The Pulse

Joeita speaks to scriptwriter and disabled TV producer Ophira Calof about the Disabled Producers Lab a new program designed to teach production skills to disabled women and trans creators. Part 1 of a 2 part series. 

Highlights

• Disability Stereotypes - Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Ophira Calof – Writer, Performer & Facilitator (01:54)
• Cripping the Script (04:00)
• Shifting Our Structures (05:00)
• The Role of the Storyteller (06:51)
• Representation & Disability Narratives (10:18)
• Disabled Producers Lab (12:46)
• Addressing Barriers, Ableism & Broader Structural Issues (19:50)
• Increasing Disability Representation in the TV Landscape (23:07)
• Disabled Producers Lab Application Process (25:17)
• Show Close (27:01)

Guest Bio - 

Ophira Calof (pronouns: they/she) is a multi-award winning Disabled writer and performer who is drawn to character driven stories that combine humour and heart while subverting narrative tropes and works to “crip the script,” centring disability knowledge and experience. Their recent credits include One More Time (CBC), Rubble and Crew (Treehouse TV), PUSH (CBC), Shelved (CTV), Dino Dex (Amazon Prime), Welcome Series (Titan1Studios), and their solo show Literally Titanium, which has been featured in both academic and performance spaces as a case study in accessible production.

Ophira is also the creative director for the Accessible Writers’ Lab, a national initiative presented by AMI, RAFFTO and sponsored by the Canada Media Fund and Telefilm, to experiment with what an accessible tv writers’ room might involve. Ophira was the accessibility process lead for AccessCBC, and the curatorial committee lead for the 2022 ReelAbilities Film Festival Toronto. They have taught workshops and provided mentorship internationally on storytelling, writing, music, accessibility and disability narratives, and created the courses Sketch Comedy with Ophira Calof and Crip Storytelling, a series in partnership with Centre of Independent Living Toronto and the Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre.

Additionally, Ophira has created a number of disability arts projects including the series Making Space: Stories of Disabled Youth Past and Present (Myseum Toronto/RAFFTO) and Dis/Play, a public arts project that projected the stories of over 50 Deaf and Disabled creatives onto exterior building walls across the city (MNJCC/RAFFTO/ArtWorxTO: Toronto's Year of Public Art 2021-2022).

Ophira graduated from Second City’s Writing and Sketch Conservatory programs and the Buddies in Bad Times Theatre Emerging Creator’s Unit. They were featured in the Second City 2018 Toronto Diversity Fellowship Showcase, are the 2018 recipient of the Tim Sims Encouragement Award and received the 2021 Cahoots Theatre Promising Pen Prize. They were also named a TV writing fellow for the 2022 RespectAbility Lab for Entertainment Professionals with Disabilities and are currently taking part in the 2023 Warner Brothers Discovery Access X Canadian Academy Writers Program.

Disability Screen Office: 

The Disability Screen Office is a national, not-for-profit organization that works with the Canadian screen industry to eliminate accessibility barriers and foster authentic and meaningful disability representation throughout the sector.

We are excited to help make the Canadian media industry more inclusive, and look forward to amplifying the voices of people with disabilities across the Canadian media landscape.

Disabled Producers Lab: 

The Disabled Producers Lab is a part-time, online program designed as a space for disabled producers marginalized by gender across Canada including, but not limited to, transgender women, cisgender women, transgender men, non-binary people and many other gender identities.

Up to five participants will enter the lab with a completed short film script (up to 10 minutes or 10 to 11 pages) and be paired with an industry mentor to support them in developing a comprehensive production binder for the film featuring a realistic schedule, budget, accessibility plan and pitch package.

This lab aims to strengthen the skills and knowledge required to be a successful producer and create systemic change within the production industry by fostering an environment where accessibility is at the forefront of production practices, challenging and reshaping industry norms.

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
• TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc
• Email [email protected]

Joeita speaks to sex educator and host of AMI-tv's "That Sex Show," Rachele Manett, about how parents and caregivers of youths with disabilities can have meaningful conversations about sex, sexuality and gender identity.

