AT Banter Podcast

This week Rob, Ryan, Steve and Lis welcome Amy Amantea, artist, actor and advocate for a rousing round table discussion about ableism. They talk about its definitions, the concept of micro aggressions and the importance of avoiding ableist language – and much much more. It’s an episode so full of thought provoking conversation and learning that there was no chance of packing into one episode, so s...

Rob, Ryan and Steve sit down this week and talk with renowned Disability Rights Lawyer and Author of the book, “Structured Negotiation: A Winning Alternative to Lawsuits” Lainey Feingold. They discuss accessibility lawsuits and the ADA, negotiation techniques, and how sitting down and discussing accessibility with companies can bear more fruit than actual lawsuits. Show Transcript: https://atbante...

Rob, Ryan and Steve once again welcome Lis Malone to help co-host as they sit down and talk to Ken Brandt, author of the book “Positive Vision: Enjoying the Adventures and Advantages of Poor Eyesight”. They discuss the origins of the book and the importance of having a positive attitude and sense of adventure. Also, why you always want to cross your legs when parachuting into a forest. Show Transc...

We are back after a break of a couple weeks (blame Rob) and Ryan, Steve, and Rob welcome back guest co-host Lis Malone for a very special episode of the show. This week the gang talks to Dr. Anna Lembke, professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and author of the book “Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence” about addiction, how many seemingly innocuous t...

The pumpkins are all out on the porches and the trees are adorned with toilet paper, which can only mean one thing – it’s time for the AT Banter annual Halloween episode! This year we’ve got a full house, as Rob, Ryan, and Steve welcome special guest Rick Chant from Chaos Technical Services and Lis Malone, from the Breaking Dishes Podcast to help celebrate the season as only these Halloweenies can...

It’s Blindness Awareness Month and Rob, Ryan and Steve talk about its mandate and why Blindness Awareness is important globally before welcoming on Dr. Dave Grimes to talk about his work done with the Children’s Low Vision Project and the work done overseas with Medical Ministry International. Show Notes Medical Ministry International https://www.mmi.org/ AT Banter is brought to you by Canadian As...

Moose, rabbits, bears, oh my! This week Steve, Ryan and Rob are heading into the Great Outdoors to talk with Laura McEwan, Manager of Program Delivery for Accessible Wilderness Expeditions, an organization based in Kelowna, BC that offers all manner of adapted outings and adventures. Show Notes Community Recreational Initiatives Society http://crisadaptive.ca/ Adaptive Adventures http://adaptivead...

Rob, Ryan and Steve get a lesson in foreign foot fetishes (inside joke, you’ll have to listen to the episode to get it) and welcome disability advocate, motivational speaker, social media star Kiesha Mastrodimos to the show to discuss the documentary “Kiesha’s Story: A Path to Wellness”. Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress.com/2021/10/at-banter-podcast-episode-258-keisha-mastrodimos....

Mental health and the notion of self-care and self-love can be something many of us overlook in our busy, everyday lives. This week the boys are excited to welcome Jillian Gillis to the show to talk about her new(ish) podcast called Self Love is Blind, a show that discusses these concepts through the lens of disability. Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/at-banter-episod...

It’s another exciting week for the boys at AT Banter as they welcome back long time friend of the show Kelly Goto, founder and principal at gotomedia and gotoresearch to talk about the state of digital accessibility and how corporations are beginning to embrace inclusivity and accessible policies. Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress.com/2021/09/at-banter-podcast-episode-256-kelly-got...

Yes that’s right, it’s that time again! After more COVID worries, protests, wildfires, heat waves and hurricanes, it’s high time for another installment of a Good News Show! This week Steve brings us a collection of news stories from around the world that all have one thing in common – all the news is GOOD! If you’re having a bad week and need to restore your faith in humanity, this is the episode...

Guess who’s back?? Rejoice, ye Barclheads! Steve triumphantly (well, that might be pushing it) to the podcast just in time for the newly reunited trio to welcome Darcy Burnard and Holly Anderson from the Apple-centric accessibility podcast ‘Maccessibility’ to the show. They talk about what the state of accessibility of Apple is currently, whether the playing field has been leveled between all the...

Rob and Ryan take a break from yelling at the clouds this week in order to welcome David Moses, a Post-Doctoral engineer from the University of California San Francisco who also worked on a recent study that involved developing an implant that allowed a test subject to translate brain signals into text, with a vocabulary of 50 words! They talk to him about the study he worked on as well break down...

