"It's not about cerebral palsy, it's about family and relationships," actress Ann Talman says about her documentary and one-woman show called Woody's Order! Her late brother Woody had cerebral palsy and the stories center around him.

In this podcast, Pittsburgher Mark Steidl interviews Talman. Mark has cerebral palsy, and conducted this interview through his augmentative communication device. This piece was first published in 2017 on SoundCloud as part of All-Abilities Media's Look Who's Here! podcast series founded by Erin Gannon. Mark Steidl received a Press Club of Western Pennsylvania Golden Quill award for excellence for this interview. We now present this episode as a bonus episode of A Valid Podcast.

"We've got something special here," Dr. Bob Gannon said when he first saw his newborn daughter, Erin, more than 50 years ago. Erin had Down Syndrome. In this episode Erin asks her parents what it was like to raise her, send her to school, take part in her athletics and move into her own home.

This is a bonus episode for A Valid Podcast. It was originally published in 2018 on SoundCloud under the show name Look Who's Here! This interview won Erin a Press Club of Western Pennsylvania Golden Quill Award for excellence.

This is a bonus episode to A Valid Podcast--an interview from All-Abilities Media's original show, Look Who's Here! It was first published on SoundCloud in 2017.

During her 40-year career, Marsha Blanco played a key role in closing troubled institutions that housed people with disabilities. Her effort resulted in threats against her and her children. But she stayed the course, and helped hundreds of people move into community homes. In December 2017, she retired from ACHIEVA disabilities services agency. Look Who's Here!'s founding host Erin Gannon interviewed Blanco. Gannon is a woman with Down syndrome, whose parents decided to raise her like her siblings, and not in an institution. This Press Club of Western Pennsylvania awarded Gannon a Golden Quill for excellence for this piece.

Work can be hard to come by for people with intellectual disabilities and/or autism. Some studies have found that the unemployment rate for adults with autism⁠ is about 85 percent⁠.  Another survey finds that about a third of people with ⁠Down syndrome⁠ are unemployed. On this episode of A Valid Podcast four people share their stories of work and why it's important.

This is the final episode in A Valid Podcast Season 4, which is focused on employment.

A Valid Podcast is produced by All-Abilities Media. You can also find A Valid Podcast transcripts on our website. All-Abilities Media's work is supported by the FISA Foundation and The Portiuncula Foundation. Our fiscal sponsor is New Sun Rising.

A transcript for this episode is linked here.

How do you handle a workplace scandal? On this episode of A Valid Podcast, a young woman who has autism, Clara Govachini, shares a story that traumatized her. Spoiler: she worked through it skillfully.

A Valid Podcast Season 4 is focused on employment. It's hosted by Maria Palmer.

Also on this episode, reporter Jessie Henry interviews American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities President Dan Zhang. They speak about employment initiatives Zhang's been involved with in Texas. Zhang is Professor of Special Education, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, and Director of the Center on Disability and Development at Texas A&M University. His research interest is centered on assisting youth with disabilities to make a successful transition from high school to adulthood. 

A Valid Podcast is produced by All-Abilities Media. We're brewing up more episodes on A Valid Podcast for you. Please subscribe to A Valid Podcast. That's the quickest way to get updated about new episodes. And when you rate and review the show you make sure more people learn about intellectual disability and/or autism. All-Abilities Media produces A Valid Podcast. Please sign up for our newsletter at AllAbilities Media.org. You can also find A Valid Podcast transcripts there. All-Abilities Media is supported by the FISA Foundation and by listeners like you. Donations are tax-deductible depending on how you file your income. Our fiscal sponsor is New Sun Rising. Again, please visit allabilitiesmedia.org to learn more.

In this episode of "A Valid Podcast," host Maria Palmer dives into the world of employment for individuals with intellectual disabilities and/or autism.

The episode begins with Thomas Hassell, who shares his experiences as a volunteer and the challenges he faced in finding a job.

The podcast then transitions to an interview with Karrie Shogren, Director of the Kansas University Center on Developmental Disabilities. Karrie highlights the importance of self-determination for people with disabilities.

