Green Mountain Disability Stories

In this episode of Green Mountain Disability Stories, CDCI's own Dr. Winnie Looby interviews her partner, Ted Looby. Ted Looby is a cancer survivor who is also blind, and he and Winnie talk about their favorite types of audiobooks, and what makes for a well-produced listening production.

In this episode of the show, we welcome artist and photographer Karen J. Lloyd. She talks with Inclusive Arts Vermont's Heidi Swevens about coming to terms with incorporating disability into her identity, how Lyme Disease changed her life, and a painting by Lloyd that is part of Inclusive Arts Vermont's CYCLES exhibit: an image of a red-and-gold phoenix on a tranquil blue background. Karen graduat...

Cosmo Duncan is about to graduate from high school, in Burlington, Vermont, and embark on his life as an adult. Cosmo, who has Down Syndrome, sits down to talk with his mom, Scarlett Duncan, and occupational therapist Catherine Armani-Munn. They talk about what life has been like for the family in Vermont, Cosmo's new business, and some important differences between life in rural and urban Vermont...

Kate Adams is an Indigenous Vermont artist with multiple disabilities, and in this episode of the show, she sits down with CDCI Academics Coordinator Winnie Looby. They talk about Kate's work with her horses on disability and trauma, the messages carried by geese, and Kate's life as an artist with ADHD.

Vermont-based physical therapist Katy Gamelin talks with CDCI's very own Jackie Feiss about her experience of having POTS: Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. Jackie shares how she copes with this largely unknown chronic illness that affects all major body systems, along with the symptoms that led to her diagnosis, what it was like trying to get an accurate diagnosis, and some of the life h...

In this episode of Green Mountain Disability Stories, we welcome Lynn McNamara, from the Nature Conservancy Vermont. Lynn joins CDCI Communications Manager Audrey Homan to talk about what the Nature Conservancy Vermont learned in building accessible natural outdoor areas in Monkton, and Hartland Vermont. “I think the trails that we’ve improved accessibility on also seem to protect the natura...

https://youtu.be/pPwhCrM7X44 In this episode of Green Mountain Disability Stories, autistic physician Mel Houser joins CDCI Academics Coordinator Winnie Looby , as they talk about community access and belonging. “I never really saw myself as…like, an advocate, in any way, really? Because people in Vermont, I think, many people, have been doing some good thinking around diversity, equit...

In this episode of Green Mountain Disability Stories, occupational therapist Adrienne Miao interviews occupational therapist Mary Anne Lewis. Mary Anne is also mom to Patrick, Desirée, and Dustin. Patrick is a Vermonter living with cerebral palsy and blindness, and as his mom, Mary Anne helps Patrick run his own successful business while she and her husband run a bed-and-breakfast in Vermont. Mary...

In this episode, executive director Jesse Suter talks about Long COVID with Krista Coombs and Kate Larose. Krista and Kate both work at the Vermont Center for Independent Living (VCIL), and both of them have firsthand experience of being, being with, and supporting COVID "Longhaulers". ('Longhauler" is a nickname for people with Long COVID). The three of them talk about changes in disability equit...

Adrienne Miao interviews Matthew LeFluer, a self-advocate with autism. Matthew works extensively on committees with disability organizations and the State of Vermont -- including the CDCI Community Advisory Council. Matthew has a lot of experience with disability service systems in Vermont, and he has a lot of advice for how to make those systems work better.

In this episode, occupational therapist Phoebe Chestna interviews Ben Wimett. Ben is a lifelong Vermonter, living down in Brandon, Vermont, with his dog, Pepper. Ben also has cerebral palsy, and works as an assistive technology provider with the Vermont Assistive Technology Project. And Ben's here to share his stories of navigating Vermont schools (and snowbanks!), how power wheelchairs have chang...

Jan H. lives in Southern Vermont, and in this episode, she tells her story of living with multiple chemical sensitivities to Emerson Wheeler, Health Equity & Community Engagement Coordinator at the Vermont Department of Health. Jan talks about how Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, or ME/CFS affects her options for housing, employment, healthcare, and just about every facet of h...

In this episode, UVM faculty member and academics coordinator Winnie Looby interviews Vermont artist Leah Schulz. Leah's art directly references her experiences of multiple disabilities, as well as addressing and incorporating elements of who she was before she became disabled. Leah's painting "Cyclical Choices" (2023) is part of an exhibit of work by Vermont artists with disabilities. The exhibit...

