Outlook on Radio Western

Irish bells, to kick things off, to celebrate Oyster on her seventh birthday like the bells worn around her neck as she runs free at her favourite place. It's our post-election Mixed Bag show on Outlook this week, until the next one when sister/co-host Kerry and Regular co-host Barry can hopefully be back in studio with brother/co-host Brian. In the meantime, it's early May and we're looking back on the recent federal Canadian election after we discussed voting accessibility, amongst other things, on the pre-election episode from a few weeks back. Brian kicks things off sharing about ambulance rides and stitches with his evening adventures in emerge and we share our plan to get him to wear a helmet. We're looking back on and Brian explains what made him emotional about a recent “Blind Baseball” episode, a review of recent Elections Canada voting accessibility, and about public vs private as Canada goes forward with our new prime minister on the world stage. We also describe double-sided ice cream cones while navigating and getting turned around (like anyone who takes a wrong turn) as we found ourselves using structure discovery at Oyster's park, using terms like “structure discovery” or “shore lining” to explain how we, as blind people, get around (a blueprint for being blind) - our discussions this week are all about getting lost and found again including mobility, accessibility, and the multi-sensory with Oyster bells and church bells. Fifth day of the fifth month, 2025 as we talk marking the occasion of Red Dress Day on Turtle Island and anniversaries, including it being the eightieth anniversary of Victory In Europe (or VE Day), during the same week, along with guide dog Oyster's birthday. We're celebrating, in Ireland, with a delicious lemon cake, which we eat to honour Oyster. Along with all that, the ideal absence of wars, the kinds which sweep disabled people up in the danger and the chaos humans perpetuate with these things, we at Outlook instead honour guide dogs and peace in this month of May. Learn more about Red Dress Day here: https://amnesty.ca/red-dress-day/

Irish bells, to kick things off, to celebrate Oyster on her seventh birthday like the bells worn around her neck as she runs free at her favourite place. It's our post-election Mixed Bag show on Outlook this week, until the next one when sister/co-host Kerry and Regular co-host Barry can hopefully be back in studio with brother/co-host Brian. In the meantime, it's early May and we're looking back on the recent federal Canadian election after we discussed voting accessibility, amongst other things, on the pre-election episode from a few weeks back. Brian kicks things off sharing about ambulance rides and stitches with his evening adventures in emerge and we share our plan to get him to wear a helmet. We're looking back on and Brian explains what made him emotional about a recent “Blind Baseball” episode, a review of recent Elections Canada voting accessibility, and about public vs private as Canada goes forward with our new prime minister on the world stage. We also describe double-sided ice cream cones while navigating and getting turned around (like anyone who takes a wrong turn) as we found ourselves using structure discovery at Oyster's park, using terms like “structure discovery” or “shore lining” to explain how we, as blind people, get around (a blueprint for being blind) - our discussions this week are all about getting lost and found again including mobility, accessibility, and the multi-sensory with Oyster bells and church bells. Fifth day of the fifth month, 2025 as we talk marking the occasion of Red Dress Day on Turtle Island and anniversaries, including it being the eightieth anniversary of Victory In Europe (or VE Day), during the same week, along with guide dog Oyster's birthday. We're celebrating, in Ireland, with a delicious lemon cake, which we eat to honour Oyster. Along with all that, the ideal absence of wars, the kinds which sweep disabled people up in the danger and the chaos humans perpetuate with these things, we at Outlook instead honour guide dogs and peace in this month of May. Learn more about Red Dress Day here: https://amnesty.ca/red-dress-day/

“Blind baseball - it's like the great equaliser. I've found the experience of playing the adaptive sports just as fulfilling, motivating, and frankly competitive as the sports I played as a sighted person growing up.” Our guest on Outlook this week was used to adversity in life, having faced both grief and treatment of a serious chronic illness as a teenager. When Zach Ship was newly blind, years later, he was wished a “Happy Disability Pride Month” by The Lighthouse Guild and he didn't believe there was much to be proud of though he soon learned otherwise. Zach explains to us some of the rules of blind baseball and about what it meant to him when he discovered the sport, in its adaptive form, which gave him something back of the years playing sports like baseball competitively. So when he heard a documentary on the blind baseball team was being made, he was thrilled others might see what blind baseball (difficult to imagine for so many) is like.. So from our friendly cross-border Major League team rivalry to the support group and club we three are all a part of/considering starting, Ship has been through everything( from acute/sudden and unexpected health situations/acquired disability to the loss of a parent at a young age) and shares some of the lessons on the possibilities of adaptation and the power of community. “No way of reacting is right or wrong, but focusing on what things we do still have, the things you can still enjoy. Even if it's just you can eat this delicious meal or you can feel the sun on your face. It could be small things or it could be big things, always keeping that very very close in mind is critical.” We first heard Zach Ship on “It Happened to Me, A Rare Disease and Medical Challenges Podcast - It happened to me. I'm not alone and neither are you.” This is the message he both benefited from thanks to others, in his own journey, but also the message he believes as he's become a disability advocate now himself. To learn more about Blind Baseball and the documentary being made about Zach Ship's team, check out this Indiegogo page: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/blind-baseball-documentary-halfway-funded#/ Watch the documentary teaser trailer here: https://vimeo.com/963770229

“On the way to the library, I flew a kite.” We here on Outlook decide to begin this particular Mixed Bag episode with the above quote, start to a social media status, because we on this show love libraries/love books and love the outlook of writer Leona Godin, also close friend of this radio show/podcast, but really because elections make us want to take a break to fly a kite too. As the federal elections here in Canada approach, we're together, just after Easter, to discuss some of the issues in our country's politics from a disability perspective as issues facing disabled Canadians have been mostly overlooked during this election season, so soon off of the rushed Ontario provincial elections we just so recently dealt with. We're telling about the realities of the PC Party being no-show's at both provincial and now federal disability town halls and a still-totally inaccessible, inadequate, and inequitable voting system/process. Kerry shares about experiencing a new holiday, Irish style, after being in Ireland for Halloween and now Easter, along with being in Ireland last time during the presidential elections in the States and now, being back this time during our Canadian ones. Also, she and Barry celebrated Easter by having KFC fried chicken for their Easter meal, coming to the conclusion that KFC in Ireland seems better to her than eating it in Canada. Parades, Irish Sea gulls, and Kerry cuddling with an Oyster guide dog as we talk traditions, whether holidays or looking for change (but not necessarily only for change's sake) when voting for politicians who often ignore the concerns of disabled voters. Kerry also shares about a plane ride conversation with a generation z stranger, about the multi-sensory experience of taking guide dog Oyster to her favourite park again, and Brian's revisiting previous voting attempts and their inaccessibility as he's off to try again himself. So, it's Canada's federal election on April 28th and we're doing a mixed bag edition, one co-host in studio live and the other in Northern Ireland. With a bit of distance from the anxious Canadian citizenry, sister/co-host Kerry hasn't flown a kite, but instead has flown like one into the future of the UK time zone five hours ahead of brother/co-host Brian and yet modern technology makes it possible to open up a bit of a pre-election mixed bag of discussion topics, both silly and serious as one voted already while the other is on his way after this show and we will continue with a post-election wrap-up shortly.

Speaking on the Canadian (Can lit) literary scene and on April/May's The Festival of Literary Diversity (FOLD) specifically, Canadian author and accessibility advocate Amanda Leduc says: It's impossible to have something that's 100 percent accessible all the time. We're always working towards a more accessible world, working towards making those adjustments, bit by bit by bit. And that's where I think having a sense of humility about this and an openness and willingness to learn and to change and grow, for all of us, is really important. This week on Outlook we're talking with Amanda and learning more about Cerebral Palsy and her own experience with the neurological condition causing everything from muscle weakness to fatigue to pain. Leduc tells us about her time getting her Masters at St. Andrew's University in Scotland and something she calls “a monument to exclusion” when it comes to the inaccessibility of heritage buildings and old cities. From the built environment of capital Edinburgh to the natural environment of Canada's winters, Amanda is speaking to us on the show about her own accessibility needs plus considering other's accessibility considerations after being bullied for a visible limp in childhood to her practice of valuing rest and energy preservation (recharging and rejuvenating) in order to be at her most creatively as a writer. For Amanda Leduc, it's about reimagining what storytelling can mean. Check out more on Amanda's work by visiting her website: https://amandaleduc.com Leduc tells us about her previous role as the Festival's Communications and Development Coordinator, about the origins of FOLD for filling a void in Canada's literary and festival spaces as far as diversity and representation are concerned, and about some of the events being offered (both virtual and in-person) such as the Friday night Literary Cabaret and the Sunday High Tea and her involvement in some panels from April 27th to May 4th. And so as The FOLD celebrates its tenth year here in 2025, we're talking bringing people of all experiences and perspectives into the fold with creativity and innovative opportunities for diversity, just as we do every week on Outlook On Radio Western. For more on FOLD go to: https://thefoldcanada.org

