Outlook on Radio Western

The Music Director at Radio Western says: I’m just so grateful to have you guys on our station, to have Outlook here on our programming, and congratulations on reaching your 300th episode. Note at this point: we are a radio show first, as our theme states, and then become this podcast, if anyone was unaware of how and where we started/start each week - 94.9 on the dial locally, streaming audibly live at radiowestern.ca, at 11 AM EST weekly. Bird’s eye view, an Outlook. It was a bird’s eye view of our show with this one, as we were on Twitch, just for this particular episode and only for the live version. We love the irony to that as we discuss things like our pet peeve that many podcasts these days feel they need to have a visual component to them, even if podcasting is an audio art form so naturally we thought we’d “try” going live on Twitch for this. Irony or hypocrisy - you decide. This podcast episode still retains all the best bits, even if you’ve missed the live version. We are joined by those, we joked, who are forced to listen to Outlook every Monday, live, the staff from Radio Western in London, Ontario where we originally broadcast live from every Monday morning at eleven Eastern. To celebrate show 300 and our seven year mark we spoke with Radio Western Music Director (essentially Music Librarian) Ian, Marketing Director (Whirlwind) Elijah, and (new) News and Spoken Word Director Ryan and BF Barry (our sometimes third co-host) from Ireland. It turned out as a fun-filled and highly humorous discussion with friends and friends of the show about the last seven years, the history of Outlook On Radio Western, and what we want to highlight without claiming to speak for “all blind people” here. We talked wrongful interpretations of what blindness is in media while noting the correcting of that with things like book “There Plant Eyes: A Personal and Cultural History of Blindness” by Leona Godin and sharing a bit about sibling dynamics from everyone around the table. This sibling radio show/podcast celebrates that relationship with 300/7. And that’s all contained here and not just live, even if you can’t watch us, you could listen to Radio Western and/or on our show streaming there on Monday’s. Elijah from Radio Western says to brother/co-host Brian: We all try to make this place as welcoming as possible. This is a place where everybody can feel as though they have a platform especially when you and Kerry are using this platform for good and to get such a positive message out and understanding…an a knowledgeable message, an informing message. Check out Ian’s show Thursday mornings from 8:30 AM to 11,A Person Disguised As People and Elijah and Ryan’s show Outside The Frame Tuesdays at 6 PM.

Guest Maria says: “God I just Love the feel of a good paperback.” To that co-host Kerry replies emphatically: “Books are thrilling!” “Working in the book industry and having a fresh book…the smell of a fresh book, there’s nothing like it,” says Maria Johnson of Girl Gone Blind. This was her life, for many years, before the age of fifty and before she started over in health and fitness and then as someone diagnosed with a genetic blindness condition. On this Outlook we’re speaking with her about what life was like before blindness which includes both books and fitness, about getting her diagnosis at age fifty, and about how to choose the right name for an online presence as an advocate for her post-fifty life as someone diagnosed with LHON, Lebers Hereditary Optic Neuropathy, a mitochondrial condition of the optic nerve. Our very own mother recognised the name of this particular condition when we told her what this week’s show was about because it was a diagnosis doctors thought sister/co-host Kerry had at one time early on in our family’s diagnosis journey with genetic blindness. Both conditions were first described by the same man: Theodor Karl Gustav von Leber, (discovering our eye condition, Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis and Maria’s, Lebers Hereditary Optic Neuropathy within two years of each other in 1869 and 1871). She describes her road to acceptance which includes family also being impacted in all kinds of ways and about how she got so involved with the international conference for patients, their loved ones, and all sorts of doctors, scientists, and researchers along with her hit panel she moderates there each year. Johnson says: “Sure, it wasn’t what I expected. It’s not what anyone expects when you lose vision later on in life, but you can still do so many things and that’s what I discovered - to recreate, reinvent, and restart my life, just without vision.” In September, 2013 she was diagnosed with LHON and in September, 2025 she’s joined us to talk about the intervening twelve years of learning, acceptance, and advocacy and becoming girl, gone, blind as Girl Gone Blind. Check out Maria’s website including her most excellent blog: https://girlgoneblind.com

