For more information, bios, resources, and transcripts visit adalive.org/episodes/episode-140/. We all love to travel to learn new things, enjoy fun experiences, and make lasting memories. For many of us with disabilities, travel is not easy. We know that leaving home and going somewhere else has its own set of challenges. It can be difficult to visit a theme park or go to a baseball game, even one near our home. Our guest for this episode is Cory Lee, a wheelchair user and self-described “travel addict” who will share with us how and why accessible travel is possible and also fun! He shares his journey, starting with a trip to Walt Disney World at age four and his first international trip to the Bahamas at 15. In 2024, he traveled for 152 nights, working with destinations to promote accessibility. Corey emphasized the importance of early planning, often starting 6-12 months in advance. He highlighted the challenges of air travel and the need for positive attitudes. His website, Curb Free with Corey Lee, features 630 travel guides from 52 countries. He also co-authored a children's book, "Let's Explore with Core Core," to inspire accessible travel.

For more information, bios, resources, and transcripts visit adalive.org/episodes/episode-139/. How many of us dreamed of running away to join the circus when we were kids? For many of us, the circus was bigger than life. In this episode of ADA Live! we are going to the “big top” to learn how a circus can be made accessible for everyone, including people with disabilities. Our guest for this episode is Lisa Lewis, the founder and CEO of Omnium Circus, an inclusive and accessible circus created by and for the whole community, including people with disabilities.

For more information, bios, resources, and transcripts visit adalive.org/episodes/episode-138/. Barry Whaley and Lisa Tucker discuss how to plan and host the ADA National Symposium, emphasizing the importance of accessibility for people with disabilities. As the Events Manager at the Great Plains ADA Center, Lisa outlines her role in choosing locations, contract management, assisting with the registration from start to finish, and ensuring ADA accommodations for all participants. Barry and Lisa discuss the challenges of making conference presentations accessible and why it is important to ask the right questions during the registration process. Lisa explains why technology like video remote captioning and sign language interpreters are required for accessibility. She also shares resources for accessible event planning and encourages self-advocacy for participants with disabilities.

For more information, bios, resources, and transcripts visit adalive.org/episodes/episode-137/ This ADA Live episode features Barry Whaley and Troy Balthazor discussing the 2025 ADA National Symposium, which will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the ADA. The symposium, hosted by the Great Plains ADA Center, will be held in Atlanta, Georgia, from June 15-18, 2025. The event aims to provide comprehensive training on the ADA, attracting up to 1,200 attendees in person and a significant virtual audience. The symposium includes sessions on various ADA-related topics, a certification track for ADA coordinators, and special events to honor the ADA's 35th anniversary and the 60th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act.

For more information, bios, resources, and transcripts visit adalive.org/episodes/episode-136/ Barry Whaley and Sally Miracle discuss the rights of children with disabilities under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Section 504, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). Sally, a special education consultant, explains these laws, emphasizing that the ADA is a civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities. Section 504 and IDEA also provide civil rights protections and mandate free, appropriate public education. Sally suggests for parents to document concerns, contact school officials, and seek help from Protection and Advocacy groups before filing complaints. She stresses the importance of open communication, understanding Individual Education Plans (IEPs), and teaching students to advocate for themselves. Sally also highlights the need for positive relationships between parents, caregivers, teachers, and school staff

For more information, bios, resources, and transcripts visit adalive.org/episodes/episode-135/

Our guest for this episode is Eric Lipp, founder and executive director of Open Doors Organization. The mission of the non-profit Open Doors Organization is to make goods and services accessible to people with disabilities in travel, tourism and transportation. Their goal is to teach businesses how to succeed in the disability market, while simultaneously empowering the disability community.

Americans love to travel. Americans spend billions of dollars on leisure travel each year according to the U.S. Travel Association. This travel supports millions of jobs and trillions of dollars in economic impact when we include food services, lodging, transportation, recreation, amusement, and retail sales. Looking at the disability travel market, Open Doors Organization reported 25.6 million people with disabilities traveled for pleasure or business while spending over 50 billion dollars.

