The Pulse

Dr. Jutta Treviranus is the Director of OCAD U’s Inclusive Design Research Centre and an expert in AI and ethics on AI’s societal impact. Dr. Treviranus recently gave a keynote speech at the Zero Project Conference at the United Nations building in Vienna, Austria. She also met with the European Commission regarding Canada-EU harmonization regarding AI.  In this interview with Grant Hardy, Dr. Tre...

On today’s special episode of The Pulse, we’re featuring a panel of AMI-audio hosts to talk about Orientation and Mobility Training.  Host Grant Hardy invited Kelly MacDonald from Kelly and Company, and Alex Smyth from Para Sport Nation to talk about their experiences with O&M Training, where they feel they excelled in the training, practical uses of the skills they learned, and how the training c...

Inclusion Canada appeared before the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities review Committee at the United Nations in Geneva. Krista Carr, the CEO of Inclusion Canada, joins Grant Hardy on The Pulse to explain the slow implementation of the CRPD in Canada, the effect of Track 2 MAiD, and her experience appearing in front of the committee in Geneva.  Check out the Pulse on YouTube! A...

Nicole Provost founded the May Day Club to create a community for neurodivergent youth to join together. Through choir practices, talent shows, music production, and more, the youth in this club gain experience working with a team, find friends, and combat loneliness. Nicole joins Grant Hardy on The Pulse to talk about the concept of the club, her experience with music, and the pride she has for t...

Deborah Simon is the Chief Executive Officer of Ontario Community Support Association. She joined Grant Hardy on The Pulse to talk about the importance of people living independently as long as they can, home care’s effect on the workload in hospitals, and the importance of community in people’s lives.  Learn more about the Ontario Community Support Association here: Ontario Community Support Asso...

Ben Fulton is a lawyer and active restorative justice advocate. In this episode of The Pulse, Ben explains what restorative justice is, cases where it is best implemented, and tells us a few stories of how participants of restorative justice methods have benefited from the concepts.  Grant Hardy hosts The Pulse with new episodes twice a week!  Check out the Pulse on YouTube! About AMI AMI is a med...

The 2025 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge was launched at this year’s Sundance Film Festival by Nic Novicki, an actor, comedian, producer and disability advocate.  Nic spoke with the host of The Pulse Grant Hardy about the impact the Film Challenge has had in it’s 12 years of existence, the importance of disability representation in film, and what he’s had to do to create roles for himself in...

Shoko Kitano, the Executive Director of the Come to Work program at the CNIB joined Grant Hardy on The Pulse. They spoke about the development of the program, making large corporations more accessible, and the types of jobs that are available in the database. Learn more about the Come to Work program here: https://cometowork.ca/ Check out the Pulse on YouTube! About AMI AMI is a media company that...

Easter Seals Southern California released the “Reimagining Hollywood” report. The report covered topics like disability representation in film and TV, plus representation in the cast and crews of these projects. Nancy Weintraub is the Chief Advancement Officer of Easter Seals Southern California, and she joins host Grant Hardy on The Pulse to explain the report.  Check out the Pulse on YouTube! Ab...

In anticipation of the upcoming Ontario Provincial Election, twelve agencies from across Ontario organized a political debate on February 19th, 2025. The debate allowed representatives from each major political part to address major issues that affect the disability community.  David Lepofsky, chair of the AODA Alliance and one of the organizers of the debate joined host Grant Hardy and his specia...

Join Grant Hardy on The Pulse this week for an important conversation about human trafficking, with Alicia Boothe and Natasha Hercules from Peel Children's Aid Society. Learn about what human trafficking is, how to spot it, and how to assist suspected victims. Plus, Natasha and Alicia provide advice for parents and caregivers to keep their kids safe on the internet.  If you, or someone you know, i...

The Rick Hansen Foundation has opened the nominations for the Difference Maker of the Year Awards! Organized by the Rick Hansen Foundation School Program, these awards celebrate youth from ages five to eighteen who are making a positive change in their schools and communities for people with physical disabilities.  Host of The Pulse, Grant Hardy, is speaking with Talina Papazian, last year’s award...

Grant Hardy speaks with accessibility consultant Zachary Weeks about the importance of advocacy work and Zachary's campaign Zac Sacs. Born from his mother's desire to make sure Zachary could go outside like his classmates, she created a Zac Sac out of an old sleeping bag that could fit over his power wheelchair. Zachary tells Grant how these covers have developed, and about the Zac Sac program. Ch...