September has arrived and it’s Labour Day with Laura Bain. Laura is wrapping up school and starting a new job and she’s back on Outlook to tell us all about travel, transitions, and changes she’s made since she was last on air with us. Speaking of schooling, Laura has been on an academic journey in psychology and social work, having just completed a Masters in Social Work, taking her own time to get here and we’re talking making education work for people with all sorts of needs, part-time as Bain did it: “being able to engage more fully with the material,” with ablest views on course load and full-time vs part time program participation in a rigid system. We’re asking for accommodations; there’s no shame in this. Laura tells us about how she navigated through her schooling and then through unfamiliar cities as a traveler. We talk about the differences between travel with others, a sighted partner for example, vs independent travel, interdependence in this or group trips, tackling new surroundings solo with Bain’s trips to New York for the No Barriers Summit. Or whether it’s in France or England most recently: things like being less than bilingual in a non English speaking country, using technology to get around, and the total mental drain it can take to access all our sensory skills when traveling alone. Things like needing time to rest in the hotel and moving away from such a frantic tourist experience as most take on and for which we’re encouraged to join in on in this fast paced world. So whether it’s in schooling or in travel, doing things on our own schedule is going against the grain of go go go. We hear about Laura’s experience doing London half on her own and then half with accessible tour group Seeable Holidays where the guides are trained but sighted people join the group and are there to assist those who are blind. Brother co-host Brian learned about local greeter organisations, specifically London Greeters and the guide Laura had who knew Brian and had been impacted by Brian’s earlier advocating for himself, which prompted this local guide to access some blindness awareness training. It’s a small world after all as the song goes. So with the summer coming to an end, Laura is back at it and telling us about the jobs she’s had recently which include working once more for Accessible Media Inc. and then working locally for her municipal government, Halifax Regional Municipality Office of Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator Accessibility Community Outreach and Research, a long title for a seemingly sweet job with government but she shares a bit about being on a probational basis and finding it difficult, though in the diversity, equity, inclusion, and access (DEIA) spaces, she wasn’t getting that direct community engagement she prefers to have. So we finish off, with a new school year ahead for many and for Laura Bain it means taking on a new role at the CNIB as a program coordinator, dealing directly with the community by, for example, coordinating a camp for the community of kids and families. She took the leap from government job, not quite the right fit for her at this time, and what she’s doing on contract until next March and we hope to have her back with us to discuss more on where she’s headed next. We at Outlook appreciate our friends, like Laura Bain, joining us in community as it truly is a small world after all and we look forward to getting Bain’s own tour of Halifax, her city, very soon with the privilege of access to travel making us better, more well rounded people. The No Barriers Summit website says: WHAT’S WITHIN YOU IS STRONGER THAN WHAT’S IN YOUR Way - and that’s what we three have in common as we navigate life with a disability: https://nobarriersusa.org Learn more about Seeable Holidays: https://seable.co.uk And free personalised walking tours for all in London, England: https://londongreeters.org

