From writing blogs for the Canadian Down Syndrome Society to planning an autobiography, CDSS Awareness Leader, Paul Sawka does it all. We caught up with the staunch self-advocate in Calgary.

Receiving the news that your unborn child has Down syndrome can be a shock to parents. In this Encouraging Abilities podcast, we chat with author Adelle Purdham and her emotionally driven book about what it's like as a parent raising a child with the condition, and how most issues are created largely within ourselves.

Not your typical high school students. Jora Singh Nahal and Inbal Tzafrir are motivated and atruistic. The pair of award-winning students are developing applications to benefit the disability community.

Mike Shoreman was a regular guy running a paddle-boarding business in Ontario until Ramsay Hunt syndrome struck him down and forced him to re-evaluate his life. Since then he has become a staunch advocate for the disability and mental health communities, showing how overcoming adversity is in all of us. TRANSCRIPT Evan: so welcome back to DDA encouraging abilities podcast. I am your host. DDA communications manager Evan Kelly, today, we're not just talking about cognitive disabilities, but mental health as well adaptability, resilience and overcoming adversity. Joining me to talk about all that, is Mike shoreman. Now here at DDA, I've been following mike on social media for some time. He is a mental health and disability advocate. Now, Mike is and was a typically developed, developed person and a coach, a paddle boarding coach with paddle Canada, until he was struck down with what's called Ramsay hunt syndrome back in 2018 now, the condition led to severe physical impairments, including loss of mobility, hearing and vision, chronic vertigo, facial nerve collapse, all of this culminating into a mental health crisis. Suffice to say, it was very life changing for Mike. Perseverance is key. And by 2022, Mike became the first person with disabilities to paddle across all of Canada's five great lakes. So Mike, it's so great to have you here today. Mike: Great to Great to be here with Evan. Thanks for having me. Evan: No problem now, son, I don't want to give everything away, so I start this with a lot of my podcasts. So tell me a little bit more about Mike schorman. Mike: Oh, well, I am a keynote speaker, consultant and advocate. I work with organizations, academic institutions, government agencies, schools to help empower their people. And you know, help, help empower people and improve mental health, education and disability education. I work a lot with human connection. We learned a lot of things out there on the Great Lakes. It wasn't just me who went across them. It was a whole group, a whole team that I built to help support me, so we had to learn how to connect with each other to do these five marathons. But yeah, no, I'm I am just a regular guy who went out and did a big thing, and that was made possible by the support of a lot of incredible humans. Evan: Now, Ramsay hunt syndrome, that that's not something that comes up very much. I didn't even know it existed until I started to follow you. Had never heard of this condition. So what is it and how does it affect people? Mike: Right? So it's a neurological disorder, condition. It is activated. So what it is is essentially, if you've had chicken pox, chicken pox, once you've had it, it stays in your system, and it remains dormant. So many of us had chicken pox when we were kids. I did I had, I had a very mild case, me too, when I was Yep, and, and then it just stays in your system, and, and it can be awakened later in life as shingles. And, you know, both my grandparents had shingles. Shingles is usually you get shingles in your in your later stages of life.   Evan: Well, ironically, ironically, I had shingles a number of years ago, probably about 20 years ago, when I was fairly young, and the doctor figured it was stress related, but it did happen to me. Mike: Right, connection, right? So the Herpes Zoster virus, which is chicken pox, it can be reactivated as shingles when brought on by stress and and so what Ramsey hunt syndrome is is it is shingles, but very specified to when it attacks your eye or your ear. So in my case, it attacked my ear. I ran myself into the ground and wasn't taking care of myself. As I was an entrepreneur and I was running my paddle boarding business, and and ultimately, I worked myself into the ground and wasn't looking after myself well enough. And then, and then, it affected many different things, because it affected my vestibular system as it affected my ear. So Ramsay hunt syndrome can be mild to severe. In my case, it was very sever

