Reflections

Few of us think of ourselves as caregivers, until the day we suddenly need to step up for a loved one. Sooner or later we will all either need a caregiver or become one. Are you ready for it? When that moment comes, families carry the burden long before a healthcare system that’s already stretched thin can catch up. Following our recent "Caregivers: A Very Personal Journey" episode, this special a...

Grant Hardy continues the exploration on how STEM learning can be made more accessible for persons with disabilities. In this episode, we highlight how individuals with disabilities bring unique perspectives to enhance scientific work and discovery. Dr. Kyle Keane, Senior Lecturer in Assistive Technologies at the University of Bristol, uses sonification to make visual elements and scientific data...

Talking about death isn’t a comfortable topic, but it can be comforting to plan it out ahead of time. Hear us out. Planning ahead not only ensures your wishes are respected, it also opens the door to meaningful discussions about legacy giving and the impact we want to leave behind. Kelly MacDonald spends this half-hour asking his guests to weigh in on this delicate conversation with clarity and ca...

For some of us, chatting about the weather or weekend plans comes easily, and for others it’s a source of stress and self-doubt. Why does something as ordinary as small talk spark such big feelings? Nisreen Abdel-Majid gets to the bottom of small talk psychology. Arslan Abakarov is a software developer at AMI who grew up in Russia where small talk is never the norm. Elysia Yardley lets us in on he...

The Alberta Sports & Recreation Association for the Blind supports Albertans who are blind or visually impaired to live physically active lives and participate in competitive sports programs. From Edmonton, Jim Krysko, AMI Content Development Specialist guides us on a delightful walk down memory lane. With the help of past Presidents Laura Layton, Jim Leask, Lorna Snow, and current President Chris...

Joeita Gupta was feeling lonely and embarked on a quest to find out how she can make friends and maintain these relationships at this stage of her life. To find some answers, Joeita is hosting a roundtable conversation with members of the Toronto Visionaries chapter of the Canadian Council for the Blind (CCB) and an expert in this field. Together with these voices, Joeita will discover new ways to...

Each year on November 11th, Canada marks Remembrance Day. In this episode of Reflections, join Grant Hardy to learn about why Remembrance Day continues to be a crucial reminder to Canadians and how the next generations are continuing to teach the importance of Remembrance Day.  Mike Ross reads the poem In Flanders Fields and shares how his grandfather passed the torch of Remembrance to him at a yo...

How do we create opportunities for people with disabilities in STEM? This was a question that Grant Hardy couldn’t get off his mind. So, he’s inviting you to join him in conversation with scientists and program managers to find out how people with disabilities can feel welcome in the STEM fields. Dr. Kyle Keane is a Senior Lecturer in Assistive Technologies at the University of Bristol, who is par...

Have you ever left anything on the subway? At a coffee shop? On a bus? Have you frantically retraced your steps trying to find it? Almost everyone has a story of a lost item, and Joeita Gupta is on the case to find out what happens to these precious belongings.   Join Joeita for a conversation with Amy Hanser, an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Columbia, about why we’re so at...

Nisreen Abdel-Majid takes a closer look at our collective obsession with coffee, touching on the memories, moments, and connections a simple cup of joe can bring us. Andrika De Lanerolle was a barista in her formeer life, she shares what she’s learned from working behind the counter, and it's not just the difference between a Latte and Cappuccino. 'Coffee lovers' is an understatement to describe f...

Caregiving is a subject that touches all of us at one time or another, but we don't often focus in on the realities of it, so let's open up a frank conversation around caregiving, with Kelly MacDonald and his guests. Amy Coupal, CEO of the Ontario Caregiver Organization (OCO), gives us the concerning statistic’s around lack of supports for caregivers, and where to find helpful resources. Susan Pal...

Canada’s first National Women’s Blind Soccer Team headed to Kochi, India for the 2025 IBSA Women's Blind Football World Championships, marking a memorable and surreal moment for the sport on this side of the world, and for everyone who helped build it from the ground up. We hear the sounds and stories captured over 13 days of travel, competition, and team-building. Going from grassroots to inernat...