Highlights

• Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Rachele Manett (01:30)
• KNEDS - Knowledge Network of Expertise in Disability and Sexuality (03:32)
• Disability, Sexuality, and the Role of the Caregiver (05:43)
• Reasons for Lack of Comfort Discussing Sexuality & Disability (07:04)
• The Desexualizing of People with Disabilities (08:46)
• Personal Support Workers, Caregivers, Intimacy & Sexuality (10:22)
• Resources Related to Disability & Sexuality (12:42)
• Conversations Surrounding Sex Toys & Supplies (17:43)
• When to Start Discussing Sexuality, Consent & Privacy (19:26)
• Sex Education & Disability in the School System (21:44)
• Advice for Parents & Caregivers (24:27)
• Show Close (25:37)

Guest Bio (courtesy of Venus Envy)

Rachele Manett (they/she) is a queer, disabled sex educator, and host of Accessible Media Inc's That Sex Show. Their work is influenced by their own experience with disability, as well as a background in recreation therapy and a masters degree exploring acquired physical disability and sexuality. While her work explores all sorts of sexuality-related topics, Rachele holds a particular love towards disabled sexuality and accessible sex practices.

Watch “That Sex Show” on AMI

See Rachelle in “Our Community: Accessing Pleasure”

In this episode of Our Community: The Tetra Society's focus is to find solutions to overcome environmental barriers faced by people with disabilities, including sex toys. In this episode, we’ll follow each step of a request being fulfilled.

More on the Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital ProFILE Lab

The ProFILE Lab is part of the Bloorview Research Institute at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, and is led by Dr. Amy McPherson, Senior Scientist at Holland Bloorview and Associate Professor at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health and Rehabilitation Sciences Institute at the University of Toronto. Amy is a Chartered member of the British Psychological Society, Division of Health Psychology. She is also a psychotherapy trainee.

The work conducted in the ProFILE Lab addresses timely research questions around the promotion of the health and wellness of children with disabilities and long-term conditions. Weight management, body diversity, sexuality, mental health, and disordered eating are priority areas of investigation. The lab regularly involves family stakeholders in research study teams to ensure research is timely and relevant.

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
• TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc
• Email [email protected]

Joeita speaks to blind self-defence instructor and Brazilian Ju-jitsu practitioner Jim Turk about the relationship between martial arts and self-confidence for People with Disabilities.  

Highlights

• The Benefits of Self-Defence - Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Jim Turk, Martial Artist & Self-Defence Instructor (01:56)
• Practicing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (02:53)
• Learning Martial Arts as a Blind Student (04:22)
• Discovering Jiu-Jitsu (05:46)
• Appeal of Martial Arts During Vision Loss Journey (07:13)
• Building Confidence & Traveling Independently (09:05)
• Defending Yourself in Public (11:18)
• Techniques to Break Someone’s Grip (12:44)
• Teaching Sighted and Blind Students (14:20)
• Empowerment Through Martial Arts (16:17)
• Deciding to Teach (19:25)
• Mental Health Benefits (20:09)
• Class Size (21:53)
• Competitions & Belts (22:41)
• Teaching Sighted Students (23:47)
• Online Lessons (24:21)
• Fight Back Self Defense (25:20)
• Tips for the Blind Traveler (26:30)
• Show Close (28:33)

About Jim Turk & Fight Back Self Defense

"My name is Jim Turk. I am a self-defense instructor, and also happen to be completely blind. It is an unfortunate fact that criminals often target people who are perceived, for whatever reason, as "easy targets". The reasons for this perception could range from a person’s age, gender, physical size, or, as in my case, a noticeable disability. Regardless of the reason for this perception of vulnerability, assaults against people in these categories tend to be very similar in nature to one another. For this reason, the self-defense principles and techniques I teach are useful to a wide range of individuals, such as senior citizens, women, children, and those with disabilities. After I began losing my vision, I started becoming more interested in personal safety and self-defense. I have since earned my blue belt in the martial art Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and have received my certification as a coach in the OneTouch self-defense system, which was specifically designed for blind people.  The more I learn, the more I wanted to be able to share my knowledge with others, so I have started my own business teaching self-defense, called Fight Back. 

I am located in Villa Park, IL, and I am available to teach private lessons or group classes."

Contact Jim Turk for more info: [email protected]

More About Jim Turk

Self-Defense Instructor Jim Turk Receives 2019 Council Excellence Award

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
• TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc
• Email [email protected]

Joeita speaks to Devon Healey, assistant professor of disability studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education (OISE) at the University of Toronto, about her research into the dramatization and perception of blindness in theatre.  