Roz Maclean is a wonderful artist who hails from the Comox Valley. She has turned her passion and vision into a successful line of children's books that teach inclusion and diversity. www.rozmaclean.com    TRANSCRIPT   Evan: welcome back to DDA encouraging abilities podcast. I'm your host. DDA communications manager Evan Kelly, today, we're talking with Roz McLean now Roz is a local award winning author of children's books that deal a lot with diversity, communications, emotions and inclusion, which, of course, is right up Didier's alley. Roz is also a visual artist and illustrator and an educator in the Comox Valley here in British Columbia. She likes to investigate ideas of human nature, diversity, relationships, community, mental health, interconnection and the natural world through an anti oppressive and LGBTQ and inclusive feminist lens. They've written a couple of books illustrated even more, in addition to having a portfolio of artwork that covers abstract ink drawings animals, one set of works called insufficient arts art, rather which focuses on British Columbians with disabilities. That and more can be found at Roz mclean.com and I'll say this a couple of times, it's Roz with NAC mclean.com Roz. Thank you so much for joining me today. Roz: Yeah, thanks so much for having me now. Evan: I always begin my podcast with you know, people I've never met before. So tell me a little bit about a little bit about yourself? Roz: Well, yeah, I'm a children's book author, illustrator, and I'm on Vancouver Island in the Comox Valley on the traditional territories of the Comox people. I have a dog. I live here with my husband. I like to go in the forest, yeah, I don't know. It's, it's, it's funny to try to sum yourself up. Evan: I mean, you, you obviously do a lot of art. Art is your is that you're like, the number one passion in your life. Roz: Ah, I think, I mean, it's definitely been a common thread throughout my life, and it's funny, I guess when your passion becomes like your job, because it is my passion, and now it's also my job. So it doesn't always feel so passionate, but it's been a really common, consistent, yeah, thing in my life that I've always turned to and enjoyed doing is that something you studied in the past, I'm really lucky that I grew up in a really, like, arts and rich environment with my family. My parents are both artists, and my mom worked at like, arts umbrella when I was growing up, so do have classes there. And I grew up in North van as well, and they had, like, lots of enrichment stuff going on in their school district. And then I also went to Emily Carr and SFU for a little bit. I didn't finish up degrees there, but I was there for a little while. And then, yeah, and then I'll just take classes, like, here and there. It took, like, infection course one time. So I'm always learning, yeah, and because, it's because Evan: I look at your art on your your portfolio on Instagram and stuff like that. And it's, it's, it's, you run a lot of different styles, and it seems like quite a bit of different mediums. I just love your your ballpoint pen work. It's really, really detailed and very realistic. So you've got some obviously, influence from all over the place, and not just one particular, particular medium or style. Roz: Yeah, yeah. All over the place is a really great way to describe it. That's how I feel a lot of the time. I'm very much like, Oh, what about this? They're like, Ah, I could do that. And it's very like, kind of counterbalancy, like, I'll work on something really detailed for a while, then I'll be like, Oh man, I really need to, like, feel like I want to do something more loose and abstract. So yeah, all over the place is a great, great way. Evan: You mentioned your your work. It's your passion has become your work. So is this a full time thing for you? Roz: Whether books, yep, yep, I'm author, illustrating is what I'm up to these days, which is amazing. I don't know. Not many peopl