Content warning: (Please do take care while listening as this episode discusses themes around suicidal ideation and death. If you are in distress currently, across Canada you can call or text 9-8-8 toll free from anywhere around the country. *** We’ve known of this returning guest for years and first had her on with us back in 2021 - during Covid when she made podcasts from inside her closet, like many others did, while we were all recording from home. She joins us on the show to talk about one of the most contentious topics of our times in the country and especially for the disability community. We’ve wanted to discuss the situation with medical assistance in dying (MAID) on Outlook for a long time, but waited until a journalist could walk us through it, someone with both a professional and lived experience point-of-view. Meagan Gillmore grew up in London, the city where we broadcast Outlook from, but now she lives in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city and reports for New online independent news publication Canadian Affairs which first launched back in 2023. What exactly is MAID and how does it, in any way, differ from physician assisted suicide, euthanasia or any of the other terms you may have heard mentioned in the news? We learn more about the history of medical assistance in dying so from the historical to the political, Meagan walks us through things like eligibility criteria and the two separate MAID tracks, along with changes in the criminal code, private members bills and legislative changes and other political elements, on lawsuits and the courts, and shares how most journalistic outlets do not cover medical assistance in dying with any sort of sustained coverage. We get an idea why journalists with lived experience of disability (either physical or mental) are well suited to keeping the media aware, along with the rest of us who often find MAID made more complicated by the sensitivity of the issue and society’s cultural fear of discussing anything remotely related to death and dying. Gillmore shares with us a mixture of researched and reported details on the path MAID has been on in Canadian society along with her own personal up close experience with considering applying for it herself at one time. Plus we the hosts also share why this subject is so personal to us as Canadians living with disability and chronic illness during these capitalist times where barriers still exist with finding and maintaining steady employment and other factors toward fitting in in one’s community. Common ongoing themes discussed on this show about struggling with independence and dependence (not feeling like a burden when it comes to feeling like we must not burden society) vs interdependence and the grey areas of life and being part of our communities while finding purpose and balance in all areas of life are covered between the three of us. Why would someone ever consider this rout for themselves or are there pressures put on those who have done it or are contemplating it? ? Why are people with disabilities feeling all this most intensely, has this gotten out of hand in Canada in particular, and what do disability organisations and groups think about all of it? How are physicians and other medical professionals feeling and viewing all this? From the legal system to advocating for human rights, all these things and more on this important episode. *** Read recent articles written by Gillmore for Canadian Affairs: https://www.canadianaffairs.news/author/meagan_gillmore/ Find an article on MAID by Gillmore from The Walrus in 2023: https://thewalrus.ca/assisted-dying/ And to learn more about Meagan, check out her prior Outlook appearance: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2021-02-08-interview-with-journalist-meagan/id1527876739?i=1000508230958

After our conversation with today’s guest, check out our thoughts on how theatre and performance spaces can work to be more inclusive and can work towards a greater focus on meeting the access needs of intersecting humans in artistic spaces. As Brian shares about his really missing out on being in those spaces, Kerry shares about others who are out there, if you know where to look as reflections following this week’s guest joins us, live on location: “The broader systems and structures of our work in theatre - is now realising, in catching up essentially with the rest of us that have always had to exist in spaces as disabled humans, that actually this can allow us to think more deeply, consider things in a deeper more innovative way. And it’s actually an exciting frontier, the disruption and the dismantling that access and disability causes in spaces is actually a really an exciting and innovative thing to think about artistically. I think ultimately that shift, we’re at the precipice of that shift right now in the community. We’re just at the beginning and it’s gonna be a long journey and a long thing and many conversations from a space of listening. We’re just at the start, let’s put it that way,” our guest laughs. This week on Outlook we’re hearing from accessibility coordinator Mandy E. MacLean, who has worked as an access practitioner in artistic and theatre settings since moving to Toronto in 2012: “We’re far behind the UK and overseas in many ways, here in Toronto and in Canada…and in Ontario as a whole - it’s an exciting place to be sitting in currently.” Mandy joins us from outside a deaf-led performance, in the shade on a boiling summer afternoon, to discuss how she started work as a producer focusing on access in artistic spaces, about working with young/first-time low vision and blind/disabled and trans performers, both in arts and theatre in Ontario and Manitoba including what she learned about herself and her job facilitating and producing inclusive theatre with students at the W. Ross McDonald School for the Blind. She describes what she learned from first-time performers in a drama class at the school and how she heard from them what they wanted to see in a performance of their creation and making. We talk things like integrated audio description and lighting design for theatre when considering full inclusion or sensory sensitivity as MacLean shares a bit about her own non-visible disabilities which include concussion and associated mental health (identifying as part of the Mad community) and sensory sensitivity symptoms. Mandy shares how first, as a performer, and now as facilitator of accessibility in the arts and theatre with less obvious disabilities of her own, she can be a bit under the radar in performance spaces and still approach her work from a lived experience perspective and to learn from the lived experiences others have as intersections. Also, how she invites others in such spaces to be open about their differences, both visible or non-visible, if they so choose which can diminish stigma. We also find out about her great love of dogs and the story behind naming her own (emotional support animal) cocker spaniel Mulder. *Cue X-Files music* We also learn a new word on this one, which we do every few years on this show, with the introducing of the term “dramaturg” to our ears. As dramaturg, MacLean asks: “How do we shape and hold this piece that eventually is going to be experienced by an audience?” She’s sharing about her own personal curiosities exploring her own disabilities in theatrical settings and on a project she herself has in the works. Then she goes on to tell us about the Summer in the Park Festival with Crossroads Theatre she is working on as an artistic and access producer taking place over the span of three days (from August 22 to the 24th) with an opening night of free food (a community meal) and weekend brimming with performances and storytelling spaces across the three days