Taking a big bite out of life, brother/co-host Brian has returned from a birthday celebration trip to New York City and he's back and telling us all about it. He shares about his accessible travel and airport experiences at Toronto Pierson, JFK, and LaGuardia, the music show “An Evening With Ida and Tsunami” at Bowery Ballroom he attended with friend/Outlook guest Nefertiti Matos Olivares on Birthday Eve, and another round (after his experience in London, England) and again he set up an exploration of a city with greeter organisation Big Apple Greeters to be shown around by a local along with meeting up with friends from around the state, including sushi with an upcoming Outlook guest. His snapshot of NYC and most of its boroughs includes a tour of NYC transport including a tactile map of the subway system and its history (one puzzle pieced put together at a time) found Brian checking out the tactile further with an exhibit of subway station turnstyles through the years and an accessible touch tour of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. For us at Outlook though, it wouldn't be the same without audio to tell a fuller tale along with hearing about a few wild New York City encounters with security guards, allowing Brian to get a broader, more personalized feel of the place he's in. Check out audio from the live show he attended, his latest subway and other NYC transport and being live at Grand Central Terminal, and his special time spent on Roosevelt Island and The East River. And time in New York wouldn't be the same, especially a first visit, without stopping in Central Park to listen to some live saxophone music. Brian shares both audio and Be My AI image descriptions of some of the photos he took for sighted family and friends to see what he did, it's a full multi-sensory glimpse of the landmark New York City as we meet Brian beneath the big clock. At one point, he stands with his NYC local guide at FDR's statue there on Roosevelt Island, with The United Nations right there and the words of Roosevelt clearly underscoring some of the dangerous changes sweeping the States these days. Plus, also on The Island, they make a brief stop at the Accessibility Services booth to find out if they have any information for that spot available in braille. Stay tuned for the answer. Along with a sharing of some comforting cuisine prepared by a dear friend, plenty of King of the Hill watched, and a homestay at a Manhattan apartment, with the added benefit of getting to explore NYC with the blind leading the blind, he won't ever forget his first Big Apple experience shown to him by its locals. Book your own personalized tour with Big Apple Greeters: https://bigapplegreeters.net/visitor/register Check out a segment from Ida's Bowery Ballroom set: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUTcW325GT4

We're running to keep up with the train of time, yet through slivers of memory, on this yearly audio diary looking back on the year that was. It's our original podcast, Ketchup On Pancakes, and we're recapping 2024 as 2025 rushes forward in a blur. On this one, we're joined by friend/boyfriend Barry Toner from Ireland, someone who's joined us in the past, down in the basement where it all took place. We're looking back, on this annual By The Fireside with a tribute episode, dedicated to our dear friend Andrew. As we sit, beers in hand, by the crackling fire, Andrew's very own drums nearby. We share a few songs featuring or in tribute to Andrew, as well as looking back on travel to Maine (for a drama club camp arts residency) and Ottawa (Kerry and Barry joining the parents on a road trip), and to the things we're proud we tackled, in fitness and in mental health for instance. We keep up the silly and imaginative with feature Cassette Clip of the Week and new feature Word of the Year, while lamenting the loss of a once-in-a-lifetime sort of fellow, a friendship lost. So farewell, 2024 (with your last taste of security in the wider world), and to friends gone along the way in the march of time. That's how that was. That's how it was. That's how it is. Find Fowler's Meaning No Harm on streaming services and Bandcamp: https://fowlercanada.bandcamp.com/album/meaning-no-harm Check out Barry's first appearance, down in the basement, on Ketchup On Pancakes from 2018: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/ketchup-on-pancakes-episode-14-orange-so-it-is-feat/id1527876739?i=1000633134110 And take a listen to our two-parter Outlook show where we visit our new friends in Mount Vernon, Maine, for Drama Club Camp: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2024-10-14-our-week-in-maine-well-figure-it-out-pt-1/id1527876739?i=1000673780980 https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2024-10-21-our-week-in-maine-well-figure-it-out-pt-2/id1527876739?i=1000675516532

Records sound better than t-shirts. Today we're talking literature and CanLit, sports, and music around the theme of accessibility as we continue to promote women in the arts for the remainder of Women's History Month. Well this week on Outlook we're discussing wearing our message on our clothing as The Festival of Literary Diversity's (FOLD) schedule of events and festival sign-up has gone live on their website which we'll share at the end of this episode's description. It's an eight day long event (first, half virtual and the second four days in person) as we discuss the importance of both options for events and gatherings, workshops, and festivals of all kinds, for people with disabilities which make in-person attendance more difficult, something we've sadly moved away from since coming out of the worst of the pandemic. A friend told sister/co-host Kerry about a recent online author talk, put on by the FOLD, from their FOLD Academy, with Amanda Leduc called “Building a Life as a Disabled Writer” which included topics such as managing energy for writing when living with disability or chronic illness and information on applying for arts grants which are geared to creators with disabilities. (The next FOLD Academy takes place on April 19th at noon Eastern.) Spring has sprung )or is trying to) and that means baseball so brother/co-host Brian is ready, with his fantasy league and with the real thing, as we highlight the usefulness of listening to games on the radio for those of us who can't see the visuals of the live thing. It's like audiobooks or podcasts, an audio method of listening. He's traveling to New York City shortly, but only time will tell if he ends up attending a New York team's live game, as Kerry remembers the experience of attending a Bluejays game in the Sky Dome, as we forever refer to it. We talk the creative projects we've worked on together and the factors which make them more or less possible, about the need for diversity in literature and art, and even about the ignorance of certain authors who don't understand the value of authenticity reading or even what it is. Proud to be woke on Outlook, it's part II of a March Mixed Bag pile of topics, including the FOLD, and sister/co-host Kerry will be attending the online portion next month and sharing more come May. So many books, so little time, but check out more info on The Festival of Literary Diversity, from April 27th to May 4th, by going to their website here: https://thefoldcanada.org

“When I was a little girl, I used to dream as a man, because I wanted to do things that women didn't do back then such as traveling to Africa, living with wild animals and writing books," said Dr. Jane Goodall. "I didn't have any female explorers or scientists to look up to but I was inspired by Dr. Dolittle, Tarzan and Mowgli in The Jungle Book — all male characters. It was only my mother who supported my dream: 'You'll have to work hard, take advantage of opportunities and never give up,' she'd tell me. I've shared that message with young people around the world, and so many have thanked me, and said, 'You taught me that because you did it, I can do it too.'" (Jane's quote is excerpted from a 2018 op-ed with Time magazine.) March - It's a lot of things really. It's another Mixed Bag, a Mid March Mixed Bag, along with it being a St. Patrick's Day Monday special when we aired live and we on Outlook are also still celebrating Women's History Month. We're looking back and reflecting on what was the five year anniversary of the start of the “stay at home” orders and lockdown and the start of Covid. Speaking of medical things, and spring, sister/co-host Kerry shares facts about the lotus flower and its symbolism of rebirth in nature and science, which leads to celebrating March being Kidney Health Month as she and her dad recall the rebirth and fresh start of the kidney transplant Kerry received from him, a rebirth of sorts. Kerry shares a health update with her kidney and levels being as stable as ever. Kerry in blue and our International Women's Day edition guest Jane Piper in red, like the Radio Western sign in the background, brother/ally/co-host Brian starts the second half of the show reading the Be My AI image of the two ladies posing in the lobby of the studio after, as we like to take photos with our live and in-studio guests when we are lucky enough to get them, as we look back on the previous week's episode and the discussion with restorative justice activist Jane. We've managed to post the actual photos even with the accessibility issues that come along with social media these days. The second half is dedicated to what's going on in politics, both provincially and nationally as we share concerns about our premier receiving a third win last month, even with his silence and lack of action on matters concerning the disability community. Last week's guest Jane spoke a lot about accountability and the lack of it in our society, these actions or lack of that politicians often are modelling and still being voted in by those who don't consider marginalized populations. Also, we finish up talking about the Canadian Disability Benefit set to come into effect this summer and a federal election on the horizon, we share more about the CDB and provinces like Ontario which has not yet promised not to put in clawbacks and Alberta which has put in the barrier of clawbacks to the already set provincial benefits. Organisation Disability Without Poverty is working to pressure politicians to live up to the promises to combat disability plus poverty across the country. “Green alligators, long neck geese, chimpanzees.. We begin the show with a song about these animals, including the ones Jane Goodall worked with, the featured woman in history for the month of March and finish off talking the spring promise of an upcoming baseball season. Today though, we're unfortunately celebrating St. Patrick's Day without our Irish co-host Barry and Oyster the guide dog with us live, but they'll be back, but so we've started off the show with a silly song from our childhood - The Unicorn Song, The Irish Rovers version proving that spring is on it's way to green things up in honour of our Irish connection. We love all things Ireland, but we at Outlook are Canadian and proud to be so. https://www.disabilitywithoutpoverty.ca

