We're The Inspiration®

Brian Brately and I have fun with auto corrects, but he starts the episode by talking about his recent trip to the Grand Canyon.

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After a long absence I return to the podcast, in part to explain why I was gone: the recent passing of my mother. This is very off brand for the show but I felt the need to talk about it on Mother's Day. If you've gone through something similar or if you even just knew my mom, please give it a listen.

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Sometimes I receive emails from people with truly inspiring stories, requesting to be on this podcast.  The latest of whom is Dr. Jenn Pratt, who spent her childhood as a cancer patient, and had a wish granted by The Make A Wish Foundation.  Hear how she's gone from that to becoming a doctor, and working with Make A Wish to help children who are going through what she experienced.

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Here's a look at the 25 most popular Halloween costumes for 2022, and how practical they'd be for people with disabilities.  

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Months ago, Paul Reynolds told me that Disability Employment Awareness Month somehow related to his job.  I finally found out how, which led to discussion about people who have disabilities, but don't have jobs.  

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Spina Bifida Awareness Month continues with Tara Gelhaus, a friend I made at the national SB conferences (when they had them)

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Last weekend, Julie Antos messaged me with a funny story about someone who clearly didn't know what spina bifida was.  So I decided we'd talk about that in my first episode during Spina Bifida Awareness Month.

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If you're a wheelchair user who finds it difficult to exercise, this episode is for you.  I spoke with Brianna Paauuwe, operations manager of the Wheel With Me Foundation.  Their app shows people at different levels of disability how to exercise.  

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Wheel With Me Foundation IG:  https://www.instagram.com/wheelwithmefoundation/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D

Wheel With Me Fitness IG:  https://www.instagram.com/wheelwithmefit/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y%3D

https://www.wheelwithmefitness.com/

This week I put together some clips of people with disabilities, talking about how they feel about being called things like "inspirational"  This was the initial basis of the podcast, and if you haven't listened yet, this might be the one to start with.  

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When Chris Young was on my podcast on Valentine's Day, he had a rather bleak outlook when it came to his chances at a relationship.  Now that he's in one, I wanted to know if his outlook had changed.  

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Last time Alex Gonzalez was on the show, I talked with him about a comic book superhero that he had created, who has the disability that he and I both have.  This week I talk with him about how the creation has evolved, and we look at some existing comic book superheroes with disabilities.  

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Part 2 of my discussion with Greg Pote about t shirts with disability related puns on them.  This time, the ones we found really funny.  

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It's time for another episode featuring Greg's List!  In this two part episode, Greg Pote and I examine tee shirts with disability puns on them.  First the bad, then the good.  

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When Nikki Guthrie agreed to join me for another show, I realized as we were doing it how many people she has around her that have disabilities.  We talk about that and a lot more.

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Dave Barnhart has helped create The Adam R. Barnhart Inclusive Athlete Fund in honor of his late son Adam, who loved playing whatever adaptive sports he could.  The fund is to help developmentally and intellectually disabled athletes in Washington County, Maryland.  Having a special place in my heart for adaptive sports myself, I jumped at the chance to talk to Dave about this.

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My old basketball teammate Paul Reynolds joins me this week to talk about some old times, but also why Disability Pride Month might not be as important to us as some of the awareness months.  

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Last month I went to my friend Brian Brately's wedding.  At the reception, his best man, who was also his brother, called him an inspiration.  I knew I'd have to make that an episode.  

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New friend Allen Johnson finally joins me on the show after a lengthy illness, to discuss his own podcast, how he broke his neck when he was 16, and why his service dog is being retired.

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Tarek Mrad has cerebral palsy, and does his own podcast, while trying to get people to live their dreams.  We did a quick episode because it came together very quickly.

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Tarek's website:  https://www.hestonwest.org/community-podcast.html?fbclid=IwAR1dYSf6npDFfZM5H5NS8r715e4zXXUslYI6L2HMmFLL9aiPsS8pGxdU_sI

I recently had a conversation with an old friend about how my podcast lacks the element of "dudebro"...  This episode may balance that out, as Alex Gonzalez and I talk about our mutual love of working out (aka Para Powerlifting), and a disabled superhero he's creating.  

