, Office light's on
now, the office, right, up in
Port Orchard, Washington.
Hopefully nobody's in there
looking, going oh no what's
happening [laughter].
HomeKit changed the game.
Now, what?
Now I can do doors and security,
and oh.
I get to do this from the phone.
We'll let that one just marinate
for a moment.
This one's legit.
And now let's show another
video.
Because this one was actually a
lot of fun to make.
Go forward, pull me, pull me,
pull me girl [laughter].
>> You're Todd, but since we're
friends, I get to call you Quad
Father.
[ Music ]
>> Hey, Siri, unlock the front
door.
>> Okay, the front door is
unlocked.
>> Let's go girl.
We all got a pen man, we all
writing it down and putting out
the chapters.
So, what's the story about.
Hey Siri set business time.
I refuse for this story to be a
bad read.
Hey Siri, play dinner playlist.
Have you tried any of this?
>> No, is it Bueno?
>> it is delish.
I like the jam.
I think somebody's here.
You're going to see tonight,
you're getting a whole group of
mugs up in the room.
We got people.
We're all different, you know
ventilators popping off and
sip-and-puff drivers.
>> All right we're going to
gather around the TV so you can
a demonstration.
>> I love it.
>> So, good, act normal.
Now, what's really dub show
about those lights, watch this.
Hey, Siri dining table lights
25%.
>> You got it Quad Father.
>> That's how you do it.
I feel like it's my job and my
responsibility to go down to the
valley and to hang with that
brother that's in that space.
That's just the way you do
story.
You interact with others, and
you learn from others and I
think that's really, really
righteous.
[ Music ]
[ Applause ]
>> That was a lot of fun to
make.
Apple brought me to the phone,
you bring me to the world.
please name out loud
accessibility when you make your
apps.
Please. Name it.
It's real.
Shouldn't be a side thing.
It should just be a part of it.
If you could interact with Siri
in your app, then do so.
Because it is quicker.
And the last thing I would say
is have somebody test it
[laugther].
And if that person happens to be
disabled, then real cool because
you know it's legit.
It's boots on the ground, right?
Speech rec for the quad by the
quad is what?
Speech rec for the whole world.
Because it's not convenience for
us, it's independence.
I'm Todd and I love you and
thank you so much.
[ Applause ]