A Young, Blind Expert on Computers

Sometimes, something that is considered to be negative turns out to be an asset on the job. Though he is only 18 years old and blind, Suleyman Gokyigit is among the top computer technicians and programmers at InteliData Technologies Corp., a large software company with several offices across the United States.

"After our company combined with another one last October, two different computer networks were driving us crazy," recalls Douglas Braun, an InteliData vice president. "We couldn't even send e-mail to each other." In three weeks, Mr. Gokyigit, a University of Toledo sophomore who works part-time at InteliData's office in the city, created the software needed to combine the two networks. "None of the company's 350 other employees could have done the job in three months," says Mr. Braun. "Suleyman can literally 'see' into the heart of the computer."

Mr. Gokyigit's gift, as Mr. Braun calls it, is an unusual ability to form an idea of the inside of a machine. "The computer permits me to reach out into the world and do almost anything I want to do," says Mr. Gokyigit, who is a computer science engineering major with straight As.

Like most blind people who work with computers, Mr. Gokyigit uses a voice-synthesizer which is an electronic device that can read out loud the video display on his monitor in a mechanical voice. He depends entirely on memory. Turning the synthesizer to top speed, he remembers almost everything he hears, at least until a project is completed. While the synthesizer talks, Mr. Gokyigit mentally "maps" the computer screen with numbered coordinates (such as three across, two down) and memorizes the location of each icon on the grid so he can call up files with his mouse.

The young programmer is also at home with hardware, thanks partly to a highly developed sense of touch. Mitzi Nowakowski, an office manager at InteliData, remembers how he easily disconnected and reconnected their computer systems during a move last year. "Through feel, Suleyman can find the position of connectors, pins and wires much faster than most other people with sight," she says.

Several months ago, on a trip to San Francisco, Mr. Braun had difficulty connecting to the company's mainframe computer using his laptop. He needed specific numbers to get into four InteliData files. Instead of asking someone to manually search a thick book of computer addresses, he called Mr. Gokyigit, who had committed the address book to memory and produced the proper numbers "in ten seconds", Mr. Braun says.

Much of the student programmer's speed comes from his ability to ignore interruptions while at the computer. When typing, he listens carefully to the synthesizer. His long, thin fingers fly over the keyboard. "Nothing seems to shake his concentration," says Mrs. Nowakowski, his boss.

Mr. Gokyigit is the only company employee who is available 24 hours a day. "We consider him our top problem solver," says Mr. Braun.