Podcasts about guide dogs

Season 6 kicks off with a jam-packed conversation featuring Angie, Kimberly, and Danny. Angie shares her powerful experience attending the Uber/Lyft protest that took place on White Cane Day 2024, touching on the impact it had and the meaningful connections she made with blind creators on TikTok. The trio dives deep into the world of guide dogs—from the emotional bond between handler and dog to the tough decisions around whether or not to get one. They explore common hesitations, the responsibilities of maintaining a guide dog's training and hygiene, and the reality of facing ride-share denials. The conversation also tackles how handlers navigate cultural misconceptions about dogs, and the ongoing work of educating the public and drivers alike. Expect personal stories about Angie's guide dog Draco and Danny's former guide Teeva, a breakdown of guide dog schools versus privately trained dogs, and a real look at the challenges and triumphs of life with a working dog. If you've ever wanted the full picture of what it takes to own, trust, and advocate for a guide dog, this episode covers it all.

After her first appearance on the show five years ago, Daryl Lang is back! Daryl is a vision-impaired runner who races with a guide and completes her training miles with her guide dog. Daryl and I  love furry friends, so this episode ended up almost an ode to her two guide dogs, Jenny and Yasha.  Daryl takes us through Jenny's retirement, what it was like to change their relationship from working to companionship, and learning the ins and outs of her new coworker, Yasha (whom she trained with at Guiding Eyes for the Blind in New York).  Daryl also became published as a contributing author to the book Run for Your Life: Lessons Learned from Going the Distance, and she shares a bit about that process as well.  Yasha and Daryl may still be fine-tuning running together, but in the meantime, Daryl has entered a new space in her running era: nothing to prove to anyone (maybe the best journey yet). She may not be worried about how much she races or what her splits are anymore, but she still has some big goals on the horizon. I have my fingers crossed that I might get to greet her at the finish line sometime soon.    Find Daryl's blog at www.blindbeader.ca Buy a copy of Run For Your Life: Lessons Learned from Going the Distance  https://bit.ly/buyrunforyourlife Donate to Guiding Eyes for the Blind: https://donate.guidingeyes.org/    -- Episode Sponsor: Canada Running Series The Beneva Spring Run Off may have already sprung, but Canada Running Series still has a ton of exciting races to help you find your next start line. Next up: The Under Armour Toronto 10K. With a medal inspired by the city itself, this year's finish line prize features the iconic Toronto skyline—CN Tower and all—hung on waves of blue, a nod to the scenic waterfront route. Register to earn yours on June 15th: visit www.canadarunningseries.com    Theme music: Joseph McDade

Guide Dogs of America is an important organization based in Sylmar providing canine companions to the visually impaired, veterans, and children with autism. I sit down with Sean Chiles, Guide Dog Mobility Instructor and Katherine Juhl, Sr. Manager Puppy Programs, to discuss everything that goes into getting these cute pups trained into trusted cohorts. Cuteness warning: tail wags and puppy licks ahead!

We talk with Dr. Gail McRae, Leader Dog's first Theriogenologist about her work at the organization.

Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underline with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font. 

Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underline with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font. 