“You don't know what you're doing, you're basically recreating your life, and there's no map for it. I just went through the motions for a long time, I was just a shell of who I once was, but by talking about my experience I realised I could help other people and I began to share my story in front of audiences.” Power, control, empowerment. Rebirth, trauma, healing, and even forgiveness and on finding the places, the spaces to talk about hard things, in life changing communication and accountability terms with our fellow human beings. As spring once more approaches during March is Women's History Month, with March 8th being known as International Women's Day, it's time for another one of sister/co-host Kerry's annual IWD featured spotlights on a woman she knows who is doing important work in intersectionality and gender equity spaces. This guest can be an ally, but does not necessarily need to be blind or even disabled, but rather a woman that's making an effort to foster human connection…with conviction for a more equitable world, as it meets the themes of diversity, intersectionality, and interdependence that make up the crux of this show.. This week on Outlook for International Women's Day 2025, the guest is Jane Piper, (performer, artist, and restorative justice lived experience advocate) local and live in studio. Kerry and Jane look back on how they met in the autumn of 2018, how they very nearly attended a Bernie Sanders rally together, and Piper shares more about what sharing her own story means and does for her each time she tells it. She shares openly about the brutal attack she faced in 2003 and about how she handled the trauma and life afterward, leading her to take on surrigate victim/offender dialogue. Piper runs storytelling workshops with both women in abuse shelters and with the men who've been incarcerated for violent acts against women and she talks to Kerry about cultivating empathy for others, even those who have committed unspeakable acts, and on what it means to offer/find forgiveness in a world more divided than is good for any of us. Women's History Month/International Women's Day this year's theme is “The Strength In Every Story” and Jane Piper has both worked to facilitate that in others (like she did when Kerry took her storytelling workshop locally in London) alongside showcasing the same in her sharing of her own, in the work Jane's done on herself and with/for others such as her work with abused women (as a peer support worker) and inside correctional facilities doing accountability workshops with men imprisoned for violent crimes against women. Jane shares with us what it was like the first time she stepped foot into just such a facility for one of these accountability workshops, what restorative justice has meant in her life, and what it's like working with these offenders. To find out more about the public speaking she does, as she's progressing on the book she's written (Coming Out of The Fog) about her rape survivor experience, check out her website here in the meantime: http://janepiper.com

Heading toward International Women's Day on March 8th, our guest this week says: “Listening to live music for me is just such an incredible experience because I'm not someone… I don't personally enjoy the nightclub spaces, that stuff overwhelms me, but when it comes to listening to music, I could do that for hours. That's good audio stimulus.” This week on Outlook we're speaking with Amanda Shekarchi, a musician and someone who works in media, about music, perfect pitch and its multi-sensory elements, and community/campus radio stations like the ones all three of us broadcast out of. We talk family and sighted siblings, about working collaboratively with community whether sighted or not, and how collaboration involves everyone, including the essential role a mentor can play. Amanda tells us about her radio experience, including working with Met Radio. (Her university station at Toronto Metropolitan), then onto the CBC with her work on shows like Day 6 and the doc she both produced and hosted “Playing By Ear”, and also her work as a monthly on air contributor and host for AMI (Accessible Media Inc.). It was Family Day, just last month, when both us siblings happened to be listening to the CBC when Amanda's “Playing By Ear” came on and speaking of family, we're talking Amanda's experience growing up in Toronto with hers and so much more on this first of multiple International Women's Day episodes. So check out her radio show on Met Radio (12 80 AM) on Monday, March 10th at noon in Toronto for a Met 30 Special IWD Show. `listen to Amanda's CBC documentary “Playing `by Ear” here: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/1.7110160 Find her interviews with musicians on Met Radio's YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx_HD2TZjQc&list=PL0t7bx4aRZ25qxBBq1rWly3scN5gl4S6S And follow her on social media: https://www.instagram.com/amandarayaofficial/

“For twenty-four years of my blindness journey I wandered around this world pretending I was sighted. I wouldn't use a cane, I didn't want to draw attention to myself, I didn't want to identify as somebody with a disability,” but then Gina Martin says, “In 2015 I met two women who were both confident and blind and it actually blew my mind”. This week on Outlook we're speaking with Gina with an emphasis on out-of-the-box thinking and the shift” which leads to action which leads to change, leading the disability awareness charge with her company: Diverse Abilities. It's a disability awareness education program she offers, with everyone from children to seniors, in schools, workplaces, and retirement communities and community centres where she teaches about the diversity to be found in disabilities and the people living life with them. From power tools to axe/dagger throwing, this Canadian is up for it all. This advocate, teacher, and our guest states: Rather than saying “I'm losing my sight,” I refrained it as “I'm gaining my blindness.” She does this by focusing on exploring the other, non visual senses with her audiences, but by also doing it with her partner, friends, and others in her personal life. With some tough words from our guest for Canadian society, it's a truly international discussion as we learn more about Gina's months-long blindness skills training in Louisiana and what that felt like and how it has prepared Martin for living her best blind life ever since. We're, all three, the rest of us curious about how those centres work and we pose the question as to why our guest thinks Canada does not offer structure discovery in the same way. And we hear from Barry, who's Irish, about the language we use in North America, specifically the word “handicapped” in terms of things like a parking pass or public bathroom, that this word is no longer acceptable or common over there. Gina shares about the language she prefers in her own life and in the work that she does teaching kindness, given and received. Our guest says: It's IDEAL - Inclusion, diversity, equity, accessibility, and language. So check out Gina Martin and more about her programs by going to Diverse Abilities: https://diverseabilities.ca And follow her on Facebook for such excellent informative posts: https://www.facebook.com/DisabilityAwarenessConsultant/

“It's my party and I'll cry if I want to.” February is birthday month in the family and this episode happens to fall on co-host Kerry's forty-first exactly so we're celebrating all things Sister/Co-host with this one. This week on Outlook we're talking Kerry's favourite movie (unavailable with audio description), about the trick of FaceTime “Share Content”, along with the boys discussing fantasy baseball and Brian's continuing work with his swimming lessons. Also, the first week of the month of February was White Cane Week, live on air (clean-up on isle three), and find out why the birthday girl is “troubled,” her words. Nine years till fifty … or halfway till eighty-two as brother Brian likes to say. Check out Kerry's official website: https://kayconsulting.ca

“I can't just sit there and watch life pass me by - I wasn't built for that,” says Keisha Robinson, a Brian Connection with this one. They first met when she ushered him to a seat at an AODA (Accessibility For Ontarians With Disabilities Act) round table event at King's University College, at Western for International Day For Persons With Disabilities. When, in fact, we have a more personal family/community connection to our first 2025 guest. Our first guest of the year and of February, Keisha Robinson describes herself as a social butterfly, now, but what was it that made her come out of her shell? She grew up with pain, was labeled “drama queen,” and with a diagnosis realised it all finally made sense. Keisha shares about her life lived (before and after) the progressively deteriorating muscular disease diagnosis she received as a teenager, about the umbrella of various symptoms and deterioration predictions and timelines of Muscular Dystrophy (MD, and the philosophy she has gained with her plans with work giving back to sick children in hospital and her study of disability. Robinson is working towards a double major in Childhood and youth studies and Thanatology—which is the study of death, dying, grief, and loss including all sorts of non-death losses. This week on Outlook we're learning more about her studies and discussing how to demystify loss and grief and normalise the open dialogue on these parts of life we all share. We explore the inaccessibility to be found out there (IE housing design) and hear about how it is to get around Western and King's University College as a wheelchair user, not to mention around the city she lives in, along with some of her tools for doing that. So while one host says he doesn't miss a friend he's never met, the guest might miss ice skating or swimming, while the other two hosts might miss seeing colours or video games and that's the cross-disability perspective in an example of a non-death loss we've been navigating grief over. It's one really important part of the “Outlook” umbrella we're showcasing on this show and with guests here, both past and present.

BRAILLE … IS … NOT … A … LANGUAGE!!! Welcome to our final 2025 Braille Literacy Month episode - kicking things off with a poem from a child who loves braille for (Braille200) an initiative by The European Blind Union. Meanwhile, for this week's Mixed Bag on Outlook, we continue to speak about our new low tech device The BrailleDoodle and its role in making braille more accessible, such as for students and for Barry. (Learn more on this item and hear the unboxing we did on the previous show. It's like a white erase board for blind message writers and note leavers.) We discuss Braille Literacy and Braille Literacy Canada getting a shoutout on a CBC Radio Morning show (even if they incorrectly referred to braille as a language), about the practical uses for braille, and we dive deeper into the lived experience (what's known about it) of the code's inventor: Louis Braille. So airing originally on International Holocaust Awareness Day, we're talking the realities of DEI (diversity/equity/inclusion) and what disregarding them can point and lead to, along with Ontario's upcoming provincial election at the end of February and what it might mean for blind voters like us, with braille still being our primary topic on this one: Braille, then and now and in the lives of all of us who need and read it. And so, we say again, for those way far in the back: Braille is a code! Learn more about Braille Literacy Canada: https://www.brailleliteracycanada.ca/en

While sure there are big things, big horrible things happening in Washington, D.C. - on a freezing day in January, we are on air for another Mixed Bag, lurgy filled episode. This week on Outlook On Radio Western we're finally all back, in-person, together at Radio Western after holidays and illness and continuing the celebration of Braille Literacy Month (Braille200) by sharing an unboxing of a new low-tech braille product. The BrailleDoodle from the TouchPadProFoundation has arrived and we explore its design and uses, live in studio. It is a laptop-sized product with magnetic braille dots and the letters teaching the braille code while on the other side, a tactile grid with holes and magnetic dots pop up with the help of the attached pen or stylus. We discuss the uses of the BrailleDoodle vs the electronic braille displays we use, along with other braille teaching methods. We share about places braille is appearing, on hard cover books, clothing, and Lego, all sorts of novelty braille as well. Kerry and Barry give an update on braille lessons/learning while Brian updates us a bit on his lessons which are of the swimming kind. Who says our Monday must be Blue? While there's so much nonsense happening in the world, here on Outlook we're playing with The Doodle and having fun. For more information on the Braille Doodle, teaching device for students and learners using both braille and tactile graphics, check out more here: https://www.touchpadprofoundation.org And purchase one here: https://atguys.com/products/brailledoodle-braille-stem-and-art-for-everyone

