The Pulse

This week, Joeita speaks to Jacqueline Alnes, author of The Fruit Cure: the Story of Extreme Wellness Turned Sour - "an unforgettable deep dive into the world of fruitarianism".

Highlights:

• Excerpt from “The Fruit Cure” by Jacqueline Alnes (00:00)
• Opening Remarks “Disability & Wellness Culture” (00:43)
• Jacqueline Alnes Introduction (01:58)
• About her book “the Fruit Cure” (02:24)
• Combining an Autobiography with a History of Wellness Movements (03:22)
• Jacqueline’s Experience with the Medical Establishment (05:35)
• The Rise of Wellness Influencers (08:30)
• Racist & Puritanical Origins of Thinness (11:04)
• Desperate Need for Cures & Answers (13:25)
• Difference Between Cures & Healing (16:14)
• Are Social Media Platforms Responsible for Wellness Misinformation? (18:09)
• Navigating Contradictory Wellness Trends (21:00)
• Jacqueline Reads from “the Fruit Cure” (24:38)
• Where to find “the Fruit Cure” (26:18)
• Show Close (27:10)

Guest Bio: 

Jacqueline Alnes has published essays in The New York Times, Guernica, The Boston Globe, Women's Running, Iron Horse Literary Review, and elsewhere, and her interviews with writers can be found in Longreads, The Rumpus, and, more regularly, Electric Literature, where she serves as a contributing writer. A series of her paintings featuring inspiring athletes was featured on NBC during the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games and in Runner's World. Currently an Assistant Professor of English at West Chester University, Alnes earned her MFA from Portland State University and her PhD from Oklahoma State University.

​Alnes's first book, The Fruit Cure: The Story of Extreme Wellness Turned Sour details how mysterious neurological symptoms derailed her career as a Division I runner and left her desperate for answers. She found hope in an unlikely place: a thriving, online community of fruit-eaters. In The Fruit Cure, Jacqueline Alnes takes readers on a spellbinding and unforgettable journey through the world of fruitarianism, interweaving her own powerful narrative with the popularity and problematic history of fruit-based, raw food lifestyles. 

​About The Fruit Cure

“A deeply compelling read … Spellbinding ….” – BookPage

“Her journey from desperation to self-acceptance is moving and well rendered. In the crowded medical memoir field, this stands out.” — Publishers Weekly

A powerful critique of the failures in our healthcare system and an inquiry into the sinister strains of wellness culture that prey on people’s vulnerabilities through schemes, scams, and diets.

Jacqueline Alnes was a Division One runner during her freshman year of college, but her season was cut short by a series of inexplicable neurological symptoms. What started with a cough, escalated to Alnes collapsing on the track and experiencing months of unremembered episodes that stole her ability to walk and speak. 

Two years after quitting the team to heal, Alnes’s symptoms returned with a severity that left her using a wheelchair for a period of months. She was admitted to an epilepsy center but doctors could not figure out the root cause of her symptoms. Desperate for answers, she turned to an online community centered around a strict, all-fruit diet which its adherents claimed could cure conditions like depression, eating disorders, addiction, anxiety, and vision problems. Alnes wasn’t alone. From all over the world, people in pain, doubted or dismissed by medical authorities, or seeking a miracle diet that would relieve them of white, Western expectations placed on their figures, turned to fruit in hopes of releasing themselves from the perceived failings of their bodies.

In The Fruit Cure, Jacqueline Alnes takes readers on a spellbinding and unforgettable journey through the world of fruitarianism, interweaving her own powerful narrative with the popularity and problematic history of fruit-based, raw food lifestyles. For readers plagued by mysterious symptoms, inundated by messages from media about how to attain “the perfect body,” or caught in the grips of a fast-paced culture of capitalism, The Fruit Cure offers a powerful critique of the failures of our healthcare system and an inquiry into the sinister strains of wellness culture that prey on people’s vulnerabilities through schemes, scams, and diets masquerading as hope.