She’s just a girl and she’s on fire She’s living in a world and it’s on fire. —Alicia Keys It’s a slow burn summer, burn as in the wildfires ravaging communities and landscapes across Canada while 18-year-old Canadian competitive swimmer Summer McIntosh is on fire, winning multiple medals at the World Championships, and this is another mixed bag episode in mid summer on the August long weekend as we’re recording it. And one of us is getting over a summer cold as we acknowledge July’s Pride celebrations as the anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act (35 years) arrived this summer season. This week on Outlook we’re starting off sharing what brother/co-host Brian learned when he researched what exactly the August 1st holiday is here in Canada are represented by, either British Columbia Day, Terry Fox Day in Manitoba (the province he was born in), Heritage Day for one province while ours (Ontario) has municipality celebrations for places like Ottawa or Guelph. After this one, we won’t be live for a few weeks with an upcoming Monday where sister/co-host Kerry has a specialist appointment at a connective tissue clinic with a rheumatologist to see if there’s anything new they might be able to offer to manage her changing symptoms and Brian will be recording with his band at London’s local Sugar Shack Studio. We then briefly mention the serious and controversial subject matter (content warning worthy) we’ve got coming up on an Outlook show planned for later in the month, current scarcity mindsets with Alberta’s continuing going ahead with clawbacks for anyone there applying for the new Canadian Disability Benefit, and how that compares to the province we’re in, speaking of different provinces on this August Long Weekend edition of our show. Our mixed bag of topics for this Mid Summer Mixed Bag also includes our friendly sibling competitions even when it comes to why Brian doesn’t get as many colds as Kerry (even though we’re both immunosuppressed as transplant patients) or why Kerry’s creatinine has always remained safely below 100 while Brian’s has steadily remained dozens of points above it. Speaking of clinic, with Brian’s recent transplant clinic visit and dispatches from the waiting room we’re considering a story from CBC about piping in calming bird song sounds into hospital and clinic waiting rooms rather than the less relaxing news television programs. Then, (speaking of content warnings) we recently viewed the first episode of Season 27 of South Park “Sermon On The Mount,” and we’re discussing what we miss without audio description which led us to use a Wiki Fandom site and AI chatbot for more information, the design of the characters Kerry has seen at one time and now must imagine, and the type of satire its creators harness for trolling (passing the sensors by putting little eyes on 45/47’s penis and comparing him to a certain deceased Iraqi so-called “leader” South Park featured in one of Brian’s most favourite earlier season episodes. Reflecting on seeing the value of spending more time with family now that he’s older, (shoutout to Nefertiti Matos Olivares for gifting our family with game Herd Mentality) making for a wonderfully entertaining and enlightening family game afternoon last month - Brian also shares about a sweet and special moment recently where our niece wanted to include him by writing her name tactilely so he could feel it, by writing it on the device we have called the BrailleDoodle (a teaching tool for educators and new braille learners). And speaking of the BrailleDoodle, we’re still looking for somewhere to donate one and Kerry shares about introducing our educational assistant/braille transcriber from our school days to BF Barry and guide dog Oyster a few weeks back. BTW: If you hear this episode and know of anyone/anywhere that could use it, please do reach out by emailing us - outlookonradiowestern@gmail.com You can learn more about the Braille Doodle here: https://www.touchpadp

