Disability Rap

We’re joined by Scott Martin, host of the Life’s a Road Trip podcast and author of the new book, Play From Your Heart , which takes us through his journey of accepting his disability after surviving life-threatening illnesses and having to have both of his hands and feet amputated. Scott is an award-winning soccer coach, educator, and advocate within the disability community. With an advanced nati...

As summer draws near, it means hot weather and long days, but it also means the season for Power soccer. Power soccer is a competitive team sport in which players maneuver power wheelchairs equipped with a specialized metal footguard. Two teams of four players each, use their wheelchairs and these footguards to move an oversized soccer ball around a basketball court. The rules of power soccer are...

April is Brain Injury Awareness Month. According to the Brain Injury Association of America, 1 in 60 Americans are living with a permanent brain injury, and 2.8 million traumatic brain injuries, or TBIs, occur every year in the United States alone. On today’s show, we are joined by Carl Magruder. In August, 2023, he was doing what he loved to do: ride his motorcycle. He got into an accident and, a...

March is Multiple Sclerosis Awareness Month. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a long-term disease that causes breakdown of the protective covering of nerves in the brain and spinal cord. This breakdown in the protective covering makes it harder for messages from the brain to travel to other parts of the body. MS affects each person who has it differently, and the severity of the symptoms varies widely....

It’s February, and we have a tradition here on Disability Rap of doing a show focused on love and relationships at this time of year. This year, we’re joined today by Jackie Armstrong and Eric Loeffler, who have been together since 2024. They tell us how they met and fell in love, and they share how their disabilities have enriched their relationship. Jackie is the president of the disability self...

As we begin the new year, many high school seniors are receiving college acceptance letters. For many people with disabilities, especially significant physical disabilities, selecting a college and then attending that college comes with added complexities. They are often faced with having to advocate for themselves and their access needs in a whole new way, while also discovering what their needs...

Each summer, California’s Youth Leadership Forum brings high school students with disabilities from across the state to Sacramento for a week of learning and fun. The students stay on campus at Sacramento State University, gaining a taste of college dorm life. Often, this is their first time away from their families and support systems. They learn about self-advocacy, independent living, and life...

It’s November, and we just had a special election here in California. We’re spending today’s show talking about the voting process for people with disabilities, how voting is made accessible, and the importance of voting as a way to engage in the political process. We’re joined by three guests. From right here in Nevada County, Corey O’Hayre is with us. Corey has been the Assistant Registrar of Vo...

Today, we’re joined by the incoming Executive Director of the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers, Lisa Hayes. Lisa has had a long career in health and disability policy, leadership, and advocacy. For the past 7 years, she has served as the Executive Director of Rolling Start, Inc., an independent living center in southern California. She also serves as an appointed commissioner o...

This month, FREED is celebrating our 40th anniversary. We were founded in 1985 through the efforts of people with disabilities in Nevada County and the Nevada County Committee on the Disabled. This was a natural outgrowth of the Independent Living Movement, which grew out of Berkeley in the 1970s. FREED was one of California’s first rural independent living centers. To celebrate our 40th anniversa...

As we head into fire season here in the Sierra Nevada Foothills of Northern California, we decided to check back in with Brian Snyder, FREED’s own Emergency Preparedness Coordinator. Brian supports people with disabilities to develop plans for what they will do during wildfires and other widespread emergencies. In addition, Brian runs FREED’s program that supports people who have life-sustaining m...

[Editor's Note: We aired this show on July 9, 2025 as a rebroadcast of our August 2020 show. One of our guests was Mark Fenicle, the Chair of FREED's Board of Directors. We are sad to share the news that Mark passed away on August 1, 2025. The following is a statement from FREED's Executive Director, Carly Pacheco: "Mark has been involved in Independent Living since his college days. He was a stea...

Last month, the US House of Representatives passed a budget reconciliation bill that proposes cutting over a trillion dollars in Federal health care spending. The program that would see the largest cuts is Medicaid, which provides health insurance to people with low income and people with disabilities. The Congressional Budget Office estimates that the bill, if passed into law, would cut over 800...