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Matteo Esposito is a playwright with autism, who's written more than one play featuring autistic characters.  I talked to him about his career, which is really just beginning because he's still in school.  

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Another major reconnection for me as my old basketball teammate Pat Atwell is on this week's episode!  We talk (quite out of order) about being teammates, his college basketball experiences, and what he's been doing since graduating.

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Mattel has modeled a series of Barbie dolls after real female Paralympic athletes.  But will kids want them?

Video version here:  https://bit.ly/3aoFOWj

Nikki Guthrie has talked to me a couple of times about her autistic son, but what I did not know until recently is that her mother in law is deaf.  We talk about that and more on this week's episode!

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Thoughts on the new Hot Wheels toy, modeled after Paralympian and wheelchair motocross athlete, Aaron "Wheelz" Fotheringham 

See the toy:  https://amzn.to/3wmhDPH

Video version:  https://youtu.be/uBNEeCCv_-o

I found a list of the "best" jobs for people in wheelchairs, according to the owner of confinedtosuccess.com.  My friend Greg Pote and I decide how accurate the list is.  

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It's hard to know how to describe this episode.  It went off the rails pretty early, because of the unusual way my friend Chris Young chooses to express himself.  We end up talking about that, and how it relates to his disability, for the duration of the episode.  

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Meezan Ford returns to the podcast, to talk in part about her recently departed cat, Qandi, who had gone blind in the last years of her life.

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I had to talk to my longtime friend Ali Rogers Karpa again when I heard she was helping to put together a 5k on April 24, to raise awareness (and money) for amputees.  Sign up or donate here:  https://www.classy.org/event/amputee-awareness-5k/e393973

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Rather than do an episode recapping the Winter Paralympics which few of my friends watched anyway, I decided to talk to Brian Brately about the most exciting part:  sled hockey, which he plays.  

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Everyone has their own opinion on the Will Smith/Chris Rock incident, and I decided to throw my two cents in after reading that some people think what Rock said about Smith's wife was ableist.  Was it?  Tell me in the comments.  Video version here:  https://youtu.be/QQbt8PnkN-U

Sometimes episodes transcend disability, even if they feature disabled people. Right before Bryan Johnson's real birthday, I talked with him about his "sober birthday"

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I meant to address this a couple of weeks ago, but I'm glad I waited, because there are not one, but two competitors using wheelchairs in America's Got Talent:  EXTREME!  If you saw them both, which one impressed you more?  Do you think either will have a chance to win 500k?

Turns out that March 1st commemorates two things to the disabled community, with very different meanings behind them.  Video version available here:  https://youtu.be/7iL4sqPpEzc

My longtime friend Ali Rogers Karpa was married before losing a foot to cancer, but she had some things to say about last week's Valentine's Day episode.  What follows is a friendly debate revolving around dating with a disability.  

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Ever since I met Chris Young, he's wanted to talk about love and relationships in the disabled community. So that's what (we think) he did on this Valentine's Day episode of the podcast

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There's some very good news leading up to this year's Winter Paralympics.  Listen to find out what it is.

Video version here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lIMPbNjypI

As the Winter Olympics are now underway, the high performance manager for USA Para Powerlifting, Mary Hodge returns to the show to discuss her experiences in Tokyo at last year's Paralympics.

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Greg Pote joins me again for a look at ableism on television within our lifetimes.  Some of which we didn't even have to watch to know it's there.

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Podcast returning soon with part 3 of our look at ableism, this time on television.  In the meantime, here are my thoughts on being asked constantly whether I need help, just because I use a wheelchair.  

Greg Pote returns as we present a list of movies that showcase ableism.  

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In the first of a three part episode of the show, Greg Pote returns, and we examine what ableism is, what it means to us, and how it can be applied to movies and tv shows.

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Who better to have on the "Christmas" episode of the podcast than my good friend, Steve Ray..  Do we talk about Christmas?  Not really, it's mostly about his experiences as a disabled actor.  But give it a listen anyway.  

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