Broadcasting live from both Kerry's office/house and the Radio Western studio, the year and our first show of 2025 begins with the sound of guide dog Oyster's nails and paws on the floor with our first episode being partially from home as a result of snowy Canadian winter. It's our first Outlook of a new year and, instead of being all together in studio like we'd planned, two of us are joining from home with co-host Brian there in person. We talk about the previous year of Outlook (Kerry taking her Barbie white cane wherever she goes/regular Outlook listener shoutouts/Others Like Me) including guest totals and new episode numbers, all things Brian loves while talking the holidays and the interdependence a nasty virus or two can highlight between Kerry, Barry, and Brian who avoided the illness for the most part. Kerry shares about being cursed with technology, a fact Barry has arrived at from witnessing it up close as we discuss inaccessibility of modern appliances such as a new air frier, troubles with Kerry's cell phone and a mysterious lack of data, and more as the love/hate relationship between accessible tech continues in 2025. We discuss how grief isn't at all linear, Kerry's recent experience visiting the emergency department on her own and the excellent care she received at her town's hospital, and about venturing out in the winter terrain as a blind person as Kerry and Barry recently did to go to retrieve their new couple's Tim Hortons pyjamas from the community mailbox. It's our first mixed Bag show of the year and on this one we mostly dedicate things to Braille, braille, and the literacy that system/code of communication has in the lives of blind people and this will be our overall theme for the rest of the month on Outlook.

“So after I was injured, all of a sudden I was discovering - Oh, there's a whole other possibility of how I can use these artistic disciplines I'm really passionate about, but with now this whole new lens on it of being somebody with a disability, somebody who's part of a community that has largely been marginalised and devoiced and that I think, by putting on stage, putting in the stories, suddenly there's a transformative element there. So I think it's something that I rediscovered, post disability, and rediscovered with new purpose,” says our new friend (made in 2024), Regan Linton. Barry's back, and guide dog Oyster too, joining us on our final episode of the year to speak with Linton to finish 2024 off with a bang. This week we're speaking with theatre and VoiceOver artist, performer, writer, and educator/advocate Regan Linton about finding one's voice and using it optimally as she has had to before and since the accident she experienced around her college years. Linton is one of our new pals from the disabled artist's retreat in Mount Vernon, Maine over the previous summer and together we're looking back over our time together at Drama Club Camp. We talk cross-disability solidarity, along with intersecting access needs, as Linton shares about her experience living as a wheelchair user. She shares with us about how theatre became a part of her life (both pre and post accident that caused paralysis from the chest down. She tells us about the road trip she took through southern states immediately after this year's election on her way to Warm Springs, Georgia, a special spot for her study of disabled president Franklin D. Roosevelt, a part adapted/and being played by Regan on stage as we discuss staying locked in our own bubbles vs being more open to other people's lived experiences which helps us better understand our own overall. We're looking back at the week we spent together getting to know each other, including the road trip we went on in Linton's wheelchair accessible van, an adventure from Maine to Boston, Mass, interdependence being key with our friend Regan and a key theme for this show. We're talking the umbrella of disability and disability experience with social change agent and artist and expert Regan Linton, as she shares about her own internal revolution, on Outlook on the final show of 2024. To check out more about our guest this week, her VoiceOver and educational work plus so much more, visit: https://www.reganlinton.com

Q: What do Lego and musical theatre have in common? A: Our guest for this second last show of 2024 that's what. This week on Outlook we're speaking with our new friend Matthew Shifrin, someone we met with the rest of the gang at the drama camp/artist's retreat we attended in Mount Vernon, Maine over the summer. We spend the first half of this episode talking all things accessible Lego as Matthew shares about how the world-wide children's activity was finally made accessible for him on his 13th birthday, about his visit to LEGO HQ in Denmark, and how he's created Bricks For The Blind, a non-profit organisation bringing sighted allies and blind testers/users together to adapt 220 complex sets in its first year in operation, not to mention unthought-of uses for the famous stackable blocks. In the second half of this second last show of ours for 2024, we hear about how Matt's love of musical theatre began, including learning to play accordion in a week to attend an Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and his work at one time with a gesture coach, Matt being kind enough to share with us and the listeners a bit of his immense musical talents with a few songs from his various performances such as the musical he wrote about his Jewish grandmother. Bonus Material: we've included a second song (two-for-one) for this episode of the podcast which wasn't included for the live airing on Radio Western originally. And, whether sighted or blind/young or simply young-at-heart, go check out Bricks For The Blind to learn more about how LEGO's being made accessible, one brick at a time, by Matthew Shifrin and friends: https://bricksfortheblind.org

From dusk till dawn. It's always darkest before the dawn, but what's wrong with dusk? Where's the beauty in it? It's December and nearly are we arriving at the shortest, longest, darkest day/night of the year.. On our International Day of Persons With Disabilities 2024 episode, we are discussing disability within a larger framework of discussion, expanding into age and the changes it brings, including experience with illness and disabilities as we all, inevitably, get older. Through a sudden scare with the sight in his right eye, Frank Bruni goes ahead, in his book, to explore a shifting perspective on themes of vulnerability, ageing, and the perspectives that come from a life turned into life lessons well earned. This week on Outlook we discuss New York Times columnist Frank Bruni's medical memoir The Beauty of Dusk: On Vision Lost and Found which came out a few years back. We examine themes from the book such as light and dark from the images held in the book's title referring to beauty found in the dusk and the influence of language and using such words as “affliction” and the negative weight such a word holds for the imagination. We need more thoughtfully written books like Frank's to normalise disability as a part of all our lives. Co-host Kerry stumbled upon this one and, upon reading, wanted to review it on the show, to explore how those who gain valuable lived experience of disability suddenly, or later in life, can still write about these things from a thoughtful and careful place with sensitivity and wisdom. Find the book available in various formats here: https://www.amazon.ca/Beauty-Dusk-Vision-Lost-Found/dp/1982108576

Co-host Kerry's back! Sister/co-host Kerry returns and is live in studio after being away for a month. It's a month away from Christmas on this late November, mixed bag show. This week we discuss what was and what has been, with a badly sprained ankle, Kerry luckily got all her Dublin exploring out of the way, mostly. And Brian has been taking action regarding his mental and physical health. We talk about Others Like Me: The Lives of Women Without Children book release and the unfortunate lack of access in audiobook versions available for those, like some blind people, who would prefer or are best able to read any book in its audible format. Also, Kerry shares about her recent literary and media wins with The Toronto Star and CBC Radio. Kerry is wearing her Poets For Harris t-shirt in protest, while accepting results while Brian broke the pool, referring back and ahead to the 2003 Elf film which is over 20 years old this December. This upcoming Christmas. We're looking forward but we are also looking back, on Kerry's time in Ireland this last time, as well as the holidays and traditions of the season, along with recent guests. It was a big deal, having/seeing her writing in newsprint - check out a link to Kerry's Toronto Star travel essay here: https://www.thestar.com/life/travel/i-m-blind-but-i-still-wanted-to-experience-my-beloved-ireland-through-my-other/article_84ee3c60-983e-11ef-9c6e-ef822316d85c.html And listen to Kerry on CBC radio's Fresh Air: https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/audio/9.6567168

In preschool, her teachers noticed she wasn't hearing and she soon got hearing aids, but it wasn't until she was in her teens that our guest on Outlook this week had to face that she was losing vision as well. Natalie Shearer is with us, for one of our final interviews of 2024, to discuss her position as an advocate, with her diagnosis of Usher syndrome. She's telling us about what eventually caught her attention and made her sit up straight, seriously thinking about the necessity of learning to use a white cane, facing blindness head on. From Two Canes Consulting, job as Head of Accessibility and Operations at Lotus (wearable assistive tech), to her position as Usher Syndrome Canadian Coalition's Ambassador. So with her lifelong experiences with both disability and chronic illness, Natalie Shearer is eager to get back to accessibility and community. And community is built through connections, one of which led to Natalie coming on our show in the first place. Thanks to Anne Mok (Purpose In View) for the intro. Check out the wearable ring Lotus Natalie speaks about in this episode: https://getlotus.com