Healey is also an award-winning actor, co-founder of Peripheral Theater and the author of “Dramatizing Blindness: Disability Studies as Critical Creative Narrative,” which came out in 2021.

Highlights:

• “What is Blindness?” - Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Perceptions of Blindness (01:10)
• Introducing Devon Healy; Actor, Assistant Professor of Disability Studies & Author of “Dramatizing Blindness” (02:05)
• The Many Conceptions of Blindness (02:56)
• Interrogating Sightedness (06:23)
• Simulating Sighted Behaviour (09:28)
• “Blind” Performers & the Sighted Blindness Consultant (12:35)
• Relationship Between Theatre & Blindness (16:08)
• Academics & Dramatizing Blindness (17:29)
• Rainbow on Mars (18:56)
• Immersive Descriptive Audio (20:07)
• Radio Plays & the National Ballet (22:34)
• Kaleidoscopic Feelings of Blindness (26:22)
• More from Devon Healey (31:20)
• Show Close (32:02)

Guest Bio  

Devon Healey is an Assistant Professor of Disability Studies at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education at the University of Toronto. All of her work is grounded in her experience as a blind woman guided by a desire to show how blindness specifically and disability more broadly can be understood as offering an alternate form of perception and is thus, a valuable and creative way of experiencing and knowing the world. 

She is the author of, Dramatizing Blindness: Disability Studies as Critical Creative Narrative (Palgrave Macmillan, 2021). Devon is an award-winning actor and the co-founder of, Peripheral Theatre. In 2020 she was awarded a commission by Outside the March (Dora award-winning Toronto theatre company) to both write and perform in, Rainbow on Mars, a sensory reclamation of blindness. Prof. Healey teaches courses in critical disability studies.

Follow Devon Healey on X (Twitter) -@devonkhealey

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
• TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc
• Email [email protected]

Joeita speaks to Hubert van Niekirk, Executive Director of Every Canadian Counts, about a campaign to create a National Disability Insurance Plan in Canada. 

Highlights

• Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Hubert Van Kiekerk, Executive Director for Every Canadian Counts (01:25)
• The Proposed National Disability Insurance Plan (02:56)
• Potential Impact of Plan for Canadians with Disabilities (03:54)
• Relationship Between National Plan & Existing Provincial Programs (06:07)
• Cutting Back on Bureaucracy & Disability Admin (07:54)
• Benefits of NDIP for Families and Caregivers (09:40)
• Bringing the Australian Model to Canada (12:12)
• Supporting Canadian Youth with Disabilities (15:19)
• Cost & Viability of National Disability Insurance Plan (16:39)
• Governmental Cooperation (21:10)
• How to Get Involved with the NDIP (23:38)
• EveryCanadianCounts.com (26:11)
• Show Close (28:09)

Guest Bio

Hubert Van Niekerk, Interim Executive Director of Every Canadian Counts

Educator and specialist teacher, community leader and volunteer.

Hubert has a long history of working and volunteering in the disabled community. 

He has been involved with the Ontario Association for Developmental Education for 18 years serving as a member-at-large, president and past president. Hubert served as the president of the Council for Exceptional Children for London-Middlesex. 

He is on the L’Arche London board of directors. Before retirement, Hubert was a special education specialist teacher in a mostly self-contained classroom for 17 years. He taught students with a wide-range of intellectual and multiple disabilities. Hubert also engaged in a year-long teacher work exchange to Australia for the year of 2010.

About Every Canadian Counts  

Every Canadian Counts (ECC) is calling on Canadian governments to work together to develop a national funding program to ensure essential disability supports are available to all Canadians living with chronic, long-term disabilities. ECC includes individuals living with disabilities, caregivers, advocates and support organizations.

With ongoing effort through Bill C-22 (An Act to reduce poverty and to support the financial security of persons with disabilities) and the Accessible Canada Act, now's the perfect time for the "next big thing" to support Canadians with disabilities, similar to what's already been accomplished in Australia through the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) - and we can't do it without you.

Reference:

Article - The Australian Advantage: Speaking with One Voice

"For all the plaudits and superlatives that have been laid at the feet of the NDIS in Australia, a truly breathtaking social policy initiative, it is not primarily the disability insurance idea itself nor its subsequent implementation that sets Australia apart. Rather, it was the ability of the disability community and their supporters to speak with one voice to get it done.

