Access All: Disability News and Mental Health

By BBC Sounds

What's Access All: Disability News and Mental Health about?

Weekly podcast about mental health, wellbeing and disabled people.
Life stories and solutions with a friendly touch – for listeners around the world.
Presented by Nikki Fox.

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LAST EPISODE

The musical instrument you ...

12.04.2023

Access All collaborates with BBC Radio 3 on an item about the Clarion, a musical instrument which can be played by anyone by anything - from fingers to Eyegaze technology. Our guests are Barry Farrimond-Chuong, the CEO of Open Up ...

Access All: Disability News and Mental Health episodes:

12.04.2023 The musical instrument you can play with your fingers, legs or eyes Access All collaborates with BBC Radio 3 on an item about the Clarion, a musical instrument which can be played by anyone by anything - from fingers to Eyegaze technology. Our guests are Barry Farrimond-Chuong, the CEO of Open Up ...
11.27.2023 My first year as a disabled astronaut We head to Cologne, Germany, where we catch-up with the man they dubbed the parastronaut - former Paralympian and surgeon John McFall. He was recruited by the European Space Agency one year ago to work out how space travel might ...
11.20.2023 Who in the Whoniverse is Ruth Madeley? Actor Ruth Madeley plays wheelchair-using Shirley Anne Bingham in the first of three Doctor Who anniversary specials, with the first one kicking off on Saturday 25 November. Joining her is super-fan Tom Harries, known as Tharries on his YouTube channel. ...
11.13.2023 The Harry Potter stuntman on his life-changing accident Harry Potter stuntman, David Holmes, opens up about his life-changing accident when he dislocated his spinal cord on the set of The Deathly Hallows Part 1, leading to paralysis. He also talks about his firm friendship with Harry Potter himself, ...
11.06.2023 Power to the (Disabled) People This week we look at the challenges and financial risks of using the Equality Act when it comes to transport services. Anna Lawson, professor of law at University of Leeds, and Tim McSharry who volunteers with Access Use-Ability Group give ...
10.27.2023 Why vision impaired people struggle to pay by touchscreens Paying by card is simple for most of us, but for some visually impaired people, newer, touch screen card readers can be a problem. RNIB’s Dave Williams tells us about the challenges as well as the workarounds. And lawyer Chris ...
10.19.2023 Disability Hate Crime: What’s really going on? We meet actor Eloise Pennycott from BBC Three's Phoenix Rise. She lost her hearing four years ago and now, at 18, is one of the sparkiest deaf/disabled people we've come across for a while. She talks about her character Daisy ...
10.12.2023 Minister for Disabled People talks to Access All Minister for Disabled People, Tom Pursglove, joins Nikki Fox In the studio to talk about what he’s been up to since taking over the role in 2022. They go deep into topics including work, benefits and his love of cricket… ...
10.05.2023 How do wheelchair users weigh themselves? When Lizzie posted on Facebook that she hasn’t been able to weigh herself for 22 years, including through three pregnancies, it sparked our interest about access to scales. Gillian also told us she’s been trying to keep check of her ...
10.03.2023 Are disabled people forgotten in climate disaster plans? Access All joins forces with The Climate Question this week to explore an important global issue. About 16 percent of the world’s population is thought to be disabled, but they are still 2 to 4 times more likely to be ...
09.28.2023 Disability charity takes 'murderous' swipe at government This week the government launched Ask, Don’t Assume, a campaign to encourage the public to ask before trying to assist disabled people. However, Disability Rights UK accused them of “purple washing” and called the government “murderous” in a post on ...
09.21.2023 ‘My worry is my care will be cut and I will end up in a care home’ Budgets are tight at local authorities across the country and this week, Bristol City Council launched a consultation on what it calls its ‘Fair and Affordable Care Policy’. Some residents fear the policy, if implemented, could see them relocated to ...
09.14.2023 Robot guide dogs to help blind people Email [email protected] with stories that you want Access All to cover. Our hosts, Nikki Fox and Emma Tracy really want to hear your ideas. In this episode, we’re checking out access in Japan. How does it compare to the UK? ...
09.07.2023 Disability benefits: How they could change This week, out-of-the-blue, the government released a consultation on changes to the Work Capability Assessment, which it had previously announced it would scrap. Nikki Fox and Emma Tracey unravel what it could mean for you with James Taylor, executive director ...
08.31.2023 Gail Porter: 'Has anyone here been sectioned?' Gail Porter's most recent incarnation is in comedy and storytelling related to her experiences of mental ill health, homelessness and hair loss - something she likes to share in the hope it helps other people. Emma Tracey grabbed an interview ...
