Reflections

Nisreen Abdel-Majid explores the thoughts and intentions behind the everyday food choices we make, and the consequences behind those choices. She unpacks the rise of ultra-processed foods in Canada and what that means for our health and habits. Registered Dietitian Abbey Sharp breaks down what “ultra-processed” really means and how to navigate ingredient lists without feeling overwhelmed. Manuel A...

Jacob Shymanski loves to play video games, and when he lost his sight, he felt that one of his favourite hobbies had been taken away from him. Native accessibility in video games is not common practice, and it takes hours and hours to modify a video game and make it accessible. That’s where a community of people on Discord using Claude code comes in. Using an AI chat bot, novice and experienced so...

Parenting, whether solo or with a partner, can become a very isolating experience for a multitude of reasons. Beth Deer found herself reminiscing on afternoons spent at her grandparents house, and wondering why her kids aren’t experiencing the same thing. Where did the village go? Did it disappear, or do we just have to create it ourselves? Beth speaks with Anthropologist Dr. Camilla Morelli, who...

How do service animals support people with invisible disabilities? Kelly MacDonald follows the work of non-profit organization Veterans and Everyday Heroes (V-EH!) to learn about the benefits of service animal intervention on frontline workers' lives. Captain Andrew Gough, a medically retired Police Sergeant, shares his personal journey leading to creating the organization, matching service dogs w...

Students are being forgotten about in classrooms, schools are sending kids with disabilities home, and school board Trustees are being removed and replaced with representatives from the government. These are ongoing issues in Ontario's publicly funded education system. How are these changes from the current government to cut funds to school boards and special education departments affecting studen...

Grant Hardy continues his multilingual journey with a look at languages on the job. Youssef Mohammad returns to discuss his career as a Medical Interpreter at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Qjinti Isabel is a Professor of Conference Interpreting at Toronto's York University. She discusses her experiences with accessible Conference Interpreting. Plus, being a language enthusiast, she sh...

Students are being forgotten about in classrooms, schools are sending kids with disabilities home, and school board Trustees are being removed and replaced with representatives from the government. These are ongoing issues in Ontario's publicly funded education system. How are these changes from the current government to cut funds to school boards and special education departments affecting studen...

How do you feel about the circus? Is it a magical, nostalgic memory where the audience cheers and the children jump with excitement? Or is it something you never fully came to appreciate? Kelly MacDonald wants to know where the circus came from, what it is at the moment, and where it's headed. Steve Peters gives us a historical rundown of the circus, the fantastic and the dark. Dancer and Aerialis...

Tipping, it’s something many of us do without thinking. But what’s really behind this cultural norm? Nisreen Abdel-Majid explores the psychological pressures and social expectations that shape how and why we tip. We hear from Brody Robinson, a server at the Singing Chef in London, Ontario, who shares what tipping looks like from the front lines of the service industry.  Dr. Cortney Norris brings u...

Is inaccessible voting a direct violation of people’s rights? Is accessible voting the key to ensuring more citizens are engaged in their municipal, provincial, and federal politics? New Brunswickers are going to the polls to cast their votes on May 11, 2026, and Elections New Brunswick is excited to share new accessibility features available for members of the community. Joeita Gupta explores the...

Whether you’re a student, professional, or you just love languages, come along on this multilingual journey. Grant Hardy hears from hobbyists and pros alike as we tackle language learning from an accessibility perspective. Youssef Mohammad is a Professional Conference and Community Arabic-English interpreter. He discusses his bilingual experiences both at a school for the blind and in mainstream e...

There are many ways to find your community.  Sometimes, you find community through shared interest or proximity, like school or your neighbourhood gym.  Other communities are carefully and thoughtfully put together by connecting passionate people.   In this episode, Kelly MacDonald highlights one of those passionate, expanding communities.   For the last 12 years, Connect4Life, has been offering t...

We talk a lot about accessibility in public spaces, but some of the hardest conversations don’t happen there. They happen in private, with family and friends. And unfortunately, they happen in the spaces that we are supposed to feel the safest. In this episode, Beth Deer along with her two guests, Disability Inclusion Expert Bean Gill and Registered Clinical Counsellor Dan Spring, unpack what happ...

