Adventures in Accessibility

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe091 This week's guest is Lawrence Carter-Long. Lawrence is Director of Engagement for ReelAbilities International, where he works at the intersection of disability, media, culture, and access. A longtime advocate, curator, commentator, and creator. He has worked with the National Council on Disability, Turner Classic Movies, Sundance, PBS, NPR, the BBC, and other organizati...

Transcript:  rmad.ac/AIAe090 This week's guest is Sam Schmidt. Sam is a former IndyCar driver, championship team owner, entrepreneur, and philanthropist. A Pepperdine University graduate, he built successful businesses before launching a professional racing career, earning his first IndyCar victory in 1999 after competing in three Indianapolis 500s. In the year 2000, a testing crash left him a qua...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe089 Today's guest is Dr. Kassy Lopez. Dr. Lopez is the program director of ASPIRE Scholars at Pikes Peak State College, an inclusive higher education program designed to expand access for students with intellectual disabilities. She leads innovative efforts to create meaningful college experiences through academic access, peer mentorship, and career exploration, while also...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe088 This week's guest is Bella Mohn. Bella is a 22-year-old disability advocate and content creator from Seattle, Washington. At just 18 years old, Bella's life changed overnight after emergency surgery for a heart condition led to paralysis from the waist down. Soon after, she began sharing her recovery journey and spreading awareness about disability on social media. Her...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe087 This week's guests are Alma and Mike Loveland. Alma and Mike are the co-founders of Your Very Favorite, a creative educational publishing company based in Utah. Together, they design and produce engaging coloring and activity books that help kids and families learn about important topics from community services and public health, to science and environmental stewardship...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe086 This week's guest is Gail Nehls. Gail is a nonprofit executive and social entrepreneur with over a decade of leadership advancing accessibility and inclusive service delivery. As CEO of Envida, she has led significant organizational growth while expanding transportation, healthcare access, and community-based services for older adults and people with disabilities across...

Transcript:  rmad.ac/AIAe085 This week's podcast guest is Sheridan Powell. Sheridan works as the communications manager at Visit Colorado Springs. She leads the organization's accessibility efforts, including an accessibility task force, a partnership with accessible travel company Wheel the World, and more. She graduated from the University of Missouri with a bachelor's degree in journalism, and...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe084 This week's podcast guest is Kaeia Perez. Kaeia writes dark witchy, young adult horror about eerie towns, haunting rituals, and girls who refuse to burn quietly. Author of Emberwomb, she blends lyrical prose with unsettling truths and just a touch of magic. She resides in New York state with her husband and two little support cats. Connect with Kaeia:  Magickalgirloccul...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe083 This week's podcast guest is Kat Macfarlane. Professor Macfarlane serves as professor of law and director of the Disability Law and Policy Program at Syracuse University College of Law. She teaches and writes about disability law, civil rights litigation, and constitutional law. Her scholarship has been published in the Georgetown Law Journal, Fordham Law Review, Washin...

Transcript:  rmad.ac/AIAe082 This week's podcast guest is Annie Heathcote. Annie is a multi-business owner, social media influencer, author, Christian and lifelong disability advocate whose life and work embody the belief that disability does not mean inability. Diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at just 13 months old, Annie has spent her life breaking barriers, championing accessibility, and...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe081 This week's podcast guest is Jordan Burk. Jordan is the author of the Kelly And Kelso Children's book series and the creator of Kelly and Friends, an animated series currently in development that's set to be the first US cartoon with a lead character who has Down syndrome. Inspired by his late Uncle Kelly, Jordan writes stories that celebrate kindness, friendship, and t...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe080 This episode's podcast guest is Cindy Bentley. For the last 25 years, Cindy has been Wisconsin's foremost voice for inclusion and civil rights for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In 1999, Cindy helped found People First Wisconsin, a statewide disability advocacy organization with a mission to provide opportunities for people with disabilities in...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe079 This episode's podcast guest is Murray Siple. Murray is a multimedia artist, filmmaker, and adapted surfer from Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. Trained at Emily Carr University of Art + Design, he began his career capturing the raw energy of Canadian snowboard and skateboard culture. He directed the acclaimed documentary Carts of Darkness. After his spinal cord in...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe078 This episode's podcast guests are Kim and Penn Holderness. They are award-winning content creators known for their original music song parodies, comedy sketches, and weekly podcasts. Their videos have resulted in over 3 billion views and over 9 million followers since they first went viral in 2013. Kim and Penn are authors of the New York Times bestselling book, ADHD is...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe077 This episode's podcast guests are Gina Kavali and Lyric Gillenwaters. Gina is a syndicated radio personality, YouTuber, podcaster, autism advocate, and sometimes actor and producer. With 30 years of experience behind the microphone, Gina hosts a show on YouTube called Life With The Spectrum. It's a show for families who live with and love someone with autism spectrum di...