Bumbleberry and BF Barry back with us again. It’s not all roses on Outlook this week, though it’s another Disability Pride Month episode (celebrating brother/co-host Brian’s July transplant anniversary) and we’re talking poutine and pickle fries to mark the occasion. Actually, we discuss an evening out for the three of us at a family wedding as sister/co-host Kerry shares about her blind/female fashion concerns while the boys discuss how it is choosing their own wedding guest wardrobe. Then we cover the ways we utilise our remaining senses to take part in and enjoy festivities such as listening for the evening’s playlist of songs (for dancing to or not) along with all the visual elements we miss, tasting the food truck flavours, and all the tactile elements of how weddings get decorated, like the tactile roses on the tables. Summer continues coasting along, for this Mixed Bag episode, as some of us try not to melt in our shades while others continue to bask in the sizzle of the season. One of us wears their Wayne’s World hat while the other two sport some summer shades as we talk party favours with a dress code of beach formal from the weekend that was.

K: “Community is so important. To knowing you’re not alone and then showing up for each other. H: 100 percent. K: even when a situation is scary and people are thinking about their own situations of course but also thinking about their loved ones and their neighbours. H: We will only survive this with community. We will only survive this together. We will only survive this by showing up for each other. That is our only way out. This is an exchange between sister/co-host Kerry and friend and returning guest Professor H Mayhem May on this week’s show. We’re continuing the celebrating of PRIDE on Outlook this week, as we did almost exactly to the day (three years ago) when May was on with us that first time to share about their short film, “Finding Tiresias”, an inclusively designed experimental piece about identity and diversity and change. Ozzy Osbourne, legendary rock performer died since having H May on this time. In his band’s song “Changes” he sings: “I’m going through changes”. This is the theme of our second discussion, live in studio, with H from just across the border in The Finger Lakes region of New York State. Canada and the States both celebrate birthdays during the month of July along with Pride and Disability Pride, just within a few days of one another, as we’re right next to each other. We’re illustrating the need to recognise that closeness and connection and that need to keep connections between us strong in the face of so much chaos and adversity, both as neighbouring countries and in overlapping communities. So we’re talking interconnection, intersectionality, and interdependence along with examples of loss and grief and accepting of changes as H considers a guide dog for continued outdoor adventures, keeping up blindness skills in an ocularcentric world since being in community with us and others at a Drama Club Camp week in Maine, and in the expanding possibilities developing the ideas from last year’s Maine gathering into a future inclusive and representative theatrical statement with Dr. May’s growing lived experience and directing stage knowledge and expertise at its heart. For more on our friend and ally Professor H May, visit their website and learn more about “Finding Tiresias” and other projects and perspectives: https://www.drheathermay.com Check out last summer’s Maine experience on the two-parter episode we put together featuring our week in community with H and others: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2024-10-14-our-week-in-maine-well-figure-it-out-pt-1/id1527876739?i=1000673780980 https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2024-10-21-our-week-in-maine-well-figure-it-out-pt-2/id1527876739?i=1000675516532 And go back 3 years to hear H’s first appearance on the show: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2022-07-11-awaiting-tiresias-with-professor/id1527876739?i=1000569782476

