Well we made it!

This week Outlook celebrates our 200th episode and we’re doing it with a special guest, with an interview/discussion on the issues which are central to what we do here: accessibility, advocacy, equality.

This week we welcome the first person to really discover our show back in early 2019 when he first reached out to us, our very first phone guest.

Anthony Hodgetts from Alberta joins us as we reflect on 200 shows and we learn a bit more about one of the hosts of fellow radio show Bumping Into Walls. Anthony tells us about the bus adventures he goes on to travel from his home in Calgary to visit relatives in Alberta’s capitol city of Edmonton and co-host Kerry shares about once being left behind when attempting to take a bus home from Toronto.

Anthony tells us about the SCORE computer camp he attended here in Ontario, put on for teens by the CNIB, something hosts Brian and Kerry never experienced even living in the province. He shares how he discovered Outlook, a little about his own show which is in the works again on university and community station CJSW, and related is the subject of how to find guests for shows like ours.

Hodgetts was given oxygen at birth which caused his blindness and tells us about being integrated into the mainstream school in the 70’s and still being segregated in a classroom for students with disabilities (separate but equal as they say) for the first several years of school and then being thrown out into a regular classroom in the later grades. He tells us about the skills he acquired early on (braille and orientation and mobility) and his experience of feeling on display to the sighted kids when finally included among them.

We discuss how heavy manual braillers were, cupboards to the head and chairs in the way, and about Anthony’s feelings on guide dogs (we all agree that women seem to like a guy with a cute dog), as he explains the types of transportation he uses in his province as well as the reactions drivers have to blind riders. We get into comparing assistive device and accessible equipment support programs between provinces, a little on Anthony’s work as an accessibility tester, and we finish off hearing about his interest in a number of hobbies: bowling, choir, and being a member of the Lions club.

Happy Birthday to guest (co)host) Anthony Hodgetts and Happy 200th episode to us!

You can find episodes of the radio show/podcast Bumping Into Walls here:

https://cjsw.com/program/bumping-into-walls/

(also available wherever you get your podcasts)