Self Intelligence? What is that. Well, listen to my conversation this time with Chris Knight to see and discover for yourself. Chris is from Australia where he has lived his whole life. As he was growing up he began encountering some medical issues such as what his doctors diagnosed as chronic pain. He was told he would have to learn to “manage the pain”.   After most of his school education he discovered that he was good at working with and helping people. He worked for an agency helping people to overcome life trauma for example. Eventually, he realized he needed to look further at how he wanted to live his life with pain and he decided he wanted to explore how better to help those around him.   As you will hear, not only did Chris study and find ways to help others, but he also learned how to help himself. He has been totally pain free for many years. He now has his own business working as what some might call a spiritual life coach.   He and I talk about what he calls your lower self and how it tries to take control over your life. He helps us understand how we can connect with our inner self to bring out and live through our higher self. We talk about fear and suffering and how we all can learn not to let those things control who we are.   Chris offers a great deal of good life advice that we all can use. As he tells us at the end of our time together, he works with people throughout the world and he is available to consult with you should you wish it.       About the Guest:   For the past 15 years, Chris Knight, founder of Self Intelligence, has dedicated his career to helping individuals transform their lives from the inside out. His approach focuses on addressing the underlying emotional and psychological patterns that shape people's behaviors, beliefs, and identities. Through a combination of powerful awareness practices and healing processes, Chris helps clients and students confront and heal the root causes of limiting beliefs, childhood conditioning, and emotional wounds. His approach is rooted in the idea that by understanding and releasing the deep-seated trauma and conditioning that often hold us back, people can step into a more authentic and empowered way of living.   Chris's work goes beyond traditional coaching or therapy. He specializes in guiding people through self-discovery and emotional healing by helping them access parts of themselves that are often hidden beneath layers of defense mechanisms and unconscious programming. His clients include people from all walks of life—whether they're struggling with anxiety, self-doubt, or relationship challenges, or addiction Chris techniques help them uncover the core issues that create these difficulties. His methods emphasize self-awareness, emotional resilience, and the ability to break free from the patterns of thought and behavior that no longer serve them. This holistic approach has earned him a reputation as a transformative leader in the field of personal development.   As the founder of Self Intelligence, Chris has not only worked one-on-one with countless students and clients but also developed programs and workshops that allow individuals to take control of their healing journeys. His work empowers people to reclaim their personal power by reconnecting with their true selves, free from the constraints of societal expectations and past conditioning. Over the past decade and a half, Chris has helped people from around the world make profound shifts in their lives, guiding them toward greater emotional freedom, self-acceptance, and the ability to live in alignment with their highest potential.   Ways to connect with Chris:   Website https://chrisknight.com.au/ https://selfintelligence.com/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/chrisknight_selfintelligence/ Youtube https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCynX0a9cJdcX9KTnggSxs8A Facebook https://www.facebook.com/chrisknightselfintelligence   About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us.   Michael Hingson ** 01:21 Well, I really want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. We're really glad you're here. I'm glad Ashley set this up, and we'll have some fun. And as you know, this is all about having a conversation, and that's what makes it really fun. So looking forward to conversing   Chris Knight ** 01:38 Absolutely. Yeah, I'm more than happy to unpack an unstoppable, unstoppable mindset is certainly resonates with the work that I'm offering, and it feels like a really good alignment. So yeah, I'm looking forward to this. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 01:55 why don't we start? I love to start this way, because it's kind of fun and it always lays the groundwork. Tell us something about the early Chris, growing up and all that sort of stuff.   Chris Knight ** 02:06 Well, I mean, that's where all this begins. Well, it does. It absolutely does. My the work that I am offering to the world is something that I personally was supported by from my early 20s. I'm in my very early 40s now. So 20 years ago, I was in a pretty terrible space. I think a lot of people refer to it as like a dark night of the soul. I had a relationship breakdown, I had toxic debt, career dissatisfaction, chronic pain, there was a whole whirlpool of issues that were going on at that time, and I had no idea how to get out of it. I was seeking many different practitioners at that time in the conventional kind of Western approach, but also in the eastern as well to support with the symptoms I was experiencing, as well as mental health with depression, and I wasn't getting any long term results from from a lot of the things that I was I was doing at that time, I was told I was going to have chronic pain for the rest of my life, and I would have to manage that pain because I'd had it for about six years, and they couldn't quite work it out. I think they'd probably call it something like fibromyalgia now, or some other thing, but it was basically this diagnosis of managing a really poor way of living, and I just felt like that wasn't going to be how I was going to live for the rest of my life. Something deep inside me was it was saying, No, this is not for me. So that's when I started looking at myself in a way that I didn't even know was possible, and it certainly wasn't conditioned at school to do this, to go inside and become aware of what's happening behind the eyes. Often we're very aware of what's happening in front of the eyes and everything that's happening, or we become aware of everything outside through our senses, but what's going on in terms of our thoughts, our emotional states, the things that we become identified inside of ourselves, that is a large part of creating our lives, was something I was starting to look at so that, that kicked off this journey. Michael, and I'm imagining a lot of people were listening into this, this podcast with you, an unstoppable mindset would be also in some way, doing this, something like that. And. Of course, there are many different approaches to that, to that investigation and that discovery, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 05:07 sure, absolutely no question about that. Did you go to college?   Chris Knight ** 05:15 Yes, I, well, I, I got almost kicked out of what we call college, I think you would call High School. Still, we're in Australia, it's a bit different. We go to year 10, and then we go to college, which is year 11 and 12, and that prepares you for university. University. Yeah, I didn't go to uni till six, or could have been eight years after college where I did my degree in musculoskeletal therapy, and that's where I that was a major shifting point for me. I quit my very well paying job in the public service, which had a very promising pathway for me, what were you doing? I was a government housing manager. Okay, so I was working with very challenged people in society to look after their tendencies. And it was, it was the first time I realized I had a gift at working with people and helping them deal with their stuff. These people had major challenges, mental health, domestic violence, you know, drug abuse, everything you can really imagine at that a very severe level. And I had a very unique gift with working with these people. So that's where I just I decided I was going to take it further and combine my also experience with chronic physical back pain to go into muscular musculoskeletal therapy. So I moved from Canberra to Brisbane to do that, and that set me on a completely different path. Yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 06:58 So tell me more about that, what the degree was and how that kind of influenced where you went.   Chris Knight ** 07:05 Well, it I wasn't interested in the paths that felt to me were really isolating and mechanical in their approach to healing. So I went to a holistic School of Natural Medicine, and it was saying that their approach was holistic, essentially, right, which is what appealed to me, because that's how I healed what was going on for me. But I discovered that even though that's what it was stating to be, and certainly in terms of approaching body and body pain, it was holistic in that it would look at the whole body, but it didn't look at the stresses, for example, the internal issues that everybody faces that contributes to our symptoms. Right? So the body mind connection was not a subject, even in this arena, which was holistic medicine. And so that led me to study psychosomatic therapy. I'm not sure if you're aware of those terms. So yes, that oftentimes when people go to doctors, and the doctor will say, you know, this is a psychosomatic issue. This is not a real issue, that what they're saying is that it's all in your mind. So yeah, that's not what this is referring to. Psychosomatic therapy was recognizing the irrefutable body mind connection that has been well documented and just experienced by human beings, that the body and mind are connected is a very obvious thing, for example, if someone's about to go on a podcast, and they might feel a little bit nervous about it, so their body mind connection will report that as far as it might be the heart rate's increasing a little bit, there might be a bit sweaty palms. Who knows these kinds of things will be happening, the body's experiencing what the mind is thinking and believing and all of that is happening. We experience this every single day. And so you can look at that to the degree of how symptoms come about, right? So how do we experience pain and tension or posture and all sorts of things? So that's I had this wealth of knowledge of the body, and then I got the wealth of knowledge of the body mind connection. That was what led there. And then I was a body worker and emotional release facilitator and many different things in that therapeutic journey. For many years, I actually ran my own courses in emotional anatomy, which was very powerful. And then from there, I discovered that there was a missing piece of vital, missing piece in the practical day to day how to work with these things, so not relying on. Therapist to do the inner work. That's where That's where it essentially started to go. Everyone was getting major shifts and changes and discoveries, but not necessarily integrating that in their daily life as a lifestyle. And that's what I became interested in. How does this become a lifestyle, no different to exercise, no different to good eating habits or sleeping habits, many different habits that we know shape and form our lives. I feel as though inner work, which is what I call self intelligence, is what that is. It's a lifestyle choice that is a cornerstone of what generates health, happiness, fulfillment, joy, everything that we basically want in life. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 10:50 did you get the body mind knowledge from the university? Or how did you acquire that?   Chris Knight ** 10:58 It was through Herman Mueller, he ran an institute privately, but it was, it was certified. It was government certified. Actually, it wasn't a university. Universities don't do that kind of thing yet, but he was trying to get it into universities. That's, he's actually passed away. He was around 80 years old at that time, but he was approaching that because, yeah, that's, that's kind of the trajectory that was going at that time. But no, it wasn't at uni. It was, it was a course outside that was government certified, which to me, actually doesn't mean a whole lot. But yeah, yeah, the psychosomatic   Michael Hingson ** 11:42 part of it came from university, but then you expanded on it, obviously,   Chris Knight ** 11:48 yeah, no, this the musculoskeletal therapy was uni, and the psychosomatic was from Herman. Oh, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 11:56 okay, yeah. And well, and what's interesting is that you still found, even after Herman, as I understand, that there was some things lacking in terms of really dealing with the total emotional and mental aspect of it. And obviously it, it was an evolutionary process for you to get to the point of recognizing all of that. But you did, yeah, and what? What I find interesting, and I hear this often. We've had a number of people on the podcast who talked about their own challenges and talked about their the challenges they face with other people. And I'm fascinated and actually quite pleased to hear how many of those people will say that Western medicine really doesn't deal with it, and that Eastern medicine has to become involved. And you obviously took it even to a little bit higher level, but that Eastern medicine is a significant part of it, which really does deal more with the mental and spiritual aspect of a person's psyche and makeup.   Chris Knight ** 13:02 Yeah, well, see, I went to acupuncturist, I went to Ayurvedic medicine practitioners, I went to kinesiologists, I went to energy healers, like I went to I went, I've been around the block. Do you know what I mean? I went to her all around and in every one of those cases, I didn't get the work that I'm speaking to, which is directly dealing with my at the level of identity, where things really take place. And we're going to get into that. And I really delved into that more with my Buddhist practices in meditation. And meditation is widely known to be supportive to all sorts of issues, as many studies on this now it was the closest thing to a lifestyle practice that dealt with these things. What I find is, and I, and I experienced this for myself as well, is a lot of the time when we experience health issues or problems in our lives, often we don't want to take that level of responsibility for it. It's it's preferable to somehow be fixed by someone you know, like, have some kind of therapy intervention, whether it's Eastern or Western, whether it sounds esoteric or whether it sounds like a drug, whatever it is, it doesn't really matter. It's I just want that thing to fix me, and I don't really I'm so confused about what's going on inside me, I don't really understand it, or maybe I'm afraid to look at it because it's often referred to as Shadow Work, which is confronting. That's there's a there's a hesitancy to go into those places. And I but I find that that's where the core of the the issues are, in the dark places. There. Uh, that require, yeah, putting the light on. So I think you're   Michael Hingson ** 15:04 absolutely right. We, we in general, seem to be creatures that love, especially today, a quick fix to fix, and it's got to fix everything, and we don't take the time to analyze and look at ourselves very much. We don't get taught that. No one teaches us that, and fortunately, some people are learning it, but not nearly as much, or as often as it as it should be. I believe in doing a lot of self analysis, self analytical thinking, and I take time at the end of each day to look at what went on today. Why did it go on the way it did? What? What am I afraid of, or what was, what was I afraid of? And I, and I do, find that the more of it I do, and the more I think about all of it over time, the less fearful I become. And it isn't to say I'm not afraid, or it isn't it isn't to say I don't fear, but rather, I learn how to deal with it. We wrote a book about it that actually got published in August of 2024 called Live like a guide dog. And it's all about learning to control fear, and it's lessons I've learned from dogs, from my eight guy dogs and my wife's service dog. You know, for example, one of the my favorite examples, is that dogs don't do what ifs and we What if everything to death, which is what's so unfortunate, rather than worrying about just the things over which we really can have an influence in control. We worry about everything, and it just drives us crazy.   Chris Knight ** 16:47 Yeah, yeah, I completely agree, and I'd like to, because I I've noticed there's a there's a resistance to the word analysis for a lot of people, or anything that's mental when it comes to healing. I you know, because we're questioning our mind, we're questioning our thoughts, we're questioning our insides. We're looking at our insides. And it's important to view this as awareness work, not not mental work. Mental work is below the awareness in which we are looking at it. And from that perspective, it's a totally different vibration, right? And and so what it does do, exactly what you said, is it brings up awareness around things like, how many, what if thoughts have, I let dictate my decisions today, or dictate my emotional state today that I believed and became embodied with, right? And the question is, okay, I have these, what if thoughts? How then do I dis identify from those thoughts so they're not driving my behavior, my choices, which essentially is creating the reality that I'm experiencing. That is a really important question, and it takes disidentification, which is not mental work. Mental cannot disidentify. Mental can only create more mental so I just wanted to make sure that that was something understood in the approach. Because for the you know, for example, with with emotional anatomy and Psychosomatics, the notion was that the emotions are held in the body. You know, the emotions are stored in the body, because we have the fight flight process. And that that when you have fear like what you spoke about, you engage the fight flight process, the survival mechanism, yeah, and then that puts a charge in the body to be expressed in terms of, you know, fighting something running away from something freezing, pleasing. There's a whole range of different things that happen, and so that gets stored in the body, because often we suppress these expressions, and then it's like, okay, in order to heal from that, we have to release it from the body. Okay? So that's the current consensus for a lot of people. So when they hear about analysis, it's like, how does that release emotion from the body? You see that becomes a contentious point for some people.   Michael Hingson ** 19:28 Change it to introspection, then, yeah. I mean,   Chris Knight ** 19:32 I just noticed this. Like, yeah, introspection is a really good term. I also love using that term. But the point is, is that the body will not hold energy when the mind's not perceiving, particularly in the unconscious, that there's a threat as soon as the as soon as there's not a threat in the in the unconscious, there's no threat in the body, the body will not hold anything the. Body is neutral, actually. And I noticed that in my work, trying to, I was doing a lot of emotional release body work, which was hugely powerful, and still is powerful, particularly when it shifts the unconscious. But it would, there would be this reliance, again, on someone doing this thing to me that releases the emotions out of my body, and it's like, Look, you are way more powerful than this. You have the power for yourself to release or detach from the very thoughts and patterns that generate this in your body, but you would then have to do that work yourself, in a sense, right, which often involves support by a practitioner, a coach. I do this every day of the week, or in connection with the community that does this kind of thing, right? Yeah, but it's a different level of responsibility in the attitude of approaching it that way. And I'm, yeah, go ahead. Yeah, that's, that's, I'm finished with that.   Michael Hingson ** 21:08 But one of the things that I've learned, especially over the last year, I used to to always say, when I listen to my speeches, I like to record speeches and listen to them. And I always used to say, I do that because I'm my own worst critic. And I've you know, if, if I'm being critical, that's the really most important thing. And I've learned over the last year that's not the right thing to say I heard, and one I don't even remember now exactly where, but that nobody can teach you anything. You are the one who has to teach yourself. Other people can present you with information, they can give you the information that you need to learn, but you're the one that has to teach you. And I thought about that, and I realized that is so true, I'm not my own worst critic, I'm my own best teacher. And then that makes a complete positive shift to everything, because now I I approach things in a much more positive way. I don't approach things as well. This is potentially negative, and I've got to pick on me to fix it. No, I hear this, or I see this, and I can now look at it and go, Why am I reacting to it? And an animal. Well, instead of analyzing out and think about you, use the   Chris Knight ** 22:25 word you want to use, either one works   Michael Hingson ** 22:29 or think about it. But I I study it, and I go, all right, what? What can I learn from this? And that's what's really important. And I think that is, is so important that people need to do another thing that I learned from working with a lot of Guide Dogs and so on, is that while dogs love unconditionally, they don't trust unconditionally, but what they do is they're unless something has just totally damaged their psyche. They're open to trust, and they want to trust, and they want to be connecting with us, and they want us to be the team leader. They want to know what the rules are that we expect in a positive way, but they want to develop that relationship. And working with guide dogs, it's all about trust and teamwork right from the beginning. And the fact is that when you establish a trusting relationship, and you learn to trust the dog, and the dog learns to trust you, and you each recognize you have a job to do. Namely, the dog's job is to make sure that I walk safely, but my job is to know where to go and how to get there, and I have to communicate that to the dog with directions. And if I do that in a firm way, then we work together as a team. And the whole concept of being open to trust is so important. Yeah, there are going to be people within the agendas. They're going to be people whose trust you're not going to earn, and that's that is understandable, but be open to trust, and don't let a negative trusting experience destroy you or or cause you to not want to trust. Recognize that's only one individual. Most people are really good, and they do want to establish trusting relationships. I think, well,   Chris Knight ** 24:24 I mean, trust is one of the most important things, and one of the areas I'm working with all the time, particularly with relationships. Relationships is a is a major subject. I have people come to me because they have challenges, triggers going on in their relationships that continue to create a bit of a toxic cycle, or distance or withdrawing and so on. And it all comes back to trust at the end of the day. That's where it ends up, and it's the important question that is rarely asked. And or understood is, how is trust lost at the subtle levels we understand how trust is lost in more gross experiences, meaning, like denser expressions, like you know, whether it's physical violence or emotional abuse, or whether it's like cheating or just not doing what you say, there's all sorts of things there that will create mistrust. But actually mistrust is is is created on much more subtle levels than that. And if we don't understand our minds and the projections of our minds, like, for example, what we think we're entitled to and deserve, and what, yeah, what we feel is within our space of control and ownership, all of those projections go on To the other person and become a form of mistrust, yeah, but that is so unconscious. This is the thing it's I didn't know. For example, I didn't know that my unconscious insecurities, right, that were creating a certain type of expectation in the relationship was actually creating a mistrust between us that was then creating a barrier and a withdrawing for example, because whenever those things are happening, it's repulsive, like it has a repulsive, energetic about it, and then we all of a sudden see that there's something wrong, there's a distance happening. But how do I how do I navigate to this? Because I cannot see that my actions are really warranted in creating this issue. Okay, so this is, this is what's happening for a lot of people, and this is where this work becomes absolutely critical, because it's those little things, it's those subtler background issues right that all stem in insecurity, that come from the lower self, that really erode relationships and erode trust. And then it amounts to over time, big issues essentially just to represent what's going on inside, and it becomes like this, you know, destructive manifestation in people's lives. And then you know that there's all sorts of wounding and shame and guilt and everything that comes with with that, but we can catch these things way early on. But like you said, we're not taught at school, like we're not taught at school, we're not taught at school or at home. That by nature of being a human being, you have insecurities you're unaware of that are going to manifest in your life, particularly in relationships, but also in your work and various other areas, that unless you deal with them, they're going to cause you all sorts of problems. They're going to cause you, cause you suffering, right? And it and by achieving things like success or status and various other external things, these don't deal with those underlying insecurities. They don't, they don't actually solve the issue. And we are believing that they do based on our conditioning. We're told that if we are normal and if we meet the criteria that that feels like this is a life that's, you know, I could be proud of, then I will feel secure. And it's not true. It's just fundamentally not true, and yet, because we don't know any different, we just keep trying the same thing, expecting a different result, and that's really frustrating. I think for a lot of people, it is   Michael Hingson ** 28:59 we don't learn to connect with ourselves, and we also don't learn to, oftentimes, be open enough to say to someone else, you know, there's a distance between us. And I'm, I don't really like that. Tell me what you think. Tell me why that is, is what? What do I need to do? What can we do together to fix this, and that's it is an issue that we just don't learn to connect, which is too bad, because, again, I think that it's all about communications. Well, tell me more about this whole concept of self intelligence, where did that come from? And what is it? And so on.   Chris Knight ** 29:37 Well, that's what that exactly what we're speaking about is what it is so. So, for example, when I have a couple in front of me, and they've got these things going on, and they've got that distance happening, and maybe they did acknowledge it, right? And then they did have a conversation about it, like you suggested. They said, like, what are we going to what are we going to do? And they both find out very quickly that they they don't know. What the issue is, it's like I just can't understand why I'm feeling these really strong feelings over things that certainly don't match up. I'm I think I'll just try to be a better person, and maybe that will work. And this is what people try to do. They try to be a better person. They try to be a good person, and then it doesn't make a difference, because that's not that's not how these things work. Being a good person won't deal with things like insecurity, and then they find themselves in the same pattern, in the same cycle, and we still, we're going through the same thing again. So I'm going to ask someone else now how to deal with this now, unfortunately, for a lot of people, they still don't get this type of information with counselors and psychologists, although some do. Thankfully, some are really great, but most don't have this knowledge either, and that's what I saw. I saw this huge gap where, okay, let's boil down what's really happening here. We work it blow by blow in terms of unpacking the what I call the lower self. So we don't, for example, self intelligence is really the journey from the lower self to the higher self. Okay, that's how you could consider it. So what is the lower self. The lower self is often referred to as your shadow self, or your ego. Sometimes you can refer to it as your unconscious mind. This is the kind of place that we operate from that often holds the energetic of survival mode. So often, if you think of lower self, you'd almost think of the lower brain stem, which holds the survival aspects of our impulses, right, right? And when we're living from the lower self, which we all are, like everybody's living from this lower self. Firstly, everything's external, everything that's happening is out there, and it's happening to me, and that could be good or that could be bad, and there's a range of protection mechanisms for the lower self, like judgment and fear that cause it whole bunch of issues. Okay? It also has needs. The lower self has needs that are called ego needs that also cause it a whole bunch of drama, right, like the need to win, the need to know, the need to be right, the need to be supported, the need. There's all these needs, okay, and those needs create us a fundamental sense of lack in the person inside who is living this life. So this is all unaware of that's going on. Yeah, yeah. And so self intelligence is the intelligence of understanding, putting the light on that dark space that's in us that is running everything. Okay? People know this is happening when they they could make a decision. When we make decisions, we often go, God, why did I make that decision? Like, say it was a job or something like that. I was like, I knew in myself that wasn't the job for me. I don't know why I said yes, but it ended up turning out to be really misaligned with me. That's the lower self. That's the lower self kicking in and taking over. And this happens with people experiencing addiction. It happens when people don't feel like they're living their purpose. It happens for a whole range of reasons. It's like, so what's what's then making my choices like, if I know better, somewhere deep inside of me, what? What is taking over? And this is the lower self. This is what self intelligence is about. Is one becoming aware of the lower self, becoming just very clear about it. And I have a, I have a step by step, blow by blow, process that illuminates the lower self in clear view. It can it has no wriggle room to hide, because the lower self is the best hider that you can imagine. It loves hiding and running the show. It just it goes into any subject matter. It doesn't matter what it is, it will find a place to hide and then run the whole show. That's what it does. It's like, I'm going to hide over here and then call all the shots. Forget.   