How was that possible?"

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
• TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc
• Email [email protected]

Joeita previews Season 5 of AMI-tv's "Postcards from..." with the show’s new host, Author & Artist Christa Couture. Christa discusses her travels to various parts of Canada, the challenges of travelling with a prosthetic, and the joy of exploring new places with all 5 senses. 

Highlights:

• Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Christa Couture – Writer, Musician, Broadcaster (01:19)
• About AMI-tv’s “Postcards From…” (03:23)
• Season 5 Travel Locations (04:37)
• Drumheller, the Dinosaur Capital of North America (05:30)
• Navigating Rugged Terrain with a Prosthetic (08:40)
• Bringing Attention to Accessibility Barriers (12:26)
• Prairie Oysters & Testy Festy (13:42)
• Dawson City & Whistler (16:36)
• Learning to Travel More Accessibly (18:09)
• Accessibility in Transportation (19:58)
• Unpacking the Suitcase Strategy (21:34)
• Travelling with Small Children (22:54)
• The Ultimate Souvenir (24:01)
• Show Close (25:55)

Guest Bio:

Christa Couture is an award-winning performing and recording artist, non-fiction writer and broadcaster. She is also proudly Indigenous, queer, disabled and a mom. Her sixth recording, Safe Harbour, was released March 2020. Her writing has been published in Room, Shameless and Augur magazines and cbc.ca. As a speaker and storyteller, she has addressed audiences for The Walrus Talks, CBC's DNTO, Moses Znaimer's ideaCity and Imaginate in Port Hope, ON. She is a frequent contributor to CBC Radio's Now or Never and The Next Chapter, and hosts Season 5 of AMI-tv’s accessible travel series “Postcards From…”

Watch "Postcards From..." on AMIPlus.ca

Find Music from Christa Couture on Bandcamp

“A remarkable chanteuse, singing superb material,” deems Roots Music of Christa Couture, an award-winning indie artist who has built a reputation for transforming tragedy into musical triumph, with sharp-shooting wit, effortless grace, and heart-on-sleeve intensity. 

Follow Christa Couture on Facebook

Christa Couture's Book - How to Lose Everything: A Memoir

Christa Couture has come to know every corner of grief—its shifting blurry edges, its traps, its pulse of love at the centre and the bittersweet truth that sorrow is a powerful and wise emotion.

From the amputation of her leg as a cure for bone cancer at a young age to her first child’s single day of life, the heart transplant and subsequent death of her second child, the divorce born of grief and then the thyroidectomy that threatened her career as a professional musician, How to Lose Everything delves into the heart of loss. Couture bears witness to the shift in perspective that comes with loss, and how it can deepen compassion for others, expand understanding, inspire a letting go of little things and plant a deeper feeling for what matters. At the same time, Couture's writing evokes the joy and lightness that both precede and eventually follow grief, as well as the hope and resilience that grow from connections with others.

"How to Lose Everything" series on CBC Gem

How to Lose Everything is an Indigenous series of animated short films that explore personal stories of loss. The five films’ stories span nations, languages, and perspectives on heartache.

More from Christa Couture 

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
• TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc
• Email [email protected]

Joeita discusses tips and tricks for blind home cooks with Renee Rentmeester, executive producer of the "Cooking Without Looking" TV show and podcast. She shares safety tips as well as accessible tricks of the trade.

Highlights

• Cooking & Blindness - Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Renee Rentmeester of “Cooking Without Looking” TV Show and Podcast (01:10)
• About “Cooking Without Looking” (02:29)
• More on the Blind Hosts of the Show (03:47)
• Where to Find “Cooking Without Looking” (04:38)
• Typical Episode Format (05:17)
• Choosing Guests for the Show (07:15)
• Safety Tips for Blind Cooks (10:28)
• Safety on the Stove Top (12:55)
• Tips for Organizing Your Kitchen (15:00)
• Using Your Other Senses (16:26)
• Appliances, Kitchen Gadgets & Accessibility (18:11)
• International Cuisine (20:17)
• “Cooking Without Looking” Cookbook (22:51)
• The Most Complicated Recipe Made on the Show? (24:32)
• More Recipes & Tips from “Cooking without Looking” (26:19)
• Show Close (27:28)

“Cooking Without Looking” Website

Cooking Without Looking is the First TV Show which features People who are Blind/Visually Impaired. We provide the stage for people to show what living blind is really like, and to create a bridge of understanding.

