Limitless: Blind Beginnings Podcast

This week Shawn is joined by co-host Nika, who has had a passion for dance since an early age, and she shares her journey of trying to find a Dance Studio that was right for her. The two are joined by Sue, Nika’s ballet instructor, and Haley, a fellow dance student who acted as a sighted volunteer to talk about their respective experiences, how lessons were able to be adapted, and the powerful impact it had in all their lives. 

Blind Beginnings’ mission is to inspire children and youth who are blind or partially sighted and their families through diverse programs, experiences, counseling and peer support, and opportunities to create fulfilling lives. Visit us online at www.blindbeginnings.ca to find out more!

Making the transition into University can be challenging in a multitude of ways for any student, but students who are blind or partially sighted can face a specific set of obstacles that can impact their studies. This week Shawn is joined by Jill and Ishita, both of whom are also students at Simon Fraser University, and their Accessibility Aid, Megan. They discuss some of the adaptations and services provided by SFU’s Centre for Accessible Learning and how Megan has helped both adapt materials in order to make them more accessible. 

Blind Beginnings’ mission is to inspire children and youth who are blind or partially sighted and their families through diverse programs, experiences, counseling and peer support, and opportunities to create fulfilling lives. Visit us online at www.blindbeginnings.ca to find out more!

The show is going downhill fast this week - but in a good way! Shawn and her co-host Dani welcome Canadian Paralympic Alpine skier Mac Marcoux to the show. With Dani also being a skier, she and Mac share their experiences in skiing and training with visual impairments and some of the adaptations they use and challenges they face.

Blind Beginnings’ mission is to inspire children and youth who are blind or partially sighted and their families through diverse programs, experiences, counseling and peer support, and opportunities to create fulfilling lives. Visit us online at www.blindbeginnings.ca to find out more!

Jinnie joins Shawn as co-host this week and both are absolutely thrilled to welcome author Amanda Leduc to the podcast, where she talks about her latest book, “The Centaur’s Wife”, a dystopian novel which deals with the theme of disability. They discuss how disability is represented in fiction and fairy tales, person-first language, Amanda’s own experiences as an author with a disability, and much more!

The Centaur's Wife on Amazonhttps://www.amazon.ca/Centaurs-Wife-Amanda-Leduc/dp/0735272859

Find Amanda Onlinehttps://amandaleduc.com/

Blind Beginnings’ mission is to inspire children and youth who are blind or partially sighted and their families through diverse programs, experiences, counseling and peer support, and opportunities to create fulfilling lives. Visit us online at www.blindbeginnings.ca to find out more!

This week is another special episode of the show as we feature a recording from a recent session of one of Blind Beginnings’ popular programs, Exploring Work Wednesday. Shawn sits down and talks with Tamara, who explains her job as TransLink Coordinator and Access Transit Planner and describes her employment journey with Translink, but also discusses her other, very important job as well: mother to an almost 2-year old! 

Blind Beginnings’ mission is to inspire children and youth who are blind or partially sighted and their families through diverse programs, experiences, counseling and peer support, and opportunities to create fulfilling lives. Visit us online at www.blindbeginnings.ca to find out more!

This week Shawn and co-host Ishita welcome Jennie Bovard to the show. Jennie has a new podcast on AMI called “Low Vision Moments” which is part comedy and part advocacy and she gives us a taste of some of the topics that she discusses on the show as well as talking how it came about, the importance of educating people about what it’s like to be blind or partially sighted, and much more!

Low Vision Momentshttps://www.ami.ca/low-vision-moments/recent_episodes

Blind Beginnings’ mission is to inspire children and youth who are blind or partially sighted and their families through diverse programs, experiences, counseling and peer support, and opportunities to create fulfilling lives. Visit us online at www.blindbeginnings.ca to find out more!

This week Shawn welcomes a small group of parents, all of  whom have children who are blind or partially sighted, to the podcast. Candice, Jaeger and Maria all have participated in Parent Support Groups offered by Blind Beginnings, and in this episode they open up about their respective experiences - from their initial reactions to learning their child’s vision diagnosis, to the importance of building support networks and meeting other parents in similar situations.

Blind Beginnings’ mission is to inspire children and youth who are blind or partially sighted and their families through diverse programs, experiences, counseling and peer support, and opportunities to create fulfilling lives. Visit us online at www.blindbeginnings.ca to find out more!

Valentine’s Day is quickly approaching and to commemorate everybody’s favorite “day of love”, we thought we would talk about a subject that almost everyone is passionate about: dating! Love it or hate it, dating is something that everybody has done at some point, but when you are blind or partially sighted, it presents its own unique set of challenges and situations. Join us for this very special episode as Shawn and her co-hosts Keisha and Kaya discuss their own dating experiences and talk about what it’s like in the dating realm being blind or partially sighted when your potential partner is not.  

Blind Beginnings’ mission is to inspire children and youth who are blind or partially sighted and their families through diverse programs, experiences, counseling and peer support, and opportunities to create fulfilling lives. Visit us online at www.blindbeginnings.ca to find out more!

White Cane Week is February 7 - February 14, and in honor of this we welcome Bill Conway, BC-Yukon Director of the Canadian Council of the Blind, who explains the origins and purpose of White Cane Week, the CCB, and covers some of the different events that are happening for this year’s celebration. 

Blind Beginnings’ mission is to inspire children and youth who are blind or partially sighted and their families through diverse programs, experiences, counseling and peer support, and opportunities to create fulfilling lives. Visit us online at www.blindbeginnings.ca to find out more!

We are so excited this week to welcome the very talented musician and producer, Joey Stuckey, all the way from Macon, Georgia! Joey joins Shawn and co-hosts Nika and Ishita to tell his story of how he lost his sight and what it was like to build a career in music performance and production. We talk about accessibility in music, how COVID has affected his touring and his production methods, and much much more -- including how he filmed an action packed music video for his song, “Blind Man Drivin’”! 

Watch the audio described version of the Music Video Joey mentions in the interview!Joey Stuckey - "Blind Man Drivin'" Official Music Video (with Narration) - YouTube

Find Joey on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JoeyStuckeyMusic

Blind Beginnings’ mission is to inspire children and youth who are blind or partially sighted and their families through diverse programs, experiences, counseling and peer support, and opportunities to create fulfilling lives. Visit us online at www.blindbeginnings.ca to find out more!