Makeup is often seen as a language of self-expression but what happens when that world isn’t built for you? For World Sight Day, the Shine Foundation teamed up with Indigenous-owned Cheekbone Beauty to create Scarlette’s Palette, the first-ever tactile makeup palette designed for blind and low-vision users. Nisreen Abdel-Majid learns how a 14-year-old girl’s dream became a movement for inclusive d...

Joeita Gupta is inviting you to join her and Producer Matt Agnew for a spook-tacular afternoon at the 2025 Toronto Treat Accessibly Halloween Village, where families living with disabilities can safely and accessibly celebrate the spookiest time of the year! Making Halloween Accessible has been Treat Accessibly’s mission since 2017, and it takes a village to make it happen! Joeita takes to the str...

Joeita Gupta is inviting you to join her and Producer Matt Agnew for a spook-tacular afternoon at the 2025 Toronto Treat Accessibly Halloween Village, where families living with disabilities can safely and accessibly celebrate the spookiest time of the year! Making Halloween Accessible has been Treat Accessibly’s mission since 2017, and it takes a village to make it happen! Joeita takes to the str...

Grant Hardy speaks with experts and advocates in the facial difference community to answer key questions about facial differences, attitudinal barriers, societal stereotypes, and appropriate media representation. Kate Gies is the author of “It Must Be Beautiful To Be Finished” and shares how growing up trying to fit other people’s standards caused her to experience medical violence. Author and adv...

Have you noticed that there’s a surge of influencers whose audiences are primarily adult children who are estranged from their parents? Joeita Gupta made this observation of her own social media algorithm, and she went exploring. Joeita speaks with an estranged adult child, and experts from this field of study, to figure out if parental estrangement is trendy, or if there’s societal developments t...

Temperatures are rising and affecting our world in horrifying ways, the only world we have at the moment. Kelly MacDonald sits down with experts to bring us up to speed on the current state of dealing with fires and emergencies in Canada. Professor Sébastien Jodoin from the Faculty of Law at McGill University, and the Canada Research Chair in Human Rights, Health, and the Environment, gives us a r...

Dating is quite a modern concept, and there's some tug of war on how to make it work. Things could get pretty messy when you're fighting between honesty and authenticity, while trying to get to know a whole other human being. Nisreen Abdel-Majid dives into the messy world of love and relationships with Joshua Simmonds, a counselling psychologist who talks through the complexities of dating in the...

Hockey is one of Canada’s most culturally significant sports, but you’re not alone if you're still trying to figure out how to get into the game. How can we all be included in Hockey? Grant Hardy took this question to his guests, and we hear from AMI-audio friends, Jacob Shymanski, Kelly MacDonald, and Jeff Ryman, about how the game is played and what the sport means to them. Plus, they provide wo...

Canada's Ottawa region has a rich basketball history, and we're about to learn all about it. Kelly MacDonald needed a reason to bring another dose of sports into the show, so he spoke to Leo Doyle, chair of Eastern Ontario Basketball and founder of the Ottawa Basketball Network, who leads a basketball tour around Ottawa. We hear from Martin Cleary, Veteran and retired Ottawa Citizen Sports Reporte...

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation takes place on September 30th, 2025. To mark this important day, Joeita Gupta created a two-part documentary that explores how reconciliation efforts can be made to include Indigenous peoples with disabilities.  Join Joeita on this learning experience, as she speaks to experts, academics, and people with lived experience about the ways that reconciliation...

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation takes place on September 30th, 2025. To mark this important day, Joeita Gupta created a two-part documentary that explores how reconciliation efforts can be made to include Indigenous peoples with disabilities.  Join Joeita on this learning experience, as she speaks to experts, academics, and people with lived experience about the ways that reconciliation...

Service animals are more than pets, they’re expertly trained companions who empower their handlers with freedom, safety, and independence. And now, let’s factor in the public. How do handlers deal with strangers petting their dogs without permission, asking invasive questions, or ignoring clear boundaries? Nisreen Abdel-Majid takes us inside a day in the life of guide dog handlers to better unders...

Kelly MacDonald noticed his shirt pocket was quietly disappearing, so he went out to get some important answers to his burning questions. He visits one of his go-to clothing spots, George Richards, and talks it out with Store Manager, David Uren. Along the way, he loops in colleagues and friends, figuring out if they care as much as he does about disappearing shirt pockets. With a bit of history (...