Words like “childless” and “blindness” are both too harsh for some ears, often diluted by using other words or terms. These are conversations we on Outlook seek to take on and not hide from every day because we're living it. November 5th is the official North American release of Others Like Me: The Lives of Women Without Children by writer and translator Nicole Louie and this week sister/co-host Kerry is taking a deeply personal dive into the book's themes. Kerry and Nicole met online six years ago when Louie Was on the end of a years-long search for others like her, in the sense that they were not mothers, could not be, chose not to be in her pursuit to write a book about a subject often shied away from. There are plenty of misconceptions around “childlessness” in society and how we're less vital to the world because we're not reproducing for the next generation, but Nicole has pushed back on that message in OLM and in the work she does surrounding the topic. On this episode we hear from Nicole Louie about her first book and why she wanted to have the conversation to begin with, the over-decade long road to publication, and her and Kerry share about the growth of their friendship and collaboration during the writing process, including the book club discussion Kerry was lucky to get to join, at a special spot in Dublin, as one of the featured women appearing within its pages. Nicole shares about things like the research process, her on-the-ground time when she visited Kerry in Canada and when Kerry then visited her in Ireland, and the audiobook narration experience she had in studio, as she comes into Kerry's virtual Outlook studio for a chat. This is not an anti-natalist position book, but rather the further opening of a discussion on the rights and freedoms of women and a dialogue between women and their partners, families, and communities on a choice for a life, a path different from what we're taught, as girls, about our sole job being to grow up, get pregnant, and become mothers. Kerry is very glad this book is out, after so long, and she wanted to use her platform with this show to talk about this intersectionality, of the lives of many others, that's not always easy or painless or certain, but just that her friendship with Nicole and her own search to find community have brought her to where she is and she wants girls and women to know they have options for different paths in life. It's a book, by one woman, interspersed with the stories of fourteen more including Kerry's story. To check out more about Others Like Me: The Lives of Women Without Children go to the North American publisher's website for more information: https://houseofanansi.com/products/others-like-me

While Kerry is still in Ireland and away from the mic, this week there's a special spot filler in her seat. We're talking magic and monsters on what we've coined our Monster Mixed Bag show. This week on Outlook, the Fab Four return, including sister/co-host Kerry and boyfriend Barry in Northern Ireland and brother Brian and friend Nefertiti Matos Olivares, visiting from New York City, in studio after her first appearance as our guest back in July and the show where we visited Perkins School for The Blind in Watertown, Massachusetts as a group. Nef is visiting Ontario and Brian has been showing her around its capital, around London, and even Kerry's house (without Kerry herself being present). The four of us discuss the adventures Brian and Nef have been having, including tours of Toronto and its Islands, an accessible art gallery experience at Tangled Art + Disability, and a proper Kijewski immersion around the Woodstock area. While Kerry and Barry share about watching two wildly different retellings of Dracula (both audio described) and tell tales of a spooky ghost bus excursion, in Dublin, along with their awesome hotel find at an historic spot included on said spooky tour during their pre-Halloween visit to Bram Stoker's Dublin. Sharp and stabby, flaming hot like the fiery depths of hell, this is Halloween on Outlook as Kerry experiences the holiday, Irish style (including trying monster themed snacks) and tells all on the show on this final episode of October. Learn more about Tangled Art + Disability: https://tangledarts.org Listen to the four of us back in July on Nef's first Outlook appearance: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2024-07-15-scars-the-oscars-the-voice/id1527876739?i=1000664231625 And us four exploring Perkins School for the Blind: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2024-09-23-our-field-trip-to-perkins-school/id1527876739?i=1000671209448

Frogs and toads, rubber ducks, and loons - oh my! It's time for Part Two - this week on Outlook we share the second half of our audio scrapbook of our week in Mount Vernon, Maine this summer for Drama Club Camp. Last week we heard from several of the others in attendance and this week we continue hearing from those from our "cast of characters,” as our host called it. Host Scott spoke with us last time about his philosophy of “one step, two step, three” and this week we further explore the bonds of friendship and collaboration in working toward a theatre piece featuring the blind aesthetic, along with loons on a lake and six blind people jumping in to swim with them. We hear from Scott's partner, in work and in life, Shannen about his hopes for their inn and artist retreat, plus we hear from Chef Jeanelle and cross-disability friend and collaborator Regan. It's a fun-filled dive into the week that was. This episode features interviews with Regan Linton, Jeanelle Krawchuk, and Shannon Morrison. It is dedicated to Brian's longtime friend and drummer Andrew McIntyre (1978-2024). RIP. The clip from “Frog and Toad Aren't Friends” found in this episode is taken from Meaning No Harm by Fowler featuring drums by Andrew. Find it here: https://fowlercanada.bandcamp.com/album/meaning-no-harm And learn more about Scott and Shannon at: https://www.dramaclubproductions.com

“This morning, when I woke up, I felt good because the sun was shining. I felt good because I was a frog. And I felt good because I have you as a friend.” Arnold Lobel, “Days with Frog and Toad” We used to do tours of the hotel rooms we stayed in as a family, as kids, and now we're going to give you a tour of the inn we were invited to this summer, in Mount Vernon, Maine, for an artist retreat. This week on Outlook we're taking you along on our trip with us, from back in July, as we made new friends, connections, relationships formed with friends we've never met and those we've known virtually for a while. This episode is part one of two parts, an audio scrapbook of sorts, our guest book entry for our experience at Drama Club Camp. Through interviews we did with the other participants, to a tour of the 100-year-old inn we were hosted at, to the boat rides on the pond/lake, we were there to create something from a blindness lived perspective, with others from the blindness community, disability cross solidarity community, and the broader community of those who've experienced feeling like they didn't fit in - we're exploring the bonds of friendship and the art made when we're given the room to explore our imaginations and feel accepted by others. From the hugging area to the community kitchen, we're hearing from the others in attendance as to what the week ended up meaning to them and sharing what it meant to us too. The themes from the “Frog and Toad” books kept coming up during the week, plus much much more, all of which will be showcased in this two-parter special Outlook. This episode features interviews with Dr. H. May, Dr. M. Leona Godin, Matthew Shifrin, John, and Scott Ihrig. Check out our friend Matthew Shifrin's Bricks for the Blind: https://bricksfortheblind.org And learn more about Scott and Shannon at: https://www.dramaclubproductions.com

We're continuing our education series during October, Blindness Awareness Month - BAM! A lot has changed since the summer of 2020, but not the focus and hard work of returning guest and ally, Caroline Karbowski, who joins us this week from the home of Perkins School for the Blind in Boston, Mass. There she will soon be celebrating October 15th (White Cane Day) with blind and deaf-blind students who she's having a hand in teaching things such as tactile literacy and self advocacy skills. Returning friend of Outlook, Caroline, has been working with the students of this historic educational campus for blind and deaf-blind children for months now. After catching up with Caroline, and for our listeners on her company See3D which produces 3D models for tactile learners, we could have used more than an hour's time to find out all the work she's been doing since we first met her. Like the international outreach Perkins does, as we found out on the tour of the school we took in July, Caroline shares about the international outreach See3D is now working to offer through the mission of the organization she herself started back in 2017 as a high school student. Now she contributes, through her own biology background, to making the STEM fields more accessible and inclusive while finding new ways of making the braille she learned, as a sighted person, even more relevant for herself and her students. Since her time in Ohio, from certified braille transcriber to orientation and mobility specialist, Karbowski left her schooling and her work in her home state and moved to Boston, where she's been experiencing life at the school with the children during the summer camp offerings and now is beginning a new school year on the Perkins grounds. She tells us about the vast array of resources and assistive devices for multi-sensory teaching techniques available to her there and about some of the adventures she's been on with the kids over the summer, what the year ahead is shaping up to be for her in Watertown where we just visited ourselves, and her continued educational and entrepreneurial goals within various inclusion spaces. Plus, she shares about coming across more “braille in the wild” and shares about A Cubed Design and its ideas for how to make electronic braille machines more able to withstand wear and tear when in use. So from the art and experimentation of tactile map making and the range of communication and teaching tools she's both making and making use of there in Boston to the continued work back there in Ohio where she's utilising interns, grants, and other funding and fundraising strategies to continue with 3D printing, Caroline and helpers have been working on making everything from weather guides, to lightening, to the life cycle of a butterfly accessible. And not only is she driven toward all we've so far listed, Caroline also tells us about the ballroom dancing she enjoys and how The Terminator showed up for his interest in the activity. From her now going on to attend U Mass, to Perkins, to growing work with C3D, Caroline Karbowski shares it all with us. She is one sighted ally we'll have back on with us again, but just try to listen to this educational themed episode and not feel inspired to learn something new and be of service to the younger generation. Undoubtedly, as the list of necessary and innovative work she does grows as it has in the years since Covid turned Outlook from strictly a radio show to now a broadcast and a podcast both, we're glad we met her and, this second time around, we're sure you will be too. Learn more about A Cubed Design, a startup for braille literacy that is developing a low-cost and customizable braille display: https://www.acubed.design And listen back to her previous appearance on the show: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2020-08-31-interview-with-ceo-of-see3d/id1527876739?i=1000489673485

DISABILITY WITH POSSIBILITY This week on Outlook we're starting, along with our mission on this show toward recognising intersectionalities and identity, we begin this episode by talking about the date this one originally airs: December 30th. In Canada, the last day of September is known as Orange Shirt Day since 2013 and now Canada's National Day For Truth and Reconciliation since 2021. We emphasise, during a time of the year when school is generally back in session for local students, how the government and church run residential schools for Indigenous children were less like schools and more like concentration camps. We acknowledge these things while remembering all the innocent children made to suffer within that so-called educational (more like colonial) system. Yet also, we celebrate joy in community and culture, while sharing too about the acts of community and solidarity between Indigenous and non Indigenous people with a story from an Ontario school for the blind and a current act of sharing it participated in bringing together the land and Stewards of both the W Ross Macdonald School for the Blind and Mohawk Institute Residential School now known as Woodland Cultural Centre. In the second half we replay some audio of a recent Disability Without Poverty town hall community meeting put on locally in London we were invited to attend. We keep wanting to become a bit more involved in the things happening close to home and with this set of audio clips, we split up in the group to meet others in the community, we heard so many personal stories of the lives of people living with disability and those who love and advocate for and with them, as we play what we said that day when it was our turn as this country heads toward a promised Canadian Disability Benefit, as imperfect and even minuscule as it might be. It's the DISABILITY WITH POSSIBILITY edition of a Mixed Bag show. Check out award-winning Indigenous Hip-Hop artist, producer, writer, and multi-instrumentalist Mattmac and their song Still Got Love featured on this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5cD0qVjYoeE Show your support for Woodland Cultural Centre: https://woodlandculturalcentre.ca/support-us/ And for more on the kinds of things Disability Without Poverty are up to or how you can help: https://www.disabilitywithoutpoverty.ca

