Adventures in Accessibility

Transcript: https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/vkCP96L0X5pAjwFGzBMbQPTe9LSgAE_Nhnv5qeGLzfc6QYcKSPtGfAVmkrAG6HrLrSOZDocg3dqHeQO0cZApEw6Eo_k?loadFrom=SharedLink Wilfred Romero has been a resident of Colorado Springs since June 2001. He has 35 years of experience leading non-profit organizations that provide services to individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. Wil holds...

Transcript: https://www.rev.com/transcript-editor/shared/Yk8ZzAqMj8RkwPWrnDeD2ibMVVMjS7t0vqVjpPxoDH4jXaLZ2Fb7JEVDBL1uBZ8FM7u-mRzlf79V3Oy6_8Rn_20k0hQ?loadFrom=SharedLink Before starting the Runway of Dreams Foundation in 2014, Mindy spent 20 years working in fashion as a designer for the INC collection and as a stylist for Saks Fifth Avenue. Mindy was inspired to start Runway of Dreams after her so...

Transcript: https://t.co/yMGsjRPUzg Beth Finke loves to read and to write. She moderates the Easterseals national blog, and she writes books, too. Her book Writing Out Loud delves into the work she does leading memoir-writing classes for older adults in Chicago. Her first published book, a memoir called Long Time, No See, talks about her adjustment to blindness at age 26. Her second book, Safe and...