Join the “Cooking Without Looking” Facebook Group

Check out the Pulse on YouTube!

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
• TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc
• Email [email protected]

Joeita speaks with Kate Mann, Associate Professor Cornell University's Sage School of Philosophy & author of "Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia," which draws on personal experience & rigorous research to expose how size discrimination harms everyone, and how to combat it. 

Highlights

• The Insidiousness of Fatphobia - Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Society’s Fixation on Weight & the “Ideal Body” (01:07)
• Introducing Kate Manne, Author of “Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia” (01:59)
• Philosophical Interest in Misogyny & Fatphobia (02:22)
• Defining Fatphobia (04:17)
• Complicated Relationship Between Fatness & Health (06:03)
• Fatphobia in the Healthcare System (10:15)
• Weigh-In Process & Weight-Inclusive Physicians (12:27)
• Diabetes, BMI & Stigma (13:19)
• Intersections of Fatphobia, Race, Class, Ability & Gender (16:22)
• The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness (18:28)
• Thin-Privilege (19:36)
• Beyond Body-Positivity (22:24)
• Thinsplaining - Book Excerpt (24:22)
• Find the Book “Unshrinking: Facing Fatphobia” (27:51)
• Show Close (28:33)

Guest Bio - 

Kate Manne is an associate professor of philosophy at Cornell University, where she’s been teaching since 2013. Before that, she was a junior fellow at the Harvard Society of Fellows. Manne did her graduate work in philosophy at MIT and is the author of two previous books, Down Girl and Entitled.

“Unshrinking: How to Face Fatphobia” By Kate Manne from Penguin Random House

“An elegant, fierce, and profound argument for fighting fat oppression in ourselves, our communities, and our culture.”—Roxane Gay, author of Hunger

For as long as she can remember, Kate Manne has wanted to be smaller. She can tell you what she weighed on any significant occasion: her wedding day, the day she became a professor, the day her daughter was born. She’s been bullied and belittled for her size, leading to extreme dieting. As a feminist philosopher, she wanted to believe that she was exempt from the cultural gaslighting that compels so many of us to ignore our hunger. But she was not.

Blending intimate stories with the trenchant analysis that has become her signature, Manne shows why fatphobia has become a vital social justice issue. Over the last several decades, implicit bias has waned in every category, from race to sexual orientation, except one: body size. Manne examines how anti-fatness operates—how it leads us to make devastating assumptions about a person’s attractiveness, fortitude, and intellect, and how it intersects with other systems of oppression. Fatphobia is responsible for wage gaps, medical neglect, and poor educational outcomes; it is a straitjacket, restricting our freedom, our movement, our potential.

In this urgent call to action, Manne proposes a new politics of “body reflexivity”—a radical reevaluation of who our bodies exist in the world for: ourselves and no one else. When it comes to fatphobia, the solution is not to love our bodies more. Instead, we must dismantle the forces that control and constrain us, and remake the world to accommodate people of every size.

Articles:

In 'Unshrinking,' a writer discusses coming out as fat and pushing back against bias - NPR Interview

Fighting Fatphobia and Embracing ‘Unshrinking’: The Ms. Q&A With Kate Manne - MS Magazine 

Reference:

Belly of the Beast The Politics of Anti-Fatness as Anti-Blackness by Da'Shaun L. Harrison

To live in a body both fat and Black is to exist at the margins of a society that creates the conditions for anti-fatness as anti-Blackness. Hyper-policed by state and society, passed over for housing and jobs, and derided and misdiagnosed by medical professionals, fat Black people in the United States are subject to sociopolitically sanctioned discrimination, abuse, condescension, and trauma.

Da’Shaun Harrison—a fat, Black, disabled, and nonbinary trans writer—offers an incisive, fresh, and precise exploration of anti-fatness as anti-Blackness, foregrounding the state-sanctioned murders of fat Black men and trans and nonbinary masculine people in historical analysis. Policing, disenfranchisement, and invisibilizing of fat Black men and trans and nonbinary masculine people are pervasive, insidious ways that anti-fat anti-Blackness shows up in everyday life. Fat people can be legally fired in forty-nine states for being fat; they’re more likely to be houseless. Fat people die at higher rates from misdiagnosis or nontreatment; fat women are more likely to be sexually assaulted. And at the intersections of fatness, Blackness, disability, and gender, these abuses are exacerbated.