Inspired by her son, a Langley mom creates a book to help people with cognitive delays navigate daily life.    TRANSCRIPT Evan: Welcome back to DDA. Is encouraging abilities podcast. I am your host. DDA, communications, manager, manager, Evan Kelly joining me in the studio, which is, of course, is always a nice change over the phone. Is Stevie artemenko, am I getting your name? Stevie: Very, very close. Yeah. Artemenko, artemeco, close. Evan: Stevie is a local mom who has three children, each with some various health issues. She also works as a special education assistant. Is a writer and an advocate for the disability community. On the writer's side, she has produced a book to help with cognitive issues. Plan, sorry, to help people with cognitive issues plan and organize their days and develop life skills as they get older. It's called Life Skills, checks, checklists and guidance to help navigate everyday life. It is available on Amazon. So Stevie, thanks for joining me today. Stevie: Thank you so much for having me. I'm really happy to be here for sure. So I always start these off with my guests telling a little bit more about themselves your local so let's start there. Well before becoming a mom, I did a lot of traveling. I love travel, and then I worked in radio as a copywriter and doing voiceovers. And one of the radio stations that I worked at, I was a creative director, and I got shut down. Everyone got laid off. And so, yeah, yeah. And so I thought, What do I want to do? What's something I really want to do? And one of my bucket list things was to go work for a nonprofit overseas. So I ended up working for an organization called Crossroads, and I ended up in Fiji as a teacher, and I had no background in teaching. Didn't know what I was doing. It was like, here's your class, they don't speak your language, and that was how it started. But thankfully, I had a wonderful roommate teacher who helped me. Evan: So what were you teaching? Then, everything, everything, Science, Math, English as a second language? Stevie: Well, basically, I mean, when it came down to me, what I was teaching, I was just teaching basically English and some math. It was a grade three class, but it was quite funny, because clearly there was a language barrier, and the kids would just be like, Yes, miss, Yes, miss, and half the time, I don't think they understood anything I was saying. Evan: So what do they teach in Fiji? Or not teach? What are they? What's the language in Fiji? It's Fijian. Fijian. It's its own language. Yeah, Pardon my ignorance.     Stevie: No, no, that's okay. Um, so, yeah, so, and I only picked up a little bit of the language and but it was amazing. So that totally inspired me to come back and want to work with kids. And, you know, radio is really fun and great and all that. But it wasn't, you know, kind of inspiring me. And so I decided to go back to school to become a special education assistant, and that's where it kind of all started. And then, yeah, after my youngest son was born with all his special needs, then I quit all my jobs to focus on him. Evan: Yeah, right, right. So tell me a little bit about your youngest son then. Stevie: So I have three kids, and they all have health challenges. So my oldest is 24 and he's about to become a dad himself, which is really strange and surreal. Very happy for the first time. Grandma for you. Yes, yes. I was still like grandma. I like Nana better, but he had various health issues. He when he was a teenager, he was diagnosed with a congenital heart condition and a blood clotting disorder, so major surgeries, and it was really hard on him as a teenager and the family, and then my daughter, who's 23 was diagnosed with celiac a few years ago, so she's trying to navigate that, but she's on the road to becoming a registered holistic nutritionist, which is exciting, yeah. And then my son, Caden, who was the inspiration for this book, he was born at 25 weeks, at one and a half po

Noam Platt is the founder of MakeGood, an organization in Louisiana specializing in designing and building devices for people with disabilities. We caught up with him about how new technologies are making it easier and cheaper to build an accessible world.