Michael Hingson ** 34:31 It gets back. It gets back to connecting and really connecting with yourself, which is what we don't generally tend to learn to do.   Chris Knight ** 34:39 Yeah, and connecting with yourself to the degree that you become aware, yes, of the drivers. For example, when you said, what if? What if is a is one of the lower self's favorite words, right? So when you become, oh, I just got that, what if, thought I'm aware of it now, right? Now? I have a choice. Whereas before, when I wasn't aware of that, what if thought I didn't really have a choice other than to react to that thought, whereas now that I'm aware of that thought, well, I can either take another look and see if this is a real danger that I'm dealing with and respond appropriately, or I can realize that that's a, you know, an illusory thought that I can dis identify with. So this is just one example sure that of how that works. So self intelligence is that, but it's also the process of discovering your higher self and your higher self is also known as your natural state. So this is your state, that is who you are, before you became conditioned with a whole range of beliefs, and before you became identified with a whole bunch of things in your life. There is no fundamental issue with conditioning or identity. You gotta be the one to discern whether those things cause you suffering like whether they're serving you or not. That's the That's the important thing, but, but, but beyond all of those things, you existed prior to, for example, your name. Like everybody was given a name at birth, you existed prior to your name, true or not, so you were in the boom, true you you were there before a name came, and then a name came after. Now what happens is we identify with that name, and then we associate that name with who we are, right? Yes, the identification process is the lower self, the part of you that realizes that you're not your name, but the name is connected to this body, mind, which is very important to practical reality, right? That's your higher self. It's the witnessing presence, the observer behind everything that's taking place. And self intelligence is the is the art of empowering yourself to live through your higher self. That that that that that consciousness that you are. So why would you want to live from that place? Because it is freedom, like if we take a a very honest look at our lives, the most the suffering that we're experiencing is coming from inside of us, like someone right now could be sitting here listening to this podcast with a whole bunch of problems in their life, like relationship, finances, all sorts of things, but in this present moment, the problem don't exist in the way that the mind is threatened by all of these things that are going on. These are real issues. The these are real they're not. It's not saying that those are real issues, but suffering them is what happens with the mind. And so if you want, if anyone wants to free themselves from the inside, they have to understand what's happening inside themselves in order to do that, yeah, and so that that's, that's literally what self intelligence is. And there's many forms of this on the planet, in different variations with different names. This is just one term to describe that, that pathway, yeah, well,   Michael Hingson ** 38:39 you know, it's it's interesting. Again, we worry about so many things. We're afraid of so many things, or we fear so many things, and well over 90% of them will never happen. And they're also things over which we really don't have any control, but, but we worry about them because rather than paying attention to the things over which we really do have some influence and control, we worry about everything else. It's so much easier to do, at least we think it is. But in reality, I think that focusing on the things that we really can have an effect on, I think is extremely important to do. I remember when I was running from tower two in the World Trade Center at one point, I thought, God, I can't believe that you got us out of a building just to have it fall on us. And then immediately I heard, as clearly as you hear me now, a voice that said, don't worry about what you can't control. Focus on running, in this case, with my guide dog, Roselle, and the rest will take care of itself. And I've had that as kind of a mantra ever since that day. Don't worry about the things that you can't control. Focus on the things that you can, because the rest of it isn't going to really be anything that you have any control over. Anyway, it was so easy, and I know people who did, who were just afraid. As we went down the stairs in the World Trade Center, the building was going to collapse. It's going to fall off. We're going to die. And in fact, some people said that. From my perspective, I will tell you that I was listening for any creaking groan in the building in case something happened. But I didn't let that worry me, because I knew that what I needed to do was to keep myself and my guide dog focused, especially keeping my guide dog focused, because Roselle would have and dogs do tend to have higher senses on a lot of levels than we do, and so if suddenly Roselle started to behave in a way that I didn't expect, then I could look at that and deal with it and figure out what was happening, which was my job, but if I worried about everything else, I couldn't focus on her and tell her she's doing a good job. Keep going. What a good dog and all that. And that's what I needed to do, and that's what I learned to do. Because what I did was to learn all I could about the World Trade Center, which created a mindset. And I didn't even realize it, but it created a mindset that said, if there's an emergency in the World Trade Center, you know what to do to deal with it. And that's exactly what happened to me. And so I was able to to deal with it and not worry about all the stuff that I had no control over, and I'll tell you, I have a very vivid imagination. I'm a science fiction lover. I've read lots of horror books and all that. So I imagine things that were probably a whole lot worse even than happened. But by the same token, I didn't let that overwhelm me, because I had something more important to do, and that is to keep me and a puppy dog focused.   Chris Knight ** 41:46 Yeah, that's you know, that I often find that disasters bring out the best in a lot of people, not everyone, but I do tend to find that all of a sudden there's this ability to prioritize things and really be the kind of people that we want to be in with each other. And like I said, That's not all the time, but there is a pattern in humanity that when we're in crisis, all of a sudden this this part of us comes out that seems to be like what we'd love to see in each other's lives all the time. What I tend to find is the discernment of what we're in control of and what we're not in control of is less there when we're not in crisis, when we're in an ordinary life, and when we're getting irritations by, you know, the people that we're working with or our partners, and the expectations that we hold for them, and the judgments that we have about them and ourselves, and our fears about what other people think, and all of that kind of thing is, is just the discernments not there. And so what happens is the reaction patterns that come from that start to play out, and then you get a certain, a certain kind of low level to high level anxiety depression, which is really just experiences a certain kind of I'm not feeling right in myself, like I don't feel comfortable in my own skin somehow, like something doesn't ever feel like I feel content. There's just this slight irritation in the system kind of going on.   Michael Hingson ** 43:31 Survival Mode kicks in, and it creates this whole negative environment where I've got to just do what I'm used to doing to survive, and we don't allow ourselves to stretch and grow,   Chris Knight ** 43:45 yeah, yeah, yeah. Because everybody has a calling inside of them, I feel that everybody has this knowing that they're here to learn and grow and to express a part of themselves that's very unique, but there's a fear that it won't be acceptable, it won't be received, it will be rejected, and maybe it has been in the past, by parents, by siblings, by, you know, people in the schoolyard, whatever the case. And it's a real shame, because that light inside of us becomes dim through through conditioning and through accepting that, and through the survival mode that you're talking about. And the work that I'm offering is for those people who know that that's there inside of them and want to know how to get out of their own way so that can come through, so that their their natural gifts and talents, their capacity to love, their capacity for connection, as you've been saying. Saying can actually be experienced in this life, right? Because there's a feeling like my my experience is so limited by this person inside of me who is controlling everything or needs control in the way that you're talking about, and I'm in my own way. And how do I get out of it? How do I get out of my own way? To have these experiences, to have this growth, right to to take this absolutely miracle of experience, like the scientists that they just cannot believe, like for someone to be bought, for you to be born is an absolute miracle. The odds of you being born, the way that it happens through billions of sperm, and you know, this whole process that takes place with with birth is like you're you're an absolute miracle, right? And we all know this intuitively, and there's a lot of shame in the system when we don't feel like we're giving this life our fullest because we're in our own way. You know, there's, there's a lot of shame that builds up with that. And yeah, and I feel like I'm I felt that way myself, that I'm speaking to my my lower self. That's I, that's what I experienced, was that, and fortunately, I was guided towards the ways in which to unlock that inner potential. Yeah. And   Michael Hingson ** 46:33 your chronic pain went away along the way.   Chris Knight ** 46:35 Yeah, yeah. It went away very quickly. Actually, it was one of the things that really shifted very fast, I just lowered back pain. Yeah, that was one of the, one of the many things that came into alignment amongst many other things, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 46:54 So in a sense, you were, you were, if you will, causing your own pain. Oh, absolutely,   Chris Knight ** 46:59 yeah, absolutely, yeah. Because sometimes it's not like that. Sometimes it's a, it's an ergonomic thing. It's a, you know, it's an injury kind of thing, like this and that that is the case. It's not always like psychosomatic, if you want to call it, that body mind. But this was because of the chronic nature of it. I tell people, when it comes to this work, you're looking for patterns. You're looking for things that keep showing up and they're not shifting, they're not healing. So what that's saying is, there's something that's not been addressed inside that has to be looked at, you know, and so that that's I've worked with a lot of people with weight issues. I over overweight, and they're doing all the right things, they're eating the right food, they're exercising, and they're like, the weights not shifting. It's like, look, there's something else going on internally that that says that due to your perceptions, your beliefs, your experiences, that you have to continue to protect yourself in a certain way that's holding that weight. And until you address that, your weight is going to be very hard to shift. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well,   Michael Hingson ** 48:03 I know I used to be a lot more overweight than I am now, and I made the conscious decision to deal with it. And one of the things that I did was changed eating habits a little bit, but yeah, mostly it was again, a mindset, and since I began losing weight, I have lost about 85 pounds in the last five years. And so I'm very happy with that, and I'm not going to let it come back. And that's the way it ought to be. But, but I also know that it was a lot of me connecting with myself and recognizing that I had to make some changes, both in mindset and in food, but yes, also Yeah, but especially in mindset,   Chris Knight ** 48:56 yeah, yeah. I I felt the same way, like all the therapies that were trying to support my symptoms started to become way more effective when I was dealing with my internal so they all have their place. Everything has its place. Diet has its place. Therapies have their place. Drugs have their place. Everything has its place. It's up to us to understand how to discern when and where and how much of those things are necessary in our lives. You know? Yeah, yeah, absolutely, that's the thing. And that decide I use this word discernment quite a bit, because discernment is the is the major aspect of self intelligence that as society and as human beings, that I feel as though we require development of. You know, we know this with children like they children have an adult in their life, because the adult can discern what's dangerous, what's not dangerous. The adult can discern if there's a boogie man under the bed or not. You know, where a child's mind will go off into all sorts of. Places, you know, and the adult can kind of ground them back to something that's safe and understandable. But we have to be that adult to ourselves. We have to be that adult to our own inner child so that we can discern what's happening, and the child inside, it does what the child does when it feels uncomfortable and so on. It just goes to the parent to get some kind of whatever it is, to get the boob, to get the dummy, to get the comfort, the relief of some kind they're not responsible for what's happening it's the adult who's responsible. And many people are living their lives internally as a child and the feeling completely overwhelmed by life, because the child like mind is not supposed to be taking on those kinds of responsibilities, and yet it's trying to, and it's suffering, and in order to cope with the overwhelm, it will employ things like distractions, addictions, to to to basically deal with the the uncomfortable sensation of that overwhelming stress and the amount of man, the amount of distractions that we can employ these days, and it will be experienced as procrastination, you know, it'll be experienced as perfectionism. It'll be experienced as sabotaging behaviors. It'll be experienced as energetically prostituting ourselves in situations that don't necessarily serve us. It shows up in all these different facets, and what that's saying is that that discernment and that that that adults like quality hasn't been yet developed to the point where you can trust yourself, and it's still then looking outside for the answers, where the the answers inside. And this is, this is a major shift. I feel it's taking place on the planet right now, because the more that technology develops as well. Our discernment is more and more necessary. What can we trust? What can't we trust? What information can we rely on or not? Becomes harder and harder as technology increases, so discernment is even more and more important. And I found it interesting that as artificial intelligence birth itself, so did self intelligence in like unison with that, which is actually a really beautiful compliment when they come together in the right way. But without that, they it could be, you know, it's likely to be another kind of tool that weaponizes against itself. So what   Michael Hingson ** 52:38 kind of practices can we employ to learn to live better through our higher selves?   Chris Knight ** 52:45 There are three primary practices that I'm most interested in that I feel get the best results, and I see get the best results, and they're tried and tested to get the best results in this particular area that we're speaking to. The first is self inquiry. And self inquiry is the is the questioning which it's an awareness practice. I just want to repeat that it's not a mental practice. It's it's a line of questioning that allows you to become aware of the unconscious programming and belief systems and traumas and wounding that are driving your actions and behavior and choices, that are creating your reality. So this, this is extremely important to become aware of those things and not to assume that you're aware of them. If you're seeing symptoms in your life, like I had to come to terms with this myself, right? Because everyone thinks they know themselves. Everyone believes they know themselves. I know who I am, right? Everyone has this strong conviction. I know who I am. It takes life to cause a fair bit of pain to go you know what? Maybe I don't know myself as well as I thought I did, right? And maybe there's some room for growth, and maybe there's some room to learn some things about myself. So you have to have that degree of attitude, which unfortunately, usually takes people a lot of pain, even like a dark night, to even get to that point. But that's the first step. Is to have a very clear, simple line of inquiry to illuminate that stuff, and to also have the line of inquiry, which is all in the one package of self inquiry to dis identify with limiting beliefs and negative emotional states that aren't serving you, right? So that's the first step. So self inquiry does that. The second step is to be in the vibration of your higher self on a daily basis. No different to exercising on a daily basis or other habits that serve there are many habits brushing your teeth on a daily basis, whatever it is to actually just be in the full experience of your. Higher Self, which is a guided meditation kind of process, and to do that daily. And what that does is that creates the space internally to be able to see those thoughts. Because if you don't have that space, you just are the thoughts. There's no there's no distinction there. And if the viewers listening to this tried meditation didn't work for me, that type of thing. Do not think about it like strict versions of meditation that that that was like I was trying to stop my mind, or this type of thing. It's not like that. I call these self recognition practices. So this the second step is self recognition. Recognize, recognize that you are the witnessing consciousness of everything that includes everything externally and everything internally. And just sit with that, sit with that recognition. And what happens is your vibration goes up naturally. You start to feel calm, peace, joy, creative, all of these natural things, inspired, enthusiastic. There's all this natural energy there, and you don't do and you're not making it up. You're not creating it. You're not trying to will yourself into those states. It's just what happens when you do this. So that's the second step. The third step I call self regulation, which is the physical body's way of coming out of the survival mode. So I teach that through body tremor, through body release and through breath work. So when the nervous system is kicked off, this could be anything. It could be like some stressful thing at work, or some jealousy issue in your relationship, or some because it's bring up some trauma. It's like, look, I'm going to take a few moments. I'm going to get myself regulated before I have a conversation, for example, or before I go on with this task, or whatever I'm going to do. It could be that I'm procrastinating. Procrastination is a survival mechanism. So it's like, I can do some breath work, and then all of a sudden I'm freed up. It's like, all of a sudden I'm good to go like that procrastination, that barrier, That invisible barrier of taking action, is no longer there anymore, and so it's another it's the physical version of coming out of that lower state of the lower self. And that's it. Those three practices are plenty enough to implement. Now the second practice, self recognition, that's a daily practice, self inquiry, often is something people use when they get triggered by things you know, like something happens, someone says something, a situation occurs, and you're not accepting reality. You're you're you're not okay with what's happening, and therefore certain perceptions, beliefs and thoughts have triggered off there to inquire, to come out of that state, because at the end of the day, it's a fear based vibration that you're in, and nothing you do in the fear vibration is going to serve anything per like useful so similar to if you were going into a rip in the ocean, panicking is never going to be the best thing to do. So it's just recognizing that nothing I do on the from the state of fear and judgment and ego based needs are going to like create as a result that I actually want, but we think that it will right? So we react to things all the time, we project things all the time, and think it's going to get us what we want, and it doesn't do that. It gets us actually the opposite of what we want. And so that's something we have to come to terms with. So that happens a lot of the time. Yeah, when we get triggered, if you're feeling really insecure about something, if you're noticing certain negative judgments, there's, there's all the different triggers for self inquiry. But it's more on a case by case basis that that's happening, and that could be like a 10 minute process, 510 minute process. And same with the that's the same with the self regulation, that that's also a five to 10 minute process to come out of that state. And it's it, what? What is it all saying? It's saying I'm prepared to look after my vibration. I know that in a higher vibration, things work out. Things go into flow, things seem to synchronize. Things seem to look after me in a way that's more serving and natural when I'm in the lower state. It's like the world's against me. It's like everything's like pushing shit uphill. It's just difficult, it's hard work. It's like the world's against me somehow. And it's like, I don't want to live from that state. I don't want to be make. Decisions from that state. I don't want to be relating in my relationships and my kids and everything else from that state, because it just creates more and more problems. So yeah, those are the those are the three processes, self recognition, self inquiry and self regulation. Yeah. So   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:17 basically, are you a life coach? Yeah?   Chris Knight ** 1:00:21 Yeah, yeah, exactly. I'd be sort of known as a spiritual life coach, because, only because I deal at the level of identity, which is where people usually use the word spiritual. I don't use the word spiritual because it has too many it's too much of a loaded word,   Michael Hingson ** 1:00:38 even though that's what it is, yeah,   Chris Knight ** 1:00:39 that is what it is, because we're just dealing with disidentification semantics, yeah, yeah, exactly. So, yeah, there's no limit to the kind of issues that I work with in people's lives. I tend to find that I work with certain themes more than others, like the people in my community at the moment, and the clients that I have is very it's a very diverse thing, like it could be jealousy and relationship for one person, another person's coming out overcoming an eating disorder or body dysmorphia. Someone else is dealing with a sexual abuse trauma. Someone else has got dad wounds from childhood that have caused them to be narcissist in their work life, and it's causing them all sorts of problems. So they're dealing with narcissistic issues. So it's so to the core of what's going on for us that it's very holistic in that way.   Michael Hingson ** 1:01:37 Yeah. So what is your business called?   Chris Knight ** 1:01:41 My name, it's, it's self intelligence is the method, is the the teaching. And my name is Chris Knight, and I'm the founder of that. So that's, that's essentially what that is. So people say, go see Chris if they recognize a certain problem. And he's like, I think he'll be able to help you out with that particular thing. There   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:01 you go. Have you written any books yet?   Chris Knight ** 1:02:05 I've, I haven't published a book. I've written a textbook in emotional anatomy, and I've got a podcast, a self intelligence podcast, where I do live sessions with people, which is pretty amazing for people to do that, to do live sessions, and I definitely intend to write various books, but yeah, at the moment, I'm just continuing to refine the self intelligence program. The it has gone through many updates to keep it as simple and as user friendly to people as possible, given that it's a lifestyle approach. And yeah, that's that's where it's at at the moment. So   Michael Hingson ** 1:02:54 if people want to reach out to you, how do they do that? Yeah,   Chris Knight ** 1:02:58 so they look up Chris knight.com.au, and you'll find everything there. The two offerings I have is one, I do one on one coaching with people on everything that we just spoke about today, and I often have a discovery call with people, just to make sure that they feel like I'm the right fit for them, for what they're dealing with. And two, I have a community, because everything that I'm doing is lifestyle based. So the meditation, the self inquiry and the self regulation, these are intended to become habits in our life, like exercise and other things. So it's like going to the gym. Actually, you can go to the gym and get an instructor, right? That's like the one on one coach. You can get an instructor and they support you through it. Or you can just be a member at the gym and then go whenever you like. Yeah, so we just come off the back of a 30 day self inquiry commitment, which involved four different practices, like four different inquiry processes, and we do challenges like that all throughout the year. We meet on a weekly basis to do integration, because integration is often what's lacking for a lot of people in the self development space, where they have a big explosive like heart opening experience for, you know, in a conference or a workshop or something like that. But then they go back to their old habits when they get back into their daily life, and it's like, how do you integrate that vibration that I know, I now know, is possible in my daily life? That's what integration these integration sessions are for, and they're weekly. So that's what that that community is all about. So, yeah.   Michael Hingson ** 1:04:42 So again, it's Chris Knight, C, H, R, I S, K, N, I, G, H, t.com/a, u.com.com, dot A, U, sorry, yeah,   Chris Knight ** 1:04:51 yeah. I think if you just, if, I think if you just Google Chris Knight on its own, I think I'm the top are you on LinkedIn as well? Well, ah, no, no, no, no, I'm not okay, no, no, but I think on top of the search, but it might depend on where you're at in the world.   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:10 Now I know how to find you. Chris, Chris Knight, now that's that's no problem,   Chris Knight ** 1:05:14 or search, or search, self intelligence.com, self   Michael Hingson ** 1:05:18 intelligence.com, which makes sense as well. Yeah, so   Chris Knight ** 1:05:21 you'll get there. You'll get there to me as well. And you know this is for people who want, who know in their hearts, they know that looking after your internal world is important, as to looking after your body in and to just have a small amount of time per day to do that as a lifestyle, but also when you feel like you're in the trenches, or you feel like you really require someone to hold your hand, in a sense, to get through some stuff, that's where the one on one sessions are there. And I work with people in America. I work with people all over the world, because we can do this right? And this is fortunately for what I offer. This works perfectly. It is not a barrier or an issue at all. In person is not necessary. It works great. So,   Michael Hingson ** 1:06:12 yeah, well, I want to thank you for taking the time to be here and talk about all this. It has been fun. And every time i i hear the kinds of things that you're talking about, that also tend to validate a lot of my thoughts. I like that as well, but I learn a lot, and as I as I love to tell people, if I'm not learning at least as much as anybody else on this podcast, I'm not doing my job very well. So I really appreciate you being here, and I have learned a lot today. So I want to thank you for that, and I want to thank you all for listening. So wherever you're listening, please, we'd love to hear from you. You can reach me at Michael h i at accessibe, A, C, C, E, S, S, I, B, e.com, or go to our podcast page, www, dot Michael hingson.com/podcast, Michael Hinkson is m, I C, H, A, E, L, H, I N, G, s, o, n.com/podcast, we'd love to hear from you, and please, wherever you're listening, give us a five star review. We value your reviews. We value your thoughts, and we especially do love those, those great reviews, so please keep them coming. We are very joyous to get those and we feel very blessed. If you know anyone who you think ought to be a guest on our podcast, Chris, that includes you. If you know anyone you think we ought to be chatting with, please let us know we're always looking to meet new people and make new friends. And as I've told Chris and I tell everyone who comes on the podcast, the only rule about being on the podcast is you gotta have fun. Otherwise, where is this engine doing it right? Exactly, exactly. So once, once more, I want to thank you, Chris for being here. This has been absolutely fun. So thank you very much. Thank   Chris Knight ** 1:07:50 you so much as well. I appreciate all your your effort and just your life story and the fact that you were just a living inspiration to anyone who feels that they have victimized by life, you have shown that you can thrive in this world beyond that whole narrative, and that's what this is all about.   Michael Hingson ** 1:08:14   You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we a

