DuBois Courier-Express/Tri-County Sunday, January 3, 1999
By ERIN L. NAPPE
Tri-County Sunday Writer
ST. MARYS - Craig Dietz has never let anyone tell him what he couldn’t, or shouldn’t, do.
Life has been a series of challenges for the 24-year-old law student, but nothing has gotten in his way so far.
Dietz was born with a serious disadvantage; where his arms and legs should be, he has what he refers to as “stubs,” no hands, and just one small foot.
He uses an electric wheelchair to get around, which he controls using a wooden stick with a hook at the end. He holds the stick between his shoulder and chin, and uses the hook to move the chair’s joystick.
Dietz, the son of Gary and Joyce Dietz of St. Marys, is a 1992 graduate of St. Marys Area High School, and a 1996 graduate of Duquesne University. He will soon be starting his final semester of law school at the University of Pittsburgh.
Dietz said law school is something he “just always wanted to do.”
He’s now in the process of interviewing for a job when he finishes school in May, but he isn’t sure what type of law he’d like to practice.
“Just getting through law school is a chore in itself,” he said.
Dietz said he’s been looking at general practice firms. While in school, he said he developed an interest in estate planning. He also did some ADA work, but he said he’s not sure if that’s something he wants to go into as a career.
While in high school, Dietz was in the Enrichment program, where he first experienced debate in 9th grade. He also played percussion in the high school band for two years, and was a member of the National Honor Society.
He was also involved in a lot of activities at Duquesne. Dietz said he was active in campus ministry. He was a member of Delta Chi fraternity, and of the national honor society Omicron Delta Kappa.
Dietz said he always liked gym class in high school, where he would try anything. He played volleyball with the rest of the class by bouncing the ball off his head. He said he always got along well with the phys ed teachers.
“They liked me because I would do anything,”he said.
Dietz remembers receiving the year-end physical education award one year.
“I was kind of embarrassed at first,” he said. “But then I thought about it. I was never one to sit and watch, even when I probably should have.”
Dietz said he usually ignored anyone who tried to tell him he shouldn’t do something. He recalled some trouble with the high school principal when he was a freshman. Dietz had always had aides with him in school, but he wanted to become more independent when he entered the high school.
He met with the principal and agreed to keep the aides with him for academic purposes only.
“They were afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep up,” he said.
He later discovered that the principal had instructed his aides to “not let him out of their sight.”
“He didn’t think I should be left alone,” he said.
He said his parents were very concerned about him going to school in Pittsburgh.
“They didn’t think it was the best thing for me to do,” he said. “They wanted me to go to Edinboro, because that seemed like the obvious choice.”
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania is well-known for its highly accessible facilities.
He said he doesn’t have a problem getting around Pittsburgh. He usually uses the buses when he wants to get somewhere. He also drives his own specialized van, which he learned to drive when he was 21. The van is operated by a joystick control.
“There’s a cup I stick my stub into,” he said. The gas and brake are controlled by pushing forward and backward, and steering is side to side.
“The gas and brake are pretty good, but the steering is a little tricky,” he said. “My parents say I’ve turned into a real city driver.”
Dietz has never thought of they way he performs daily tasks as out of the ordinary. He said he still surprises people by doing such simple things as writing a check at the store. He writes by holding a pen or pencil between his shoulder and chin.
“I do what I need to do,” he said. “I don’t think of it as unusual.”
He said he’s done most of his writing through college and law school on a computer. He uses his stick to type, by the “hunt and peck” method.
“Through the years, I’ve gotten pretty proficient at it,” he said.
Dietz said he can do almost anything anyone else can do. In some cases, it just took him longer to learn.
He recalled freshman year of high school, when he was taking swimming as part of gym class. He didn’t want to sit out, but he knew he had to be able to dress and undress by himself in the locker room.
“I locked myself in the bathroom one night, and I didn’t come out until I figured out how to do it myself,” he said. “I was 14 years old when I did that for the first time. I was 21 when I got my driver’s license.”
Dietz said he’s never let himself get hung up by the obstacles he’s encountered throughout his life.
He said the biggest obstacle he’s had to overcome is people’s attitudes, getting past the reflexive sorrow and pity people usually feel when they first meet him
“The hardest thing is just getting people to see you as a real person,” he said.