He moved to Canada about 20 years ago from the UK and never left. We chat with accessibility consultant Ramesh Lad who aims to make Vancouver Island accessible to all.   TRANSCRIPT   00:08Welcome again to DDA's Encouraging Abilities podcast, where we chat about everything disability related. I'm your host, DDA Communications Manager, Evan Kelly. Now we talk a lot about accessibility on this podcast, how things can be done better to level the playing field for people with disabilities, whether physical or cognitive. Now that could mean adopting a universal design concept so that everything we build or create is done with everyone in mind. 00:33Sometimes that's easier said than done. So we need consultants who navigate design beyond meeting building codes, because building codes doesn't necessarily mean it's accessible. It just means it might be relatively safe. So joining me today is accessibility consultant, Ramesh Lad, who hails from Vancouver Island. I came across Ramesh on an ex or Twitter story, if you're still there. So the power of social media is good. 00:57And I was a person with lived experience. Ramesh started step-by-step accessibility consulting in 2018 and has been building his business ever since. So thanks for joining me today, Ramesh. Thanks for giving me the chance to chat. Thank you. No problem. I always like to start things like this. So tell me a little bit about yourself. So where do I start? So I'm basically originally from England. I moved to Canada in 2001. 01:26And I came with the idea of just to live and work out here for about a year, just to get some different experience and to have a different sort of lifestyle. But 22, 23 years later, I'm still here and enjoying Canada, basically. My background is I in England, I worked with youth in schools. Before that, I worked in human resources. 01:54And then when I came to Canada, my first job I had was with BC Paraplegics Association as one of their counsellors. And then from there, I've done various other jobs. Most recent jobs I've had is working with youth at risk here in the Covox Valley. I've also worked on the downtown east side in Vancouver when we lived in Vancouver. So my career history is quite varied. 02:21My personal background is I was affected by the drug thalidomide, which is a drug given to expectant women to alleviate things like morning sickness. But unfortunately, the drug had an impact on the fetus, which left people with various types of disabilities, including limbs missing or short limbs. 02:51And not everyone, sadly, had survived. So in the UK at the moment, there's about 400 people that were affected by thalidomide that are still alive. In Canada, I think it's just under 100 now that are still living and, yeah, living. Now, if you don't mind me asking, Ramesh, how old are you? I'm 62. Okay. You look younger in your photographs. 03:20Thank you. That's good. It's amazing what Photoshop can do. And so, I mean, you know, just checking your profiles and things in your business website, what really got you interested in working with at-risk youth? I think it's just one of those areas I fell into. Like I said, my background was working with youth in England, but mainly in schools and colleges. 03:51So when we moved to the Valley, a position came up, when we moved to the Colmocks Valley, a position came up which was involving working with youth at risk. And I'd already worked with adults at risk, as I was saying earlier, on the downtown Eastside. So this is just sort of following on from that, but specifically working with youth at risk, which is an area that had an interest in, especially as I've worked with youth in the past. 04:18So that was it really, it was just more of a chance that came up here in the Cobox Valley where there was a program run called Blade Runners which is working with youth at risk to try and give them basic skills to allow them to find entry level jobs. So I was working with youth to sort of train them

Laen Herschler knows his live theatre. The UBC PhD student has taken the reins of Vancouver's inclusive Theatre Terrific and encourages anyone of any ability to get involved.   TRANSCRIPT Theatre Terrific – Expanding the Horizons for Anyone With the Acting Bug   00:09 Okay, we are back for another edition of DDA's encouraging abilities podcast. I am your host DDA communications manager, Evan Kelly. Today we are talking theatre. Joining me today is Lon Hershler, the brand new artistic director of Vancouver based Theatre Terrific. Theatre Terrific production and classes are for artists of all abilities to develop performance skills and collaborate in the production of theatrical works. All of Theatre Terrific's classes, workshops, community and professional productions are   00:39 are made up of people of all colours, abilities, genders, and backgrounds. It started in 1985. Theatre Terrific is now Western Canada's longest running inclusive theatre program. It has won numerous awards over the years. And now with Lon at the helm, the future is even brighter. So thanks for joining me today, Lon. It's great to be here. Thanks so much. Now that the gear is working, we can do this. So tell me, tell me a little bit about yourself.   01:07 So yeah, I'm really happy to be jumping in here with Theatre Terrific. I've been actually involved with Theatre Terrific as an artist for about six or seven years, working with Susanna, the previous director. I'm an artist, I'm a theatre artist of many different areas of theatre. I do direction, I suppose, artistic direction now.   01:35 But my background's really all over the board with theatre as an artist in many different directions and ways. And yeah, quite a while with... So you'd say that theatre acting, that's your lifeblood, that's who you are.   01:56 So I would say that I began as an actor and that's where I entered in. I entered in through the joy of acting in theatre and I continue to act, but I've been a teacher and a facilitator of theatre, I'd say predominantly for the last 10 years. And so really working with others to create theatre, devise theatre often, helping others to...   02:25 create works of theatre, also doing improv theatre. I do a lot of playback theatre, which is improvise, storytelling and community. So yeah, I have a love for the acting, but I would say I've been facilitating and supporting others in their acting for the last 10 years. Now, are you still an instructor at UBC?   02:51 Yeah, so I'm in the midst of doing a PhD. So I started off after my master's degree in South Africa. I did a master's degree in theatre making in South Africa and lived there for about four years and then returned and taught at UBC Okanagan in the theatre department, in the creative studies.   03:17 and it was a very alternative theatre department, really helping theatre artists create their own work. And I worked in that for on and off for about five or six years. And then I decided to go further in my studies, in my academic studies, when I moved to Vancouver and I'm doing a PhD and also teaching on the side at UBC as well.   03:44 Yeah. So what's your PhD gonna be in?   03:49 So interestingly, the work I do at UBC is in something called research-based theatre. And so what I've been doing is supporting academics of all disciplines who want to use theatre as a medium to reach perhaps community, to reach larger audiences, to make their work sometimes make the ivory tower, so to speak, more accessible to...   04:19 people that wouldn't necessarily open up an academic journal and read an article, but are definitely implicated and interested in the work that's being done, but would never necessarily have access to it for various reasons. And so theatre becomes this medium, this space for people to interact with new ideas, with research that has gone into community. And in fact, overlapping with a theatre terrific's work.   04:49 One of the major projects I've worked on for the last

