KPFA - Pushing Limits

We talk to two able-bodied individuals who are attracted to people with disabilities.  Some of the individuals have referred to themselves as  “devotees”.  Not everybody likes this term but there is a community that uses the term to find support for their sexuality as well as a way to find disabled people who might be interested.

We feature interviews with Sarah Mae from Canada as well as “James” from the U.K, who talk about their attraction to those with disabilities. We also talk to a man with disabilities in his mid-20s’ about his experience with dating and his thoughts on the devotee community.

This episode of Pushing Limits is produced and the interviews were done by Jacob Lesner -Buxton.  It’s voiced and edited by Denny Daughters.

Emergency Preparedness and Resiliency Survey for Alameda County

The Center for Independent Living’s Emergency Preparedness and Resilience Program Team is collaborating with the World Institute on Disability (WID) to survey people with disabilities in Alameda County. The intention of this survey is to understand people with disabilities’ emergency preparedness, their experiences during emergencies and disasters, and what county or community resources they access, or expect to access. We want to learn what’s working, and what isn’t working. Our goal is to better understand the experiences, needs, and challenges of people with disabilities and how county and community resources can better respond to them.

The survey asks specific and intentional questions carefully crafted by our team. We feel these are the best questions to ask community members in order to achieve our goals outlined above. However, we understand that this survey might not leave room for your entire perspective and all of its nuances. We will be holding a series of focus groups and community listening sessions in the near future, which you will have the opportunity to sign up for at the end of this survey. We estimate the survey may take you 5-15 minutes to complete. Thank you so much in advance for your time and input into this important future community resource! Please circulate this survey far and wide among your family, friends, networks, and communities you are a part of.

Click here to access the survey!

Photo credit: The Disabled And Here collection is a disability-led effort to provide free and inclusive stock photos shot from our own perspective, featuring disabled BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, People of Color) across the Pacific Northwest.  https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Disabled_BIPOC_taking_a_selfie.jpg

The post “Devotees” of Disabled People – Pushing Limits – October 27, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing the insight of the grassroots disability movement to the general public. The show alternates weekly and airs every Friday from 2:30-3 pm.

This program was a rebroadcast of our Oct. 13th show: Judith Lesner, Disability Ally

The post Judith Lesner, Disability Ally – Pushing Limits – October 20, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

Judith Lesner came to the disability rights movement early in her life as a counselor for Camp Jenad, which was memorialized in the Oscar-nominated movie Crip Camp.  When her son Jacob was born with cerebral palsy, Judith turned her early experiences into fodder for a life of effective, able-bodied ally-ship.  Among her other work, Judith taught thousands of parents in workshops to better advocate for their children’s rights in school settings.

Judith died August 30 at age 80 and, in this program, we air excerpts of an interview with her by Tina Lemmon, a student at California State University, Monterey Bay.  An activated progressive, Judith speaks of her early disability work in the context of the larger movements of the 1970s and 80s and provides some elder-wisdom for weathering our current right-wing backlash.

Her family, including her son and our producer, Jacob Lesner-Buxton, asks that you carry on her work to bring disability rights into the centers of progressive/left movements.  If you don’t, they say, an old Jewish lady will come down from heaven and speak severely to you. 

Produced, edited and hosted by Denny Daughters.

The post Judith Lesner, Disability Ally – Pushing Limits – October 13, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

The post Special Fund Drive Programming – Pushing Limits – October 6, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing the insight of the grassroots disability movement to the general public. The show alternates weekly and airs on even weeks Friday 2:30pm.

The post Special Fund Drive Programming – Pushing Limits – September 29, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

A half-hour radio show providing critical coverage of disability issues and bringing the insight of the grassroots disability movement to the general public. The show alternates weekly and airs on even weeks Friday 2:30pm.

The post Special Fund Drive Programming – Pushing Limits – September 22, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

Why Socialism?”   An answer ~ through the lens of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).

Our guests are Kristen Smith & C.S. Jackson from the DSA Disability Work Group.  They believe the Democrat Socialists of America is the best alternative to the two major parties, and will represent people with disabilities well.

This is an opportunity hear a discussion certainly missing from commercial radio.

Produced and hosted by Eddie Ytuarte.

The post Socialism & Disability – Pushing Limits – September 15, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

Brothers Jacob, 23, and Joshua, 21, have been dealing with severe degenerative joint issues, navigating a health care system that does not treat young people with respect, and trying like hell to advocate for themselves and maintain mindfulness.

Since high school, Jacob was diagnosed with fibromyalgia and Joshua with subluxation of the ECU (extensor carpi ulnaris) tendon in both wrists and ECU instability.

Both live with their parents and are finding ways to re-learn, re-prioritize, and re-define success.

You can find more of Jacob’s music on music platforms under the name “hasma”.  Click below for the full song “itamu” which we play on the program.

Here’s Joshua’s vertical keyboard, photographed from two angles.

These two young men became unexpectedly disabled as they were on the cusp of adulthood.  They face the uncertainty of their future with intelligence and courage.

The post Young, Relearning & Coping – Pushing Limits – September 8, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

First:  Imagine driving a 60-foot, 21-ton vehicle through the crowded, energetic streets of San Francisco on a daily basis.

Next:  Imagine doing it while stuttering every time you speak.

This is the daily life of Dustin Wells.

Dustin Wells describes himself as a happy man. Did you imagine that?

Hear more about Dustin’s years of silence and shame, and the support and philosophy that has moved him beyond all that.

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We proudly air another episode of the podcast, “Proud Stutter” produced and hosted by Maya Chupkov.

Judith Lesner

On Wednesday, August 30th we lost one the most dedicated allies of the disability rights movement. Judith Lesner worked at Camp Jened (also known as Crip Camp) while in college and was outside the history-making Section 504 Sit In of the San Francisco Federal Building in 1977.  Throughout her life, Judith Lesner worked tirelessly to educate people about the importance of disability inclusion.  In later years she taught workshops to thousands of parents about how to advocate for their children’s rights in school settings.

The post The Stuttering Bus Driver – Pushing Limits – September 1, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.

We talk to Jennifer Barbettini, who runs the Courthouse Facility Dog Program in Ventura CA. The program connects victims of crime to doggy comfort when they testify in court and when interviewed by detectives.

We also talk with Mary Hooker and Mark Ruefenacht with the National Institute of Canine Service and Training.

Among its other programs, the organization provides emotional support dogs to first responders around the USA, in particular, to help those with disabilities in crisis.

Despite the shameful legacy of K-9’s used by government institutions to terrorize minority communities, dog lovers continue to train dogs and offer them for support.

This episode is hosted and voiced by Amanda Jurysta who also work on the audio editing.  Jacob Lesner-Buxton was lead producer, Josh Elwood assisted with the interviews and Adrienne Lauby assisted with editing.

The post Crisis Dogs – Pushing Limits – August 25, 2023 appeared first on KPFA.