Over the summer, we visited Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, outside of Boston. It's September and back-to-school is on people's minds so we bring you a special Outlook…into this historic educational environment for blind and deafblind children. What brought us all there together?” Our tour guide asks us. Well, sister/co-host Kerry has known about Perkins for most of her life, which is down to her history with Helen Keller (this episode including a bit of the backstory on the history of Perkins). She wanted to see the place and finally, found herself in the Boston area in July. So she talked her brother/boyfriend/new friend to join her and an adventure they'd never forget. They all had fun in the end, from the playground to the museum, we even came across a giant globe. Of course, the whole museum was so much more accessible and inclusive than most other museums, and the Brailler museum station is the highlight, the machine we used growing up named from the school. Or the tactile map station of the entire campus. It was a specialised learning experience and some of us could have been there all day. You certainly needed it to see and read it all. We wanted to share the highlights of our tour of Perkins School for the Blind - to let listeners know what this place is, what it's stood for all these years, and what it now means to all of us who were there that day. So come along as we take you back to Perkins with us. Bonus material (Not on original radio broadcast): our farewell to Boston with our friend, State Trooper Steve. Learn more about Perkins online: https://www.perkins.org

Richard Marion knows that: with the political climate threatening inclusivity of society in some ways, it's even more important, out there, that he only wants people identifying themselves, being proud of their identities. Going with our September theme, we're beginning this one by talking education for the blind, for our guest. This week on Outlook we're speaking with first-time guest on the show, Richard Marion, from Richmond, British Columbia, but he wasn't always living in Metro Vancouver. We hear from Richard about the culture shock of going from the third grade at the school for the blind to a much bigger classroom environment in his local, mainstream school for grade four. He shares about bullying, the white cane and braille skills he was given, while trying to make use of his residual sight. Richard shares about his intersectionalities which include disability, coming out as a part of the 2SLGBTQQAI+ community, and discovering his Metis heritage. We talk audio description not transferring across the border. Marion was the one who got the Vancouver Pride Society to have live audio description for the Pride Parade and then would pass the baton to VocalEye. He applied for Metis Citizenship, in 2019 receiving his Metis Nation British Columbia status card, after childhood summers going back to the Manitoba he was born into. Since he's gone on to be hired to audit the accessibility of the Assembly of First Nations national general meetings. Finally he talks about his touring with a group of musicians and his recent bucket list train travel from Vancouver to Toronto, sharing about the friendliness of the Via Rail staff along the way.

Every year, when our anniversary for starting rolls around, we like to invite guests on with us who listen to the show. This time, we've invited longtime listener and friend Nancy Gill to join us live on air. It's our Six Mix this week on Outlook with Nancy, all phone troubles aside, and we couldn't have found a better person to be with us for this one. Nancy has a routine, every Monday morning (as it starts at 8 AM on the west coast where she's located) Gill gets up, gets coffee, and crawls back into bed in her pyjamas to tune in. So for this one we look back on the last six years, with massive amounts of help from Nancy, as she remembers so many of the guests and topics we've hosted and covered and she gives examples better than we ever could. We're so glad, it's why we do this show, that listeners like Nancy find what we bring to the program helpful and that Outlook can be a place people can feel at home. So it's a special Mixed Bag episode, with Nancy Gill, to celebrate six years doing this radio show/podcast, for ourselves and for anyone out there with a perspective (an Outlook) to share. And this isn't our first time speaking with Nancy on Outlook. Check out her previous appearance here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2022-04-25-national-volunteer-week-with-first/id1527876739?i=1000558793185

Trouble with technology, social media, and yet we come on air laughing, asking ourselves one question: Next step - should we get a billboard? This week on Outlook it's another Mixed Bag and one of the final summer shows. We hear about Brian's night out and Kerry's, Blind Barbie, and the 2024 Paris Paralympics are here with braille on the medals, being that France was the home country of its inventor. So with the end of summer on the horizon, here's to looking ahead and good luck to all athletes competing. Learn more about the blind Barbie: https://shop.mattel.com/en-ca/products/barbie-fashionistas-doll-in-partnership-with-the-american-foundation-for-the-blind-hrh17

August is half gone and “back To school” will soon be here. Our returning guest this week, Mitch Kidd, knows about the butterflies on the first day (both as student and as educational worker) speaking with us about the new teaching program they're starting this fall. This time we two are back in studio and speaking with Mitch all the way from their home on Canada's west coast once again. This episode discusses taking breaks between guide dogs, “now celebrating a year with Mitch's third guide dog Mario”, on always traveling with a white cane in their backpack (as a backup) to be able to explore their surroundings tactually, and on the cross-animal relationships and interaction as Mario met Mitch's miniature horses and on hiring an animal translator for guidance. We're glad to have them back to hear an update on things such as self employment services and training, on musicianship and accessing braille music, and their feelings on traveling on Vancouver's Sky Train now and on asking for assistance through the station. We talk a recent ADHD diagnosis, being able to access time out in nature when you have a disability and on speaking up about hiking with others not being wrong (with some of the judgments within the disability community), and the relief of travel to Victoria being made easier by the knowledge of what having ADHD means for them. For Mitch (over stimulation as their brain would go off-line), knowledge is certainly power/empowering. So going from South Africa to Vancouver Island, we're reflecting with return guest Mitch on the passage of time and on living our truths. It's an honest discussion on intersecting identities as we work to make this show a place where such open conversations are made more commonplace. We at Outlook congratulate Mitch on their recent official name change. And, when it comes to identity and gender and politics, Mitch says: “It's my life you're talking about.” They tell us, “It's been a mixed bag really,” as Mitch shares about misgendering, making taking hormones accessible, and on those who just won't try vs people who do. Live and let live we say, the mixed bag of intersectionality being what Outlook's all about, with returning friend of the show, Mitch, and first-time guest Mario too. Find Mitch's previous appearance on the show here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2022-11-14-blindness-and-gender-intersecting/id1527876739?i=1000586296318

It's still summer and the summer months often include summer camp which is where our guests this week first met as teens. To begin with, the three things we have in common are our differing levels on the blindness spectrum, all four of us were integrated into the public school system, and we now record our respective podcasts in studios, them at the studio at Perkins School for the Blind and us at Radio Western. On this episode of Outlook we're speaking with Lina Coral and Juna Gjata from the 2024 debut - “Blind Girl Chat” podcast about their first impressions of one another when meeting at Perkins summer programs, the conditions and syndromes which led to their blindness and to them coming to the States as children, and some of the best and worst things about being blind, even in a progressive state like Massachusetts, all of which they have open and honest chats about. We chat about the lack of truly funny blind jokes, having a sense of humour about our daily disability moments, and deciding when or if to take advantage of the perks of being blind, of which there are plenty. Diversity, identity, intersectionality - just like Outlook's accessibility, advocacy, and equality are the themes of our show and of theirs as we have a chat with the girls from “Blind Girl Chat” on all this and much more. Find them wherever you get your podcasts or at the following link: https://blindgirlchat.podbean.com

Picture it, Maine and Boston, 2024 … A loon on a serene lake and six blind people are hearing its call from a boat in the middle of said lake, as the sound reverberates the way only sound can on open water. Fans cheer for their favourite baseball team and the sounds of their excitement echoes within one of the Major League's most famous ball parks. Co-host Kerry wins the award for the best sound leaping into the water. And a night full of crickets are in the audio foreground as a loon once again calls out, but from the lake out there in the background. This Outlook is Barry's last one live for a while, but he and guide dog Oyster will be back with us. But first, on Outlook this week, we're talking Maine and Boston, which is where we all were, for a week in July, and we're sharing a bit about our time away. We discuss the Drama Club Camp week together in an old inn in Maine, just what we did all week, and some about those whom we were there with. We also discuss duck tours, fresh sea food, and visiting Perkins during our 48 hours in Boston as we share (using some soundscape clips to break up the talking over one another because it was just such a meaningful experience for all of us). From the hugging area (a no sorry zone) to access checks, many so-called “coincidences” happened to us all while away. (Stay tuned for a deeper dive, like the one you could make off the side of a boat, into the creative and collaborative work we did in Maine.) This episode is dedicated to Toad and his recovery. So glad he's doing well. So pleased for Scott, Shannon (our hosts for the week),, and Toad's brother Frog. Check out more about Brian's band Fowler and the song “Frog and Toad Aren't Friends” which was one of his “coincidences”. We each had them: https://fowlercanada.bandcamp.com/track/frog-and-toad-arent-friends And learn more about Scott Ihrig on his official website: https://www.ihrig.com