About The Pulse

On The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta brings us closer to issues impacting the disability community across Canada.

Joeita Gupta has nurtured a life-long dream to work in radio! She's blind, moved to Toronto in 2004 and got her start in radio at CKLN, 88.1 FM in Toronto. A former co-host of AMI-audio's Live from Studio 5, Joeita also works full-time at a nonprofit in Toronto, specializing in housing/tenant rights.

Find Joeita on Twitter: @JoeitaGupta

The Pulse airs weekly on AMI-audio. For more information, visit https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse/recent_episodes

About AMI

AMI is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Operating three broadcast services, AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French, AMI’s vision is to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, representing their interests, concerns and values through inclusion, representation, accessible media, reflection, representation and portrayal.

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect on Twitter @AccessibleMedia

On Instagram @accessiblemediainc

On Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc

On TikTok @accessiblemediainc

Email [email protected]

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]

We continue our annual Christmas story tradition with O. Henry's The Gift of the Magi, read by Andy Lehrer.

"The Gift of the Magi" is a short story by O. Henry first published in the New York Sunday World on December 10, 1905. 

Highlights:

• “Holiday Tradition” - Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Andy Lehrer (01:02)
• About “Gift of the Magi” by O. Henry (02:19)
• “Gift of the Magi” read by Andy Lehrer (3:48)
• Remarks on “Gift of the Magi” & Gift Giving (15:02)
• Sacrifice, Stress and Showing Appreciation (16:36)
• Most Memorable Gifts (21:59)
• Show Close (23:58)

About The Pulse

On The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta brings us closer to issues impacting the disability community across Canada.

Joeita Gupta has nurtured a life-long dream to work in radio! She's blind, moved to Toronto in 2004 and got her start in radio at CKLN, 88.1 FM in Toronto. A former co-host of AMI-audio's Live from Studio 5, Joeita also works full-time at a nonprofit in Toronto, specializing in housing/tenant rights.

Find Joeita on Twitter: @JoeitaGupta

The Pulse airs weekly on AMI-audio. For more information, visit https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse/recent_episodes

About AMI

AMI is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Operating three broadcast services, AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French, AMI’s vision is to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, representing their interests, concerns and values through inclusion, representation, accessible media, reflection, representation and portrayal.

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect on Twitter @AccessibleMedia

On Instagram @accessiblemediainc

On Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc

On TikTok @accessiblemediainc

Email [email protected]

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 Ashley Nemeth about her journey as a blind parent raising three children.

Guest Bio: 

Ashley Nemeth is vocal advocate breaking down barriers for people with disabilities. Ashley identifies as a deafblind woman sharing her story, educating and changing opinions on the importance of accessibility for all. 

Highlights:

• “How Can You Manage?” - Opening Remarks on Parenting (00:00)
• Introducing Ashley Nemeth (01:13)
• How Did it Feel to Discover You Were About to Become a Mother? (02:45)
• Worries About Becoming a Blind Parent? (3:19)
• Public Perception of Blind Parents (4:35)
• Reaction of Medical Professionals (6:33)
• Scrutiny from Social Workers & Family Support (7:57)
• Educating the “Professionals” (9:21)
• Relevance of Mainstream Parenting Books & Resources? (10:48)
• Help with Managing a Newborn? (11:55)
• Surviving the Early Years as a Blind Parent (13:03)
• Squeaker Sneakers and Other Parenting Tips (13:51)
• Accessibility Issues in Being Involved with Kids’ Education (17:00)
• Congenital Conditions, Parenthood & Disability Discrimination (18:30)
• The Joys & Challenges of Parenting Teenagers (21:56)
• Benefits of Growing Up with a Mother Who is Blind (24:40)
• “Take the Blindness Out of It” - Advice People Who Are Blind or Partially-Sighted and Considering Parenthood (25.58)
• Show Close (26:59)

More about Ashley:

 How Blogging Turned Ashley Nemeth into an Entrepreneur 

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 Rod Michalko about his book "Letters with Smokie" discussing blindness and what it can reveal about the relationship between humans and animals. 