08.23.2023 ‘I know what madness is, and this is the good kind’ The Edinburgh Festival Fringe is in full swing as Nikki Fox joins Emma Tracey in Scotland to put on a show at Dynamic Earth in front of a live festival audience! Comedian Joe Wells reveals how he decided to become ...
08.17.2023 Interview Special: Victoria Canal and Tommy Jessop Musician Victoria Canal won the Ivor Novello Rising Star award in May, and has built an army of fans since supporting Hozier on tour around the UK this summer. She tells Nikki Fox and Emma Tracey how it felt to ...
08.10.2023 After the honeymoon When education finishes, where do young disabled adults with complex needs find their home and a fulfilling life? One couple from Surrey have, with council backing, set-up a residential care home where disabled people own their own accommodation and enjoy ...
08.03.2023 ‘You’ve been ablesplained!’ If you have problems with your bones, have you thought about drinking more milk? Rude and often silly questions can be an annoying part of everyday disabled life, but did you know this microaggression actually has a name? It’s called ...
07.27.2023 One disabled air passenger, two tickets The BBC's Alex Taylor investigated 100 airlines to see how many offer free or discounted airline tickets for personal assistants to travel. Industry guidelines recommend it, but how many really follow that guidance? Melody Powell joins us to talk about ...
07.20.2023 The sea shanty star and anxiety attacks Remember the ridiculously popular Wellerman song? This week, the 28-year-old star behind the sea shanty, Nathan Evans, joins presenters Nikki Fox and Emma Tracey to talk about his mental health. Anger against the government and rail authorities is hotting up. ...
07.13.2023 ‘I’m just a nerd living in a care home in North Yorkshire’ Getting tickets to see Taylor Swift’s Era’s Tour has been widely reported as difficult. But getting tickets for accessible seats at Wembley has proved even harder and has had to be done the old fashioned way - by phone. Music ...
07.06.2023 Ellie Simmonds: 'Who actually am I?' Paralympian and former Strictly contestant Ellie Simmonds speaks to Emma Tracey about having been given up by her mother, in part, due to concern at her having achondroplasia - a condition which leads to dwarfism. A complicated situation, Ellie holds ...
06.29.2023 ‘Lewis Capaldi has done so much for the Tourette’s community’ Singer Lewis Capaldi’s Glastonbury performance went down in history after the crowd stepped in when his voice cut-out. He’s announced he won’t be touring for the foreseeable as he adjusts to a recent Tourette’s syndrome diagnosis. Friend of the show, ...
06.22.2023 Rose Ayling-Ellis: ‘We all need the feeling of belonging somewhere’ In her new documentary, Signs For Change, Rose Ayling-Ellis goes on a personal journey into the deaf experience to ask if attitudes are changing towards deaf people. The actor and Strictly winner pops by to talk about how emotional it ...
06.16.2023 Festivals: 'It was just a complete nightmare from start to finish" This year's Download music festival in Leicestershire has received lots of negative feedback on social media from disabled people. From unstable wheelchair stands to tents being pitched too close together and people getting run over. Festival-goers tell us accessibility has ...
06.08.2023 It’s in your Best Interests to listen to this Best Interests is the new BBC One drama about teenager Marnie, who has a life-limiting condition and whose doctors have recommended her treatment should be stopped. Bafta-winning writer Jack Thorne - well known for being a disability advocate - drops ...
06.01.2023 ‘It was petrifying’: The family left on the side of the M1 Sophie Smart was travelling back from a birthday outing with her eight-year-old son Karson, who has cerebral palsy and epilepsy, when the car’s clutch failed on the M1. As members of Motability and on a priority-list they expected the RAC ...
05.25.2023 Life's an accessible beach Which would you prefer, sand in your swimsuit or sand in your wheelchair? Nikki Fox and Emma Tracey discuss the 300 beaches that have been made accessible for disabled people in Greece. Little AI robots have started using pavements to ...
05.18.2023 ‘I hit the fire alarm and evacuated the airport’ It's Mental Health Awareness Week. Nikki and Emma take a deep-dive into the topic of anxiety and find out when feeling anxious can be positive and when it turns detrimental. Faris Khalifa talks about his experience and Stephen Buckley from ...
05.12.2023 The Lost Boy This week, Noah Matthews Matofsky, reportedly the first actor with Down's syndrome to land a major role in a Disney movie, takes time out to speak with Nikki and Emma about his time on the set of Peter Pan and ...
05.04.2023 ‘There weren't any ramps back in 1953’ TV presenters JJ Chalmers and Ade Adepitan join Nikki and Emma to chat about their roles in the Coronation. From disabled veterans to wellbeing, we unpick the weekend and also take a look at the most accessible ways to enjoy ...