“We will carve our place into time and space.” —Wild Things, Alessia Cara It’s powerful outcry, a protest and empowerment song by Alessia, as sister/co-host Kerry loves music that’s unapologetic - Things are heating up during July’s Disability Pride Month (DPM). This week on Outlook we’re continuing the Pride talk on another mixed bag with brother/co-host Brian’s baseball adventures, reading image descriptions of the stadium, and then Kerry shares about her memories of seeing the Toronto Bluejay’s Sky Dome (roof open and sky exposed or closed). Accessibility - how he and BF Barry asked at Guest Services for accessible ways to follow the game and a giant company like Rogers doing very little even with all their resources. Advocacy - summer being a time people love to attend festivals and a recent CBC London Morning segment speaking with an accessibility consultant in a wheelchair about how to make something like London’s Sunfest more inclusive. And equality - describing the colours of the Disability Pride Flag as July’s DPM continues. While Kerry and guide dog Oyster recently had a girl’s day, watching Friends, sleeping on the couch, and going out in the back yard for which Kerry is writing an essay about in a July writing class: Oyster’s Secret Garden, Brian and Barry had a good time out socialising in London and spending a lot of time on patios and at local spots across town. He shares about transportation issues and talking with Uber drivers, and. Kerry shares, while describing the need for colours and vivid imagery on a flag like that of DPM along with the grief she’s now receiving peer support for when she misses seeing the colours she has always loved and once could make out. When Kerry was in Ireland and went forest bathing, she was encouraged to take her power back and she finds that works better through song lyrics than through cursing. It’s a summer of Pride, a lifetime of advocacy, and demanding equality along the way with cross-community support so be one of the Wild Ones: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5vUBQBykJ4

As we cross over from June’s Pride Month into July’s Disability Pride, let’s just say it is a summer of PRIDe with us here. This week on Outlook we’re talking about the connections, the intersectionalities between those celebrating LGBTQIA2S+ and celebrating living with disability. Yes, we know that the idea of “feeling proud” of living with disability (in this society which stigmatises anything not able-bodied) sounds strange to some, but here we’re trying to destigmatize the whole thing by refusing to let circumstances out of our control dominate our lives. We’re sharing first about our Friday night excursion out in London and to the home of the host who did a music show (first before us Monday mornings and then directly after). Bernie Koenig (of From Bach to Rock and then Bernie’s Jazz and Blues) is a musician himself, from way back, and hosts jams (out of his basement) where he invites anyone to come to watch some jazz/rock/blues playing. So we went, though Oyster the guide dog didn’t take to the loud drums, guitars, and trumpet so co-host Kerry and BF Barry sat with her just outside on the patio. It turned out it was a nice evening for everyone that way and Brian (who played trumpet briefly from back in high school) enjoyed seeing Bernie in his element. Bernie’s wife, supporting him from the back row, waving and smiling to him was described to us. We then go on to discuss some of the local music shows co-host Brian has been out to lately, some of the navigational issues he dealt with to travel to said shows, as well as the benefits of supporting his community and getting to hear some of the music he so enjoys. And sister/co-host Kerry has what she’s coined a soft announcement on the audio description collaborative team she’s a member of, Picture This, and she shares about the two recent PBS American Masters documentaries they’ve produced extended AD for. She explains more about the docs which includes one on political theorist and scholar Hannah Arendt: Facing Tyranny, as she also explains more about what extended audio description is. It’s another mixed bag show where we look back on our guests for June including Linsay Lusyne of Vision Loss Travel, friend Zoe Rae Espinoza on blind gaming, and Marie Elise who travels as Beyond My Blur. Plus some podcast recs as we head toward our 300’s episode sometime in the weeks ahead. Here’s a link to the Arendt documentary, though we do talk on this one about how a VPN was needed to view it here in Canada by the person who did the quality control )QC) on it: https://www.pbs.org/wnet/americanmasters/hannah-arendt-documentary/36135/

