Green Mountain Disability Stories

   On this episode of the podcast, CDCI Research Assistant Professor Valerie Wood is joined by early childhood education professor Kaitlin Northey . Wood and Northey are two of the three authors of a recent study on suspension and expulsion in early childcare education settings across Vermont. They talk about why the study was necessary, what they found, and how comparing Vermont’s dat...

https://youtu.be/WJS_1_SagPk On this episode of the podcast, we’re joined by Hannah Gallivan and Kathryn Carroll. Hannah and Kathryn met through the Disability EmpowHER Network mentoring program. As part of the program, Hannah took on research into how to prepare for a disaster when you have a service animal; her research is now part of the Green Mountain Emergency Preparedness Guide. We tal...

On supporting employment for people on the autism spectrum https://youtu.be/mB0d8xA5Fls   On this episode of the podcast, CDCI Research Assistant Professor Bryan Dague is joined by Alan Kurtz, PhD, and Nicole LeBlanc. Dr. Kurtz is a long-time researcher in employment issues for people on the autism spectrum. LeBlanc is a self-advocate, on the autism spectrum, who brings her lived experience o...

https://youtu.be/CcGzCVBLtwc “I think the biggest thing is for people who don’t understand disability, especially invisible disabilities, to try to listen to those who are struggling and take it upon yourself to learn, rather than saying ‘Oh yeah I have that too’.” On this episode of the podcast, CDCI business manager Rachel Cronin sits down with her stepmother, Melissa Cronin , as they talk...

https://youtu.be/UUdVvPAdQh4 In this episode, Ariana Cano-Gomez  from The Nature Conservancy of Vermont, talks with Bridget Butler, aka “Bird Diva.” Butler specializes in the art of “slow-birding”, or approaching birding in a way that prioritizes slowing down. They talk about how Butler’s slow-birding ideas touch on disability, race, and access to and love for Vermont...

https://youtu.be/_97IYB8kcHc Dr. Winnie Looby and Dr. Kinda Abujbarah connect briefly about Dr. Abujbarah’s experience with cerebral palsy and how it led her to travel from Amman, Jordan, to the United States to pursue greater educational opportunities — and how COVID-19 has impacted opportunity at universities. “I wrote my whole dissertation with a typist in another state. So, t...

https://youtu.be/Y5oE0jHJRjY Ming M. Canaday is a world traveler, podcaster, life coach, and entrepreneur. In this interview, we asked Ming about how her experience of living with a disability has informed how she approaches all those activities, and how exactly, her new app aims to help people with disabilities have better access to gas stations the world over. A full transcript of the episode ap...

On this episode of the podcast: a conversation between Dr. Winnie Looby and Dr. Sefakor Komabu-Pomeyie . Dr. Komabu-Pomeyie recounts her experience of disability, from contracting polio as a child in Ghana, to a tragic accident that impacted her mobility, and how the support of her mother and her faith helped position her to grasp hold of educational and entrepreneurship opportunities. https://you...

In this episode of the podcast, renowned early intervention nurse / complex needs parent Rachel Wright joins Pamela Cummings , from the I-Team Early Intervention project. They cover Wright’s journey from medical professional to mother, and specifically what she’s learned from being the mother of three sons, one of whom is a child with disabilities and complex needs. What can other pare...