When we think of the term shame, what is it that you imagine? And what is it that we feel, and why? A tactic often used to silence on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, socially, sexually, the time time has come to shed your shame and to unlearn.  

Natalie Alexis Lee is the author of the new book Feeling Myself: How I Shed My Shame To Find Sexual Freedom & You Can Too. Part memoir, part manifesto, this is a book that details a journey of healing, and how we can all unlearn the concept of shame and societal norms. Lee is also a content creator, podcast host, as well as a public speaker.  

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 [Advert] This episode of The Disabled Debrief Podcast is sponsored by Hot Octopus. Described as the next generation of sex toys, the organisation aims to reinvent pleasure by being truly inclusive. Products include the Pulse, Curve, Amo and more.  

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 Content note: this episode may contain subjects where viewer discretion is needed.  

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Links and resources mentioned in this episode: 

The official website of Natalie Alexis Lee: https://www.stylemesunday.co.uk  

Buy Feeling Myself: https://smarturl.it/FeelingMyselfLinks  

Make sure you follow Natalie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/stylemesunday/ 

Listen to Natalie's podcast: https://pod.link/1635762814  

The official Conscious Being Magazine website: https://www.consciousbeingmagazine.com 

If you like what you hear, please consider leaving our host a tip: https://ko-fi.com/lydiawilkins

When it comes to disability, one of the questions you should be asking friends, family - besides 'what are your access needs?' - is 'what would you like me to know?' Chronic illness is so often misunderstood, and is often beset by stereotypes and stigma; for our first series, a round table discussion about chronic illness was actually one of our most popular episodes.  

For this episode we talked to Natasha Lipman, host of The Rest Room Podcast. A former BBC journalist, Natasha can now be found writing about chronic illness and disability on Substack. In this episode we talk about her freelance career, how The Rest Room started as a podcast (and including the pun in the name!), access needs, and everything she wants you to know about chronic illness.  

CONTENT WARNING: This episode touches upon subjects such as death and opioid withdrawal. Please exercise caution when listening. 

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This episode of The Disabled Debrief Podcast is sponsored by Black Crowned Hibiscus Gin. British with an African twist, this is a premium distilled gin, the infusing African and Caribbean botanicals with British Gin - and listeners can now get 10% off with code DDP10. Get your gin here.  

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Links and resources of what was mentioned in this episode:  

Natasha's website: http://natashalipman.com 

And her newsletter archive: https://natashalipman.substack.com  

Subscribe to her newsletter here: https://natashalipman.substack.com/subscribe?utm_source=menu&simple=true&next=https%3A%2F%2Fnatashalipman.substack.com%2F  

Follow Natasha on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natashalipman/?hl=en  

Chronic illness and what it means: https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/clinical-policy/ltc/  

What is pacing: https://www.ouh.nhs.uk/patient-guide/leaflets/files/11850Ppacing.pdf  

The official Conscious Being Magazine website: https://www.consciousbeingmagazine.com  

If you liked this episode, please consider tipping our host here: https://ko-fi.com/lydiawilkins 

Tourette’s Syndrome is something that we have wanted to create a podcast episode about for a while now, especially following recent media and social media attention. For this episode we talked to content creator Serena Bhandari, who has written for places like The Guardian. In this episode we talk about the route to diagnosis, misconceptions about the condition, other common neurodiverse conditions as well as co-morbidities, and more. 

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[Advert] This episode of The Disabled Debrief Podcast is sponsored by Black Crowned Hibiscus Gin. British with an African twist, this is a premium distilled gin, the infusing African and Caribbean botanicals with British Gin - and listeners can now get 10% off with code DDP10. Make sure you visit https://blackcrownedgin.com/ 

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Links and resources mentioned in this episode: 

‘Here's what I want to tell other students about Tourette syndrome’, Serena’s piece for The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/oct/17/what-i-want-to-tell-other-students-about-tourette-syndrome  

Tourette’s Syndrome: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/tourettes-syndrome/

Catch Serena on Twitter: https://twitter.com/saibhandari

And on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/saibhandari/

The official Conscious Being Magazine website: https://www.consciousbeingmagazine.com 

If you like what you hear, please consider leaving our host a tip: https://ko-fi.com/lydiawilkins 

If you're an avid TikTok user right now, you are probably aware of Paula Carozzo. Recently profiled by Refinery 29 for her mission to redefine disability, the disability activist and influencer is aiming to do this 'one cane at a time'. As a child Carozzo acquired a form of non-traumatic brain damage, having undergone a routine operation in her native Venezuela. This caused a form of Cerebral Palsy. 