In this program we will talk about two laws that affect people with disabilities when they travel. Title III of the ADA prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in places of public accommodation including, hotels, restaurants, airports, bus stations and more. The second law is the Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), which makes it illegal for airlines to discriminate against passengers because of their disability. However, people with disabilities sometimes file lawsuits or complaints because they believe their rights were violated or they had a poor travel experience.

For more information, bios, resources, and transcripts visit https://adalive.org/episodes/episode-134/

As many as 40% of people with autism are non-speaking — which is more than 30 million worldwide. Yet only a small fraction of non-speakers have been taught how to type to communicate.

We will talk with Elizabeth Bonker about her mission to enable non-speaking persons with disabilities to find their voices and how the ADA helped her share her own remarkable story.

Elizabeth Bonker is the Executive Director of Communication 4 ALL, a nonprofit with the mission to ensure all non-speakers have access to communication and education. Elizabeth learned to type to communicate when she was five years old, and she entered mainstream public school in first grade.

Elizabeth’s decade of advocacy work includes a book, “I Am in Here”, and a music album. She has given dozens of published interviews and keynote addresses. Her story has been featured in three documentary films: SPELLERS, Understanding Autism, and In Our Own Hands.

She is a 2022 graduate of the Rollins College Honors Program where she majored in social innovation with a minor in English. Her valedictorian commencement speech went viral with 4 billion media impressions, propelling her mission onto a global stage.

More information, transcripts, bios, and resources available at adalive.org/episodes/episode-132. State and local governments provide many services, programs, and activities through websites and mobile applications (apps). When these are not accessible, they create barriers for people with disabilities to access government services and programs, like tax information, building permits, or garbage collection payments. Inaccessibility can also keep people with disabilities from joining or fully participating in civic or other community events like town meetings or programs at their child’s school.

In April 2024, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) published a final rule updating its regulations for Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This final rule has specific requirements for ensuring that web content and mobile apps are accessible to people with disabilities. The compliance date for this rule depends on the population size of the public entity.

In this episode, we will share information and resources to learn more about the rule’s requirements. Our guest is Ruben Mota, ADA Coordinator at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

More information, transcripts, bios, and resources available at adalive.org/episodes/episode-132. One of the most important issues for people with disabilities is being able to get the health care they need in their communities.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH):

People with disabilities often experience a wide and varying range of health conditions leading to poorer health and shorter lifespan. In addition, discrimination, inequality and exclusionary structural practices, programs and policies [that] inhibit access to timely and comprehensive health care, which further results in poorer health outcomes. (Source: nih.gov/news-events/news-releases/nih-designates-people-disabilities-population-health-disparities)

This episode features a project from the Center for Leadership in Disability (CLD), who is the Georgia Affiliate of the Southeast ADA Center. Their project will educate nurses and other health professionals on providing equitable and inclusive health care services for people with disabilities.

More information, transcripts, bios, and resources available at adalive.org/episodes/episode-131. Each July we celebrate the anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The United States has come a long way in fulfilling the promise of the ADA since President George H.W. Bush signed the ADA into law on July 26, 1990, and said “let the shameful wall of exclusion come tumbling down”.

Today, our communities are more accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities. But there are still many barriers that people with disabilities face daily in communities, work, transportation, school, and civic participation.

Some people think only new construction and alterations need to be accessible – that older facilities are “grandfathered in,” and do not have to comply with the ADA. But that’s not true. Because the ADA is a civil rights law and not a building code, older facilities are often required to be accessible to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate.

The ADA requires that state and local governments (ADA Title II entities) must ensure “program accessibility” and make reasonable modification to policy, practice, and procedure so all citizens can equally participate in the programs and services of their state and local government.

Our guest for this episode is Stacey Peace. the State of Georgia ADA Coordinator.