Bf Barry says of summer starting, revving up, especially for co-host Kerry: Barry says “hanging out and hanging in” But as we greet the summer season, we’re hanging out with someone Kerry came across through Steph McCoy of the fashion, style, and inclusion platform "Bold Blind Beauty". Of course, it’s about the representation which I think is very important, also for the generations that are younger than me, but also because I think we should celebrate these different perspectives. And I also hope to show other travelers with low vision, that it’s us who get to share this perspective with the sighted travelers and I think there’s a cool aspect in that. Marie Elise joins us on Outlook this week to talk travel, the value of experiencing the loveliness and power of the planet by making use of all our available senses, and adapting to the shifting sands of genetic vision degeneration. Whether it’s chickens, hummingbirds, or horses, Elise wanted to be a veterinarian growing up and now wants to share her message of experiencing the sound of a hummingbird and not just seeing it, and joins us from South America with the sound of those chickens outside the door. She describes her special connection to horses and the trust it takes to ride with fading sight, but the benefits of emotional regulation for a deeper connection and something she could apply to life going forward were helpful for coping with all of it. She says of her life travels, as she’s worked to befriend the anxieties that developed in her 20s as the realities of her Stargardt's blindness became clearer: “I feel like that if you live in another country, that culture and that country becomes a part of you. It really has helped me develop as a human.” So whether it’s growing up amongst the bicycles in the Netherlands, studying Spanish in Spain after high school, or her time in Argentina, Marie has a dream going forward: Of course, it’s about the representation which I think is very important, also for the generations that are younger than me, but also because I think we should celebrate these different perspectives. And I also hope to show other travelers with low vision, that it’s us who get to share this perspective with the sighted travelers and I think there’s a cool aspect in that. Marie has a blog “Beyond My Blur” where she shares her own perspective on the places she’s been lucky to get to experience and how to do this, with the full spectrum of senses, more fully: https://beyondmyblur.com

Our guest says: “Let me tell you, nothing…nothing in the world is as satisfying as fighting a salty gamer bro online in Mortal Combat, winning a match, and then telling them - hey you just got beat by a blind, trans girl. Have a good one. No rematch!” We featured a sibling pair, Zoe and Jessica (both born with the same blindness condition as us, LcA) on our Siblings episode four years ago and Zoe returns as we here celebrate Pride Month throughout June. This week on Outlook we’re speaking with Zoe Espinoza about gaming while blind, a pastime many would assume isn’t accessible for anyone unable to see the screen and the visuals found there, but Zoe and regular co-host/boyfriend Barry geek out on this subject on this week’s episode. With vast knowledge of the gaming universe, our guest shares early memories of adaptations made to play, a love of narrative based games, and a childhood dream to write the stories for these games. She also shares some of the techniques she and her partner (not blind but with other disability such as hearing trouble/brain fog/fatigue) have now come up with to play as a team, co-piloting and coordinating using the skills they both bring to the table to support the other. Barry offering a gaming term, “You’re each other’s augment.” And according to Zoe, “The couple that plays together stays together.” Here at Outlook On Radio Western we start every show by saying - Accessibility, Advocacy, and Equality. So we discuss deliberately accessible vs accidentally accessible and why it’s worth it for companies to make their games inclusive. Zoe Espinoza and Barry advocate by playing and showing the world that there’s an interest and a desire to escape into the gaming world. Sibling co-hosts Kerry and Brian didn’t grow up with video games at home, and blindness is a spectrum of course, but we do encourage geeking out, in all kinds of ways, on this program whether it’s AI or gaming or anything else. Barry and Zoe share resources and tips if you, too, are blind and want to play. Or maybe you aren’t blind yourself, you have other disabilities or work in the gaming world, may simply be interested in the topic, making sure it’s an accessible and inclusive activity for everyone. Check out Zoe’s previous appearance on our show with her sibling Jessica: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2021-04-12-siblings-series-part-2-jessica-zoe/id1527876739?i=1000516853367

