Off The Crutch Podcast

Did you know that religious institutions are completely exempt from Title III of the ADA? In this week's episode, I talk with Ken Griesemer. Ken is a liturgical design consultant and has a passion for making all religious entities accessible for individuals with disabilities. What a cool job he has! Enjoy!

Ken Griesemer has worked as a liturgical designer and consultant around the country since 1985, and established his liturgical design consulting firm in 1999. Between 1991 and 1993, Ken completed studies at the Institute for Liturgical Consultants at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, IL. He has been an associate board member of the Southwest Liturgical Conference since 2002, and is a founding member and past president of the Association of Consultants for Liturgical Space (ACLS). Ken has been active in the ministry of the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults (RCIA) since 1984, and currently serves his Albuquerque, NM, parish as a member of the RCIA team and liturgical MC. He has been a member of the Liturgical Commission of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe since 1997.

Ken can be reached at [email protected]

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This is week 2 of 5 of my Catholic/disability themed month. Today I am talking about bipolar with YouTuber, Lizzie Reezay. Lizzie has a successful (200k subscriber) YouTube channel where she discusses her journey with bipolar and Catholicism. She also shares tips on how to start a YouTube channel! Hope you like it!

You can connect with her on the following social media platforms:
Twitter: @LizzieReezay
IG: @LizzieReezay
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/LizziesAnswers/

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Check out the theme for this month at the beginning of the podcast!

My guest today is Frank Kane. Born in New Jersey and raised in Denver, he is a conjunction of inherited New York humor and a more free-spirited Colorado demeanor. Frank has a degree in political science and English at Rockhurst University in KCMO. After formative stints as a Catholic seminarian and confounding a Denver Cerebral Palsy social group, Frank received a full-ride scholarship to ASU’s Cronkite graduate school of journalism and thereafter held Congressional internships and jobs in the hospitality industry. 

He is currently a freelance writer and researcher for Andiron Group and serves as a community outreach and business development rep for a Denver construction company. He loves all things literary and film and remains active in virtual adaptive cycling. He can also be seen regularly working out at 24 Hour Fitness, where his Cerebral Palsy gait reliably makes him a chick magnet and easy to spot. 

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Throughout my life, I've seen countless doctors and therapists, but I have never seen an Occupational Therapist. In this episode, I have a conversation with Reilly Cosgrove. She is an OT student in her third year at Creighton University. She is interested in working with individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and neurological injuries. She also is a firm believer that OT stands for Occupational Therapy and not Old Testament. Enjoy!

Follow her @reillycosgrove

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Bonus Episode with Stephen "Doc" Hunsley, Executive Director of SOAR Special Needs Ministry and the Wonderfully Made Conference. Please enjoy this episode to learn more about SOAR and the upcoming Conference that starts Monday. Enjoy!

Wonderfully Made Special Needs Conference is dedicated to providing "Strength for Today, and Hope for Tomorrow" for families and ministry leaders working with individuals with special needs. This five-day conference will have two tracks available so attendees can engage in specialized breakout sessions designed to empower your involvement in the special needs community.

You can register online at https://www.wonderfullymadekc.com/ 

Connect with Doc at:
https://www.facebook.com/stephen.doc.hunsley

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October is Down Syndrome Awareness Month. In this episode, I talk about Down Syndrome and Best Buddies and how the organization helps support individuals with developmental and intellectual disabilities. In my interview, I have Whitney Michielssen. She is the Jobs Program Supervisor for Best Buddies in Orlando. We talk in-depth about Best Buddies and the important work they do for the disability community. Enjoy!

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I'm sure most of you listening have created or seem a Bitmoji. But did you know there is NO disability representation? My guest today, Caitlin Goerlich is looking to change that.

After being paralyzed from the waist down due to complications in surgeries for kyphoscoliosis at the age of three, Caitlin Goerlich went on to being an adaptive athlete, motivational speaker, YouTuber, and an advocate for people with disabilities. Goerlich started a campaign called #InclusiveBimojis in 2019 to try and get Bitmoji to add disability options to their app so people with disabilities can better represent themselves.

https://www.change.org/p/snap-inc-facebook-bitmoji-facebook-avatar-need-disability-options-inclusivebitmojis-inclusiveavatars

Please take some time to listen to her story, the campaign, and more interesting facts! You can follow Caitlin below:

@CGoerlich
www.youtube.com/user/TheCGoerlich
FB: WriterCaitlinGoerlich

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I'm back to my normal Monday schedule! I've done physical therapy for as long as I can remember. For the past month, I have needed to get some work done on my legs. I thought I would share my experiences with physical and how I feel about it!

Also, I recently reached 1500 downloads. Thank you so much for all your support. It really means a lot.

Feel free to follow me on social media (FB, IG, and Twitter) at @offthecrutch

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Thought I disappeared? I am back with a new episode and it's about flying with a disability! In this episode I discuss why I didn't release an episode on Monday, flying during COVID and a special announcement!

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This podcast is called "Off The Crutch". But, did you know that I ALSO use a wheelchair, a lot? In this episode, I share my first experience using a wheelchair and how that has changed my life for the better! 

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