Nisreen Abdel-Majid dives into Lynn Jensen’s journey of losing her sight and finding her way back to the world through travel. After sudden vision loss at 27, Lynn faced the emotional and practical realities of starting over, learning new ways to navigate, rebuilding confidence, and making the life-changing decision to work with a guide dog she never wanted. Through conversations with Lynn and her...

How does our history of segregation and discrimination towards minority communities impact the way social justice movements and disability rights organizations operate? Joeita Gupta speaks with three individuals from the Black disability community to learn more about how conversations about race and disability are interconnected. Dr. Sami Schalk, Professor of Gender & Women’s Studies at the Univer...

How does AI continue to help blind people interpret the visual world? Grant Hardy learns about a new accessibility tool called ViddyScribe. He talks to Developer and Co Founder Aaditya Vaze, a Graduate of OCAD University's Digital Futures Program, and CEO and Co Founder Patrick Burton, about this app that uses AI to make video content accessible for blind and low vision users. We hear from Dr. Ale...

Kelly MacDonald highlights Tim's Fencing Academy in Toronto, a space and program that started building safety, recreation, and community since the moment it opened its doors. Founder and Coach Tim Svidnytskiy reflects on his journey into Canada from The Ukraine, taking his passion for fencing with him into this new world, and cultivating this space for anyone willing to try it out with him. Hooley...

From sparing someone’s feelings to smoothing over awkward social moments, most of us tell white lies more often than we confess to. Are these little lies harmless or is honesty really the best policy? Nisreen Abdel-Majid unpacks the psychology behind white lies. Clinical Counsellor Dillon Lewchuk explains why we all feel compelled to bend the truth and offers us empathy to help us sit with these s...

Every year on March 1st, we observe Disability Day of Mourning to memorialize and honour victims of filicide around the world.  Zoe Gross began Disability Day of Mourning back in 2012, and Joeita Gupta invited her to speak about the importance of this day. Zoe shares how systemic ableism, media bias, and attitudinal barriers have skewed the way the stories of these filicide victims are told.  Dax...

Why don't indoor spaces always work as well as they should, and what can be done to make them work better? Grant Hardy consults with a group of experts and changemakers on how we can make indoor spaces more accessible. Grant opens things up with legally blind consumer, Stephen Ricci about some of the challenges he experiences navigating indoor spaces. He speaks to Maayan Ziv, Founder and CEO of Ac...

In the United States, public broadcasting is anchored by NPR, PBS and other household names, which are currently fighting significant battles to stay alive. Kelly MacDonald reached out to Maine Public, a state-wide broadcaster out of Maine, to learn more about the current media landscape, and public broadcasting's place within it. Recent funding cuts to The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the...

For some, cooking is about survival and nourishment. For others, it’s an adventure, challenge, hobby, and a source of joy. Either way, getting started in the kitchen with new recipes, tools, and appliances can be tricky and overwhelming. Joeita Gupta is admittedly not the most enthusiastic to be in the kitchen, but she wanted to explore some of the best tips and tricks for the blind home cook so e...

Nisreen Abdel-Majid understands that fear doesn’t stop at a border, it travels through headlines, protests, and deeply personal moments. It did for her and her sister, which you'll hear about through this story. As conversations around immigration enforcement and mass deportation intensify in the United States, Nisreen reflects on a moment in downtown Toronto when she and her sister were confronte...

Can blind and low vision people be visual eaters too? Kelly MacDonald explores how our senses come into play in building our appetites. Food enthusiast Bill Oakley gives us a peek behind the curtains of how food is staged, presented, and plated to draw us in. Terri-Lyn Dietrich, Lily Cereghini, and Brian Arthur share how unflattering descriptions from sighted guides affect their chances of trying...

What happens when the life you built around your talent suddenly falls apart in front of thousands of people? In this AMI-original, writer and performer Julia Bonnett reflects on the night her vision loss led her to walk off the stage mid-performance. What began as a humiliating moment became a turning point that forced her to confront the end of her opera career and re-imagine her way forward. Th...