It all started with a trip to Cuba. Our guest on Outlook this week explains: At one moment in life you don’t really know what you’re doing and then, all of a sudden, you get this opportunity and a huge passion just grew out of it. From Belgium to Canada, Linsay Lusyne has a love of travel, opening it up to everyone along the way starting with a previous experience training blind people on navigating and guide dogs for blind travel before travel coaching in a different way. Lusyne shares about growing up on the coast of a small European country and her early memories of saving up for eye surgery at age five,, about her family’s reaction when she left for an island trip, and the empowering feeling she had from that first big solo adventure. We discuss her entry into training guide dogs and their companions which started with a love of dogs and an internship, the move she made to Canada with a desire for long-term travel, and her eventually stepping into becoming a travel coach who helps plan and book travel including recently creating group trips and trips of all kinds, as she helps blind travellers in particular to break down their travel and adventure dreams into manageable actionable steps. As a sighted lover of travel and with her knowledge of orientation and mobility and guide dogs, she runs the Vision Loss Travel group on Facebook and hosts meet-up calls to discuss the group trips she organises with both sighted and blind people, showcasing her love of experiencing the world as independently as one possibly can for everyone. Lindsay says: Travel is not about ticking destinations off a list. I believe in the transformative power of exploration, and I'm passionate about making travel accessible and life changing for those with vision loss.” Check out more about Linsay Lusyne, Travel Coach, by visiting her website: https://www.visuallyimpairedtravel.com Find her Vision Loss Travel Community on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/617168270274903/

LOOK OUT - Goose crossing ahead! Not all take kindly to the following of directions. Communication takes practice. Patience is needed to get where you’d like to be. Last week was National Accessibility Week (beginning on the final Sunday of May) and this time on Outlook (where “accessibility” is a given) we discuss the unhelpful helpers, how we orient ourselves, plus goose crossings and fermented mushrooms. This first Mixed Bag of June we’re talking what’s in store for these warmer months ahead including Pride celebrations, as we examine our gratitude toward those, in other marginalised communities, who come before us in all this disability community’s diverse group and anticipating a new show reboot of the animated King of the Hill with the importance of understanding modern relevance vs a snapshot from a previous generation. Also, we touch on and go over the eager waiting for this month’s announced applications to open up to qualify for the new Canada Disability Benefit and speaking of federal government, with Canada’s new federal cabinet (and Mark Carney at the helm) doing the “Cabinet Shuffle” by eliminating the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion, and Persons With Disabilities. Happy Indigenous History Month and Pride Month to our First Nations, Metis, and Inuit and 2SLGBTQIA+ friends and listeners - from May mixed bags to June, toward the strawberry moon, and celebrating kidney transplant anniversaries during this summer season.

The theme for National AccessAbility Week this year is “ Breaking barriers together: Paving the way for an inclusive future .” Established in 2017, National AccessAbility Week celebrates, promotes and showcases the diversity, inclusion and accessibility in this country, and highlights some of the important initiatives aimed at creating an Accessible Canada. We begin and end in Cornwall with this one as we celebrate “Breaking Barriers” together through exploration and investigation. The birds are out and for this Outlook, we’re back live, as we discuss the themes of this year’s National Accessibility Awareness Week (airport assistance stories) along with a few narrated image descriptions we all caught on our travels lately, with the birth of an old friend’s baby girl to the serenity of the resort’s deck in Cornwall, we share our image descriptions provided by accessibility app Be My Eyes.. From a shoutout to Scott the Uber driver, cheers to George, and thanks to Tim’s clear directions, we’re celebrating accessibility with kindred spirits and friends who make it easier instead of harder. On this last May 2025 Mixed Bag show, Barry and Kerry share about a dog encounter on their recent springtime block rout walk with guide dog Oyster and brother co-host Brian shows us a musical release he found, Robyn Rocket from the UK with People You May Of Heard Of and an inclusive audio version of the record’s accompanying comic strip. From chats with life guards and other visitors including the Cornish gulls at the seaside in Cornwall, England back into studio in London, Ontario - it’s National Accessibility Week, (end of May) as we soon bridge into June. Learn more about NAAW: https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-social-development/campaigns/national-accessability-week.html Check out the Robyn Rocket album: https://robynrocket.bandcamp.com/album/robyn-rocket-and-people-you-may-of-heard-of-2

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

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

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

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

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