About “Letters with Smokie” 

From University of Manitoba Press: 

Leave it to a dog to put the “human” back in “humanities”

In September 2020, Rod Michalko wrote to friend and colleague Dan Goodley, congratulating him on the release of his latest book, Disability and Other Human Questions. Joking that his late guide dog, Smokie, had taken offense to the suggestion that disability was purely a human question, Michalko shared a few thoughts on behalf of his dog. When Goodley wrote back—to Smokie—so began an epistolic exchange that would continue for the next seven months.

As the COVID-19 pandemic swept across the world and the realities of lockdown-imposed isolation set in, the Smokie letters provided the friends a space in which to come together in a lively exploration of human-animal relationships and to interrogate disability as disruption, disturbance, and art. Just as he did in life, Smokie guides. In these pages, he offers wisdom about the world, love, friendship, and even The Beatles. His canine observations of human experience provide an avenue into some of the ways blindness might be reconceptualized and “befriended.”

Uninhibited by the trappings of traditional academic inquiry, Michalko and Goodley are unleashed, free to wander, to wonder, and to provoke within the bonds of trust and respect. Funny and thoughtful, the result is a refreshing exploration and re-evaluation of learned cultural misunderstandings of disability.

Highlights:

• Opening Remarks on Guide Dogs (00:00)
• Introducing Rod Michalko (01:03)
• Who is Smokie and Why is Smokie Writing Letters? (01:38)
• How Did this Correspondence Between Friends Evolve into a Book? (03:00)
• Was it Challenging to Adopt Smokie’s Perspective? (04:06)
• How Can Animals Deepen Our Understanding of Blindness and Disability? (05:06)
• Moving Towards a Different Concept of Blindness (07:17)
• First Day Out with a Guide Dog (08:55)
• Appreciating the Blurriness of Life (10:37)
• Guide Dogs as Experts on Blindness (12:58)
• Shifting One’s Vantage Point (14:50)
• Rethinking Human-Animal Relationships (16:48)
• How Does Journeying with a Guide Dog Change Your Perspective on the Design of Physical Spaces? (18:51)
• Disability and Disrupting Normalcy? (21:07)
• Why is the Theme of Community So Important? (23:11)
• The Personal Impact of Revisiting Guide Dog Relationship (24:53)
• More Letters with Smokie? (26:47)
• Show Close (27:32)

Guest Bio: 

Rod Michalko is a retired professor from the University of Toronto where he taught disability studies. His current writing, both fiction and non-fiction, stems from his experience of blindness.

“Letters with Smokie” was co-written by Dan Goodley, Professor of Disability Studies and Education at the University of Sheffield. His Previous books include Disability and Other Human Questions (Emerald, 2020) and Disability Studies (second edition, Sage, 2016).

Links

Learn more about “Letters with Smokie” on AMI Audiobook Review

"Letters with Smokie" Website 

About The Pulse

On The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta brings us closer to issues impacting the disability community across Canada.

Joeita Gupta has nurtured a life-long dream to work in radio! She's blind, moved to Toronto in 2004 and got her start in radio at CKLN, 88.1 FM in Toronto. A former co-host of AMI-audio's Live from Studio 5, Joeita also works full-time at a nonprofit in Toronto, specializing in housing/tenant rights.

Find Joeita on Twitter: @JoeitaGupta

The Pulse airs weekly on AMI-audio. For more information, visit https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse/recent_ep...

About AMI

AMI is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Operating three broadcast services, AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French, AMI’s vision is to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, representing their interests, concerns and values through inclusion, representation, accessible media, reflection, representation and portrayal.

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect on Twitter @AccessibleMedia

On Instagram @accessiblemediainc

On Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc

On TikTok @accessiblemediainc

Email [email protected]

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]

Dr Ann Leahy, a PhD graduate of Maynooth University Sociology Department, recently published her new book Disability & Ageing: Towards a Critical Perspective. 