Having then moved to the US for treatment related procedures, Carozzo later went on to work in the PR/Corporate world. Feeling unfulfilled, she then went on to be active on Instagram and TikTok. In this episode we talk about activism, what showing up means, the concept of self love and how to find that when you are an activist. 

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Links and other resources mentioned in this episode: 

Carozzo's Refinery 29 profile: https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/paula-carozzo-activist-disability

Catch Carozzo on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pauuzzo/

Her Twitter: https://twitter.com/pauuzzo

And, of course, TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@pauuzzoo?lang=en 

The official website of Conscious Being Magazine: https://www.consciousbeingmagazine.com 

And if you liked this episode, please consider tipping our host: https://ko-fi.com/lydiawilkins 

And we’re baccckkkk for series 2 of The Disabled Debrief Podcast!  Nina Tame is something of a force of nature, and you have probably seen her on Instagram when it comes to her ‘get ready with me to talk about disability’ videos. To kick off the start of series 2 of The Disabled Debrief Podcast, we talked to Nina about a huge range of topics - including but not limited to: disabled parenthood and the need for better representation when it comes to disability and pregnancy; what to do and what not to do to support a wheelchair use; and how therapists can help support disabled patients better.  

TRIGGER WARNING: Please note that there are some heavy, dark topics mentioned in this podcast episode, especially when it comes to referencing the pandemic. Viewers are advised to listen with caution.

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(AD) This episode of The Disabled Debrief Podcast is sponsored by the Passenger Assistance App. Taking the time and fuss out of requesting assistance when travelling by train, a few simple taps will create your own profile where all your access needs will be stored. This will be sent straight to the train operator, who will arrange assistance for you - and you'll receive updates on the app and via email, too. You can now download the app on Android and iOS now through https://passengerassistance.com.

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Further reading:  

Catch Nina on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nina_tame/?hl=en 

Read Nina’s thoughts on the BBC about disability and parenting: https://www.bbc.co.uk/tiny-happy-people/being-a-disabled-mum/zt37dp3 

Hello Lady Lunch also interviewed Nina: https://hellolunchlady.com.au/parenting/parenting-around-the-world-nina/  

British people feel uncomfortable talking to disabled people, says Scope: https://www.scope.org.uk/media/press-releases/brits-feel-uncomfortable-with-disabled-people/ 

The Disability Perception Gap report by Scope: https://www.scope.org.uk/scope/media/files/campaigns/disability-perception-gap-report.pdf  

The official website of Conscious Being Magazine: https://www.consciousbeingmagazine.com 

And if you like what you heard today, please consider leaving our host a tip: https://ko-fi.com/lydiawilkins 

Conscious Being Magazine was founded for disabled women, by disabled women - and now The Disabled Debrief is back for a second series. In this series we host conversations with women and non binary individuals on topics such as disabled parenthood, finding self love as an activist and more. Coming soon, 

Over the last few years of being in a pandemic we have heard a lot about the need for better representation - and how we can all do better. But what about representation of disability when it comes to publishing? 

For this season's finale (sob!) we spoke to 2 representatives from The Barbellion Prize. Founded and dedicated for the furtherance of ill and disabled voices in writing, this is a book related prize. In this episode we talk about why better representation matters and the aim of the prize; how publishing houses can do better; what prospective authors need to support their work, and much more. 