04.27.2023 The disabled woman who hired a sex worker Aged 43, Melanie had never had sex. After a suggestion from her support worker, all this changed. She went online and found Chayse, a sex worker who was able to sensitively meet her needs. In an extended interview, Melanie and ...
04.20.2023 Strike a pose This week Nikki and Emma are joined by British Vogue cover star, Sinéad Burke, who has been assisting its editor-in-chief to embrace disability inclusion. She has the look, she has the words...and she can also make pasta. Hear our extended ...
04.13.2023 Magic money BAFTA award winning magician Fergus Flanagan talks to Nikki Fox and Emma Tracey about OCD and how his intrusive thoughts disappear when he performs. And is he able to guess what word Nikki is thinking of? Listen to find out... ...
04.06.2023 Is ChatGPT a disability ally? Nikki Fox and Emma Tracey look at the lack of accessibility when it comes to getting smear tests if you have a physical disability, with the help of Samantha Dixon, the CEO of Jo's Cervical Cancer Trust. The duo decide ...
03.31.2023 'I haven't had a door on my bathroom for years' Claire has been waiting for three years for her council to make adaptations to her home so that she can live in comfort, have a family life and keep danger to a minimum. She talks to Nikki Fox and Emma ...
03.24.2023 TV’s Sophie Morgan’s “rage” over Blue Badge car theft TV presenter Sophie Morgan has been left frustrated and has lost that all-important passport to parking that disabled people cherish. We find out how digital badges are helping some drivers avoid this predicament. The latest Covid vaccine roll-out has been ...
03.16.2023 What’s happening with disability benefits? The chancellor announced the controversial Work capability Assessment is to be scrapped by 2026-27 in favour of a new test based largely on PIP – and it has raised many questions. Emma Tracey speaks to Disability Minister Tom Pursglove and ...
03.10.2023 Goodbye Judy, and thank you World-renowned US disability rights campaigner, Judith Heumann, died last weekend aged 75. Her friend Lawrence Carter-Long - co-director of DisArt - joins Nikkki and Emma from California to celebrate her remarkable achievements. The Office for National Statistics released figures this ...
03.03.2023 Strictly's Amy Dowden: "I was seen as a risk" Strictly Come Dancing star Amy Dowden reveals she was always seen as a "risk" by choreographers and dance partners who feared her Crohn's disease would impact their careers and insurance plans. And, as the government unveils its plan to reform ...
02.24.2023 Comedian Rosie Jones on imposter syndrome and ableism Comedian Rosie Jones is about to begin her first solo tour called Triple Threat but reveals life in the limelight can be pretty tricky with ableism and imposter syndrome to deal with. She also has Nikki Fox and Emma Tracey ...
02.17.2023 When Access All took over Newscast Nikki Fox and Emma Tracey, who are standing in for Adam, speak to actor and SNP member Brian Cox about Nicola Sturgeon’s departure, and who he would like to see in charge of the party. And as Rishi Sunak travels ...
02.10.2023 ADHD and the trend of diagnosis by TikTok With more than 20 billion views of the hashtag #ADHD, some people have turned to TikTok to self-diagnose the condition rather than wait for a formal assessment. BBC journalist, Ben Moore, investigates for Access All having started his own pathway ...
02.03.2023 'Wonderstruck': The author who learned to read again Loneliness is part of life and can be difficult to overcome, but Nikki Fox and Emma Tracey come armed with solutions, recognising those solutions are sometimes different for disabled people. Howard Thorpe reveals he flipped his loneliness on its head ...
01.27.2023 Huw Edwards on depression: 'I'm not the least bit embarrassed' After three years of shielding, thousands of immunosuppressed people are campaigning for the approval of a drug which would protect them against Covid-19, where vaccines have failed. Mark Oakley from The Forgotten 500k campaign and Paul Howard from Lupus UK ...
01.20.2023 Disabled people are up, carers are down The Office for National Statistics have released some disability stats that some are finding a little surprising. The number of people who declared themselves disabled in the 2021 Census didn’t go up in the way people expected, while the number ...
01.12.2023 GP: 'The whole NHS now is a big bin-fire' Anna Morell visits Nikki Fox to discuss her bad experiences in A&E;, which have been magnified by being disabled. While wheelchair-using GP, Hannah Barham-Brown, gives a useful overview of how over-crowding and a lack of staffing affects the health care ...
01.06.2023 The people who train their own guide dogs With long delays for people needing guide dogs we speak with Isobel in Belfast who trained her own guide dog and also to Pawtected, an organisation which helps people train their own assistance dogs. Reece Parkinson, from Radio 1Xtra chats ...
12.30.2022 Access All Christmas Special - Best Bits of 2022 We've had a ball since we launched back in April. Nikki and Emma were strangers at the beginning of the year and now have become great friends through some very open conversations and a bit of over-sharing. They introduce favourite ...