Join us as we explore the stories and experiences of individuals with disabilities in the workplace, emphasizing the importance of self-determination, inclusion, and creating opportunities. Don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review "A Valid Podcast" to help us spread awareness and share more stories like these. For more information, visit allabilitiesmedia.org.

The full transcripts for A Valid Podcast appear at

allabilitiesmedia.org/category/news/

The joyful sounds of a menorah car parade, Hanukkah music, and personal stories light up this second holiday episode of 2022. Recorded live in Pittsburgh at a disability services organization's Hanukkah celebration. Plus, show producer Jennifer Szweda Jordan walks up on a stage and down memory lane to share what led to A Valid Podcast. Full transcript here.

A Valid Podcast comes to you from the All-Abilities Media Project at the Center for Media innovation at Point Park University in downtown Pittsburgh. It's a collaboration with Unabridged Press. All-Abilities Media is supported by foundations and by listeners like you. Please consider donating--more info at All-Abilities Media. 

Wishing you warmth in your home and your heart this season!

All-Abilities Media participants past, present, and probably future trade holiday music recommendations, tips on being inclusive, and wishes for the world. We give you something more than a sugar cookie to chew on. Click for the full transcript.

A Valid Podcast comes to you from the All-Abilities Media Project at the Center for Media innovation at Point Park University in downtown Pittsburgh. It's a collaboration with Unabridged Press. All-Abilities Media is supported by foundations and by listeners like you. With this support we've been able to offer meaningful work gigs to people with disabilities, and we can hire local producers like Jeweltone Productions in Pittsburgh, owned by Liz Reid. She mixed today'sepisode. Assisting in audio editing was Jared Braun. Please consider donating at allabilitiesmedia.org/donate Thanks for your consideration. 

Wishing you warmth in your home and your heart this season!

FULL TRANSCRIPT AND IMAGES HERE 

When she loses a brother to dementia, filmmaker and caregiver Diane Sunderlin begins to document on film the need for care for people with Down syndrome and dementia.

This is a bonus episode in A Valid Podcasts' third season, which is focused on social inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities.

A Valid Podcast comes to you from the All-Abilities Media Project. And from interviews to music, and cover art for this podcast, the majority of us producing this work have one or more disabilities. Others on the team don't identify as having disabilities. Halle Stockton, of the news outlet PublicSource edited the majority of this season's episodes. PublicSource has been a great collaborator in covering the disability community, beginning with the multimedia project ADA at 30: Accessibility in Pittsburgh.

Mick Fisher, with Creative Citizen Studios, created our cover art.

The All-Abilities Media Project is based at the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. CMI director Dr. Andrew Conte is a co-executive of the podcast, along with Jennifer Szweda Jordan. Jennifer publishes Unabridged Press and manages All-Abilities Media. Learn more at allabilitiesmedia.org

*CORRECTION: An earlier version of this podcast included an erroneous statistic about the projected population of people with Down syndrome. In 2030, there will be 1.2 million people with intellectual disabilities in their 60s. The most common cause of intellectual disability is Down syndrome. Unabridged Press apologizes for this error.

After a group home resident loses her fun-loving housemate, the community she’s part of works through their shared grief. Plus, what prompted the creation of group homes? We’ve got some history. Jennifer Szweda Jordan hosts this episode which includes interviews by podcasters Erin Gannon and Liz Reid. We’ll also premiere bonus episodes including an interview with a woman who leads bereavement support groups for people with intellectual disabilities.

A Valid Podcast is produced by All-Abilities Media at the Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University. Episodes are published via Unabridged Press podcast channels on Apple Podcasts, Anchor.fm, Spotify, Google Podcasts, and others. Images and transcripts appear in PublicSource's Equity section.

Liz Reid, of Jeweltone Productions interviewed guests, and engineered and mixed audio. PublicSource Managing Editor Halle Stockton edited scripts. Cover art was made by Mick Fisher, with assistance from Creative Citizen Studios. This episode includes original music and vocals by George Casselberry

The transcript for this episode is here. 

GUESTS:

Karen Jacobsen

Pennie Wilson

Diane Wojdowski

Lauren Zak

(All from Emmaus Community of Pittsburgh)