What is life like for blind and partially sighted people in Australia?  Amelia spoke to Dale Cleaver, the CEO of Guide dogs Australia and Seeway, after the RNIB Inclusive Design For Sustainability Conference in Glasgow. Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underline with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font. 

On this episode we talk with Leader Dogs for the Blind's new Psychosocial Support Manager.

Listen in as Dr. Maggie O'Haire takes us on an inspiring deep dive into the transformative power of service dogs for veterans with PTSD. Dr. O'Haire's groundbreaking Service Dog and Veteran Experiences Study (SERVES) research project at the University of Arizona is the first national, randomized clinical trial to scientifically measure the medical benefits of service dogs compared to anecdotal beliefs. Dr. O'Haire's work is proving what many have long believed—service dogs are more than companions; they are essential partners in healing, helping veterans reclaim their independence, confidence, and peace of mind. This episode is a must-listen for anyone who believes in the extraordinary power of the human-animal bond! EPISODE NOTES: SERVES!

Image shows the RNIB Connect Radio logo. On a white background ‘RNIB' written in bold black capital letters and underline with a bold pink line. Underneath the line: ‘Connect Radio' is written in black in a smaller font.

The Mobility Challenge session took place on day two of RNIB Scotland's Inclusive Design for Sustainability Conference. Every research study and insight piece confirms the critical role of mobility as an ingredient for independence and confidence. From getting around your local area through to more complex navigation, mobility remains a significant challenge for blind and partially sighted people.  The session will offer a range of innovative solutions which aim to tackle the mobility challenge using a variety of human-centred smart technologies. Our panel will contextualise these technologies and highlight key opportunities and challenges.   Panel discussion was facilitated by Jim Sanders, Director of Transformation at RNIB, and featured: Neil Barnfather MBE from Goodmaps Inc., Mani Gupta- Managing Partner at Purview, Dr Jean-Marc Feghali, Chief Innovation Officer at WeWalk, and Peter Osbourne – Deputy CEO at Guide Dogs. Hear all audio from the conference here: Audioboom / Inclusive Design for Sustainability Conference 2025 Image description: A dramatic, angled shot of an empty stage. At the front a pink podium reads "RNIB Scotland, Inclusive Design for Sustainability Conference." Behind, a line of grey chairs awaits experts for the panel discussions and a large pink IMAX screen hangs above.

Imogen Johnston and Kim Ryan from Guide Dogs Tasmania join Kaz and Tubes live in the studio with Gracie the Guide Dog. Listen as they put the call out for businesses and volunteers to get involved in their Annual Street Appeal coming up on International Guide Dog Day.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Time once again to hear from the Inclusive Design For Sustainability Conference, where Hubert had a chat with Peter Osborne, from Guide Dogs.    Image description: A dramatic, angled shot of an empty stage. At the front a pink podium reads "RNIB Scotland, Inclusive Design for Sustainability Conference." Behind, a line of grey chairs awaits experts for the panel discussions and a large pink IMAX screen hangs above.

Back to the inclusive design for sustainability conference, where Hubert got to find out more about the interesting robot guide dog, and even got to try it out for himself. Image Description: Robbie the robot guide dog strikes a good boy pose for a photo in the Tech Marketplace during the conference. He's a smartly designed silver robot with long bendy legs, slim cameras on top of his head and a lead with a red handle trailing behind.

Welcome to this special collaborative episode of the Eb n Flow and Your Listener podcast, made especially for the third edition of Podcasthon in 2025. On today's episode I am joined by John Cuturilo, owner of Your Listener Counselling and host of the Your Listener podcast, in Melbourne Australia. Podcasthon is a global not-for-profit event in which more than a thousand podcast hosts across the world will host an episode dedicated to a charity of their choice, to raise awareness. John and I have the great pleasure of dedicating this episode to Guide Dogs Australia, a charity who, in collaboration with their state- and territory-based associations, provide assistance services to blind or vision-impaired individuals, including the namesake assistance dogs. As a blind individual and ambassador for Guide Dogs Queensland, I share some insight in to the work that the charity does for the community. We encourage you to visit Guide Dog Australia's website to learn more:https://guidedogs.com.au/We also encourage you to visit Podcasthon's website and peruse the other podcasts that are participating:https://podcasthon.org/John Cuturilo: https://yourlistener.wixsite.com/coachingYour Listener Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/your-listener/id1727981639My Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ebonyuamaki?igsh=MXBmdWM5ZzN5Y3lvMQ%3D%3D&utm_source=qr

On this episode we talk with Sam Seavey from the Blind Life YouTube channel about his work teaching others about emerging technology in the blindness and low vision field. Find Same on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/@theblindlife

Zoologist, microbiologist and science champion Dr Bushra Schuitemaker has carved out a career in research and is determined to ensure young people from disadvantaged backgrounds know that science is for them too.Growing up in a single parent household in rural Essex, entitled to free school lunches, Bushra's stella science career is all the more remarkable because her local secondary school offered pupils no opportunities at all to take science A level courses.Positive she wanted to study zoology at university, she petitioned the school board, teachers and fellow pupils to get A level biology put on – which they did. Several years later, the school has full physics, chemistry and biology classes.Bushra's professional achievements, include working for Cancer Research UK at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, and now researching childhood obesity and puppy gut health at Biome9 and the Quadram Institute in association with the Guide Dogs organisation. And she partly puts her success down to thinking differently (she describes this as a superpower) because she has both dyslexia and dyspraxia.Read more and find extra links on the ProGRESS website show notes page hereYou might like to listen to:Sarah Ashworth, Researcher developer at University of Manchester S1 E11Rachel Warren, Professor of global change and environmental biology, The Tyndall Centre UEA S1 E7Matthew Halteman, Philosophy professor and animal and food ethicist, S3 E10Lydia Carrington, Sustainability manager Edgbaston Stadium S2 E1About ProGRESS:Host Sandra Kessell invites guests to discuss their pro- Green, Ethical, Sustainable and Socially responsible careers, courses and activities and asks for real-world insights into the paths and decisions that led to them.Original content © Sandra Kessell Original music © Lyze KessellFollow ProGRESS on LinkedInInstagram: @progress_green_careers_podcastEmail us: hello [@] mypro-gress.co.uk Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fate, Faith and Teamwork: How Michael Hingson and his dog escaped 9/11 Did you know that Michael Hingson, who was born blind, not only climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but also survived the 9/11 attacks while helping others escape? His life is full of incredible adventures! Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write – Braille that is! Michael's family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog.  He later went to college receiving a bachelor's and master's degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles. Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork.  Speaking to some of the world's most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today's major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world.  Schedule a complimentary coaching call with Rebecca https://calendly.com/rebeccaelizabethwhitman/breakthrough https://modere.io/QwoNYU https://modere.io/CtlaDw To learn more about Rebecca… https://www.rebeccaelizabethwhitman.com pillar.io/rebeccaewhitman #MichaelHingson#InspirationalStories#OvercomingChallenges#Resilience#PersonalGrowth#CanDoAttitude#LifeLessons#MotivationalSpeaker#DisabilityAwareness#VisualImpairment#BlindCommunity#AdaptiveTechnology#AssistiveDevices#Braille#InclusionMatters#AccessibilityForAll#ChicagoInspiration#PalmdalePride#ChicagoEvents#PalmdaleCommunity#BreakingBarriers#EmpowerThroughAdversity#StrengthInDiversity#AbilityNotDisability#UnstoppableMindset

Fate, Faith and Teamwork: How Michael Hingson and his dog escaped 9/11 Did you know that Michael Hingson, who was born blind, not only climbed Mount Kilimanjaro but also survived the 9/11 attacks while helping others escape? His life is full of incredible adventures! Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write – Braille that is! Michael's family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog.  He later went to college receiving a bachelor's and master's degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles. Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork.  Speaking to some of the world's most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today's major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world.  Schedule a complimentary coaching call with Rebecca https://calendly.com/rebeccaelizabethwhitman/breakthrough https://modere.io/QwoNYU https://modere.io/CtlaDw To learn more about Rebecca… https://www.rebeccaelizabethwhitman.com pillar.io/rebeccaewhitman #MichaelHingson#InspirationalStories#OvercomingChallenges#Resilience#PersonalGrowth#CanDoAttitude#LifeLessons#MotivationalSpeaker#DisabilityAwareness#VisualImpairment#BlindCommunity#AdaptiveTechnology#AssistiveDevices#Braille#InclusionMatters#AccessibilityForAll#ChicagoInspiration#PalmdalePride#ChicagoEvents#PalmdaleCommunity#BreakingBarriers#EmpowerThroughAdversity#StrengthInDiversity#AbilityNotDisability#UnstoppableMindset

A Kent campsite has been given permission to extend its opening hours - despite concern from people living nearby over noise.Lilyroos Glamping near Deal will be able to welcome visitors for 11 months of the year, instead of just seven. Hear from reporter Louis Walker who has been following the story.Also in today's podcast, an inquiry into the deaths of at least 27 people who died when their small boat capsized in the Channel has begun. Evidence is being heard to find out what lessons can be learned from the tragedy as the vessel made its way to Kent in November 2021.Bosses at a dental surgery in Margate say they could be treating thousands of patients a year, but can't get an NHS contract.Nightingale opened last month, and although it's a private practice they want to provide NHS appointments to help meet demand.Gabriel Morris from the Local Democracy Reporting Service has been speaking to assistant manager Teresa Kelsall.A Kent doctor who's featured in a new Netflix drama has told the podcast it's important the story is re-told and lessons are learnt.Toxic Town is about families in Corby whose children were born with limb defects.Investigations found that waste driven through the town after a steelworks was demolished caused babies to have upper limb deformities. A woman says she was humiliated after being told to leave a Morrisons Daily in Canterbury because she has a guide dog.Caroline Kennelly has just 3% of vision and relies on Dougie to be able to do everyday tasks. She's described what the experience was like and what the supermarket has said since.And in football, Gillingham are on the road in league two tonight.They're travelling to take on Newport County after a victory at the weekend ended their 13 game winless run.

Guide Dogs for the Blind operates two campuses — one in San Rafael, California, and one in Boring, Oregon. The nonprofit raises and trains dogs to work with people experiencing vision loss, and provides a variety of programs for the humans who will one day partner with them. Plans are underway to expand GDB’s Boring campus through a new community hub, which would double the number of clients the organization can serve in Oregon.  Susan Armstrong is vice president of client programs for GDB. George Miers is a partner at Studio Miers | Chou | Poon, which designed the new facility. They both join us to talk more about the expansion and what it takes to design a facility with senses other than vision in mind.

On this episode Leader Dogs for the Blind CEO and President Melissa Weisse joins us to talk about one year in her position. 

Today, we cover a South Asian Students Association collaboration event at Coffee Club, Elena Kagan's speech at Alumni Day, and a tribute to Maggie, a retiring service dog. ***https://www.dailyprincetonian.com/article/2025/02/princeton-news-alumni-day-supreme-court-justice-elena-kagan-woodrow-wilson-award-david-card-james-madison-medal

Before a guide dog can help a blind person navigate the world, it has to pass a series of tests, then go through $75,000 worth of training. Zachary Crockett sniffs around. SOURCES:Peggy Gibbon, director of canine development at The Seeing Eye.Charles Pat McKenna, assistant division director of the New Jersey Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired. RESOURCES:"Why Seeing Eye Dogs Are So Expensive To Breed and Train," by Abby Tang and Emily Christian (Business Insider, 2024)."For decades, the blind have used canes to get around. Now a special wristband gives them a ‘sixth sense.'" by Peter Holley (Washington Post, 2017).The Seeing Eye."History of Guide Dogs," by The International Guide Dog Federation."Facts and Figures" by The International Guide Dog Federation. EXTRAS:"Morris Frank," by The International Guide Dog Foundation (Vimeo, 2021). 