Right before our end-of-the-month group trip to Maine and Boston we wanted to meet and speak with Nefertiti Matos Olivares, who describes herself as using her “voice” in the creation and narration of culturally competent audio description as a first-generation brown-skinned American woman, for another Disability Pride month chat on the podcast. This week on Outlook we're talking with Nefertiti (audio describer and member of The Social Audio Description Collective), whom we meet virtually for this recording and then in person soon after, about her work with Descriptive Video Works (Canadian company and North American leader in audio description) and about her independent work in the field.. Nefertiti tells us about low expectations within the crisscross of her specific intersectionalities, medical trauma and career change (scars and The Oscars), and having someone impartial in her life for some of these things along the way. Reality being just that life happens (particularly when talking disability and chronic illness), we discuss the need for and value in going to therapy, possessing true empathy, and the things which are considered to be universal truths. We talk waiting lists and second times around with transplant as we discuss our similarities and differences in chronic illness conditions and experiences including something known as “sleepy kidney”, as we hear about Nef's own transplant story, This episode, recorded on July 15th, happens to be Brian's transplant anniversary so we figure this could be a place of connection with this particular guest from which to begin the conversation, as Outlook isn't all about blindness but about the intersections between disability, chronic illness, and everything else. We four talk resilience like during episodes living with disability and chronic illness (whether it's long Covid or kidney disease or blindness) and Surviving vs thriving (both emotionally and physically). As we leave another Disability Pride July behind us - check out more about Nefertiti's group, The Social Audio Description Collective for a more equity based group of audio description professionals: https://socialaudiodescription.com/ And learn more about Descriptive Video Works: https://descriptivevideoworks.com

What is the Canadian Disability Hall of Fame? We talk questions like this and more in the first show of an important month for the disability community which we've marked for a few years now on air. Happy Disability Pride Month everyone! We celebrated Canada last week by replaying an episode with a fellow Canadian: Anne Mok's Purpose In View, but we're back, live, on Outlook this week with the three of us and Oyster the guide dog. And we'll be taking Outlook on the road this month, doing lived experience work, with a group of blind friends to celebrate disability pride together. We're talking PRIDE today - on this week's Mixed Bag show we discuss the upcoming trip to Portland, Maine and Boston and what we're doing at an inn in Maine for a week with other blind creatives, the three tourist experiences we have planned to meet each one of our interests, and we discuss why “pride? In the first place. Also, The National Federation of the Blind is one of a few organized blindness movements having their annual convention at the beginning of Disability Pride Month so we go over some of their 2024 resolutions to see what they're up to and these matters in the resolutions, we choose to discuss a few which we have something to say about, including their motion that Perkins School for the Blind should change their name because Perkins was involved in the illegal opium trade and in enslaved people. Between the two halves of our live show this week, our commercial for Outlook was chosen to air by the computer system at the station and it ends with the sound of a Perkins Brailler. It's always been Perkins to us, we're going on a tour of that historic school for blind children later this month, but we acknowledge the collective trauma caused by the honouring of men like Perkins and his hand in perpetrating lasting damage. We're exploring all the issues which matter to blind people where and how and when we can. So happy Disability Pride from us at Outlook On Radio Western. And why call it pride when Pride Month is June for LGBTQ2S+ just the month before? There are blind people in both minorities so we're honoured to follow, (the very next month) their path toward greater representation and inclusion. Check out our past episode featuring 2024 Canadian Disability Hall of Fame inductee Penny Bennett here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2021-06-28-deafblind-awareness-month-with/id1527876739?i=1000527431020

“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're going to get.” - Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) said it and he was right, most especially with our Mixed Bag Monday shows at times. Check out Outlook this week as we review Forrest Gump on its portrayal of disability on screen, since the 90's when it was released. We also discuss rainbows (June being 2S LGBTQ Pride), along with more examples of audio description and using AI for image descriptions. So while life can be a lot like a box of mixed chocolates, this episode, the above is our way of giving those chocolates names as we strive for further inclusion and pride for all people, as LGBTQ Pride turns into July's Disability Pride.

In retirement, Paul Martz has discovered his love of writing science fiction and blogging about technology after a career in software development. Recently he's asking: What role can fiction play in educating society about climate change? Martz is doing all this by writing for the blind user's AppleVis website and now as co-editor of the "Without Brakes, Fingers Crossed" anthology.  He's with us on Outlook this week to promote this project as we're all experiencing record-breaking high temps on the brink of summer. Paul shares a bit of his own writing and reads an excerpt from the anthology featuring a river, about his interest in making the Rubik's Cube accessible, and more on his reasons and experience as the first Rocky Mountain Books/Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers co-editor of an anthology (which they release every two years) who happens to be blind. Science fiction author, technology blogger, and former punk rock drummer which co-host Brian ends the show asking about being that he also does his music show, Chin Music, every Friday on Radio Western - you can find out more about all these topics by going to Paul's own website along with how to order the "Without Brakes, Fingers Crossed" anthology: https://paulmartz.com/blog/

I am blind! Next month, July, is Disability Pride Month and our guest this week is Doris Belusic who is a poet, nonfiction writer, magazine editor, recent university graduate, and now children's book author. We speak with Doris about meeting her through The Canadian Federation of the Blind, what it was like to go back to school as a mature student, and about the children's book she's written with plain language and for educational purposes to teach children that blindness is just another way of being in this world. In an article she was featured in last year, she was described as "unstoppable”, but the point of this book is that she and we must speak it loud and proud: "I Am Blind" - put out by Beech Street Books and Saunders Books for libraries and schools across the country. Check out the article quoted above by going here: https://www.seniorlivingmag.com/articles/unstoppable/

First show of June, and with it begins the next few months of “Pride,” such as for LGBTQAI+2S and next month, Disability. This week on Outlook, we are missing our third co-host Barry and guide dog Oyster, but we begin the show Speaking with host of the show right before hours every Monday morning for the previous few years - From Bach To Rock host Bernie joins on the third Mike and we find out a bit more about his story, including his early experiences with radio, what brought him to CANADA from our neighbours to the south, And more on his love of music. In the second half, just us two sibling co-hosts discuss our weekend away in the countryside and the soundscape of that environment. We all enjoyed, celebrating 40th birthdays, not to mention the futuristic possibilities and our first ride in a friend's Tesla. So as we look back on the annual, end of May National Accessibility Week (NAW), we look ahead to the second half of 2024 and we will hear more on travel when our third cohost joins us again this summer for some additional weeks.

"Love is sweet, have a treat." This was the verse written on the wedding favours, pairs of homemade shortbread cookies by all our plates at a recent wedding we attended in the family and our third host, Barry, he made it into the photos and is back with us, for another mixed bag show, to share about the experience. A wedding day or living with a disability, so many things in life are about learning to roll with it. We three share on Outlook this week about being blind in such a crowded, hectic social situation and how we already have some authority, being unable to see, when an unexpected part of the evening was when the power went out and all the guests were forced to find their way in the toilets in the dark. We also discuss the tiresome infantilization of us by uneducated sighted people, including those running carnival rides, as Barry and Kerry once more discovered at a May 24 traveling amusement park when they were forbidden from going on a ride together on their own as a couple. When do you speak up and advocate and when do you let it slide? And in our second half, we revisit the early years of the life of Helen Keller along with Barry who knew very little about Keller's life. Brian and Kerry rewatched the 1962 film version of the meeting of Helen and her teacher and companion Anne Sullivan, while Barry experienced the story for the first time. We and he give our thoughts on the title "The Miracle Worker" and its problematic connotations, about how films based on true events sometimes embellish and alter their true life timelines, and Barry gives his take as an Irishman on how well Anne Bancroft did with the accent her character would have had. If you're like Barry and never really knew much about Helen Keller or her teacher, or even for a reminder of the lives the two lived beyond that one big, important year on which the movie was made, check out the Outlook episode we once put out on the full life of Helen Keller and stay tuned for a similar show on a fuller picture of Anne Sullivan's life story still to come. https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2021-12-13-lights-camera-helen-keller/id1527876739?i=1000545091341

On June 1st, it will be three years since the initial release of the book "There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness" and its author and friend of the show Dr. M. Leona Godin is back with us, with us three live in studio.  This   week on Outlook, we're catching up with Leona on what she's been up to in that time and more recently, along with Barry as our third co-host, as we three find out some of the latest projects and work Godin is focusing on including storytelling shows like "Sighted People Suck”. We discuss how she navigates a place like New York City where she lives, the responsibilities with having a guide dog at whatever age, and about the internal shame and ranking each other within the blindness community that goes on. Leona shares about her experience with Daniel Kish who is well-known for his lifelong use of echo location, what he's famously recognized for, but how his work as a mobility instructor who knows the lived experience of being blind is much less understood and valued. Also, Godin tells us about what she's currently been reading on the broadening knowledge and awareness of something referred to as sensory studies, her "Scented Stories" performances, and a bit about the accessible tour of the Whitney Museum of American Art, along with the help of AI.  Check out "There Plant Eyes" and more by going to her website: https://drmlgodin.com And if you missed her previous appearance on Outlook where she talks about her book, you can find it here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2021-10-11-there-plant-eyes-an-interview-with/id1527876739?i=1000538623498

Guide dog Oyster turned six on May 5th and we celebrate on this first episode of May with her and her guide dog teammate Barry, returning visitors and co-hosts as a part of our show. This week, on the first half of Outlook and another mixed bag episode, speaking of oyster, Barry and co-host Kerry share about a recent guide dog refusal by a local cab driver in Kerry's town. On the second half we share three examples of different audio described versions, same scene, of the 1992 film “Scent of a Woman” about a character, who is depressed, and Celebrating one last hurrah in New York City, who was the first big representation of blindness for those of us living with the condition to see ourselves represented by on screen. We three discuss our feelings about the movie, its famous tango scene,and the different styles of audio description, UK vs North American.