This book challenges assumptions about impairment in later life and the residual nature of the ‘fourth age’. It proposes that the experience of ‘disability’ in older age reaches beyond the bodily context and can involve not only a challenge to a sense of value and meaning in life, but also ongoing efforts in response.

Highlights:

• Introduction (00:00)
• Opening Remarks “Ageing Parents” (01:12)
• Introducing Ann Leahy (02:27)
• Linkages Between Disability & Ageing (03:01)
• Importance of Self-Identifying as Disabled (04:24)
• “Disability Identity in Older Age” Study (05:28)
• Difficulties in Defining Disability (06:58)
• Key Findings from Research Interviews (09:15)
• Divisions Between “Old Age” and “Disability” Services (11:40)
• Ageing Out of Public Services and Programs (13:17)
• Problem of Medical Model of Disability Being Pervasive Amongst Older Adults (17:15)
• Disability Stigma (19:22)
• Younger Adults with Disabilities Living in Nursing Homes (21:40)
• Alternatives to Nursing Homes & Institutionalization (25:22)
• Show Close (27:25)

Guest Bio: 

Ann Leahy joined the ERC Consolidator funded project, DANCING (Protecting the Right to Culture of Persons with Disabilities and Enhancing Cultural Diversity through European Union Law: Exploring New Paths), in September 2020. Her main focus is qualitative research on cultural participation by people with disabilities. She has an MA in Social Justice and Public Policy (first class honours) and a PhD in Sociology. Her PhD was an interdisciplinary qualitative study that examined the intersection between disability and ageing, engaging with literature across both areas. 

Her academic awards include a John and Pat Hume Scholarship (2013) from Maynooth University and an Irish Research Council Employment-based PhD Scholarship (2014). In 2019 she was awarded a Government of Ireland, Irish Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship to disseminate the findings of her PhD thesis. 

Ann also has a background in law. Early in her career, she qualified as a Solicitor and worked for some years in commercial law with McCann FitzGerald, solicitors. She subsequently changed direction, working for nearly two decades in the NGO voluntary sector. She was Assistant CEO of Age & Opportunity for over a decade with responsibility for policy and public affairs, as well as for the organisation’s work on arts and culture.

In addition to disability and ageing, her areas of research include equality, poverty and healthcare, and she has completed a body of research and policy analysis on these issues for Social Justice Ireland. She has also extensive experience of public-policy processes across a variety of areas and has served on several policy and advocacy committees.

Reference:

Follow Ann Leahy on X / Twitter:  @ALeahyResearch

About Ann’s Book 

“Disability Identity in Older Age: Exploring Social Processes That Influence Disability Identification With Aging” from Disability Studies Quarterly 

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 about "Affective Ablenationalism" with Anastasia Todd from the University of Kentucky.

SUMMARY

An in-depth conversation about disability and ablenationalism, exploring how disabled individuals are often coded as able-bodied in the imagined community of the nation. 

Using the story of Trevor Maroshek, a former Navy SEAL, and his service dog, Chopper as a case study, we examine the concept of service dogs as a technology of rehabilitation, allowing disabled individuals to fit into the able-bodied norm and the white American nuclear family, the veneration of Chopper as a national hero and the role of military dogs in securing the nation state. Looking at the real-world implications such as confusion about the rights of people with service dogs and the discrimination they face.

