Life Possible with a Disability

Learn about urban planning and Universal Design with Steve Wright -- a writer, blogger and marketer -- was born to communicate about urban and architectural design for a living. 
The native of Akron, Ohio earned his first paycheck as a journalist before he was old enough to drive.
Rather than going to a theme park or the beach, he begged his parents to go on vacation to Toronto and other great urban centers of architecture, design, art, culture, history, dining and walkability.
As an award-winning journalist at the Columbus Dispatch, he started as the large newspaper's first full-time popular music critic. 
Soon, he created the growth and development beat to inform readers of the impact of the built environment on their daily lives.
Wright moved to Miami in 2000 with his wife of 25 years, a wheelchair user and nationally-recognized expert on the Americans with Disabilities Act.
After developing a successful boutique public relations firm focused on architecture, urbanism, transportation, design and town planning, he was recruited into public service.
For nearly a decade, Wright served as the Senior Policy Advisor for all urban affairs for the Chairman of the Miami City Commission.
He also has published more than 6,000 professional articles, most of them focused on the built environment. Before launching Steve Wright Marketing Communications, he served as the Marketing Manager in the world headquarters of Arquitectonica. He worked as the Business Development Manager for a transportation engineering firm. He also is the creator of the world's only blog focused on urban issues, travel and wheelchair access.

Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree!
https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr
If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you!
Karen

Jill Houghton is President & Chief Executive Officer of Disability:IN, the leading global nonprofit organization for advancing business disability inclusion and equality. Her more than 25 years of diverse leadership experience driving disability inclusion was ignited by challenges she experienced having a learning disability.

Ms. Houghton leads a team of talented and diverse individuals, including people with disabilities, who are working to build an inclusive global economy that enables people with disabilities to participate fully and meaningfully. Their work has empowered over 400 leading brands to advance disability inclusion and equality through groundbreaking programs including Inclusion Works, the Disability Equality Index, the CEO Letter on Disability Inclusion, NextGen Leaders, Supplier Diversity and Disability-Owned Business Certification and more.

Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree!
https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr
If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you!
Karen

Susan Johnson Taylor, OTR/L is an occupational therapist who has been practicing in the field of seating and wheeled mobility for 40 years primarily in the Chicago area at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago Wheelchair and Seating Center (now the Shirley Ryan Ability Lab). Susan has published and presented nationally and internationally. Susan is both a member and fellow with RESNA. She is currently a member of the Clinician’s Task Force and the RESNA/ANSI Wheelchair Standards Committee. She is a Certified member of the International Society of Wheelchair Professionals. Susan joined the Numotion in 2015 and is the Director of Training and Education. Susan and I discuss the roles that the Occupational therapist, Physical Therapist, Assistive Technology Professional, and most importantly the customer play in configuring and ordering a new custom wheelchair

Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree!
https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr
If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you!
Karen

Chris Johnson has been a certified Assistive Technology Professional since 2006 and has been an employee of Numotion since 2010. Prior to the early 90's there were no standards, certifications, or qualifications for the employees that fit people with custom wheelchairs. Chris talks about the history of Assistive Technology as a profession and how you can learn more about joining this industry.
Chris makes reference several times to the organization that set the standards for Assistive Technology Professional, they give the certification exam and provide continuing education. Go to RESNA.ORG for more information on ATP certification.
NRRTS (National Registry of Rehabilitation Technology Supplies). NRRTS is the organization that certifies suppliers, Certified Complex Rehabilitation Technology Supplier, (CRTS) .Go to NRRTS.ORG for more information.
Another equally important organization is NCART (National Coalition for Assistive and Rehab Technology). NCART members are the suppliers, manufacturers, and other organizations involved in Complex Rehabilitation Technology (CRT) products and services. NCART's mission is to educate and advocate to protect access to CRT. Go to NCART.US for more information about what they provide to the CRT industry.
Chris is passionate about helping people with disabilities through his work as an ATP. If you would like to ask Chris any questions you can email him at [email protected]

Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree!
https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr
If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you!
Karen

Josh Basile, a C4-5 quadriplegic, lives in Maryland and is a trial attorney working in Washington, DC. 
In August 2004, while on his family’s annual summer vacation in Bethany Beach, DE, Josh was picked up by a single wave and was slammed headfirst against the ocean floor. The impact shattered his fifth cervical vertebra leaving him paralyzed from the shoulders down.
Soon after his injury, during his first year of outpatient rehabilitation at the Kennedy Krieger International Center for Spinal Cord Injury he became a passionate supporter of restorative therapies, which focuses on moving an individual’s body both above and below their level of injury with the help of specialized equipment and techniques. Josh believes there will be a cure someday for those living with spinal cord injuries, hence Determined2Heal, and believes it’s important to keep one’s body healthy to meet science and technology halfway.
Josh now practices law as a trial attorney with Jack H. Olender &  Associates where he fights for the catastrophically injured in medical malpractice and personal injury cases. His favorite activity these days is a sport he invented called Slingshot Golf, which opens doors for persons with physical limitations to competitively play golf.
In this Episode Josh discusses the importance of mentorship in the disability community. He also talks about his role in the Numotion Customer Advisory Board (CAB). As a CAB leader Josh is helping to make improvements to the Numotion customer experience.

Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree!
https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr
If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you!
Karen

In this episode Scott Chesney and I discuss the technology Onward (@onwd.com) is developing bring back health and movement to people living with spinal cord injury. We discuss how to keep your body in shape for the purpose of health and increasing the change you can benefit from future treatments for SCI.

Scott Chesney is a world-renowned motivational speaker and life coach who has presented to over 1.5 million people in 40 countries. Known as “The Commander in Change,” by his clients, Scott is navigator of life with paralysis for nearly 35 years after awakening to paralysis at the age of 15 from a sudden spinal stroke, Scott has amassed a resume of transformational experiences, powerful insights, and inspiring stories that cut to the core of the human spirit.

He has become a nationally and internationally recognized workshop and keynote presenter, and his positive and inspiring messages have changed countless lives. His insights have been coveted and applauded by The United Nations, The Pentagon, The FBI, Fortune 500 corporations, sports teams, hospitals/rehab centers, associations, and K-12 schools.  Recently, Scott has joined Onward, a medical technology company developing and commercializing innovative therapies to enable functional recovery for people with spinal cord injury, as a consultant.  In addition, Scott is an Ambassador for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation, a member of the Seton Hall University Leadership Advisory Council, a member of the Board of Trustees for The Knowles Foundation, and a member of the National Speakers Association (NSA).  

Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree!
https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr
If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you!
Karen

Katrina’s main focus will be assisting in managing our leadership development programs, specifically Leading for the Teams. She will also be a key stakeholder in the implementation of Coaching & Change Management training to the org and in the design, development and implementation of additional HR L&D initiatives.

Prior to joining Numotion, Katrina served as a Career Transition Coach, Sr. Instructional Designer and Training Consultant, where she coached professionals to obtain the best opportunities for their job search, to successfully managing, designing, developing and implementing various leadership development programs for leaders across the organization. 

Katrina’s hobbies include novice vegetable gardening, reading, foreign films/shows, raising her son and daughter with her husband, as well as serving as an elected volunteer on the Board of Finance for her town. Helping others is a driving force of her personality and brings her great joy.

Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree!
https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr
If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you!
Karen

Located in Louisiana, Jill is the Director of Sales Operations in the Gulf South Region for Numotion. In her role, she works directly with Assistive Technology Professionals and clinical referrals to expand access to CRT and provide resources for navigating through the process. Jill has been in the CRT industry for 26 years and, during this time, has managed funding, billing, and medical documentation departments. Jill shares her knowledge about how different payers reimburse for custom wheelchairs and why the explanation of benefits can be so confusing. After years of working in the CRT (complex rehabilitation technology) industry, Jill's knowledge helped me understand what questions to ask and who to ask when ordering a new wheelchair.

Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree!
https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr
If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you!
Karen

In Episode 22 I talk to Luticha about how she has creates positive change when in comes to inequality with the realms of race, disability and sexuality. She breaks it down into actionable steps, rather than just "creating awareness" about injustices on social media.
 
Luticha André Doucette is the author of the groundbreaking book: Cultivating An Intersectional Mindset. She graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a degree in Bioinformatics where she developed protein surface prediction algorithms. After graduating, she was a Fellow at the University of Rochester where she worked in a genomics lab that focused on analyzing the venom of parasitoid wasps to develop new drug therapies for various diseases. In 2017 she authored a report on wage disparities across race, gender, and disability in Rochester and Monroe County in conjunction with the Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative and in 2018 authored a follow-up report on employment barriers for disabled people in Rochester and Monroe County. She is a graduate of the Leadership and Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities (LEND) Fellowship program and an AUCD Emerging Leader an inductee into the Susan M. Daniels Disability Mentoring Hall of Fame established by the National Disability Mentoring Coalition and the 2020 – 2021 Distinguished Alumni Awardee from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Luticha’s research and writing has been featured in various publications such as Insect Molecular Biology, Toxicon, The New York Times, and Yes! Magazine. She is a former founding member of Rochester Accessible Adventures and she helped change the landscape, and attitudes, around inclusive recreation in New York State. She is the owner of Catalyst Consulting, which helps organizations, leaders, and advocates examine equity across race, gender identity, and disability in policies, practices, procedures, and relationships. In her spare time she is a fencer, cyclist and outdoor enthusiast. 
You can go to Luticha's website to learn more about the services her company offers.
https://www.catalystconsultingassociates.com/our-team 

Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree!
https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr
If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you!
Karen

Nicole B. LaBerge, PT ATP is a Physical Therapist with 15+ years of experience working in a variety of clinical settings. She currently works at Hennepin Healthcare's Clinic and Specialty Center, which is part of the Level I Trauma Center in Minneapolis, MN. Her practice includes seating and mobility for adult and pediatric populations, with a focus in neurological rehabilitation and wound care. Nicole has presented at the State and International Levels, has had her personal research published and enjoys sharing her passion for patient advocacy, clinical outcomes and efficiency within a clinical setting. Karen and Nicole discuss the importance of standing for people with disabilities. We discuss what the data says about standing. We also talk about the functional and medical benefits of standing for wheelchair users.  Standing has kept Karen healthy as a wheelchair user for 34 years and Nicole's patient's have experienced the same benefits using standing technology.

Thank for Listening! Follow me on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter @LifePossibleKR. Here is my Linktree!
https://linktr.ee/lifepossiblekr
If you are enjoying the content or have feedback send me a message. I would love to hear from you!
Karen