“Tempus fugit” - Latin proverb meaning “time's a wasting” or “time flies” as we on Outlook discuss disability and endless other things. Our third co-host Barry (and guide dog Oyster) are back with us today. Times flying for Barry here in Canada, but this week we hear more from him about his life after blindness, in Ireland, and as he broadened out and began to travel on his own. How he learned to be blind? "It can be done." We'll hear more about adventures with Barry and Oyster, her adventures in discovering for herself, as we talk guide dog vs white cane and other tools in our tool kits. Why don't you have another guide dog? We discuss Kerry and Barry ice skating and its similarity to tandem cycling, dealing with continued inaccessibility with our electronic braille devices and Bluetooth on our iPhones, and we finish off discussing a recent FB post from a blind person which had some in the blindness community talking. Thanks to Connor Scott-Gardner for their thoughtful words. You can find their Facebook page with so many insightful posts including the one we covered on this show here: https://www.facebook.com/p/Connor-Scott-Gardner-100082294361791/

“Top of the morning to ya,” says friend and boyfriend of co-hosts and siblings Brian and Kerry. We're here on Outlook this week with visiting guest hosts Barry and his guide dog Oyster, fresh from their journey all the way from Ireland. From acquiring a pet passport to a fit-to-fly letter, Barry shares with us the process for travel with a guide dog and both of them are with us for the next few months on air. Alongside talk of travel with a guide dog, we touch on last week's Canadian federal budget announcement about the proposed Canada Disability Benefit, long promised by the Liberal government, but now the news is out that what they are offering is far less than was expected and what would put people with disabilities above the poverty line. So now Canadians with disabilities are not happy and not having it, speaking up where possible and we here are joining the chorus of voices, in a marginalised group often overlooked. In the second part of the show, we speak with Rebecca Singh of Superior Description Services, who we've had on the show last year to learn about what Superior Description does and since then what co-host Kerry has been working on as accessibility consultant. This time Rebecca is back to share with us all about next month's Junior Festival, for children five to twelve, on the campus of the Harbour Front Centre in Toronto. Junior is an arts and creativity festival for young people, running during the weekend of May 18th to the 20th. Sunday, May 19th is set aside as Enhanced Accessibility Day for children with disabilities, blindness and all kinds. There will be offerings such as touch tours, sighted guides if needed, and plenty of audio description available on site and online at the Harbourfront Centre website, described by Rebecca and reviewed by Kerry as consultant. Singh also shares with us another upcoming arts and creativity event she's working on, including podcasts as supplements to the in-person events, this June in the GTA and around Toronto, known as Luminato. So if you're in the area in the coming months, for either one, check out the festivals and events on offer by going to their websites, contacting them by phone, or by email at the links, number, or email address below: harbourfrontcentre.com/junior 416-973-4600 info@harbourfrontcentre.com https://www.luminatofestival.com https://superiordescription.com Listen to Rebecca Singh's previous Outlook appearance: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2023-03-06-international-womens-day-with/id1527876739?i=1000603364184

“Every time I look at you, I go blind.” Solar eclipse, 2024 and the big topic around it all was eye protection. Thus the above lyrics from the Canadian band 54-40 song to start off the show. It's another Kerry Connection this week on Outlook as we look back on last week's eclipse with Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen, Associate Professor of linguistics at Bowling Green State University. As the 2023 Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/LOC Chair in Astrobiology, Exploration, and Scientific Innovation, we wanted to get her thoughts on, and her experience with the eclipse. We also talked being blind and her philosophy with it, being a kid, and being curious about science, and being steered away from the sciences as a blind student. Co-host Kerry, as a young girl, watched Bill Nye the Science Guy and was fascinated by and drawn in by outer space. Sheri now works to make it more accessible for people of all abilities in space with her featured story on the Radiolab podcast, experiencing zero gravity and recording the findings of that experiment. Going from not wanting to make a fuss to advocating, for the next generation - we talk possibility, perspective, and wonder, as we agree, it would be fun to be able to fly, but with all the things, that's what space can provide. Check out Sheri's official website: http://sheriwellsjensen.com Find the Radiolab episode “The Right Stuff” featuring Sheri here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpe6azxvQpM And give a listen to the quartet Grande Royale Ükulelists of the Black Swamp she plays with and their covers on this YouTube playlist relating to the recent eclipse: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UksPZJJ9JY&list=PL_FJ_lKHsX5ENvB3uCIKZ1kPeAuJ7eBDf

Temperature change. Animals acting out of the ordinary. These are some non visual signs of an eclipse. It's the day of the total solar eclipse, April 8th, 2024. We're here, on Outlook today with our Eclipse Soundscapes app with its rumble map, to discuss how we plan to join this giant party, an astronomical event we can and should all be able to share in. We talk an accessible eclipse experience, co-host Kerry plays a little Be My AI game of "what's the same in these two pics?" and April 7th was Green Shirt Day and co-host Brian reflects on what would have been his 25-year kidney transplant anniversary this month.     From nephrology to ophthalmology and with themes of darkness and light, as the moon starts to obscure the sun's light and the threat of looking and damaging one's sight - all of this is our bread and butter on this show and we'll have a follow-up episode to follow this one where we discuss all of this with someone who definitely knows the subject. To check out the accessible app, search for “Eclipse Soundscapes” on the app store or learn more on the official website: https://eclipsesoundscapes.org Check out more information on Green Shirt Day: https://greenshirtday.ca/about/ And listen to the ophthalmologist we both grew up seeing, Dr. Phil Hooper, on the CBC speaking about the dangers of staring at a solar eclipse without proper eyewear: https://www.cbc.ca/listen/live-radio/1-158-london-morning/clip/16053698-staring-solar-eclipse-without-proper-eyewear-damage-eyes

WAKE UP AMERICA! As we wrap up Women's History Month, co-host Kerry shares about a recent panel put on by the Paul Longmore Institute On Disability Studies featuring black and brown disabled women and co-host Brian shares about March also being Epilepsy Awareness Month, started by a young girl right here in Canada. And, of course, don't forget about the upcoming solar eclipse in April. This week on Outlook it's story time and we're reading March's featured spotlight on a deaf-blind woman in history, someone we can spotlight to tell the stories of more than just Helen Keller. Thanks to Peggy Chong, The Blind History Lady, for letting us know about Helen May Martin. Believe it or not. For more fascinating stories like this one delivered directly to your inbox, email Peggy Chong: theblindhistorylady@gmail.com Check out her official website: https://theblindhistorylady.com And listen to The Blind History Lady when she joined us on Outlook back in 2020: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2020-08-10-interview-with-the-blind-history-lady/id1527876739?i=1000488226679

CAUDES stands for Certified Audio Description Specialist. This week on Outlook we're speaking with Lolly Lijewski and Kim Charlson about recently released draft certification guidelines and criteria open for public comments until March 31st. Kim is Chair of the Academy for Certification of Visual Rehabilitation & Education Professionals/Subject Matter Experts Committee and Lolly and co-host Kerry met originally when taking some AD training and have since gone on to form a group of blind and sighted members who practice the art of crafting audio description together because we believe the collective collaborative team makes for a more authentic and representational finished product. Now we have some thoughts and some questions about these proposed and drafted certification guidelines and Kim is with us to lay it all out. Everyone involved only wants the best quality product in the end for blind consumers and we're happy to have this discussion as we look ahead to next steps in audio description's evolution. You can download and read the CAUDES Draft Certification Criteria by clicking this link: https://www.acvrep.org/resource/docs/DRAFT%20Certified%20Audio%20Description%20Specialist%20certification%20criteria%201-2024.docx Please consider sending any questions or comments on the criteria to comments@acvrep.org (include CAUDES in the subject line) If you'd like the document sent directly to your inbox, you can email Kim at kimcharlson@acb.org And find the Audio Description Project here: https://adp.acb.org

Co-host Kerry wears her (diversity includes disability) Aille Design braille T-shirt to remind us of the roles of disabled women throughout history. This week on Outlook it's another mixed bag, as we celebrate World Kidney Day on March 14th. Co-host Brian shares a recent healthcare scare he experienced, we run into someone who understands in a hospital waiting room, and we discuss a particular inclusive art exhibit from Vancouver to Ottawa. We are (drawing on our history) for the remainder of Women's History Month. If you're interested in a braille t-shirt for yourself or a friend, check out Aille Design: https://ailledesign.com/en-ca/products/braille-t-shirt And find the VocalEye Almost Live event “Drawing on Our History” here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oh2TLAgcCBI