Guest Bio: 

Anastasia Todd is an Assistant Professor of Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Kentucky. Broadly, her research investigates the intersections of disability and girlhood from a feminist disability studies perspective. Her forthcoming book, Cripping Girlhood (winner of the 2022 Tobin Siebers Prize for Disability Studies in the Humanities), is interested in what happens and what it means when certain disabled girl subjects gain cultural recognition and visibility as “American girls, too,” to use the words of Melissa Shang, who in 2014 created a viral Change.org petition imploring American Girl to create a disabled doll of the year. The book explores the promise and peril of this newfound cultural visibility for select disabled girls. In examining representations and self-representations of disabled girls and girlhoods across the mediascape at the beginning of the twenty-first century, spanning HBO documentaries to TikTok, Cripping Girlhood uncovers the variegated ways the figure of the disabled girl is imbued with meaning and mobilized as a spectacular representational symbol. Cripping Girlhood also explores how disabled girls, more than symbolic figures to be used in others’ narratives, circulate their own capacious re-envisioning of what it means to be a disabled girl. The book uncovers the cultural and political work that disabled girls’ self-representational practices perform, from cultivating disability community through generating intimacy online, to affirming the value of care labor and interdependence across the species barrier.

Highlights:

• Show Open (00:00)
• Introducing Anastasia Todd (01:59) 
• What is Ablenationalism? (02:27)
• History of Reliance on Service Dogs (07:00)
• Technology of Rehabilitation (08:36)
• How does the story of Chopper Perpetuate the Nation State? (10:53)
• The State of Veteran Mental Health and Wellbeing (16:40)
• Reciprocity in Service Dog Relationships (19:23)
• Service Dogs as Saviors (23:10) 
• Show Close (28:13)

Links:

Pre-order Cripping Girlhood (University of Michigan Press, 2024)

Her new research project, in collaboration with Heather Switzer (WGS, Arizona State University) explores the intersection of invisible disability and young womanhood through creating and analyzing an archive of invisible disability narratives. As a cripistemological intervention, the project seeks to expand disability studies by taking seriously bodyminds that experience ableism yet have an uneasy and tenuous relationship with disability as it has been conventionally defined—that is, as physical, unchanging, and visible.  

Anastasia Todd. 2023. “Cripping Visibility: Re-presenting Disabled Girls and Girlhoods.” NEOS. 15(1).

Anastasia Todd. 2023. “Affective Ablenationalisms and Interspecies Entanglements.” Disability Studies Quarterly. 42(3).

About The Pulse:

On The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta brings us closer to issues impacting the disability community across Canada.

Joeita Gupta has nurtured a life-long dream to work in radio! She's blind, moved to Toronto in 2004 and got her start in radio at CKLN, 88.1 FM in Toronto. A former co-host of AMI-audio's Live from Studio 5, Joeita also works full-time at a nonprofit in Toronto, specializing in housing/tenant rights.

Find Joeita on Twitter: @JoeitaGupta

The Pulse airs weekly on AMI-audio. For more information, visit https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse/recent_episodes

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect on Twitter @AccessibleMedia

On Instagram @accessiblemediainc

On Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc

On TikTok @accessiblemediainc

Email [email protected]

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 to Paralympic Cross-Country Skiier and gold medalist Natalie Wilkie. This is the third of a three part series profiling the 2023 inductees to the Canada Disability Hall of Fame.

Synopsis

This episode of The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta and guest, King Clancy Award winner and Paralympic cross-country skier, Natalie Wilkie discuss parasport and determination, highlighting the achievements of Paralympic athletes. The perception of people with disabilities as objects of pity has been shattered by the competitiveness and sportsmanship displayed in Paralympic games.  Despite facing a life-altering accident, Wilkie returned to skiing just two weeks later and went on to win gold, silver, and bronze medals at the 2018 Paralympic Games. The interview explores Wilkie's journey, including her introduction to the parasport and the challenges and strategies involved in cross-country skiing. Additionally, Wilkie shares her passion for painting, photography, and training horses.  

