Disability Dialogues

In the final episode of the second season of Disability Dialogues, we get to speak with one of our partners at Casey House, Yasser Ismail. We get to talk about the origins of Casey House as an HIV and HIV at risk hospital, the ongoing evolution of client-centered care and practices in how the organization is built and run, and Yasser’s own experiences co-designing clinical programs as the Chief St...

Today, Eunice shares about an ongoing collaboration between the Gerstein Crisis Centre and Toronto Metropolitan University, which looks at alternative forms of crisis response that center on health and wellbeing. Led by Professor Jessica Evans with the department of Criminology, this work takes a look at thriving from a totally different angle, focusing on what allows people to get closer to thriv...

In episode 4 of Disability Dialogues Season 2, we open with a few technical difficulties… thankfully not for long, but digital spaces are sometimes pretty inaccessible! That’s the subject of today’s interview with Chris Sivarajan, who talks about what thriving looks like in digital health spaces as a woman living with multiple sclerosis, or MS. As a peer volunteer with MS Canada, Chris has both li...

In Season 2 episode 3, Eunice is her own guest! We’re talking about how diverse youth navigate post-secondary pathways, and more specifically, Eunice discusses her own pathway through learning about her own mental health and disability status, and her successes and adversities after high school. Finally, we discuss the co-designed Tracking Pathways project, and the value of youth-led, intersection...

In Season 2 episode 2 of Disability Dialogues, we talk to Mary– a woman with a series of mobility and pain-related disabilities– about what it means to be thriving versus surviving with disability in Canada. Particularly, we got into the weeds of what it means to be disabled, and navigate the big barriers placed on disabled people to be able to find fulfillment, get around in a wheelchair, and be...

Welcome back to Season 2 of Disability Dialogues with the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing! In our first episode, we’ll be featuring a conversation with Shelley Petit, the chair of the New Brunswick Coalition of Persons with Disabilities (NBCPD), about her personal experience of invisible disability and navigating Canada’s healthcare system. This episode wi...

Welcome back to Season 2 of  Disability Dialogues! A podcast about co-creating inclusive healthcare and wellbeing with communities brought to you by the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing at Toronto Metropolitan University. If this trailer sparked something in you, don’t let it stop here. Visit  ⁠torontomu.ca/cerc-health-equity⁠  and check out our Knowledge M...

Ontario’s crisis response system often relies on police as the first point of contact for people experiencing mental health or substance-related distress. This approach can criminalize individuals instead of addressing the deeper issues—such as poverty, housing insecurity, and discrimination—that shape many crises. Community-led crisis models offer a different path. By centering lived experience,...

AI moderation often fails marginalized groups, especially disabled women and girls, because existing datasets ignore their lived experiences, leading to missed abuse, over-censorship, and reinforced bias. Researchers advocate for co-created, intersectional datasets and contextual AI that understands nuance, intent, and transparent explainable systems to build trust. Addressing data scarcity, bias,...

The voices of Youth lend an important addition to community research, in every stage from design to dissemination. Centering co-design, training, accessibility, and lived experience ensures marginalized voices are included and systemic barriers are addressed. This approach builds confidence and trust while creating tangible impacts on policy, practice, and community wellbeing. In this episode of D...

Current disability supports in Canada keep people surviving, not thriving. Thriving means more than financial security — it includes wellbeing, belonging, autonomy, and growth. Policies must shift from deficit-based to person-centered, expanding real financial supports, ensuring accessibility, and valuing all forms of participation, guided by the voices of people with disabilities. In this episode...

While digital technologies promise empowerment and inclusion, they also introduce new risks—especially for those at the intersection of gender and disability. Technology-Facilitated Gender-Based Violence (TFGBV) is abuse carried out through digital tools, disproportionately affecting women and girls with disabilities due to reliance on assistive tech, socioeconomic barriers, and caregiver or peer...

What does it really take to make healthcare equitable for marginalized communities? For millions living with disabilities, racialized demographics and women, accessing healthcare can feel more like an obstacle rather than something helpful. It’s neither built for them nor with them in mind. Despite good intentions, many services remain inaccessible, unresponsive, and disconnected from the realitie...

Welcome to  Disability Dialogues , a podcast about co-creating inclusive healthcare and wellbeing with communities brought to you by the Canada Excellence Research Chair in Health Equity and Community Wellbeing at Toronto Metropolitan University. If this trailer sparked something in you, don’t let it stop here. Visit  torontomu.ca/cerc-health-equity  and check out our Knowledge Mobilization Hub to...

Content note: This episode contains discussions of suicide and medical assistance in dying (MAiD) for mental illness. This special release explores the complexities and emotional terrain of MAiD through a personal and reflective lens, inviting listeners to consider what it means to navigate life, loss, and autonomy within academic and institutional spaces.