Episodes

Former host Ana Acton joins us to talk about her time at FREED, and her new role at the California Department of Rehabilitation. Plus the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund update us on vaccination efforts in the disability community.

Dan Okenfuss, Public Policy Manager at the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers joins us to discuss his extensive career in politics, his leadership in Little People of America and how their adoption program helped him start a family.

To mark International Transgender Day of Visibility, Andi Mudryk, Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Rehabilitation, who recently came out as trans talks with us about growing up in a disabled family and accepting her gender identity.

Studies show that people disabilities are up to 3x more likely to die from Covid-19. But early vaccine access was only granted in the wake of a massive mobilization campaign by people with disabilities. And even that prioritization was delayed.

Love is ON the air tonight as we speak with Dan and Viola Dwyer, a married couple who are both people with disabilities. They talk about their marriage and the common misconceptions about disabled people in relationships.

We look at one disabled person's experience being hospitalized. Admitted for 4 days (unrelated to COVID-19), the hospital refused to allow personal care attendants to support the patient. He described it as "unbearable, almost torturous," and "inhumane."

On today's show, we look back at the November election, and how easily, or not, people with disabilities were able to cast our ballots here in California. We also look forward and hear some of the voting advocacy work in the pipeline for the coming year.

Rebecca Cokley of the Center for American Progress Action Fund talks to us about the disabled community’s increasing political power in the United States. We then hear both Presidential campaigns’ speeches to the Disability & Election Virtual Summit.

We bring you extended excerpts of Nevada County’s Education Workshop for Voters with Disabilities. This public workshop on Zoom was hosted by Jaime Melugin along with disability community advocates from FREED and Disability Rights California.

Continuing the conversation on the disproportional effects of COVID-19 on people with disabilities and older adults. As we reach the grim milestone of 200k deaths here in the U.S., we talk about the crisis standard of care guidelines here in California.

We spend today’s show looking at the disproportionate effects the pandemic is having on older adults and people with disabilities. We heard the stories about the early COVID hotspots in nursing homes and long-term care facilities, we’re going deeper.

Celebrating the 30th anniversary of the landmark civil rights law, the Americans with Disabilities Act. Affirming the inherent dignity of every person, regardless of disability, the ADA changed the landscape for people with disabilities.