The TyePod

TyePod with BlancaIt was so great to have Blanca Lobo as a guest on this episode of The TyePod! She is a personal blogger who lives with multiple sclerosis and shares her journey to raise awareness for the disability community! We chat about common experiences we’ve had with progressive muscle weakness and tools to help with the day to day challenges involved with physical disabilities. Acceptance...

Today’s episode features public figure Aaron Baker who is a spinal cord injury lifestyle specialist. He also discussed initiating Adversity Into Adventure which is a 501c3 Foundation. The foundation looks to enhance rehabilitation, recreation and neurological research by funding high impact organizations for disability. I appreciate Aaron joining me and sharing his journey including multiple bike...

Episode 50 of season two is LIVE featuring your two friendly neighborhood PhDs Marilyn Keller and Tye Martin! We hope you all enjoy our conversation and that it resonates with you all. Thank you for listening! #TyePod #tracheostomy #TrachLife #AITA #TheAnts #FriendlyNeighborhoodPhDs #Flamingos Accessible Image Description: A promotional graphic for The Tye Pod podcast. The background shows a peace...

What’s up my Insta-friends! On today’s episode Paralympian Emily Oberst talks about her disability caused by cancer in addition all things wheelchair basketball. Emily discusses the complexities of wheelchair basketball, including its classification system and the challenges of balancing her sport with a full-time job. Diagnosed with bone cancer during high school, Emily highlights the lack of tre...

Today I am joined by Keisha Greaves, founder of Girls Chronically Rock, who discusses her journey as an entrepreneur with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy.  She shares her thoughts on the impact of social media for disability support, and the inspiration behind her adaptive fashion brand. Keisha emphasizes the importance of inclusive design, using materials like Velcro and magnetic snaps. Keisha als...

In this episode of The TyePod, Sarah Todd Hammer, a disability advocate, shares her journey from becoming disabled at age eight due to transverse myelitis, later re-diagnosed as acute flaccid myelitis, to her current life. She discusses her experiences with music, education, and advocacy. Sarah Todd talks about some of her challenges in school, including navigating college accommodations. This in...

It was such a privilege to welcome Anne Mok (@PurposeInView) onto The TyePod! Anne is a blind storyteller who uses speaking, writing, and social media to share her journey and advocate for accessibility. Our conversation was incredibly engaging—Anne spoke about living with a progressive eye disease, how it impacts every facet of her life, and why she’s so committed to making the world more inclusi...

Andy Rusch joins me on this episode of The TyePod to share his journey living with Becker muscular dystrophy and the importance of finding community alongside family and friends for support. We also dive into his passions for bird watching, photography, and writing. One of the highlights of our conversation was discussing what it means to write as disabled authors and Andy’s newest endeavor: launc...

Hannah with Heartcharged joins the podcast to talk about the nonprofit work that she and her sister Bethany are doing for the heart patients community! The origin story of Heartcharged began when sisters Hannah and Bethany were diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy as teens. Their mission now is to bring awareness of the diversity of patients within the heart health community including the la...

Anastasia Hall, a masters student at Johns Hopkins, discusses her journey with chronic illnesses, including post-COVID symptoms, POTS, and Lyme disease. She also shares her creative outlet in hand-molded pottery and her efforts to simplify complex scientific information for the public through social media. She emphasizes the importance of patient self-advocacy and understanding basic science conce...

This week’s final The TyePod episode features a chat with Caroline Hughes who is a certified Adaptive Fitness Specialist. We talked extensively about custom therapeutic plans for people ranging from those with mild disabilities to those with power wheelchairs. We also chatted about adaptive yoga and both of our experiences. One thing I really appreciate is that, while yoga and meditation are often...

Michelle Balliasotes is a Pediatric Occupational Therapist who survived a stroke before birth and lives with hemiplegia. She joins The TyePod to share her perspective on becoming a Pediatric OT and the diverse range of patients she works with now! One topic that I was curious about was Michelle’s podcast experience during a previous class project. She described her approach to interviews that focu...

The Tuesday edition of “The TyePod” this week features the local and internet famous Andrew Palmer and his mom, Katherine! They share experiences with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy from the perspective of a mother son team. Their stories about driving wheelchairs and race cars, having a power chair in the house for the first time, music interest, and Andrew’s “old soul” mentality were highlight mome...