 Michael Hingson, blind since birth, was born in Chicago to sighted parents who believed in raising their son with a can-do attitude. Treated like all other children in his family, Michael rode a bike did advanced math in his head and learn to read and write – Braille that is! Michael's family relocated to the warm Palmdale area of California when he was five years old. It is here that Hingson had his first adventure with Guide Dogs for the Blind and received his first guide dog. He later went to college receiving a bachelor's and master's degree in Physics along with a secondary teaching credential from the University of California at Irvine. Michael then enjoyed a nearly-30-year career working for high tech companies spending most of his time in management roles. Michael Hingson's life changed dramatically on September 11, 2001 when he and his guide dog, Roselle, escaped from the 78th floor of Tower One in the World Trade Center moments before it collapsed. Soon after, Michael and Roselle were thrust into the international limelight where Michael began to share his unique survival story and 9-11 lessons of trust, courage, heroism, and teamwork. Mike has served as The National Public Affairs Director for one of the largest Nonprofit organizations in the nation: Guide Dogs for the Blind; He has served as the vice president of the National Association of Guide Dog Users; Michael has held a seat on the Fort Worth Lighthouse for the Blind. He is the chair of the board of directors of the Earle Baum Center for the Blind and is the vice chair of the Colorado Center for the Blind; Michael is The National Ambassador for the Braille Literacy Campaign of the National Federation of the Blind. Until October 2019 he worked as the CEO of the Do More Foundation, the non-profit arm of Aira Tech Corp, a manufacturer of assistive technology which makes a revolutionary visual interpreter for blind people. In January 2021 Mike joined accessiBe as its Chief Vision Officer to help advance the company goal of making the entire internet fully inclusive. AccessiBe provides an artificial intelligence-based product that makes web sites accessible to many persons with disabilities. He is the author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller: “Thunder dog –The True Story of a Blind Man, a Guide Dog & the Triumph of Trust” – selling over 2.5 million copies Worldwide. In 2014 Mr. Hingson published his 2 nd book “Running with Roselle”- which Is the first of its kind- A story for our youth shedding light on one of Americas Darkest Days. Mr. Hingson's third book, “Live Like A Guide Dog”, was released on August 20, 2024. This book shows readers how they can learn to control fear and not, as Mike would say, “become blinded by fear in the face of crisis”. Aside from his talents and advocacies, Mr. Hingson has traveled the Globe from Japan to New Zealand, the Netherlands to his hometown, Chicago. Speaking to some of the world's most elite: from former President, George W. Bush to Larry King, to Fortune 500 companies and colleges and Universities Nationwide. After sharing his story of survival on hundreds of TV and Radio programs, Michael is now an Expert hired by many of today's major corporations and organizations. Speaking and consulting on the importance of Teamwork and Trust, Moving from Diversity to Inclusion, as well as offering Adaptive Technology Training – spearheading innovation for ALL! - Thus, bringing organizations to the forefront of the ever-changing competitive modern world. Body Transformation System!https://modere.io/NbOyU2https://calendly.com/rebeccaelizabethwhitman/breakthroughTo learn more about Rebecca…https://www.rebeccaelizabethwhitman.com/#homehttps://everydaywomantv.com/tv_shows/the-balanced-beautiful-and-abundant-show/

On this episode we talk with a volunteer who is working to recruit puppy raisers and breeding hosts for Leader Dogs for the Blind.

Guide Dogs for the Blind President and CEO, Christine Benninger is back on Central Bark to share thoughts and reflections on 2024 and exciting news about 2025.

The Tactile Traveler, hosted by Nick Isenberg and produced by KDNK Community Access Radio, empowers blind and low-vision individuals to explore the world while offering new perspectives to sighted listeners. In this episode, we address a critical yet often overlooked issue—preventing sexual offenses before they happen. Featuring experts in therapy and support systems, we explore resources available to individuals struggling with harmful urges, aiming to protect both potential victims and those seeking help. Tune in for vital insights, support networks, and actionable steps toward prevention.

Happy 2025! In this first episode of the new season, cohost Christina Hepner has big news to share! We also talk with a client who is also a Leader Dog team member about her journey with Leader Dog.

An important meeting took place at the RNIB Grimaldi building of the Shaping The Future Of Volunteering Group. Hubert spoke to two co-chairs of the group, Andrew Lennox from Guide Dogs, and Cathrine Johnstone from the Royal Voluntary Service, to find out the purpose of the meeting, what lessons have been learned, and their thoughts on the currant state of volunteering.

Live Like a Guide Dog: True Stories from a Blind Man and His Dogs About Being Brave, Overcoming Adversity, and Moving Forward in Faith. Michael Hingson's inspiring true story captivated the world when he and his guide dog Roselle escaped the Twin Towers together on 9/11, a story that became the New York Times bestselling book Thunder Dog. During decades of walking with guide dogs, he had learned a surprising truth that helped save his life that day: Being afraid can be a positive thing, one that prepares us to deal with any situation that befalls us. Now, in Live Like a Guide Dog, he reveals how to: Get equipped for whatever obstacles or challenges you may encounter as you make your way through the world Train yourself to be brave, just like a guide dog's training equips handler and dog to prepare for the unexpected Learn to use your natural fear reactions as a way to focus and concentrate to make better decisions and turn your fear into courage and confidence. Apply eleven principles Michael has learned with his guide dogs to overcome the fears that you face every day Join Michael on the joyful adventure of walking with, loving, and learning from guide dogs!

Guide Dogs for the Blind 1/26/25 full AN INTERVIEW WITH LYNN DUBINSKY, VICE PRESIDENT OF CLIENT ENGAGEMENT AND IMPACT WITH GUIDE DOGS FOR THE BLIND, ABOUT THE ADVOCAY WORK THEY DO WITH BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED PEOPLE, ESPECIALLY REGARDING RIDESHARE ACCESS AND EMPLOYMENT, AS WELL AS THEIR YOUTH PROGRAMS AND VOLUNTEER OPPORTUNITIES. 1497 Fri, 24 Jan 2025 19:15:02 +0000 Sq5TcWO9zhDdCTEef441XlYgrmaHRtAj Let's Talk Portland Guide Dogs for the Blind 1/26/25 Audacy Portland's locally produced public affairs radio show. Our show is community focused and features timely topics of interest to the Portland Metro area. Let's Talk Portlandis hosted by Gary Bloxom. He interviews newsmakers and experts on topics ranging from business, health, education, and the environment, to science and technology and non-profit work happening in our community. Also featured are authors and artists with interesting discussions on the arts and popular culture. We thank you for listening to Let's Talk Portland.  2024 © 2021 Audacy, Inc. False https://player.amperwavepodcasting.com?feed-link=https%3A%2F