Episode Highlights:

• What It Means to Be The Recipient of the King Clancy Award (2:50)
• How Natalie Got Her Start in Cross Country Skiing (3:46)
• Participating in the Paralympic Games (8:39)
• The Differences Between Para-Cross-Country Skiing & Able-Bodied Skiing (9:40)
• The Draw of Competition (12:18)
• Achieving Positive Work-Life Balance (14:03)
• The Impact of Natalie's Legacy on People with Disabilities (20:17)
• Life Aspirations Going Forward (22:24)

About

Natalie Wilkie burst onto the international scene at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. At age 17, she was the youngest member of the Canadian team.  In South Korea, Wilkie prevailed over her more experienced rivals to take a much-celebrated gold in the women’s middle distance standing. She followed that up with bronze in the sprint and silver in the mixed relay.  As a result, she received the Canadian Paralympic Sport Award for Best Paralympic Debut by a Female Athlete.  Wilkie lost four fingers on her left hand in an accident during woodwork class at school in 2016.

Team Canada Profile Link

About The Pulse

On The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta brings us closer to issues impacting the disability community across Canada.

Joeita Gupta has nurtured a life-long dream to work in radio! She's blind, moved to Toronto in 2004 and got her start in radio at CKLN, 88.1 FM in Toronto. A former co-host of AMI-audio's Live from Studio 5, Joeita also works full-time at a nonprofit in Toronto, specializing in housing/tenant rights.

Find Joeita on Twitter: @JoeitaGupta

The Pulse airs weekly on AMI-audio. For more information, visit https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse/recent_episodes

About AMI

AMI is a not-for-profit media company that entertains, informs and empowers Canadians who are blind or partially sighted. Operating three broadcast services, AMI-tv and AMI-audio in English and AMI-télé in French, AMI’s vision is to establish and support a voice for Canadians with disabilities, representing their interests, concerns and values through inclusion, representation, accessible media, reflection, representation and portrayal.

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect on Twitter @AccessibleMedia

On Instagram @accessiblemediainc

On Facebook at @AccessibleMediaInc

On TikTok @accessiblemediainc

Email [email protected]

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]

Synopsis

This episode of The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta is joined by Canada Disability Hall of Fame Inductee, Michelle Stilwell.  Together they discuss the intersection of sports, politics, and disability. The role of sports in social inclusion for people with disabilities is highlighted. Michelle also discusses her transition to wheelchair racing and her involvement in politics as a member of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia. She emphasizes the importance of representation and policy influence for people with disabilities. The interview concludes with a discussion on the need for increased employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

Link:

https://paralympic.ca/team-canada/michelle-stilwell

Episode Highlights:

Introducing Canada Disability Hall of Fame Inductee, Michelle Stilwell (1:57)

Significance of Being Inducted to the Canada Disability Hall of Fame (2:56)

Getting Started in Wheelchair Basketball  (4:00)

Representing Canada Internationally (6:40)

Medals in Other Sports (9:19)

Training for Wheelchair Racing (10:46)

Financial Barriers to Parasport (12:10)

Career Highlights (13:07)

How Can Sport Prepare you for Politics? (17:02)

Proudest Accomplishments in the Legislature (18:10)

Another Run for Office? (21:12)

Feelings on Evolution of Disability Rights and Inclusion in Canada (21:50)

Hopes for Disability Inclusion in the Future (24:40)

Advice for Others Facing Significant Injuries (25:56)

About Michelle Stilwell

Michelle Stilwell is the only Canadian woman to win gold medals in two sports at the Paralympic Games. She and the Canadian team won gold in women’s wheelchair basketball at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney. Stilwell also won gold in women’s wheelchair racing at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games. From 2006 to 2016, she was the fastest wheelchair racer in the world in the T52-class; she currently holds world records in the women’s 100 m and 200 m. She also served as a BC MLA for Parksville-Qualicum from 2013 to 2020.

Reference:  

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michelle-stilwell

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]

Synopsis

On this episode of The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta sits down with renowned wheelchair basketball player and inductee to the Canada Disability Hall of Fame, Chantal Benoit.  Together, they discuss the Paralympic Games and the impact of parasport in challenging misperceptions about people with disabilities. It highlights the achievements of para-athletes and their advocacy for disability rights.. Benoit shares her experiences in the sport and the evolution of support for parasport in Canada. She emphasizes the importance of creating a strong foundation at the grassroots level and the need for continued growth and opportunities. The episode concludes with a reflection on the transformative power of sports in breaking down barriers and changing societal perspectives.