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Series 1 of The Disabled Debrief is sponsored by Diverse Educators. Co-founded by Bennie Kara and Hannah Wilson, #DiverseEd began as a grassroots movement that has the mission to celebrate the diversity, as well as to amplify the voices of those in education. It has evolved into a training provider for the school system on all things DEI. Find out more at diverseeducators.co.uk. Join the conversations on Twitter @DiverseEd2020 https://twitter.com/DiverseEd2020

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Further resources and things to read with reference to this episode:

The Barbellion Prize on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BarbellionPrize 

The official website: https://www.thebarbellionprize.com

How to submit your work for the next ruling, prior to October 31st 2022: https://www.thebarbellionprize.com/how-to-submit-a-work

The official Conscious Being Magazine website: https://www.consciousbeingmagazine.com

Let’s talk about disability and influencers! As a follow up episode to last week‘s instalment, we want to delve more into the world of being a disabled content creator. Cathy Reay is today’s guess; Cathy is a disabled, queer, polyamorous writer and speaker. You may well have seen her on Instagram; she covers topics such as disability justice, sex and dating, single motherhood and skincare. In today’s episode we talk about the topic of activism and the cost of emotional labour that comes with it, why journalism is an industry lacking in diversity and the accessibility barriers that come with that, ‘influencing‘ and more. 

Join us next week for the final episode of series one of The Disabled Debrief Podcast With Conscious Being Magazine. We will be talking to the Barbellion Prize about representation in publishing and why it is important, barriers to being published, and more. 

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Series 1 of The Disabled Debrief is sponsored by Diverse Educators. Co-founded by Bennie Kara and Hannah Wilson, #DiverseEd began as a grassroots movement that has the mission to celebrate the diversity, as well as to amplify the voices of those in education. It has evolved into a training provider for the school system on all things DEI. Find out more at diverseeducators.co.uk. Join the conversations on Twitter @DiverseEd2020 https://twitter.com/DiverseEd2020 

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Further resources and things to read with reference to this episode: 

Cathy’s Instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/cathyreaywrites/

Cathy’s portfolio: https://muckrack.com/cathy-reay

The official Conscious Being Magazine website: https://www.consciousbeingmagazine.com/

If you liked what you heard, please consider leaving a tip: https://ko-fi.com/lydiawilkins

If you use social media, you may be aware of a sudden influx of disabled content creators - and it seems that this has come about almost due to the ongoing pandemic situation. With this in mind, we asked a group of content creators to discuss issues such as payment (and the influencer payment gap!), creativity, managing your support needs, the sometimes controversial topic of being and remaining authentic online, and more. Our guests this week are: (usernames/screen names used first!)  

Disabled Eliza: Eliza is a disabled, LGBTQ+ content creator from London. They can be found on platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and TikTok.

You Look Okay To Me: Jameisha Prescod is the founder/creator of You Look Okay To Me, an online space connected to Chronic Illness.  

Access By Elvy: Elvy writes about disabled travel and other subjects on her blog, elvysblog.com.  

This Line Is Mine: Cheryl is a video creator and they be found primarily creating TikTok content about Autism.  

We will be back next week at the same time with a special episode; we will be talking to Cathy Reay about a multitude of topics including activism and emotional labour. Until then, enjoy this week's episode, and let us know what you think!  

NOTE: This episode was beset with technical issues - and also had to be reconstructed from scratch hours prior to being released. There are some slight audio issues, but this will be ironed out in the future. 

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Series 1 of The Disabled Debrief is sponsored by Diverse Educators. Co-founded by Bennie Kara and Hannah Wilson, #DiverseEd began as a grassroots movement that has the mission to celebrate the diversity, as well as to amplify the voices of those in education. It has evolved into a training provider for the school system on all things DEI. Find out more at diverseeducators.co.uk. Join the conversations on Twitter @DiverseEd2020 https://twitter.com/DiverseEd2020 

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Further reading for subjects mentioned in the duration of this episode:  

The official website of Conscious Being Magazine: https://www.consciousbeingmagazine.com 

The influencer pay gap: https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/reports/a35352031/race-inequality-influencer-pay-gap/ 

Waiting times for mental health support in the UK: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/aug/29/strain-on-mental-health-care-leaves-8m-people-without-help-say-nhs-leaders  

Disability employment stats: https://twitter.com/Jamestaylor2/status/1493588631717621768 

Masking definition: https://www.healthline.com/health/autism/autism-masking#definition  

If you liked today's episode, please consider leaving a tip for our host via Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/lydiawilkins