In this episode, we're excited to welcome Michele Streeter to the show, to talk with show producer Audrey Homan. Michele Streeter is mom to Ocean and April Streeter, two siblings you met in Episode 20. Michele talks about what it's been like to provide support and guidance for a child with a disability as they navigate the transition to adulthood, post-secondary education, and independent living....

Ocean Streeter lives in Hyde Park, Vermont, with cerebral palsy (CP) and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). And in this episode, she talks with her sibling, April Streeter, about academic accommodations, independent living, self-advocacy, and the road she's currently on to becoming a published author.

Welcome to Green Mountain Disability Stories, a monthly series of conversations with, by, and for Vermonters with disabilities, about what it's like to live with disabilities here in Vermont: the Green Mountain state. In this episode, we welcome Persephone Ringgenberg to the show. Persephone lives in Vermont with her service dog, Willow, aka wildebeest, and is an artist and a freelance self-advoca...

In this episode of Green Mountain Disability Stories, we welcome Dr. Sefakor Komabu-Pomeyie back to the podcast. She sits down with CDCI executive director Jesse Suter to talk about her brand new memoir: "I'm Able: A Woman's Advice for Disability Change Agents". The memoir cover's Dr Komabu-Pomeyie's life as a child in Ghana, where she contracted polio and lost the use of her legs, but took heart...

Dr. Winnie Looby , director of the UVM Graduate Certificate in Disability Studies , connects with disability self-advocate and researcher Nicole Villemaire . Nicole has been working in Dr. Looby’s Disability Studies courses as a teaching assistant, and she shares what that experience has been like, along with more of her own story as a passionate self-advocate. To learn more about the Disabi...

David Frye is a gay Vermonter with disabilities. In this episode, he shares some of the struggles he’s gone through to find long-term employment and sustainable housing, as well as the strategies he’s used to be successful. From his childhood in rural Barnet, Vermont, to hosting his own public access show, “Prideability”, David shares his journey, and his advice to other pe...

https://youtu.be/pLrYbpBb6rg   In this episode, Vermont Children’s Integrated Services project director Julia Wayne talks with Nate Besio and Annie Bourdon about Oakledge For All , a project aimed at bringing a fully accessible playground to Burlington VT. Nate Besio is a person with a disability, and Annie Bourdon is the parent of a child with a disability, and they both relate how the...

https://youtu.be/Hs2zqprOxtw In this episode of our podcast, CDCI Community Services Coordinator Adrienne Miao connects with Michael Shor . Shor is an autistic psychologist, an advocate for people with autism, and a member of the CDCI Community Advisory Council. A full transcript of the episode appears below. Adrienne Miao: Hi everyone! Welcome to the CDCI podcast. My name is Adrienne Miao. I&#821...

https://youtu.be/lngsQprGl50 Dr. Valerie Wood hosts an episode of the podcast that looks at the recent RISE VT project: Restorative approaches Implementation for School Equity in Vermont. Her guests are collaborators on the project: the CDCI’s Amy Wheeler-Sutton , and UP for Learning’s Lindsey Halman . Together, they explore what they learned through the course of the RISE VT project,...

https://youtu.be/nhtCfZ121OM In this episode, we are lucky enough to have author and disability rights advocate Hannah Setzer join us! Setzer runs the hugely popular instagram account @feedingtubefitness , and just released a new book: “I’ll Pray for You (And Other Outrageous Things Said to Disabled People)” . She joins the director of the Vermont Continence Project, Chayah Licht...

https://youtu.be/WLKszz0dsao   “Neurodiversity and access is the next frontier of our DEI conversations.” –Mel Houser In this episode of the podcast, we welcome medical student Elizabeth “Biz” Barker , and Dr. Melissa Houser, who is also the executive director of the non-profit All Brains Belong VT. Dr. Houser also sits on the CDCI Community Advisory Council. Bot...

https://youtu.be/UIreD4b60bI     On this episode of the podcast, CDCI Executive Director Jesse Suter is joined by UVM University of Vermont Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Education Michael F. Giangreco . Giangreco shares memories, observations, and advice from his more than 30 years of service at CDCI. Dr. Giangreco is a widely published and respected innovator in the field of speci...