What, you may ask, is TSC. When I first met our guest, Kari Luther Rosbeck, I had the same question. TSC stands for tuberous sclerosis complex. As soon as Kari defined the term for me it struck a nerve close to home for me. My great nephew actually has tuberous sclerosis complex and was first diagnosed with this rare disease when he was but a child. My conversation with Kari was far reaching and quite educational for me as I suspect it will be for you.   TSC affects some fifty-thousands persons in this country and about 1 million around the world. The TSC alliance, founded in 1974, has worked to promote support, research and the dissemination of information about this rare disease.   Kari has been the CEO for many years. She began with the organization in 2001. While her main interest growing up was in being an actress as she says, “living in New York City means that you work while developing an acting career”. In Kari's case, she found another interest which was fundraising and being involved in the nonprofit world.   My conversation with Kari is quite enjoyable and, as I said, quite educational. I am sure you will find much invaluable information in this episode. At the end of our time together Kari will tell us all how we can become involved and help the TCS Alliance. I hope you will find ways to support this effort as what the organization does goes far beyond what you might think.       About the Guest:   Kari Luther Rosbeck, President and CEO, TSC Alliance Kari has made it her life mission to use her 35 years of nonprofit and volunteer management experience to help create a future where everyone with TSC has what they need to live their fullest lives.  She has served as President and CEO since November 2007 and previously held progressive leadership positions with the organization since 2001. Kari is responsible for the overall management and administration of the organization including strategic planning, implementation of organizational strategies and evaluation of results to ensure the TSC Alliance meets its mission. During her tenure, the TSC Alliance established a comprehensive research platform fostering collaboration with industry and academia to move treatments for TSC forward in a more expedited way. Because of her leadership, the organization has taken an active role in educating the TSC community about clinical trials to diminish the time for recruitment, including pivotal trials that have led to three FDA-approved drugs specifically for TSC. In 2019, the organization launched a Research Business Plan with the goal to change the course of TSC for those living with it today and for generations to come paired with an aggressive fundraising campaign leading to more than $16 million raised. Since joining the TSC Alliance, the organization has grown from a $2.1 million annual operating budget to $10 million in 2022 and is heralded with top ratings by watchdog organizations. Kari graduated with a BA degree in Theatre from the State University of New York at Albany and upon graduation founded a theatre company with fellow graduates in New York, NY.  After the loss of her first child, Noell, to sudden infant death, she dedicated her career to helping other families. Kari is the proud mother of Trent, Bradey, Wynter and Rhys and grateful to her husband Chris for his unending support. When not working, she enjoys traveling, playing golf and being an avid Minnesota Vikings fan. Read Kari's Profile in Success.   Ways to connect with Kari:   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/tscalliance; @krosbeck Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tscalliance; @karirosbeck LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/697362/admin/; @kari-luther-rosbeck-ba24805/ X: https://twitter.com/tscalliance; @KariRosbeck Threads: https://www.threads.net/@tscalliance Website: www.tscalliance.org     About the Host:   Michael Hingson is a New York Times best-selling author, international lecturer, and Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe. Michael, blind since birth, survived the 9/11 attacks with the help of his guide dog Roselle. This story is the subject of his best-selling book, Thunder Dog.   Michael gives over 100 presentations around the world each year speaking to influential groups such as Exxon Mobile, AT&T, Federal Express, Scripps College, Rutgers University, Children's Hospital, and the American Red Cross just to name a few. He is Ambassador for the National Braille Literacy Campaign for the National Federation of the Blind and also serves as Ambassador for the American Humane Association's 2012 Hero Dog Awards.   https://michaelhingson.com https://www.facebook.com/michael.hingson.author.speaker/ https://twitter.com/mhingson https://www.youtube.com/user/mhingson https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelhingson/   accessiBe Links https://accessibe.com/ https://www.youtube.com/c/accessiBe https://www.linkedin.com/company/accessibe/mycompany/   https://www.facebook.com/accessibe/       Thanks for listening!   Thanks so much for listening to our podcast! If you enjoyed this episode and think that others could benefit from listening, please share it using the social media buttons on this page. Do you have some feedback or questions about this episode? Leave a comment in the section below!   Subscribe to the podcast   If you would like to get automatic updates of new podcast episodes, you can subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts or Stitcher. You can subscribe in your favorite podcast app. You can also support our podcast through our tip jar https://tips.pinecast.com/jar/unstoppable-mindset .   Leave us an Apple Podcasts review   Ratings and reviews from our listeners are extremely valuable to us and greatly appreciated. They help our podcast rank higher on Apple Podcasts, which exposes our show to more awesome listeners like you. If you have a minute, please leave an honest review on Apple Podcasts.       Transcription Notes:   Michael Hingson ** 00:00 Access Cast and accessiBe Initiative presents Unstoppable Mindset. The podcast where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet. Hi, I'm Michael Hingson, Chief Vision Officer for accessiBe and the author of the number one New York Times bestselling book, Thunder dog, the story of a blind man, his guide dog and the triumph of trust. Thanks for joining me on my podcast as we explore our own blinding fears of inclusion unacceptance and our resistance to change. We will discover the idea that no matter the situation, or the people we encounter, our own fears, and prejudices often are our strongest barriers to moving forward. The unstoppable mindset podcast is sponsored by accessiBe, that's a c c e s s i capital B e. Visit www.accessibe.com to learn how you can make your website accessible for persons with disabilities. And to help make the internet fully inclusive by the year 2025. Glad you dropped by we're happy to meet you and to have you here with us. . Well, welcome once again to another episode of unstoppable mindset where inclusion, diversity and the unexpected meet, and I bet we get to do a bunch of all of that today. Our guest is Kari Luther rosbeck, and Kari and I met through Sheldon Lewis from accessibe. Sheldon is great at finding folks for us to get to chat with. And when I started learning about Kari, one of the things that I kept reading was a term TSC, and I didn't know what TSC was. So when Kari and I first met, I asked her about TSC, and she said it stands for tubular sclerosis complex, which immediately struck a nerve with me, because I have a great nephew who has tubular sclerosis. And as it turns out, his parents have actually and had actually attended an event where Kari was and then just this past March or April or whenever, and you can correct me, Kari, but they went to another event, and my other niece and nephew, Tracy and Charlie, attended, as I just told, Kari, I'm very jealous they didn't let me come along, but that's okay. I stayed home and slept. But anyway, Kari, I want to welcome you to unstoppable mindset. It's really great that you're here, and I want to thank you for taking the time to be with us. It   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 02:42 is such an honor. Michael and I love talking with your family, and it was so wonderful to have them with us at comedy for a cure this year. Well, it   Michael Hingson ** 02:53 it was really fun to hear about the event from them, and I'm glad that that they all enjoyed it. And of course, Nick is is a person who deserves all the attention and help all of us can give. He's had tubular sclerosis, been diagnosed with it for quite a while, and is actually, I think, beating some odds, because some people said, Oh, he's not going to last very long, and he's continuing to do well. And just don't ever get him into a conversation about sports and the Dodgers, because he's a Dodger fan, okay,   03:24 as he should be. By the conversation.   Michael Hingson ** 03:28 Well, he is a Dodger fan as he should be. I just want to point that out, yes, yes, for those of us here. Well, Nick, Nick probably   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 03:36 was, well, when Nick was diagnosed, we had a very different prognosis for TSC back then.   Michael Hingson ** 03:45 Well, yeah, I know, and it's like everything with medicine, we're making a lot of advances. We're learning a lot, and of course, we're paying a lot of attention to these different kinds of issues. I mean, even blindness, we're paying a lot of attention to blindness, and we're slowly getting people it's a very slow process, but we're slowly getting people to recognize blindness isn't the problem. It's our attitudes about blindness that are the problems. And I think that's true with most things, and I think that if people really thought about Nick and and felt, well, he can't do much because of they would recognize he can do a whole lot more than they think he can, 100% which is really important. Well, let's start a little bit about you. And why don't you tell us about the early Kari growing up and all that and how we got where we are, well, thank   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 04:43 you for the opportunity to do that. My middle name is Lacher. That's also my maiden name. My dad and mom were in education, primarily. My dad also dabbled in some politics. We moved around. Quite a bit when I was a child, I think before seventh grade, or before I was 18, we knew 13 times so that really, you know, you become adaptable because you have to be and inclusive, because you have to be because you're in all of these new environments. From the time I was six years old, I wanted to be an actress. I wrote my own plays, I organized a neighborhood, I think, when I was seven, and we performed a play I wrote. And that's what my degree is in, in theater. And Michael, as you probably know, when I was 27 I had my first child, Noel, who unfortunately passed away from sudden infant death, and it completely changed the rest of my life. From that point forward, I really wanted to do something that impacted families, so they never had to experience the type of grief that I went through at a very somewhat young age. And then from from that point, I took all of the skills that I'd been using in the work life, not theater, because I lived in New York, and you have to work to live, so you could do theater before my then husband and I moved to Minneapolis, but I had always done fundraising. I had always done administration, so I just kind of naturally took in all of those skills, community and grassroots building. I went to work for the American Refugee Committee in Minneapolis, and then from there, worked at international service agencies, which is a workplace giving umbrella organization representing all of the premier international organizations. And my job there, as a regional director was to go into workplaces and give two or three minute presentations and convince people to give to international causes. My favorite was I was pregnant. I had a pregnancy kit, what they would give people in developing the developing world, where you would have a razor blade, a string, a plastic sheet, and that's how they delivered babies. And that was a really effective presentation, as you can imagine. I got to the TSC Alliance because my boss at international service agencies became the CEO of the TSC Alliance in early 2000s and he brought me over to start our volunteer outreach program, build our grassroots movement, and from there, I definitely got involved in fundraising. The admin side was interim CEO, and then CEO,   Michael Hingson ** 07:55 well, gee, so so many questions. Why did you guys move so many times?   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 08:01 Well, my dad got his PhD and became dean of students at Arkadelphia State University, or Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, rather. And he did great, but he loved politics, and he had the opportunity to become the executive director of the Republican Party of Arkansas when it wasn't cool to be a Republican in Arkansas, and that really was his passion. And from there, he became a he led a congressional campaign for a candidate in Littleton, Colorado, and when that candidate didn't win, he realized that he really needed to have a more stable life for his family. So we moved to Knoxville, Illinois, and he became a vice president at a community college, and from that point forward, that was his his career. We moved to upstate New York. I'm leaving out a few moves just to make it simple. We moved to upstate New York my freshman year in college, where he became a President of Community College there, and then ultimately, he ended back in his hometown, in Mattoon, Charleston, Illinois, where he led the local community college until he retired, and the Student Union at Lakeland College is actually named after my   Michael Hingson ** 09:30 father. Wow. So is he still with us today? He is not.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 09:34 He passed away from idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis in 2017   Michael Hingson ** 09:38 Well, that's no fun. How about your mom? She is, she   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 09:43 still lives in that soon. Yep, she is the matriarch of our family. That's for sure.   Michael Hingson ** 09:50 A lot of moves. Needless to say, I wonder what your father would say about politics today, it started to be different in 2016 and. 2017 but I wonder what he would think about politics in general. Today, I   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 10:04 am not sure. I have wondered that question a lot. The one thing my dad was always great at, though, was the ability to see balanced viewpoints, and it's something I always loved and respected about my father, and   Michael Hingson ** 10:19 I think that's important. I think people really need to do more of that. And we just, we're not, we're not seeing that, which is really scary. We're not seeing it on so many levels, not just politics. But, you know, we don't get into politics much on unstoppable mindset, because, as I love to tell people, if we do that, I'm an equal opportunity abuser anyway, and and I, and I'm with Mark Twain. Congress is that grand old benevolent asylum for the helpless. So you know?   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 10:48 Well, I will say this. My dad taught me how to be an advocate from a very young age. Yeah, what it means to not be afraid to use your voice. That's the best thing we can get out of politics, that using your voice for the greater good is one of the most important things that you can do. The   Michael Hingson ** 11:10 thing that I think people are forgetting today is they love to use their voice, but they don't love to use their ears. Yes, which is another thing, but I I hear what you're saying. I joined the National Federation of the Blind, which is the largest blindest consumer organization in the country, and I joined in 1972 when I was a senior in college, and learn from experts about being an advocate. And I think it's really important that we have advocacy. And the value of really good advocates is that they are able to look at all sides of an issue and really make intelligent decisions and also recognize when it's time to maybe change as things evolve in terms of views. And we just don't see any of that today. People say I'm an advocate. Yeah, well, without thinking about it, and without really looking at the options, and without looking at stands, it's just amazing how people, as I said, use their voices, but not their ears today. I agree. Yeah, it's, it's, it's a tough world, and it's, it's a challenge. I read an article about a year ago in the New York Times all about how we're losing the art of real conversation, which is why this podcast is so much fun, because we do get to converse.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 12:36 That's right, I I'm so excited to be with you today.   Michael Hingson ** 12:40 Well, so you got into nonprofit, in a sense, pretty early, and you've certainly been involved at reasonable levels for now, 23 years after September 11, I worked at Guide Dogs for the Blind for six and a half years, as well as being a public speaker. But loved working in the nonprofit sector, although I had a lot of fun with some of the nonprofit people, because what I would constantly advocate, if you will, is that development in the nonprofit world is really just no different than sales. Instead of selling and making a profit, in a sense, you're selling to secure donations, but it's still sales. And people would say, Oh no, it's totally different, because nonprofit is just totally different than what you do if you're working with a company and selling for a company. And I'm going, I'm not sure it's that different.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 13:40 Well, what I think is that you're selling hope and right? It's all about relationships. But unlike widgets, we have a lot of different programs that have created such progress, hope and support for the tuberous sclerosis complex community. And I really enjoy talking about what those programs help make possible for people like your great nephew, Nick well   Michael Hingson ** 14:12 and and it's important to do that. I The only thing I would say on selling widgets, as opposed to hope, is if you talk to Steve Jobs or Bill Gates, they would say that widgets very well could also be a mechanism to to move toward hope and dreams. And so again, I think it's just, it's it's all using the same techniques, but different things. I tell people now that as a keynote speaker, I think it's a whole lot more fun to sell life and hope and dreams than it is to sell computer hardware.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 14:54 But you're right about computer hardware, and for instance, wearables that are. Really making a difference in some of the breakthroughs that we see today. So under percent correct.   Michael Hingson ** 15:05 Well, tell us a little bit about the whole tubular sclerosis complex Alliance, the TSC Alliance, and you got started in it. And what was it like, if you will, back in the day, and it's not a great term, I'm telling you, I I'd love to to have fun with that, but what it used to be like, and what it is now, and what's happening, sure.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 15:27 So when I started June 18, 2001 nearly 23 years ago, the organization had about seven employees. Today, we have 23 we in those days, we knew what the genes were in TSC, and soon after I came to work, we discovered how the TSC genes impact the underlying genetic pathway. That was awesome, because that led to some key clinical trials and ultimately an approved drug. What I say about the early days is we were we did a beautiful job of holding people's hands, offering them support, but there were no medications that really directly impacted TSC that were FDA approved,   Michael Hingson ** 16:21 maybe it would help if we actually define what TSC is. Yes, of   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 16:25 course, let's start with that. Tuberous sclerosis complex is a rare genetic disorder that causes tumors to grow throughout the body, the brain, heart, kidney, liver, lungs. It is the leading genetic cause of epilepsy and one of the leading causes of autism. Epilepsy impacts about 85% of people with TSC autism, about 50% one in 6000 life first will have TSC. TSC impacts about 50,000 Americans and a million people worldwide, and it's variable. No two people are exactly the same, not even identical twins. So people can have mild cognitive impact. They might have moderate or severe. People can have mild cognitive impact, but at some point in their life, perhaps needing a lung transplant. TSC is progressive. So for women of childbearing age, lymph angiolio, myomatosis, or Lam can impact the lungs. We can see kidney growth of tumors in the kidneys that can impact quality of life. So it's variable, and some of our adults live independently. Others require more complex care. It's usually diagnosed in childhood and in infancy, either in utero, where you can see two or more heart tumors in a regular ultrasound. Sometimes you're diagnosed after birth, when a baby begins having seizures. Some people aren't diagnosed till they're teenagers with the appearance of angiofibromas or skin tumors on their face. And occasionally, people are diagnosed when they're adults. They have kids of their own, their children are diagnosed with TSC, and then they are subsequently diagnosed with TSC. So it runs the gamut.   Michael Hingson ** 18:31 So it is something that very much is or can be genetic. It is genetic.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 18:38 Yes, it's caused by mutations in one of two genes, TSC one or TSC two, on the ninth or 16th chromosome that controls cell growth and proliferation, which is why you see the appearance of non malignant tumors. And that is what impacts all the organ systems. Yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 19:00 and it is not a fun thing, needless to say, to be around or to have, and it's not something that we have control over. Nick, I know does live with his parents. I don't know whether Nick will ever be able to live independently. He does have seizures and sometimes, and it's not predictable, although he's doing a little bit better job of controlling them with medication, but he'll probably always live with someone. But what a wonderful person to have around. Yes,   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 19:35 he is definitely enjoyable. And that's, I mean, that's the thing about TSC. We have we have independent adults. We have kids, we have semi dependent adults. We have dependent adults. The one thing about our community and our organization is this is a home for everybody.   Michael Hingson ** 19:58 So when did the. See Alliance actually first begin   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 20:01 1974 so it started with four moms around a kitchen table in Southern California, and two of those four moms are still in touch with the TSC Alliance. I talked to two of our Founding Moms quite frequently. They are very inspirational. They had this tremendous foresight to think about what the community needed or what they would need in the future. So our organization, the TSC Alliance, we actually have a new vision statement as of this year. So our vision statement is the TSC Alliance wants to create a future where everyone affected by TSC can live their fullest lives, and our mission statement is to improve quality of life for everyone affected by tuberous sclerosis complex by catalyzing new treatments, driving research toward a cure and expanding access to lifelong support. What so some of the ways that that we do this, as you know, is to fund and drive research, to empower and support our community, to raise awareness of TSC, because we want to provide the tools and resources and support for those living with TSC, both individuals and caregivers. We want to make sure that as an organization, we are pushing research forward by a research platform that we've helped create through the years, and we want to make sure that people are diagnosed early and receive appropriate care. So it's really important to us to raise awareness in the general public, but also among the professional community.   Michael Hingson ** 21:52 So this is the 50th anniversary of the TSC Alliance. Yes, it is. And I would dare say, based on what you're talking about, there's a lot to celebrate.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 22:04 We have so much to celebrate. Michael, there's been so many accomplishments over the years, from the creation of our professional advisory board early on that provided guidance to the organization to today, we have three FDA approved drugs specifically to treat TSC as an organization in 2006 we started the very first natural history database anywhere in the world that still exists today, with over 2700 participants, and that allows us to really understand how TSC progresses through a lifetime, and then we, as an organization, in partnership with a group of our TSC clinics, helped with the first preventative clinical trial for epilepsy in the United States, and that was really to look at Babies with TSC to treat them before the first seizure, to see if we can prevent or delay epilepsy.   Michael Hingson ** 23:07 So So tell me a little bit about the the three different drugs that are available. What? What do they do? Without getting too technical, how do they work, and so on, because, obviously, the tumors are there. And so what do the drugs do to address all of that   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 23:24 great question, the first approved drug for TSC everolimus is an mTOR inhibitor, mammalian target of rapamycin. So if you remember I talked about the two TSC genes working as a complex to control the genetic underlying genetic pathway. Well, that underlying genetic pathway is mTOR, and there happened to be a class of drugs that was developed to help with organ transplant and anti rejection. Ever roll. This is a synthetic of rapamycin that was found on rap a rap the islands, rap immune island. So what that particular drug has been approved for, and how it works in TSC is to shrink certain types of brain tumors to shrink tumors in the kidneys, and it's also used as adaptive therapy for seizures associated with TSD. So what we know is it is extremely effective, but if you go off the medication, the tumors will grow back. So it's not a cure, but it's moving in the right direction, right second drug that was approved is the first FDA cannabinoid drug, Epidiolex, and that treats seizures associated with TSC. The third approved drug is a topical rapamy. So it treats those skin tumors on the face. I   Michael Hingson ** 25:04 don't know. It's really interesting. Medical science comes up with all these terms that are tongue twisters. How do they do that? You're 100% correct. Oh, it's a fun world. What's on the horizon, what kinds of things are coming that will kind of either enhance what they do or other sorts of medications? Yeah,   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 25:28 thanks for asking that. So I think for us, in 2019 we put together a really aggressive research, research business plan, and our goal with this was to ultimately the vision change the course of TSC, and so we have a research platform that really helps accelerate drug development. So we fund research grants or young investigators to keep them interested in the field and to generate new ideas. We have a pre clinical consortium where we work with a contract research organization. We've licensed different mouse models that can try drugs for both epilepsy and tumor growth and behaviors, and so that is really built a pipeline of new potential therapies for TSC we also have this clinical research consortium that we work with. We have 74 TSC clinics across the country, of which 17 are centers of excellence, and we're working with our TSC clinics and centers of excellence to when drugs come out of the pre clinical or when companies come to us and they want to institute clinical trials, we will work with them to be in touch with our clinics, to educate our community about what clinical trials are out there, so they know what questions to ask or how to appropriately weigh risk benefit, so that's a really important part of our platform. We also, I mentioned earlier, a natural history database to help us understand how TSC progresses through a lifetime, but also a bio sample repository, so we'll understand why TSC is so different person to person. So with all of those tools working together, what we want to do is ultimately determine how to predict an individual's risk for the many manifestations of TSC so if we knew who was at risk, say, for epilepsy, and we could intervene to delay or prevent epilepsy. Could we do the same with kidney tumors? So that's what I mean about predicting and prevention. We would like to develop biomarkers to help accelerate outcome measures and clinical trials. We would love to have an intervention early on. Remember, I said that we helped start the first preventative clinical trial for epilepsy. You need an intervention to get on the newborn screening panel. If we could be on the newborn screening panel and identify babies early, that is the greatest way to change the course of the disease. Of course, we obviously want to test more compounds in our pre clinical consortium to make sure that we are building that pipeline for new and better drugs in the future, and we definitely want to develop patient reported outcomes. So how does this disease impact quality of life for individuals and families living with it, so that we'll know in the future, if there are different potential treatments, does it impact or improve their quality of life? And the FDA looks at patient reported outcomes quite seriously, so we want to build that for future clinical trials and clinical studies. Finally, one of the biggest unmet needs in TSC is what we call TSC associated neuropsychiatric disorders, or taint This is an umbrella term for brain dysfunction that includes everything from sleep problems to depression, anxiety, aggressive behavior, executive functioning, how people learn. So it is definitely an umbrella term, and almost everybody is impacted by tanned in some way that are living with TSC. So we want to better understand who might be at risk for which parts of tan so that we can intervene and improve quality of life.   Michael Hingson ** 29:55 Something that comes to mind we hear people talking. Think a fair amount today about gene therapy and how all of that might work to cure various diseases and so on. Is there room for that in Tse, since especially it's caused by two specific genes?   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 30:14 Great question. We actually are working with some gene therapy companies in our pre clinical consortium looking to see if we can intervene that way.   Michael Hingson ** 30:26 It's a few years off, yeah, I can imagine, but it would be an interest if, if it truly can be done, since you're clearly able to tell that there are specific genes that are that are causing this. It's an interesting concept, given the state of science today, to think about whether that could lead to, even if it's not immediate, but later, cures for TSC and other such things, and   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 30:57 we might start with organ specific gene therapy. For instance, if we had gene therapy early on in the brain, again, thinking about preventing seizures from ever developing, if we were able to implement gene therapy in the kidneys so or lungs so women never develop lamb, that would be a huge breakthrough. Yeah. So thinking about how that might work and how that could impact our community is tremendous,   Michael Hingson ** 31:28 I would think so. And I would think if they are able to do some work in that regard, it would be very revolutionary. And obviously, the more we learn about gene therapy overall, the more it will help with what medical science can do for TSC as well. That's right. So what does the Alliance do for families and individuals? What kinds of specific things do you all do?   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 31:57 Yeah, we have   32:00 developed 14   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 32:01 community regions across the country where we work with our volunteers. So they'll in their regions, host community educational meetings, walks, where they bring the community together, which is hugely important offer peer to peer support. So that is on a regional level. On our team, we have support navigators, so people that are available to take calls, emails, texts to really help when people either receive a new diagnosis, will spend a lot of time making sure they get to the right clinics, resources, support systems, or when a new manifestation arises, or if people are having some access to medication or access to care issues, we have a TSC navigator so that is a proactive online tool that people can log into and that will really take them through the journey in a way they want to gain information. So it's really written in in small bites, so that if people want more information, they can dive deeper. That's hugely important for individuals impacted. We have regular webinars, regional conferences, and every four years we hold a World Conference. Well, we will bring in experts from all over the world to cover the many manifestations of TSC so people are informed to make the best decisions for them and their families. They'll also talk about new clinical trials or new research on the horizon, or they're talk about social service tools that are really important for living or guardianship or financial planning, so those things that aren't just medical, but really impact people's lives.   Michael Hingson ** 33:57 So today, what, what do you think? Or how would you describe, sort of the social attitude toward TSC and people with TSC, or is it, is it more manifested in Well, this guy has seizures and so on, so TSC doesn't directly tend to be the thing that society views.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 34:22 That's a great question. And because TSC is so variable, I'm going to say to you, it's different person to person. One of the things we did a few years ago was create these little business cards that described what TSC was. So if somebody's out at a restaurant, they might hand it to their waiter or waitress to say, We want you to know that our for instance, our child has TSC and so you understand what you might see as you wait on us. For example, I still think that for those that are more severely in. Acted. I talked about tanned and some folks with more severe behaviors. You know, our society, it's attitude, right? You talked about that in your presentation of diversity to inclusion, we need to be much more understanding when a family is trying to handle a seizure or or behaviors and not pass judgment on that family, let the family handle that situation. So I would just say it's individual to individual, but one of the most amazing experiences, as is at our world conferences, where everybody can just be. And everybody understands that TSC is variable. And you might have a child over here with a seizure dog. You might have an adult group in one corner talking and dancing, but everybody comes together, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 35:58 yeah. And that's really important to do, and that's you raise a really good point. Obviously, dogs are learning to be better at seizure detection. And I was going to ask about that, because I assume that that certainly can play into helping people who have seizures, who have TSC.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 36:18 That is absolutely correct earlier. You asked about what it was like early on, we didn't have a lot of seizure dogs at our early conferences. That's something that really has been happening after, say, 2010 we've definitely seen a lot more seizure dogs be trained and really be helpful to families.   Michael Hingson ** 36:39 Yeah, well, and we have come so far in terms of training dogs to be able to detect seizures and detect so many things. One of my favorite stories, and it's not a seizure detection as such, but one of my favorite stories, is about a Portuguese water dog who was a show dog, but he or she, rather, was also trained to do cancer detection. And the owner, who was very competitive in doing show dog type things, as well as had started a company or a facility to deal with cancer detection, took his dog to the show, to a dog show. And every time the dog got near this one judge, it just laid down. It would not perform, it would not work. And so needless to say, this national champion didn't do very well at that show. And the guy couldn't figure out why. And he got home, and he suddenly realized, oh my gosh, I had taught the dog to lay down whenever it detected cancer, because you don't want to do something dramatic, right? And so he called the woman who was the judge, and he said, Do you have cancer? And she says, No, I don't have anything like that. Then he said, Well, you might go check that out, because and he told her, this was like a Monday when he called her, and Friday she called him back, and she said, I took your advice. And it turns out I have early stage breast cancer. We caught it in time, and it's all because of your dog.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 38:04 Oh my gosh, Michael, what an amazing story   Michael Hingson ** 38:10 it is. You know, we we really underestimate our dogs. I know that the first diabetic dog was a dog who who kind of learned it on his own. His person had occasional insulin reactions, and the dog became agitated. And finally, the guy realized, oh my gosh, this dog knows what I'm going to have an insulin reaction. And that led to dogs for diabetics, which is another, of course, sort of same thing that the dogs really can learn to do so many things today.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 38:44 Yes, yes, they can.   Michael Hingson ** 38:48 So there's always room for dogs. So we talked, I think, in sort of terms, about your the the whole research platform that you all have developed tell us more about the research platform and what it is and where it's going.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 39:06 Well, I definitely talked about all of the tools within our research platform. I think we're certainly taking a deeper dive into all of the tools that that we've developed, when we think about, for instance, our bio sample repository, one of the things we're doing right now is whole genome sequencing. Why? Because we're hoping with whole genome sequencing, we'll understand if there are modifier genes. Are there other things at work that makes some people more severe than other others, and then ultimately, what we'd love to learn is what medications might work best on each individual or personalized medicine, so often in TSC with seizure medications, people end up on a cocktail. We would rather avoid that, right? Wouldn't it be nice to get the medication right the first time? That's really what we are hoping for with our clinical research consortium. Right now, we're doing a couple of quality improvement studies, so one of them is around suit up or sudden, unexpected death from epilepsy, and really understanding the conversations that happen between a physician and a patient or a caregiver, and why aren't those conversations happening in TSC or when are they happening? Because we want to create change so that parents know the risks, or individuals understand the risks, and can they change their behavior to mitigate some of those risks? The other thing that we are doing is we started a reproductive perinatal Health Initiative. This came out of our 2002 world conference because we heard from a bunch of adults that this was a gap for TSC. So TSC is variable. We have some independent adults that may want to start a family someday, but we have no no consensus guide guidance, to guide them in making those decisions. So we put together a group of experts in maternal fetal health, pulmonary nephrology, imaging genetics, to come together to first talk about what are risk stratifications, both for women that are may experiences complications in pregnancy. What are those? What's a risk stratification for each individual? Also, how do we handle perinatal health? How do we care for fetuses of women with TSC, or fetuses where they have been diagnosed with TSC, and what are those recommendations and steps? So that's a real focus for us at our organization, really filling the gaps where those exist. So that's a couple of the things that that I would mention.   Michael Hingson ** 42:16 An interesting question that comes to mind, do you see prejudices or misconceptions that cause difficulties within medical science. And I ask that because I know from a blindness standpoint, so often, when a person goes into an ophthalmologist because they're having eye problems, they go in and the doctor will say, eventually after diagnosis, well, you have retinitis pigmentosa, you're going to go blind. There's nothing I can do, and literally, just walk out of the room without ever dealing with the fact that this person can still be a very normal person. Do you see any of that kind of stuff in the world of TSC so   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 42:56 early on, less today, but we still hear about it when people are handed the diagnosis of TSC, they it could be very cold. Physicians would say, your child will never walk, they'll never talk, they'll never live a normal life. That's horrible, like you're taking away that hope. And that may not be the case for each individual with TSC, I think some of our families, when their infants begin to have a devastating type of seizure called infantile spasms that can look just like a head nod, sometimes they are misconstrued for indigestion or startle reflex, and They try to get care for their baby, they're told that they're just being paranoid and crazy. It's nothing, but the it's up to the parents right to continue to advocate, because they know something is not right and that that is the right course of action. And then for adults, I think sometimes our adults living with TSC really struggle with adequate care. We've done a really good job of pediatric care specifically for TSC, but as a country, we could do a lot more for those with developmental disabilities, including TSC and providing adequate transition from adult care, these are the places that I see prejudice or roadblocks put up for our families.   Michael Hingson ** 44:33 How do you teach or what do you do to teach parents and adults, especially about being stronger advocates.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 44:43 Well, first of all, we tell them to trust their instincts and trust their voice and to not give up if you're hitting a roadblock. One place call us. Maybe there are other other clinical care that we can provide for you. Yeah. If you're having an issue at work, it's really important that you get the right support to advocate for yourself, but to never, ever give up, ever give up.   Michael Hingson ** 45:11 Yeah, that's really, of course, the important part, because ultimately, and I think it's true for most all of us, we know ourselves better than anyone else. And as parents, we know our children better than anyone else, and certainly should never give up and work very hard to be strong advocates to support what their needs are and support them to grow and advance.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 45:36 That's exactly correct,   Michael Hingson ** 45:41 and it needs to happen a whole lot more, because all too often, I can imagine hearing people say, well, it's nothing, it's just your it's your imagination. Well, no, it's not, you know, but we see way too much of that kind of thing happening in the world. So it's great that that you're able to do so much. What about in the in the professional world, or in just dealing with people and their lives? What? What kind of things are you able to do to, let's say, help support somebody who wants to go out and get a job?   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 46:21 Sure? We point them to local resources that might be an expert in that. We also have navigation guides that might help them, that are a supplemental resource to our TSC navigator. We have adult topic calls and adult open forums so that they might also get guidance and advice from their peers that have walked that journey. So those are some of the resources that we will help people who want to get a job   Michael Hingson ** 46:55 do Centers for Independent Living help.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 47:00 Are you familiar with those? No, I'm not familiar. Sorry, I'm not familiar. So the   Michael Hingson ** 47:04 CIL system is a system of independent living centers. It really started, I don't know, but I think in Berkeley, it's centers that teach and advocate for the whole concept of being able to live independently, and deals a lot with physical disabilities, and I'm not sure how much the developmental disability world interacts in the CIL it may be a lot more of a physical thing than anything else.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 47:32 Well, always great to have new resources that we can share with our community. It's worth   Michael Hingson ** 47:38 exploring Absolutely, because it could very well lead to something that would be helpful, not sure, but it's always worth exploring. The arc is   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 47:47 another organization I was gonna ask about that frequently. Yes, we've, we've had a partnership with the arc in the past. Many of our community regions obviously work with local arc chapters. It is a partnership that we truly value, and they have a ton of resources that are available for individuals, seeking jobs, seeking Independent Living, seeking so or housing for families. So we don't need to replicate what somebody is already doing. Well, we will partner with that organization,   Michael Hingson ** 48:25 and that makes sense. There's no sense in replicating. It's all about collaborating, which makes a lot more sense to do. Anyway,   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 48:33 exactly we agree.   Michael Hingson ** 48:36 Well, so what are so, what are your your sort of long term goals from here? Oh,   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 48:45 long term goals from here? Well, we want to continue to improve quality of life for everyone. We want to make sure that there is adequate transition between childhood and adult in terms of medical care, independent living, or housing or schooling, or whatever that transition may employ, we really want to make sure that we continue the pipeline of new treatments. We want to drive towards a cure. We want to support and empower every family living with TSC. One of the things that we've really been able to do because of advocacy, is to grow the TSC research program at the Department of Defense. So this is a congressionally directed medical research program. There's been an appropriation for TSC since fiscal year, 2002 and cumulatively, 221 million has been appropriated for TSC research. We want to continue to grow that. But on a state level, we've also had some success in growing state funding for. TST clinics in particular states, and for TSC research at those institutes. So over 5.7 5 million have been advocated, have been appropriated from the states of Maryland and Missouri and Michigan and Alabama. So very excited about continuing to grow that that program, as I mentioned, I think getting on the newborn screening panel would be a game changer for TSC, complete game changer. And we want to continue to grow our advocates and grow those that are available as leaders in their communities to offer support to others.   Michael Hingson ** 50:39 So the funding comes through the Department of Defense. Why is that?   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 50:44 It is a program that is high risk, high reward. You have to have some military relevance. So so for TSC, obviously, our connection to epilepsy and our mass models that are used for developing epilepsy medications, those mass models can also be used to look at traumatic brain injury. So that's a connection. It's high risk, high reward. So understanding the underlying biology of TSC and finding that genetic pathway that I mentioned was one of the hallmark achievements early on of this program. So it's, it's, it is so amazing. The early gene therapy work for TSC started at the TSC research program at the Department of Defense.   Michael Hingson ** 51:33 And I gather you're probably getting a lot of really good support from DOD. So   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 51:38 it doesn't come to the TSC Alliance, we advocate to make that funding available to researchers around the country. So we think of that as part of our mission for driving research. But we don't see a dime of that. Those dollars, they all go through Fort Detrick and through the Department of the Army, right? The other cool thing, though, Michael is we nominate consumer reviewers, so people that help advocate for these funds also sometimes get a seat at the table to say what research would be meaningful for their lives as a consumer. And that is a really cool, unique thing that happens.   Michael Hingson ** 52:21 Yeah, well, and I was asking about support, I was thinking more of their they're perfectly willing and pleased to be a part of this, and are really open to helping and really contributing to the research, because I would think it would help all the way around 100%   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 52:40 and the one thing is the TSC Alliance, the DOD and NIH. We all work together so that we're not duplicative. But we have, there was a research strategic plan that was developed out of a workshop at NIH that we all follow as kind of our guiding principle. We all do different things, and we all complement each other. So out of that NIH plan, for instance, a bio sample repository and preclinical consortium was recommended, and recommended that the TSC alliance is the patient advocacy group, be the one that started that and continues to make sure that those resources continue. That's just an example. Obviously, DOD does high risk, high reward. And NIH, you know, the prevent trial that I mentioned, the first preventative trial for epilepsy in United States, was funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. We helped educate the community so that people would want to participate.   Michael Hingson ** 53:46 Well, it's, I think, important and relevant to ask, how can people get involved? What can the rest of us all do?   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 53:54 Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you asked. Well, please go to TSC alliance.org, learn more about the organization. Become a volunteer. Help us. Help us with our walks, help us with our conferences. You can certainly get involved. If you're an individual with TSC and you want to get connected through social media, you can go to Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, even Tiktok at the SC Alliance, we have very active discussion groups Michael that offer peer to peer support. 24/7 especially on Facebook, it is a private group, and those group of individuals and families have been so supportive for anyone walking this journey, you can call us at 1-800-225-6872, if you need support, you can ask for a support navigator. If you're interested in helping us with fundraising or making a donation, you can ask for our development department. If you want to volunteer, ask for. Community programs, we want all takers, and we're always also happy to talk with any organization, any nonprofit, that's wanting to pull together their programs, seek advice or work as a partner,   Michael Hingson ** 55:15 and what's the phone number? Again? 1-800-225-6872,   Michael Hingson ** 55:24 and the website is TSC   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 55:26 alliance.org,   Michael Hingson ** 55:29 cool. Well, I've asked lots of questions. Have I left anything out? Any other things that you think we ought to cover? I   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 55:37 think you did a great job. I would just say if anybody wants to join us at our 50th Anniversary Gala, we'd love to have you. TSD alliance.org, backslash 50 Gala. We will be celebrating october 25 at ciprianis in New York City, and we'd love to have you with us. Ooh, that sounds like it'd be fun. I know you gotta get your family to bring you this time. Well, yeah,   Michael Hingson ** 56:07 if they're going to come, they should, should take me. I'm trying to think, I don't know whether I'll be anywhere near there at the time, but my schedule changes all the time, so it's sort of like everything else you never know. But I will keep that in mind, because it would be fun to come and get to meet you in person. I would love that. Well, I want to thank you for being here with us. This has been, needless to say, very educational and very enjoyable. And of course, as you know, I have the personal stake of a great nephew, but just being able to talk about it, to hear the progress that's being made as, I think, really crucial and really important to be able to let people be aware of and I hope that people who do hear this will get involved, will at least learn more about it. Have you written any books or anything? I have   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 56:57 not written any books. Oh, we got to get you to work. That's right, you're an inspiration.   Michael Hingson ** 57:04 Well, something to work on. You should? You should write a book about it all. That'd be a new project. It's not that you don't have enough to do, though. That's   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 57:13 right. Michael, I'm too busy taking care of our community right now, but when I retire, that might be something I think about. Well, there   Michael Hingson ** 57:21 you go. Well, I want to thank you again for being here. This has been, I will say, enjoyable, but it's been most educational. I've learned a lot, and I appreciate your time, and I hope that, as I said, everyone else has as well. So I want to thank you for being here, and anytime in the future you want to come back and talk some more about what's going on and tell us about other new, revolutionary changes and so on. You are always welcome.   Kari Luther Rosbeck ** 57:46 Thank you. Michael, I'd love to come back. Well, thank   Michael Hingson ** 57:50 you again, and let's do it anytime you'd like, Okay, you got it.   **Michael Hingson ** 58:01 You have been listening to the Unstoppable Mindset podcast. Thanks for dropping by. I hope that you'll join us again next week, and in future weeks for upcoming episodes. To subscribe to our podcast and to learn about upcoming episodes, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com slash podcast. Michael Hingson is spelled m i c h a e l h i n g s o n. While you're on the site., please use the form there to recommend people who we ought to interview in upcoming editions of the show. And also, we ask you and urge you to invite your friends to join us in the future. If you know of any one or any organization needing a speaker for an event, please email me at speaker at Michael hingson.com. I appreciate it very much. To learn more about the concept of blinded by fear, please visit www dot Michael hingson.com forward slash blinded by fear and while you're there, feel free to pick up a copy of my free eBook entitled blinded by fear. The unstoppable mindset podcast is provided by access cast an initiative of accessiBe and is sponsored by accessiBe. Please visit www.accessibe.com . AccessiBe is spelled a c c e s s i b e. There you can learn all about how you can make your website inclusive for all persons with disabilities and how you can help make the internet fully inclusive by 2025. Thanks again for Listening. Please come back and visit us again next week.