Today’s edition of The TyePod features my conversation with Zoe Harrison! She shares her experiences with muscular dystrophy (MD), her hobbies, and her career transition. I have had the opportunity to chat with Zoe on several occasions and appreciate her perspective! We discuss the challenges of finding suitable personal assistants (PAs) and the importance of clear communication and safety measure...

In this episode of The TyePod I’m joined by Star and Tyler Wolf who are an interabled couple sharing their journey together which includes Tyler’s forklift accident that left him paralyzed due to a spinal cord injury. They both share their perspective throughout the injury recovery including obtaining power chairs and adapting to several hurdles with Tyler’s tracheostomy. One thing that hasn’t cha...

Jenny Jones joins The TyePod to talk about her mission as a Disease Advocate for Familial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) and Short Bowel Syndrome (SBS). I especially appreciate her sense of humor from her profile alone by taking a knife to some troublesome polyps. We dive into: Her advocacy roots and the role of therapy and self-care Writing a children’s book to raise awareness about FAP Collaboratin...

🎬 Sharon Lee (@itzmesharon) joins me on this episode of The TyePod to talk all things directing, producing, and… stand-up comedy! (Yes, she does it all—and I personally think that’s fantastic 😄). We dive into how Sharon first got interested in film and what it’s been like navigating the industry as a disabled creative. There are definitely unique challenges, but I’m excited to see where her tale...

Hello there! John and Donald hopped on this episode of The TyePod to talk about their friendship and how they are both able to help each other navigate life’s ups and downs. John shares how he first met up with Donald and how he learned to assist him with caregiving needs due to Cerebral Palsy. From there, they both talked about their competitive spirit whether playing adaptive sports or recoverin...

Hello there! Laura Michelle (@lauramichelle_713) joins me in this episode to chat about her experience as a disability advocate living with an SCI injury originally from a cheerleading accident in 2003. I really enjoyed chatting with Laura about her journey especially adaptive tools and her humorous approach to life’s hurdles! She shares details on caregiving, family support, and staying active! I...

Kayla VanderZanden joins me in this episode of The TyePod to share a bit about her story living with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 and her interest in art and graphic design among other topics! I’ve known Kayla for a bit now and she and I have collaborated on the Laughing at My Nightmare, Inc. “Share Your Nightmare” series in the past! She is a talented artist looking to complete coursework in gr...

The TyePod Thursday episode features a conversation with Kassy Ola (@oceanlighthouse) who I actually met through a group disability podcast discussion hosted by @autistic_advocate_for_crohns about a year ago. Since then we have started a collaborative project with other members of the disability community in the works that we’re excited to share! Kassy also talks about living with hypermobile Ehle...

The TyePod is back this week with Frankie Perazzola (@shakey.frankie) who is a coach at The Blueprint LA (@theblueprintla) and has Friedreich ataxia (FA). I’m excited to share our conversation with you all because it’s filled with badassery-yes I said it 😊! I loved the discussion Frankie and I had in this episode! From feeling music to the core (aka frisson which is my new favorite word) to chara...

A special edition of “The TyePod” is coming in hot as TWO amazing guests are featured in this episode: Kelly Berger (@thekellyberger) who is an adaptive traveler and Avery Roberts who is an NYC dancer (@avery.nicole916)! Kelly and Avery both live with Congenital Muscular Dystrophy and are heavily involved in the muscular dystrophy and larger disability communities. It was so great to chat with the...

It’s your friendly neighborhood PhD again! This episode of “The TyePod” I have a conversation with Clara Ritger (@clararitger) who is a writer and Trauma-informed Meditation teacher! Our conversation delves into chronic illness and complications that often arise when doctors and, to be honest, ourselves doubt what our bodies are telling us. One of the highlight quotes from talking to Clara that st...

Hello there! In this episode I’m joined by Conor McAuley who is a digital creator and disability advocate (@conmcauley on Instagram)! Conor talks to me about his experience with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and his journey so far. It was great to chat with Conor and I totally recommend checking out his story on Instagram. He has some really insightful content including authentic written work! Be on...