Link to Chantal Benoit:

https://www.wheelchairbasketball.ca/players/chantal-benoit/

Episode Highlights:

Chantal’s Upcoming Induction into Canada’s Disability Hall of Fame. (3:10)

Differences Between Coaching Able-Bodied & Wheelchair Basketball? (6:42)

Training for an International Competition (8:25)

How has the Support for Parasport Evolved Over the Last 30 Years? (10:12)

Getting Started in Wheelchair Basketball (12:23)

Chantal’s Career Highlight (15:06)

Advice for Young People Interested in Parasports (17:28)

Chantal’s Legacy and Impact Beyond the Sporting World? (19:02)

The Michael Jordan of Women’s Basketball? (22:45)

About Chantal Benoit

Chantal Benoit is an icon of women’s wheelchair basketball. A member of Team Canada for 27 years, she has won three Paralympic gold medals and four world championship titles. Often called the “Michael Jordan” of her sport, she is considered the greatest woman to have ever played the game. A role model for many athletes, she inspires her teammates, opponents, and the next generation of female players to excel. Off the court, she is a tireless advocate for inclusive sport.

Reference:   https://www.gg.ca/en/honours/recipients/146-16515

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]

Synopsis:

On this episode of The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta and her guest, Max Brault, Vice President of People in Change Accessibility Consulting at BDO Canada, discuss the organization's initiatives to promote accessibility and workplace inclusion, disability and workplace inclusion, focusing on the need for employers to examine their structures, practices, policies, and processes to root out ableism. The episode highlights the high unemployment and underemployment rates faced by people with disabilities in Canada, with the employment rate for adults with disabilities lagging behind the general population. BDO’s initiatives include developing an auditing tool to assess organizations' disability inclusion efforts and conducting research on the federal government's procurement process to ensure accessibility. Here, Max emphasizes the importance of engaging the disability community and addressing fears and misconceptions surrounding hiring individuals with disabilities.

Episode Highlights:

Introduction (0:00)

Mission & Mandate of BDO Canada (2:57)

Workplace inclusion and addressing unemployment and underemployment faced by people with disabilities. (4:02)

The fear people with disabilities have in terms of dealing with the employment process. (6:44)

Which nonprofit organizations has BDO chosen to work with and how were they chosen? (7:53)

BDO’s partnership with the Institute for Research and Development on Inclusion in Society to develop an accessibility audit. (9:45)

A description of the auditing process. (12:10)

What aspects of an employer’s processes or practices or structures will be taken into account for this auditing tool. (13:37)

Will this auditing tool be versatile enough to be used for both small- and large-scale employers? 16:21

What is BDO’s plan for developing this audit engagement tool? (17:36)

When will this audit tool be ready? (18:06)

Max’s project in collaboration with the CNIB about the federal procurement process. (18:20)

Where does the CNIB come into this research? (20:32)

When looking at the federal procurement process, what are some of the considerations from an accessibility point of view that need to be considered? (22:47)

What precisely will the research look at? (24:17)

What is a KPI? (25:38)

When will this research be complete? (25:57)

What do you think the most immediate impact of the research on procurement is likely to be? (26:26)

Conclusion (27:06)

About Max Brault:

Max accepted a leadership role with BDO Canada, guiding consulting projects focused on accessibility issues. Previously, Max guided the federal government toward historic legislation for persons with disabilities, the Accessible Canada Act. Unafraid to challenge convention to make positive change for the disability community, as a vice president with BDO Consulting (Strategy & Operations), Max aims to identify accessibility issues for corporations, governments, and non-governmental agencies, and to provide strategic solutions to address them.

Reference:  https://www.bdo.ca/our-people/max-brault

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]