** My new book, Paws for Thought (second edition) is now available for pre-order. Get your copy at https://www.amazon.com/Paws-Thought-second-Seeing-Through-ebook/dp/B0DRTJF95G/ In today's episode, Lois returns to the fun topic of the training of guide dogs, this time focusing on the crucial early months of the dogs' life before they start formal training. She talks with two puppy raisers, Tania Robbertze and Wendy Purdon about what is involved in caring for the puppies. During the conversation, Tania and Wendy mention several well-known Cape Town events. These are described below. 1 Tania mentions Gladys Evans. She was the founder of the South African Guide Dogs Association for the Blind. 2Tania refers to Maynardville, an outdoor theatre complex in Cape Town that has an annual Shakespeare play. 3 Wendy refers to Dancers with Dogs. It is an annual dance performance done to benefit the South African Guide Dogs Association for the Blind, where guide dog puppies are often integrated into the performance. Reach out to them at South African Guide-Dogs Association for the Blind: https://guidedog.org.za/#content AWOL Tours: https://www.awoltours.co.za Image Description: Two adorable tiny Labrador Retriever puppies sitting on a soft grey surface. The puppy on the left is black with a shiny coat and is sitting upright with its mouth slightly open. It is wearing a guide dog harness that is far too big for it. The puppy on the right is a light yellow color and is lying down with its front paws stretched out. It is also wearing an oversized guide dog harness. Both puppies have an attentive expression on their faces. Photo with kind permission by Tania Robbertze. I'd love to hear from you – contact me at Web: https://www.loisstrachan.com/ LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/lstrachan Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/loisstrachanspeaker This episode edited by Craig Strachan using Hindenburg PRO – find out more on Hindenburg.com Credits and music by Charlie Dyasi.