Transcript:  rmad.ac/AIAe076 Shane and Hannah Burcaw are relationship bloggers on a mission to change the way society understands disability. On their YouTube channel, Squirmy and Grubs, which has gained almost 2 million subscribers, the couple shares an entertaining and authentic examination of what it's like to be in an inter-abled relationship. In addition to their work on YouTube, the couple c...

Transcript:  rmad.ac/AIAe075 Kathy D. Champion Woods is a woman of faith and a devoted wife who has been married to Dana for 27 years this August, and the proud mother of Dana Michael Woods Jr. who is autistic. Kathy is a former caregiver with a passion for looking after the elderly. She's the first African-American to create a fashion line for little people and is also the CEO of Grace 4 Champion...

Transcript:  rmad.ac/AIAe074 Arman Nobari is an entrepreneur, cancer survivor, and the co-founder and CEO of accessible games company, Good Trouble. Over his fifteen-year career, Arman has helped accessible products come to life at Google, Udemy, Modern Animal and more. Now with his startup, Good Trouble, Arman is working to revolutionize accessibility in the games industry through a free site cal...

Transcript:  rmad.ac/AIAe073 Dr. Temple Grandin is an academic inventor and animal behavior scientist. She's a proponent of the humane treatment of livestock for slaughter and the author of more than 60 scientific papers on animal behavior. Dr. Grandin is a consultant to the livestock industry, where she offers advice on animal behavior. As an autistic person, Dr. Grandin did not talk until she wa...

Transcript:  rmad.ac/AIAe072 Georgina is a professor emerita of English at the University of California Berkeley, where she taught creative writing and disability studies. Her collection of personal essays, Sight Unseen, is a classic in the field of disability studies. Essays include an autobiographical account of Kleege's own blindness and a cultural critique of depictions of blindness in literat...

Transcript:  rmad.ac/AIAe071 Thomas is the executive director of the California Achieving a Better Life Experience Program, or CalABLE. Through his work with CalABLE, Thomas helps people with disabilities save and invest while protecting their access to benefits. Prior to joining CalABLE, he served in the California Department of Veterans Affairs and the office of the governor. Thomas is autistic...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe070 Gaelynn won NPR's Tiny Desk Contest in 2016. Since then, she has captivated audience around the world with her haunting original songs and traditional fiddle tunes. Over the years, she has collaborated and performed with many notable artists such as Michael Stipe from REM, The Decemberists, Wilco, Lowe, and the industrial rock supergroup Pigface. In early 2022, Gaelynn...

Transcript:  rmad.ac/AIAe069 Sarah Todd Hammer is a three-time published author, speaker, and disability advocate. After becoming disabled when she was eight years old, she immersed herself in the disability advocacy space. She co-authored and published her first book about her disability journey at age 11, followed by two more books that follow along her life as a disabled teen at ages 14 and 17....

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe068 Emmett is a disability justice practitioner and student activist passionate about creating disabled, decolonial, and anti-oppressive communities. He's a senior at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in political science and gender and women's studies, conducting research on how definitions of political personhood intersect with electoral access for disabled vo...

Transcript: rmad.ac/AIAe067 Delila is a high school senior from Dallas, Texas who was born with a rare genetic disorder called CHARGE syndrome, which can affect a person's eyes, hearing, heart, growth, and more. As a deafblind individual, Delila has limited vision in one eye and relies on a bone anchored hearing auditory implant to hear. She communicates with confidence signing her words to ensure...