Older episodes

Access All: Disability News and Mental Health

What's Access All: Disability News and Mental Health about?

Download our free app to listen on your phone

Access All: Disability News and Mental Health episodes:

The musical instrument you can play with your fingers, legs or eyes

My first year as a disabled astronaut

Who in the Whoniverse is Ruth Madeley?

The Harry Potter stuntman on his life-changing accident

Power to the (Disabled) People

Why vision impaired people struggle to pay by touchscreens

Disability Hate Crime: What’s really going on?

Minister for Disabled People talks to Access All

How do wheelchair users weigh themselves?

Are disabled people forgotten in climate disaster plans?

Disability charity takes 'murderous' swipe at government

‘My worry is my care will be cut and I will end up in a care home’

Robot guide dogs to help blind people

Disability benefits: How they could change

Gail Porter: 'Has anyone here been sectioned?'

‘I know what madness is, and this is the good kind’

Interview Special: Victoria Canal and Tommy Jessop

After the honeymoon

‘You’ve been ablesplained!’

One disabled air passenger, two tickets

The sea shanty star and anxiety attacks

‘I’m just a nerd living in a care home in North Yorkshire’

Ellie Simmonds: 'Who actually am I?'

‘Lewis Capaldi has done so much for the Tourette’s community’

Rose Ayling-Ellis: ‘We all need the feeling of belonging somewhere’

Festivals: 'It was just a complete nightmare from start to finish"

It’s in your Best Interests to listen to this

‘It was petrifying’: The family left on the side of the M1

Life's an accessible beach

‘I hit the fire alarm and evacuated the airport’

The Lost Boy

‘There weren't any ramps back in 1953’

The disabled woman who hired a sex worker

Strike a pose

Magic money

Is ChatGPT a disability ally?

'I haven't had a door on my bathroom for years'

TV’s Sophie Morgan’s “rage” over Blue Badge car theft

What’s happening with disability benefits?

Goodbye Judy, and thank you

Strictly's Amy Dowden: "I was seen as a risk"

Comedian Rosie Jones on imposter syndrome and ableism

When Access All took over Newscast

ADHD and the trend of diagnosis by TikTok

'Wonderstruck': The author who learned to read again

Huw Edwards on depression: 'I'm not the least bit embarrassed'

Disabled people are up, carers are down

GP: 'The whole NHS now is a big bin-fire'

The people who train their own guide dogs

Access All Christmas Special - Best Bits of 2022