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TAKEAWAYSMichael survived on 9/11 because he had practiced what he would do with his dog in an emergency situationJust because someone is different doesn't mean they're any less valuableDisability is NOT a lack of abilityMichael says he doesn't have different abilities but has the same abilities, with different techniques

20241222 Guide Dog Users Incorporated. (GDUI Holiday Tales - Tails Sunday Storying with Friends Originally Broadcasted December 22, 2024, on ACB Media 5   Participants joined Guide Dog Users Incorporated for a virtual fun-filled hour of storying as we shared our favorite Guide Dog Holiday Tales – Tails.   Sponsored by: Guide dog Users Incorporated     Find out more at https://acb-community.pinecast.co

Callie's dog is from Dogs, Inc  Twitter/X: @kssbpodcastInstagram: @kssbpodcast

On this episode we take a look back at the last 3 years of the podcast. 

In this episode of The Blind Chick, hosts Penn Street and Moses Street kick off an inspiring three-part series with Denise Leigh. Denise shares her extraordinary journey of living with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), raising four children, and navigating life as a blind parent. From her early years in a challenging residential school system to raising her youngest son with RP, Denise's story is filled with resilience, humor, and deep love for her family. This episode explores the joys and challenges of parenting while blind, the importance of community, and the emotional toll of passing on RP. Don't miss the beginning of this incredible story. Chapter Markers: 00:00 - Introduction: Welcome to The Blind Chick! 02:26 - Thanksgiving in 1920s Style 04:42 - Meet Denise Leigh: Her Village and Early Life 06:57 - Early School Years: A Tough Start 11:44 - Parenting Challenges as a Blind Mother 16:15 - Raising Four Kids: The Village Approach 20:50 - Discovering RP in Her Youngest Child 25:37 - The Emotional Toll of Passing on RP 27:55 - Closing and Colorado Gives Day Reminder Contact Aftersight: www.aftersight.org info@aftersight.org (720) 712-8856

Rapinder Dhinsa is the Director of Mass Marketing at Make-A-Wish Canada, and she's an expert in the ever-changing, always-evolving donor landscape. Rapinder shares with us the best ways for nonprofits to engage with younger donors and to connect meaningfully with diverse audiences. Drawing on her storytelling background and years of experience in nonprofit marketing, Rapinder discusses practical strategies and challenges that nonprofits face when adapting to shifting donor expectations. She also reflects on the importance of inclusive fundraising practices and the future of philanthropy.We cover:Rapinder's personal journey, from storytelling in grade school to leading mass marketing efforts at Make-A-Wish Canada.Trends in the new donor landscape: How younger donors and diverse communities are shaping the future of giving.The challenges nonprofits face in staying relevant and how to avoid performative or surface-level engagement.Strategies for building trust through storytelling, transparency, and digital platforms.Make-A-Wish Canada's approach to inclusion and how it connects with the communities it serves.About Rapinder DhinsaRapinder Dhinsa is an expert strategist and storyteller, and helps guide nonprofit organizations with a holistic approach to fundraising. She has worked with numerous organizations across Canada and the U.S., including UNICEF Canada, Save the Children, MSF/Doctors Without Borders, Guide Dogs for the Blind, CAMH and many others. She is a self-proclaimed fundraising nerd and is passionate about serving great missions to make the world a more compassionate and just place — and is thrilled to be doing that in her current role  as Director of Mass Marketing with Make-A-Wish Canada.Resources and Links:Learn more about Make-A-Wish CanadaFollow Rapinder Dhinsa-Singh on LinkedInThis Episode Sponsored By Neon One:Convincing your board to invest in nonprofit tech can feel like a challenge. That's why Neon One created ‘6 Steps to Sell Your Board on Nonprofit Technology.' This guide walks you through identifying your needs, showing how technology can streamline operations, and tackling common objections—all to make your case confidently. Visit neonone.com/julia to download it free and empower your mission with the right tools.Take my free masterclass: 3 Must-Have Elements of Social Media Content that Converts

In this inspiring episode of The Blind Chick, Penn and Moses Street interview Wendy Fagan, the director of Envision Blind Sports. Together, they explore how Envision Blind Sports empowers individuals of all ages through adaptive sports, promoting independence, confidence, and joy. Chapter Markers: 00:00 - Introduction 00:28 - The Philosophy of Envision Blind Sports 02:51 - Adaptive Sports Techniques 07:37 - The Bigger Picture of Sports 10:03 - Outreach and Accessibility 14:43 - Funding and Volunteer Support 19:21 - Participant Costs and Accessibility 24:00 - Future Plans: Blind Adult Camp 26:14 - Closing Remarks Contact Information: Envision Blind Sports Website: www.EnvisionBlindSports.org Facebook & Instagram: Envision Blind Sports LinkedIn: Envision Blind Sports Volunteer, donate, or learn more through their website's contact form. Aftersight Website: www.AfterSight.org Phone: (720) 712-8856 Email: feedback@aftersight.org Colorado Gives Day Support transformative programs like Envision Blind Sports and Aftersight by donating on December 10th. Your contributions help create life-changing opportunities for individuals with low vision or blindness. Thank you for listening! Stay tuned for more inspiring stories on The Blind Chick!

The Blind Chick: Thanksgiving Special In this heartfelt and humorous Thanksgiving episode, hosts Penn and Moses Street reflect on their 37 years of shared Thanksgivings, highlighting the challenges, joys, and quirky memories that make the holiday meaningful. From hilarious stories about green Jell-O salads to the significance of creating new traditions with family and friends, this episode captures the spirit of gratitude and community. The hosts also share personal milestones, reflect on life's difficulties, and celebrate their listeners for helping them surpass 40,000 downloads. Chapter Markers: [00:00] Intro and Reflections – Thanksgiving memories and the evolution of traditions. [05:15] Gratitude for the Community – Celebrating 40,000 downloads and listener appreciation. [08:30] Hike and Community Events – Highlights from Aftersight's annual hike. [13:00] Nostalgic Thanksgiving Memories – Moses' mom's green Jell-O salad story. [20:00] Modern-Day Thanksgivings – Friendsgiving and family gatherings. [26:00] Gratitude Highlights – Penn and Moses share what they're most thankful for. [31:00] Wrap-Up and Call to Action – Kindness, gratitude, and Colorado Gives Day. This Thanksgiving, consider supporting Aftersight by donating on Colorado Gives Day. Your contributions help create resources and community events that uplift the lives of people with low vision. Visit Colorado Gives Day and search for Aftersight or contact us directly at (720) 712-8856 or email us at feedback@aftersight.org to learn more. Thank you for being part of our journey. From all of us at The Blind Chick, we wish you a joyful and memorable Thanksgiving! Stay Connected: Follow Aftersight on Facebook and Instagram for updates on events and new podcast episodes. Be sure to subscribe to The Blind Chick for more stories, laughs, and inspiration.

In this engaging episode of The Blind Chick, hosts Penn Street and Moses Street sit down with Wendy Fagan, founder of Envision Blind Sports, to discuss the life-changing impact of adaptive sports for blind and visually impaired individuals. Wendy shares her journey from discovering goalball and beat baseball to founding Envision Blind Sports, a nonprofit that introduces participants to over 25 different sports and activities. Together, they explore how sports can break stereotypes, inspire confidence, and foster independence. Wendy shares heartwarming stories of athletes who found joy and purpose through adaptive sports, while emphasizing the importance of exposing participants to a variety of opportunities. From rock climbing to skiing, Envision Blind Sports is helping athletes discover their passions and integrate into their local communities. The episode also delves into the broader challenges and misconceptions surrounding blindness and adaptive sports. Wendy and the hosts discuss how sports can be a universal language, breaking barriers and bringing people together. Looking ahead, the hosts preview part two of their conversation with Wendy, as well as upcoming special episodes, including a Thanksgiving message and highlights from Colorado Gives Day. Chapter Markers: 00:00 – Welcome and introduction. 05:10 – Meet Wendy Fagan. 07:34 – Origins of The Blind Chick podcast. 12:20 – Discovering adaptive sports. 14:24 – About Envision Blind Sports. 19:02 – Breaking stereotypes in sports. 23:42 – Inspiring inclusion through education. 27:50 – Part two preview and closing. Contact Information: Aftersight is a nonprofit organization producing The Blind Chick podcast and other empowering content for the blind and visually impaired community. Support their work through donations, and check out their other podcasts: Website: Aftersight.org Phone: (720) 712-8856 Email: feedback@aftersight.org Envision Blind Sports Envision Blind Sports introduces individuals to adaptive sports, fostering confidence, independence, and joy through movement. With programs spanning 25+ sports, they empower participants of all ages to discover their passions. Website: EnvisionBlindSports.org Colorado Gives Day Support Aftersight this Colorado Gives Day on December 10th! Your donations help fund inclusive programming like The Blind Chick, making a difference in the lives of blind and visually impaired individuals. Donate Here: ColoradoGives.org Join us next week for part two of our conversation with Wendy Fagan, and don't miss our Thanksgiving message from Penn and Moses. Keep tuning in, and thank you for being part of the Blind Chick family!

On this shorter episode we catch up with Timothy on his journey from when he first came to Leader Dog until now and share about our programs and services. 

Athlete Gerrard Gosens didn't realise he was blind until his first day at primary school. His adventurous spirit led him to become a three time Paralympian, climb Mt Everest, swim the English Channel, and perform the rhumba on Dancing With The Stars.This conversation talks about family life, family history, childhood memories, origin stories, training, medical procedures, surgery, mountaineering, mountains, cycling, open water swimming, parenting, genetic conditions, glaucoma, disability, charity, Stevie Wonder, chocolate, training, exercising, Paralympic sport, triathlon, indoor climbing, sepsis, team building, reality TV, and fundraising.

Ryan Foland speaks with Michael Hingson, #1 New York Times Best-Selling Author & Inspirational Speaker, captivates audiences worldwide with his remarkable story of survival during the 9/11 attacks and empowers them with insights on leadership, trust, and thriving through adversity. In this episode of our podcast series, Ryan and Michael exemplifies effective public speaking techniques such as storytelling, relatability, adaptability, and authenticity, which are essential for engaging and connecting with an audience. Tune in for an interview packed with ideas and tips on how to engage your audience, tell compelling stories, and navigate unexpected topics with ease.

On this episode we have cohost Timothy Cuneio in studio! We catch up on life and talk about tips for navigating the holidays.