Lori Fry is the Director of Public Relations and Fund Development at the 100 Mile House Chapter of the Canadian Council for the Blind. She joins Grant Hardy on The Pulse to talk about their upcoming programming to celebrate the Lions Club and their over 100 years of advocacy for the blind and low vision community.  Check out the Pulse on YouTube! About AMI AMI is a media company that entertains, i...

Grant Hardy hosts The Pulse and speaks with Michell Jorgenson, the founder of ABLE United, on today’s episode.  Michelle faced many challenges and barriers in environments where people weren’t accepting of her disability, and she looked at these challenges as an opportunity to gain confidence in herself. She became a Para-Judo athlete, and an entrepreneur. Michelle and her partner co-founded ABLE...

Host Grant Hardy is following up with chair of the AODA Alliance David Lepofsky! Grant and David spoke a couple of months ago ahead of the AODA Alliance’s 30th Anniversary celebrations at Queen’s Park in Toronto. David provides an update on how the event went and talks about the missed AODA January 2025 deadline. Check out the Pulse on YouTube! About AMI AMI is a media company that entertains, inf...

Host Grant Hardy spoke with lead actors of the popular CTV crime-drama “Sight Unseen,” Dolly Lewis and Agam Darshi. Together they preview the show’s upcoming second season and discuss authentic and respectful disability representation in film and television. AMI Communications Specialist Greg David joins the conversation. Check out the Pulse on YouTube! About AMI AMI is a media company that entert...

Alex Howard is a host of The Dark Room podcast and is a self-described cinephile. He is all about the implementation of Audio Description for all movies and is an advocate for the blind and low vision community in the film and TV industry.  He joins Grant Hardy on The Pulse to talk about compelling AD tracks, navigating sight loss and adapting his hobby of watching movies through his sight loss jo...

Host Grant Hardy is speaking with Vicky Levack, advocate for The Disability Rights Coalition of Nova Scotia, about how women with disabilities are more likely to experience homelessness caused by fleeing violent and abusive living situations that women without disabilities. Vicky shares some of her own experiences of taking part in a government program that helped her to leave an inadequate living...

The Pulse is continuing to cover the important impact made by a historic $30 million dollar donation from The Slaight Family Foundation to 11 of the leading organizations in disability advocacy and healthcare in Canada. On this episode, host Grant Hardy is speaking with Sandra Hawken, President and CEO of the Holland Bloorview Foundation. Grant and Sandra have an interesting conversation about the...

On Tuesday December 3rd, both Giving Tuesday and International Day of Persons with Disabilities, The Slaight Family Foundation announced a historic $30 million dollar donation to 11 of the leading organizations in disability advocacy and health care. Empowered Kids Ontario is one of those organizations. Jennifer Churchill, EKO’s CEO, joined Grant Hardy on The Pulse to talk about the significant im...

Tiffany Houston is CEO of Shine Foundation, a Canadian organization that works to fulfill the dreams of youth with disabilities. Host Grant Hardy speaks with Tiffany about some of the Shine Dreams they are currently fulfilling, their response to the Canada Post Strike, and how the organization got started. You can find more information on Shine Foundation at www.shinefoundation.ca and more informa...

Today on The Pulse, we’re featuring the Makers Making Change Holiday Hackathon! Last month in Burnaby, B.C., host Grant Hardy attended this event, hosted by Makers Making Change, a program offered through the Neil Squire Society in British Columbia. The event offered an opportunity for volunteers to adapt 250 toys to donate to kids with disabilities across Canada. In this episode, Grant speaks wit...

On The Pulse, host Grant Hardy highlights important issues in the disability community. On today’s episode he speaks with Stephanie Pilon, Manager of Campaigns and Advocacy at the CNIB. Stephanie joins the show to share information on the CNIB’s Get on Board! Campaign, including what an accessible bus stop includes, the biggest barriers to public transit, and what you can do to help the CNIB achie...

Chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, David Lepofsky, joins host Grant Hardy to talk about the history of the AODA Alliance, and let’s us know what’s going on at their 30th Anniversary celebrations on November 25th in Toronto.  The AODA Alliance has invited members from all major political parties to attend their event in Queen’s Park in Toronto, Ontario. Members...