Transcript: https://t.co/ucf7MzLLno Nick Isenberg has had an impressive 54-year career as a radio, television, and print reporter in cities across America. He served as bureau chief for television stations in Cedar Rapids and Fort Myers, but the bulk of his reporting career has been spent in Colorado, lending his producing and reporting skills to dozens of news outlets in the state. Nick has also...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe037 Today’s guest is Beth Leleck. In 2008, Beth was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She was determined to maintain her mobility while living with the disease. Colorado, where Beth lives, is home to 58 mountains taller than 14,000 feet in height, known to locals as 14ers. In 14 summers, Leleck conquered all of Colorado’s 14ers and she raised more than $100,000 to f...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe036 Chai Feldblum is a long-time civil rights advocate and scholar. As Legislative Counsel to the ACLU AIDS Project in the late 1980s, Chai played a leading role in drafting and negotiating the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. She later played the same role on the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. Chai also led the drafting and negotiating of the Employment Non-Dis...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe035 Today’s guest is Andrés Gallegos. He is the Chairman of the National Council on Disability, appointed by President Biden. In addition, he is a shareholder at the law firm Robbins DiMonte (RD) and the Chair of their disability rights practice, where he concentrates on improving access to healthcare and wellness for persons with all types of disabilities, across th...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe034 Today’s guest is Keah Brown. Keah is a journalist, author, studying actress and screenwriter. She is the recipient of Ulta Beauty’s Muse 100 award, Which is a celebration of 100 inspirational voices around beauty. She’s also one of The Root’s 100 most influential African Americans of 2018. Keah is the creator of the viral hashtag, #DisabledAndCute. Her work has a...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe033 Today’s guest is Scott Ready. Scott has served the education industry for 20+ years and has worked for 35+ years in accessibility. Ready’s first language is American Sign Language, and he has been part of the deaf community through his parents, who were former teachers at the Missouri School for the Deaf. Connect with the Rocky Mountain ADA Center at https://rock...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe032 Today’s guest is Tiffany Yu. Tiffany is the CEO & Founder of Diversability, an award-winning social enterprise to elevate disability pride. She’s also the Founder of the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter, a monthly micro-grant that has awarded over $59,000 to 60 disability projects in 10 countries. Tiffany is an influential content creator with over 160,000 f...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe031 Today’s guests are Rick Allen and Lauren Monroe. Rick Allen is the legendary drummer for the world-famous rock band, Def Leppard. Rick joined Def Leppard at the age of 15, right before the band signed their record contract. He lost his left arm in a car accident in 1984, but that didn’t stop him from being an incredible drummer with the help of a (semi-)electroni...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe030 Today’s guest is Christy Gardner. Christy is a 39 year old retired Army veteran from Oxford, Maine. She was injured overseas in 2006 and spent nearly 5 rehabbing before she was finally able to live on her own again and started participating in adaptive sports, thanks to her Service Dog Moxie. She’s now an assistant captain of the US Women’s Para Ice Hockey Team a...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe029 Today’s guest is Jessica Cox. Jessica is recognized internationally as an inspirational keynote speaker. Born without arms, Jessica now flies airplanes, drives cars, and otherwise lives a normal life using her feet as others use their hands. She holds the title of the first person without arms to earn a black belt in ATA Martial Arts and the Guinness World Record...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe028 Today’s guest is Dr. Anjali Forber-Pratt. She is a disability activist, a two-time Paralympian and the Director of the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) in the Administration for Community Living. As a researcher, her primary area of work relates to disability identity development. As a wheelchair-user for...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe027 Today’s guest is Michael Kutcher. From the moment of birth, Michael has overcome challenges and conquered obstacles that most people never even catch a glimpse of. Born as an unexpected twin, Michael met the first of many challenges at delivery. He was notably smaller than his twin at less than five pounds, was hardly responsive and struggled to take his first br...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe026 Today’s guest is award-winning diver and diving coach, Cliff Devries. As a young man, Cliff was a diving prodigy and was on track to make the Olympics. While he was in college, it was discovered that Cliff had a tumor on his spinal cord, and he underwent surgery to have it removed. Complications from the surgery left him paralyzed from the neck down. Cliff worked...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe025 Today’s guest is Jim Speer, founder of Mobility Roadside Assistance, which is the first provider of roadside assistance covering both the United States and Canada that focuses specifically on the needs of drivers with mobility disabilities, not just the disabled vehicle. Mobility Roadside Assistance provides peace of mind through full-service roadside assistance,...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe024 Today’s guest is Colorado State Representative, David Ortiz. He is Colorado’s first lawmaker who uses a wheelchair, and the sponsor of a first-of-its-kind, state website accessibility Bill. In 2012, Ortiz survived a helicopter crash while serving as a pilot in the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. The accident left him paralyzed from the waist down. David’s drive to serv...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe023 Content warning: this episode contains brief mentions of sexual assault and suicide. There are no graphic descriptions. Today’s guest is Tim Gore. Tim is a U.S. Army Veteran who experienced homelessness and abuse when he was young. He recently came to understand that his experiences as a youth and a soldier contributed to his development of Post Traumatic Stress...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe022 Today’s guest is Judy Heumann. Judy, who contracted polio in 1949 and uses a wheelchair for her mobility, is a lifelong advocate for the rights of disabled people. She has played a role in the development and implementation of major legislation including the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, the Americans with...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe021 Today’s guest is Chris Brock. Chris is the Managing Attorney of Colorado Cross Disability Coalition’s Probate Power. Before that, Chris worked as a law clerk in Denver District Court and as a Dean's Fellow at the University of Colorado Law School. He is admitted to the Colorado Bar and is a member of the Colorado and Arapahoe County Bar Associations, where he bel...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe020 Today’s guest is Caitlin Goerlich. Caitlin is a contemporary romance writer whose debut novel, The Silent Summer, was published in May of 2021. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English with a focus on Creative Writing from Kean University. At a young age, Caitlin was diagnosed with kyphoscoliosis, which is an abnormal curvature in the spine. Complications in surg...

Transcript: https://bit.ly/AIAe019 Today’s guest is Keri Grey. As a child, Keri was diagnosed with bone cancer which resulted in an amputated leg. Keri is the CEO and Founder of the Keri Gray Group, which centers on exploring the intersections of race, gender, and disability across the workplace. As a consultant, speaker, and facilitator, she works with companies and organizations, so they are pre...

Transcript: http://bit.ly/AIAe018 Today's guests are Scott Applebaum and Connor O'Meara. Together, they host Conor's Corner, a radio show out of St. Paul, Minnesota, where they talk about sports, music, life, and whatever's on their minds. As an autistic person, it was Conor's dream to have his own radio show and he did it. Conor's joy for life has inspired many others to embrace their dreams and...

Transcript: http://bit.ly/AIAe017 In this episode, we talk with Oscar "Oz" Sanchez. Sanchez grew up in Los Angeles and spent six years as a member of the U.S. Marine Corps. He became a part of the Special Forces unit, deploying twice to the Middle East. In 2001, while in the process of transferring to the Navy to become a Navy SEAL, Sanchez was involved in a motorcycle accident that injured his sp...