Glass Half Full with Leslie Krongold, Ed.D.

Category: Disability Rights & Accessibility

Fashion: Being Yourself, Expressing Yourself & Your Creativity
Four women with different physical abilities talk about what fashion means to them and how they deal with fashion challenges.

Cheryl and Lainie both have Charcot Marie Tooth (CMT) and wear AFO leg braces. Lainie explores fashion hacks and DIY solutions in her blog, Trend-Able.

Keisha has Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, studied fashion, and launched her company, Girls Chronically Rock.

Kirsten Passmore has Cerebral Palsy and has been enjoying CosPlay for the past five years. Learn more about her organization, CosAbility, and see which conventions they’ll attend by liking their Facebook page.
- Lainie of Trend-Able
- Kirsten of CosAbility
- Cheryl
- Keisha of Girls Chronically Rock
August 3, 2019
Laugher is the Best Medicine: Stand Up Comedy

Oakland-based comic, Nina G, gets her Edith Ann sock puppet signed by Lily Tomlin

To kick off Disability Awareness Month, our guest is Nina G – the first female stuttering comedian and dyslexic writer. You’ll get a taste of her stand up material as well as learn about her path to comedy and the educational and advocacy work she’s been engaged in for years.

For additional information about Nina’s comedy CD with the Comedians for Disabilities Act, visit this webpage.

October 3, 2018
Essential Nutrient for Emotional, Physical & Spiritual Health: Vitamin N (Nature)

What is Nature and how is it beneficial to our emotional, physical, and spiritual well-being? Bonnie Lewkowicz (Program Manager, Access Northern California) and Lori Gray (Adventures & Outings Program Coordinator) both work for the Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program (BORP) organization in Berkeley, California.

Bonnie, Lori, and Delroy share their love of nature in this podcast episode.

Both women use wheelchairs and have years of experience navigating hiking trails and organizing outdoor adventures for people with physical and/or developmental disabilities. Joining them is middle school teacher, Delroy Thompson, in South Florida. Together they share how important nature is for them.

Bonnie wrote A Wheelchair Rider’s Guide published by the Coastal Conservancy. Delroy, is a member of the Muscular Dystrophy Association National Community Advisory Committee, and wrote a children’s book, The Secret of the Elves in Helen, about an elf kingdom n the Blue Ridge Mountains.

Not everyone is fortunate enough to attend BORP events but you can search for similar organizations in your area at the National Center on Health, Physical Activity and Disability (NCHPAD) website.

June 11, 2018
Everybody who is in a body can DANCE and move – it’s a right we all have

Co-Founder of AXIS Dance Company

International Dance Day is April 29th. Here in Northern California we have Bay Area Dance Week with all types of free dance classes and performances. As Judith Smith, co-founder of the physically integrated dance company, AXIS, says, “Everybody who is in a body can dance and move — it’s a right we all have.” And that is the message of this podcast episode.

Years ago when I held my first dance marathon to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association a banner hung with the slogan, “Dance for those who can’t”

Fundraising event for MDA held in a mall in North Miami Beach, Florida ~ 1978

and that sentiment couldn’t be further from the truth. The AXIS Dance Company has included artists with physical disabilities, commissioned award-winning choreographers and composers, toured 100+ cities, and appeared on Fox TV’s So You Think You Can Dance. Opportunities for adaptive dance exist from here — BORP’s World Dance for All — to North Carolina where Mindy Kim teaches chair dancing.

Leia Cash, a lifelong dancer and educator, teaches adaptive dance classes at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley, adults with Parkinson’s disease, and seniors at a residential facility.

April 21, 2018
Pirate as a Disability Action Figure: Disability Awareness Month

Emily Smith Beitiks and Catherine

Catherine Kudlick

Catherine and Erin Jourdinsen present Dissie Award

Professor Catherine Kudlick, of San Francisco State University, directs the The Paul K. Longmore Institute on Disability and the annual SuperFest International Disability Film Festival.

Born blind, Catherine had numerous corrective eye surgeries and now lives with nystagmus, a condition of involuntary eye movement.

Learn about this year’s annual film festival and a new accessibility feature — audio description — and how pirates can be a tool for teaching students about disability.

October 12, 2017
Passion: Motivation to Move through the Bad Stuff and Experience Joy

Recently I attended an annual patient conference and had a conversation which served as a catalyst for a couple of blog posts and this podcast episode. What advice do you give someone experiencing apathy and a lack of motivation? How do you cultivate a passion which can make it easier to move through the challenges of living with a chronic health condition so you can still experience joy?

There are no easy answers.

Featured in this episode are three people I know who have shared their passion with me. Mindy brings her love of dance to our myotonic dystrophy community.

Hazel shares her knowledge and experience with service dogs to those with multiple sclerosis as well as other chronic health conditions. And James helps his co-workers and friends experience the Totality — and other celestial happenings.

To learn more about Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi and the flow concept, here’s a TED Talk, and the books I read: Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience and Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.

September 28, 2017
Preparedness is Universal: Planning for a disaster if you have a chronic illness, physical, developmental, or intellectual disability

September is National Preparedness Month. If you have a chronic health condition, an injury, or are physically, developmentally, or intellectually disabled there is additional preparedness planning you’ll need to do in the event of a natural (hurricane, earthquake, flood) or other type of disaster (terrorism).

L. Vance Taylor —Chief, Office of Access and Functional Needs at California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services, talks about his role in emergency management for the State of California as well as his role as a person with a physical disability (Limb Girdle muscular dystrophy).

Additional Resources to help with your personal planning and preparedness can be found at the following organization’s website:

American Red Cross

FEMA

Ready.gov

August 31, 2017
Talkin’ Tech with a Software Engineer

That software engineer is Chris Schlechty — a fellow member of the Muscular Dystrophy Association’s National Community Advisory Committee. We talk about home automation, on-demand services, apps, self-driving cars, smart devices, and Seattle’s microbrews.

Check out the DO IT Center which is dedicated to empowering people with disabilities through technology and education. Chris has been involved with this organization since he was in high school.

August 3, 2017
Accessible Yoga for All

Accessible Yoga includes persons with disabilities, seniors, at-risk-youth, and many others not comfortable in more traditional yoga classes.

Jivana Heyman — registered yoga therapist and teacher — talks about the origin of the Accessible Yoga organization and the upcoming conferences in New York and San Francisco. Want to know what Accessible yoga is all about? Tune in to find out more.

During our conversation Jivana mentions Dean Ornish’s book, Love and Survival: 8 Pathways to Intimacy and Health. Why not buy it now?

May 5, 2017
Talking with the Autism Pastor

Dr. Lamar Hardwick is a pastor in LaGrange, Georgia as well as a man diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome – a condition on the autism spectrum. Listen to this interview with Lamar, check out his blog, and, of course, buy his book, I Am Strong: The Life and Journey of an Autistic Pastor.

March 16, 2017