Rob and Ryan welcome Disability Awareness Consultant and podcaster Andrew Gurza to the show this week, in an episode so spicy and forward that we had to put a disclaimer at the beginning of the episode! It’s a three-way conversation about everything from sex and disability to the state of disability advocacy in an episode you won’t want to miss! Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress.co...

The conversation around pronouns and their importance has been at the heart of conversations about inclusion lately, but for some people it can be hard to understand. This week Rob and Ryan sit down with Dennis Baron, Professor of Linguistics and English at the University of Illinois and author of the book “What’s Your Pronoun: Beyond He and She” to give some context and understanding of the curre...

Rob and Ryan are beyond excited and honored to welcome comedian Darryl Lenox to the show to have a very open and frank conversation about his recent vision loss and how he is adapting to it across all aspects of his life, from travel and smartphones to his writing process. Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress.com/2021/08/at-banter-podcast-episode-250-darryl-lennox.pdf Show Notes New b...

Steve is on vacation, but Rob and Ryan soldier on without him as they welcome Steve Hoffman, CEO of Founders Space and author of the book “The Five Forces That Change Everything” to discuss future technology and what it means to both the mainstream but also assistive technology. If geeking out about Brain Computer Interfaces and Artificial Intelligence is your thing, boy do we have the show for yo...

This week Steve, Rob, and Ryan welcome Tova Sherman, co-founder and CEO of reachAbility, an organization in Nova Scotia that provides a variety of employments services and programs to people with disabilities. We discuss everything from reachAbility’s origins and mandate to the uniquely holistic organizational philosophy of “no one goes nowhere”, and so much more. It’s a jam-packed episode that yo...

This week Steve, Rob, and Ryan welcome Robin Christopherson, head of Digital Inclusion at AbilityNet to the podcast where they discuss everything from web overlays (yes, we know … again) and the impact of digital accessibility to his daily podcast, Dot to Dot where he features new skills of the Amazon Echo devices.   Show Transcript: https://atbanter.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/at-banter-podcast-e...

It’s a big show this week as Steve, Ryan and Rob welcome Stephanie Cadieux, MLA for South Surrey and current Caucus Chair and Official Opposition Critic for Gender Equity, Accessibility, and Inclusion, to the podcast to discuss the new Accessible British Columbia Act and what it means for people with disabilities throughout the province. We discuss how far we’ve come in addressing accessibility an...

The air is filled with excitement and the smell of freshly baked vegan cooking this week as Rob, Ryan and Steve welcome back Alexis Hillyard from the Cooking / Advocacy YouTube channel Stump Kitchen. We get a full update of how the channel has been doing, her personal life, and how the channel mixes in information, advocacy, her personal life and vegan recipes all into a tasty treat that subscribe...

It’s a great show this week (unlike all those OTHER shows every other week) as Rob, Ryan and Steve welcome David Dame, Director of Accessibility at Microsoft Canada to the podcast. They discuss what’s new over at Microsoft Accessibility and what kinds of initiatives are in the works in order to help improve digital accessibility and inclusion. They may even entertain a few theories on what may hav...

This week Rob and Ryan welcome Shane Lowe from Mediate, makers of the scanning app Supersense, to the show to talk about Super Lidar, their new mobility aid available for iOS! Show Notes Disability Alliance BC https://disabilityalliancebc.org/ Disability Alliance BC Concerns over Bill 6 https://disabilityalliancebc.org/dabc-has-concerns-over-proposed-accessibility-legislation-contact-your-mla/ Fin...

This week Ryan, Rob and Steve welcome author and long-time Disability advocate Al Etmanski to the show.  Al is author of the book “The Power of Disability: Ten Lessons for Surviving, Thriving, and Changing the World” and has led the closure of institutions and segregated schools in British Columbia, founded Canada’s first Family Support Institute and co-founded Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network (P...

If you have ever been wondering just what an Accessible Web Overlay is and whether or not it’s a good thing or a bad thing, boy do we have the show for you. This week Rob, Ryan, and Steve welcome Accessibility Advocate Samantha Evans and independent Accessibility Consultant Nick Steenhout to fill us in on what they are, how they work, and how they are currently impacting the world of digital acces...