Taking on desirability politics, the limitations of gender, the connection between anti-fatness and carcerality, and the incongruity of “health” and “healthiness” for the Black fat, Harrison viscerally and vividly illustrates the myriad harms of anti-fat anti-Blackness. They offer strategies for dismantling denial, unlearning the cultural programming that tells us “fat is bad,” and destroying the world as we know it, so the Black fat can inhabit a place not built on their subjugation.

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
• TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc
• Email [email protected]

Joeita speaks to Danielle Kaftarian, Executive Director of the Period Purse, about menstrual equity and what needs to change to ensure that all people who menstruate have access to period products. 

Highlights

• Period Poverty & Menstrual Equity - Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Danielle Kaftarian, Executive Director of the Period Purse (01:22)
• Importance of Discussing Menstrual Equity & Period Poverty (01:40)
• Stigma & Lack of Political Will (02:08)
• Why Don’t People Want to Talk About Periods? (03:28)
• Issues Surrounding Access & Alternatives (05:31)
• The Healthcare System & Menstrual Equity Fund (06:58)
• Offsetting the Increasing Cost-Burden of Menstrual Products (11:15)
• Challenges for People with Disabilities Who Might be Menstruating (13:00)
• Period Poverty Around the Globe (14:40)
• Menstrual Cups & Environmental Impacts (15:54)
• Employers & Menstrual Leave (18:01)
• Improving Comfort Levels Surrounding Menstruation (19:57)
• How & When to Talk About Periods Within the Family (21:17)
• About the Period Purse Charity (23:24)
• The Period Pack (24:27)
• Collaborating with Organizations (25:56)
• Donations & Sourcing Period Products (26:20)
• Period Purse Outside the Toronto-Area (27:18)
• Find the Period Purse Online (28:26)
• Show Close (28:45)

Guest Bio - 

Danielle Kaftarian (she/her) - Executive Director, the Period Purse

Danielle is TPP’s Executive Director with ample experience! She studied Accounting and Business Administration and worked in the finance industry for over 10 years, along with other jobs. After having two children, she felt a strong desire to contribute to the community and support others. It was not until TPP was founded, that she discovered her true passion. From early TPP days, Danielle was involved in various roles, supporting its mission to achieve menstrual equity for everyone in Canada. She’s proud to serve as the Executive Director with an incredible team, working tirelessly towards period equity.

About the Period Purse - theperiodpurse.com

The Period Purse creates menstrual equity by ensuring sustainable access to period products for all, and by ending the stigma associated with periods through education and advocacy.

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About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

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Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

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Joeita speaks to financial advisor Ron Malis about estate planning and financial management for a child with a disability.  

Highlights

• Financial Planning for a Child with a Disability - Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Ron Malis, Financial Advisor & Founder of Reegan Financials (01:08)
• Getting Started Working with People with Disabilities (02:08)
• When Do Parents Typically Start Planning for their Child’s Future (3:41)
• Specific Considerations for Parents of a Child with a Disability (06:38)
• Impacts of Social Assistance Programs and Setting Up a Trust (08:34)                                                                               
• All About the Henson Trust & Choosing a Trustee (10:55)
• Impact of Inheritances and other Income on Social Assistance Payments (18:24)
• Eligibility Requirements for a Henson Trust (20:22)
• Estate Planning in a Tax Efficient Way (21:17)
• Benefits of Planning Earlier in Life (24:28)
• Closing Remarks (26:27)

Learn More about Ron Malis & Reegan Financial - https://reeganfinancial.com/about/

Check out the Pulse on YouTube!

About AMI

AMI is a media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians with disabilities through three broadcast services — AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French — and streaming platform AMI+. Our vision is to establish AMI as a leader in the offering of accessible content, providing a voice for Canadians with disabilities through authentic storytelling, representation and positive portrayal. To learn more visit AMI.ca and AMItele.ca.

Find more great AMI Original Content on AMI+

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect with Accessible Media Inc. online:

• X /Twitter @AccessibleMedia
• Instagram @AccessibleMediaInc / @AMI-audio
• Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc
• TikTok @AccessibleMediaInc
• Email [email protected]