Mike Young, Champion of TRICARE
August 19, 2002
Falls Church, Virginia - Through the corridors of every office building in the country walk those who, by their quiet devotion to their work, their reliability, and their optimism, are genuine everyday heroes. They usually pass their entire careers unrecognized. One such hero is Michael Young, an Axiom technical expert in assistive technologies who manages the Defense Department's Computer/Electronic Accommodations Program (CAP) Technology Center at the Pentagon.
Mike's role as manager of the CAP technology center is to help workers with disabilities access the information technologies that are essential tools in the modern workplace. Following the attack on the Pentagon last September 11th, his services have proven more valuable than ever as he has helped those wounded that day to recover and return to their jobs faster, and more fully, than would otherwise have been possible.
The job is heavily oriented towards new, emerging technologies. Braille keyboards and speech-activated controls, for example, can enable blind workers and others with low-vision gain the same access to computers -and thus e-mail, the internet, and shared-drive data files-as their fully sighted colleagues. Many of the survivors of the Pentagon attack have required CAP's services and Mike's help as they began the "return to work" process. Others have benefited from the support CAP offers for telecommuting as they work from their homes. The Tech Center has been a welcome source of support to one victim of the World Trade Towers' collapse.
With his keen understanding of the challenges that confront workers with visual, auditory, mobility, and cognitive disabilities and an expert's understanding of how new and emerging assistive technologies can help them do their jobs more efficiently, Mike has helped countless DoD and other government personnel achieve new levels of productivity and job satisfaction.
Each year the DoD's CAP Tech Center responds to more than 2,000 requests for service. Those services have never been more important, or more valuable, than in this past year. For his service helping the victims of September 11th recover, the Executive Director of TRICARE, the Defense Department's healthcare program, has recognized Mike as a "Champion of TRICARE." "For Mike," says Derek Shields, the CAP program manager, "its all in a day's work."
Axiom Resource Management, Inc. is headquartered in Falls Church, Virginia with branch offices in New York, New Jersey, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia, Georgia, and Colorado.
For Further Information Contact Frank Cumberland, 703-998-0327.