In this episode, the host Alex Sparks talks about the idea of spoon theory.  Which originated within the Auto immune community.  The idea is that each day, we only have so much energy, which can be represented by spoons, and each activity takes spoons away from us.  Sometimes, activities may take away several spoons at a time but we still have half of the day left.  So, the idea is to understand how many spoons you have, don't use all of them and don't use more than you have.

The reason it is called spoon theory is because the lady who popularized it was eating dinner at a restaurant and used spoons to describe how she only has so much energy each day.  

For us visually impaired, it often takes longer to achieve mundane task, therefore depleting our spoons.  We believe that analyzing this theory is helpful for maximizing your day to day sense of well being.  


Hope you guys enjoy this, and don't forget to leave us a review on Facebook or wherever you stream the podcast with the #2022 for the chance to win a $25 Amazon gift card.   

In this episode, the host Alex Sparks talks with Alyssa Minwell, who is completely blind due to optic nerve damage from brain cancer.  Alyssa and Alex worked together this past summer at Dell technologies since Alyssa is a mentor through the True  ability program at Dell.  For those who don't know many large organizations like Dell have DNI initiatives and often have employee resource groups for individuals who have disabilities, are African American, LGBTQ and so on.  The point is, that they align you with a mentor who can help be like your coach and right hand man while you work there.  


Alyssa and Alex discussed some of the common frustrations of being blind like social aspects, making friends, and what they think could make for a better experience in society.  Alyssa works with the accessibility department at Dell after a series of run ins that she had with some of the platforms in her first  role there, which was in sales.  


Guys, if you enjoy the podcast, please leave a review on Facebook, or wherever you find the podcast with the hashtag 2022 for the chance to receive a $25 Amazon gift card.  

Guys, thank you so much for listening and supporting the podcast!  We reached 2,000 downloads finally and have exciting things coming in 2022.


In celebration, we are giving away a $25 gift card to a randomly selected listener at the beginning of the year.  In order to be eligible you need to leave a review, either on Facebook, Apple podcasts or Spotify with the hashtag 2022 at the end.  We will randomly select somebody to receive the gift card at the start of the new year.


Thanks again to everyone!  #2022

In this episode, the host Alex Sparks talks about how he had to use his knowledge of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to defend himself in a real world altercation again over this past week.  He also goes into a separate time, a few years ago where he had to defend himself against another person and used Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to maintain the situation and avoid from getting injured.  

Guys, the bottom line is that most of the time, we will never be involved in situations like these, however, sometimes it is inevitable.  Jiu Jitsu teaches you how to defend yourself, how to stay calm in these situations and provides a host of other great benefits including confidence, wisdom and appreciation for discipline.  

If you have enjoyed this story, let us know by giving a review on which ever platform is your choice to stream on.  Also, give us a like and a share on Facebook @theblindamerican 

In this episode, the host Alex Sparks talks with a few women who were actors in a play called "Flying Blind".  The play was put on by the Anything Is Possible Theatre in Seattle Washington and is available on their website for viewership at anythingispossibletheatre.org  The play talks about key concepts that people may not know about individuals who live with blindness.  The play was simply created to spread awareness in a creative way and is a great listen, especially if you love plays.   

In addition to talking about the play, we discussed random everyday things that we had in common living with visual impairments in a round table style discussion.  

This was such a fun podcast and we hope that you will enjoy the play and podcast together!  

Like us on Facebook @theblindamerican and share, comment and leave a review!

Okay guys, in this episode, the host Alex Sparks wishes everyone a Happy Thanksgiving, and brought forth a few things that he is thankful for despite or because of his vision loss.  

We would love to hear what you guys are thankful for considering your condition and hope that you have enjoyed the holiday!

Make sure to check us out on Facebook @theblindamerican and let us know in the comments what you are thankful for!!!

In this episode, the host Alex Sparks talks with Jason Keaton, who is a black belt in the martial art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  He teaches this martial art full time in Georgia and even taught the self defense art to the military for 16 years.  Jason is legally blind yet finds his way on to the mat every week to train the art that he loves.  He also competed in mixed martial arts fights in his past and enjoys being active.  

This was a particularly enjoyable podcast since Alex actually had trained with Jason in the past and trained Jiu Jitsu himself for a couple of years.  We hope you guys are inspired by this podcast, as it shows that just because you are visually impaired..... that does not mean you can't defend yourself in situations and gain all of the incredible benefits from training a martial art like Brazilian Jiu Jitsu


Make sure you guys like us on Facebook @theblindamerican comment, share, and let us know if you have ever tried training BJJ before or if you have any questions.  Also, Jason and his gym are located in Columbus Georgia for those of you in that area who are interested in training.  

In this episode, the host Alex Sparks walks you through what going to the movie as a visually impaired individual is like.  We use what is known as audio description..... simply  put, audio description is a narration of what is happening on screen.  This episode highlights a few tips and gives an honest review of Alex's experience at his first audio descriptive movie



Please like us on Facebook @theblindamerican and share with a loved one.  We would also like to know what your thoughts are on audio description and what your experiences have been like.  

In this episode, the host Alex Sparks talks with Mike "The Maniac". Tubiak, who is a fellow podcaster and YouTuber.  Mike enjoys his physical fitness as many of us do and we geeked out on all sorts of things during this podcast.  We hope that you enjoy it as much as we did.  Links to both YouTube and podcast are below.



The RP show:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiMvdarMVRa-5qYK8ApcfNA  


Living free with RP: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/living-free-with-rp/id1494219256  

In this episode, the host Alex Sparks talks with Geri Taeckens, who has published her own book called "Blind Man's Bluff!"  She also has written several of her own songs and been apart of a play called Flying Blind.  You can find the play on the following website:  anythingispossible.org.  If you are interested in reading Geri's book, which details her road to accepting the difficulties of losing vision, you can download soon on BARD or any other libraries for the blind using the following code:  DBC15898  or email her at [email protected] to purchase a copy for just $20.

Stay tuned for the full length of the episode for a special surprise at the end.....Here's a hint, it's in the title of this episode.


remember to like us on Facebook, share, comment and until next time, keep rocking!