Today, we’re joined by Dr. Xenia Barnes. After a 20 year career in education, Xenia turned her attention to social justice work and trauma research, with a particular focus on how gun violence impacts individuals and communities. Then, in 2021, she was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease that makes it difficult for the body to absorb oxygen from the air. Her essay “The Invisible Batt...

April is Autism Acceptance Month, and today we’re honoring that by spending the show talking about autism and specifically late-diagnosed autism. Autism is a broad umbrella for describing how some people think, feel, and act differently from what is considered typical or normal. We did a show in January on neurodivergence. Autism is a form of neurodivergence, and autism is a disability. Autism man...

Today, we are joined by Emily Voorde, a former Biden Administration official and a top staffer in the Pete Buttigieg Presidential campaign. We talk with Emily about the current threats to Medicaid funding that are working their way through Congress. We also hear first-hand about the challenges people with mobility disabilities and assistive devices face when flying commercially, and we get Emily’s...

It’s February, and Valentine’s Day is around the corner. We have a tradition here on Disability Rap of doing a show focused on love and relationships at this time of year. We’re continuing that tradition on this show with a roundtable of guests to talk about disability and polyamory. Why do a show about polyamory on Disability Rap? Well, there is actually more overlap than you might think, unless...

Neurodivergence is the recognition that not all brains work the same way. It’s a broad spectrum of brain behavior that’s outside of what’s considered standard or “normal.” Today on the show, we explore neurodivergence with two guests who recognized their neurodivergence as adults. They share how this revelation has changed their understanding of their upbringing, their relationships, their work, a...

On this episode, comedian Mean Dave shares how comedy led him to discover his addiction recovery is protected by the ADA, and how he’s bringing disability awareness to 12-step programs, helping people understand meetings as the “ramp” that gets recovering addicts up to the “curb” of a manageable life. Mean Dave, who is a fixture in comedy clubs around the San Francisco Bay Area. He is in his tenth...

Today, we are joined by Jared Wikofsky. He is an independent artist and a comic creator. Jared has self-published and produced over 200 pages of comic work. Recently, Jared received a grant from Upstate Creative Corps. This led to his comic book, FALLING. The book delves into a life altering diagnosis and the long-lasting effects of that diagnosis. Jared also runs and edits a podcast entitled PLAY...

October is National Disability Employment Month, and we’re celebrating with two guests who have cerebral palsy and found fulfilling careers (and even a second career) while overcoming barriers both before and after the Americans with Disabilities Act. We talk with David Clark and Whittier Mikkelsen about their experiences in the workforce, challenges and misconceptions they had to confront and ove...

Next month, FREED will be bringing The Comedians with Disabilities Act to downtown Grass Valley for a night of laughter, entertainment, and reflections on being disabled in our ablest society. The Comedians with Disabilities Act is a collection of comedians who have disabilities, both seen and unseen, who bring forth the humor they find in their lived experiences as disabled people.  The Comedians...

Last month, we marked the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The ADA granted equal rights and equal protection to people with disabilities in the United States. Today, we wanted to celebrate the anniversary of the ADA by looking back and looking forward at all the work that still needs to be done to make a truly inclusive world for all people, regardless of ability. W...

Our guest today, Philip Brubaker, notes that there’s unfortunately a real stigma around mental illness, and that needs to change. Philip is an internationally known and recognized filmmaker and videographic essayist. He also has bipolar disorder. In his most recent film, “How To Explain Your Mental Illness to Stanley Kubrick,” Philip tackles head on the often negative depictions of mental illness...

We’re joined today by Nicole Luongo, an advocate, author, and public speaker who has Cerebral Palsy. In 2019, Nicole started The Go Green for CP campaign to raise awareness for cerebral palsy in this country and around the world. Through her leadership, the campaign succeeded in getting at least one building or landmark in almost every state lit up in green on National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day...