It's a long process, and it's not cheap. We chat with the founders of Leash of Hope Assistance Dogs who are doing everything possible to meet the demand for service dogs to help the world become more accessible for people with disabilities. TRANSCRIPT Filling the Gap - Leash of Hope Assistance Dogs   00:04 We are back with DDA's Encouraging Abilities podcast, where we talk about all things related to disabilities. I'm your host, DDA Communications Manager, Evan Kelly. Today we are joined by Danielle Main and Tessa Schmidt, who are founded Leash of Hope Assistance Dogs. I've wanted to talk to them for a little while now. That of course sums up what that is. We're talking about doggos. We're big fans of dogs here at DDA and anything that makes things more accessible for people with physical or developmental disabilities.   00:34 Thank you for joining me today. My pleasure. Thank you. All righty. So Danielle, tell me a little bit about yourself. So as mentioned, I'm one of the co-founders of Leash of Hope. One of the things that we're very proud about, and I'm very proud about is the fact that our organization is run by two women that both have disabilities. I am low vision blind with optic nerve dysplasia.   01:03 And amongst running Leash of Hope, I'm also a full-time registered massage therapist and train as a competitive rower. So, oh, wow. That's a that's a lot of physicality going on. Yeah. And Tessa, what about yourself? I. I have a special career, and my main role in Leash of Hope is to train the dogs and the clients.   01:33 And alongside of that, I work with children as a BI. Oh, okay. That's interesting. So did you both found Leash of Hope Assistance Dogs? Or is this mainly your thing, Danielle? We both found it together. So when Tess and I came together, we both had...   02:01 very complimentary skill sets. And we noticed that there was a need within the industry and the community of people with disabilities that we felt like with our unique skill sets that we could kind of bridge a gap and fill. So the two of us together, me having more business background and my background with dogs was, more dogs with like behavioral issues. And then Tessa having a more formal background education and...   02:30 service dogs and dog training. We felt like our skills were very complimentary to be able to start something from the ground up. So what is your background with dogs?   02:43 So my, oh sorry, go ahead. No, Danny, I think that was in the... Oh, I'm so sure. So my background with dogs, first and foremost my education was doing equine sports massage, which led into extracurricular education in canine massage, and from there I spent some time working in vet clinics and then as well as   03:12 working in a grooming salon as a grooming assistant, as well as being a professional border for dogs, especially dogs with behavioral or medical needs. So that was my background with dogs before starting Le Chappot. And what about you, Tessa? I apprenticed under several service dog trainers.   03:39 that works with multiple different organizations and have learned a lot through hands-on and working with the Balanceable Canine Program as well. Wow, that's interesting. Now, Danielle, equine massage, canine massage, is that... I mean, equine massage, I've got friends who get involved in horses, so I understand sort of the need for that, but I've never heard of canine massage before. Is that a thing that people... Like,   04:09 look for that kind of a service? The main reason why I would get requests for that type of service would be anything from like dogs that were in some kind of sport, same as kind of with people, same as with horses. And, you know, the dogs might have very physical sport needs of whether it's dogs that are doing like agility or barn hunt or any kind of like,   04:38 canny cross and so just like people end up developing aches and pains and imbalances and then I'd also work on a lot of like steamer dogs with ach