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Since many of our followers might be engaging with the disability and social justice communities for the first time, we decided to produce an episode dedicated to defining important terms. We use these all the time in our podcast, so feel free to come back to this episode as a reference whenever you need it!

Side note: These are not all-inclusive terms for all disabilities and neurodivergencies. Instead, this episode "jet-skis" over the terms to include as many as possible within our time constraints. We leave the "deep sea diving" for our regular episodes. There are more vocab episodes to come!

Side note to the side note: These are very basic descriptions, meant meanly for ablebodied and NT people who are just starting their anti-ableism journey. If you identify as being or having one of these neurodivergencies, please feel free to correct us on this information. 

The 40 terms defined in this episode:

Neurodivergent, neurodiverse, neurotypical, “functioning” labels, masking, special interests/specializations, stimming, autistic meltdowns, autistic shutdowns/burnout, medical zebras, paralysis, assistance animals, service animals, emotional support animals (ESA), psychiatric support animals, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Fair Housing Act (FHA), the Air Carrier Access Act, the American Kennel Club (AKC), reputable breeder, public access, Depression, Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), ADHD/ADD, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), Schizophrenia, Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID), Diagnostic & Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), BPD splitting, Scrupulosity, personality disorders, Bipolar/Manic-Depressive Disorder, Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), delusions, hallucinations, psychosis, panic attacks vs anxiety attacks, executive dysfunction.

Two weeks' worth of Come Follow Me, covering Doctrine & Covenants 41 through Doctrine & Covenants 45.

In this episode, we discuss what it means to have boundaries when doing advocacy work, especially as we try to minister intersectionally. Looking to Jesus Christ, we can see that it's more nuanced and complicated than it may seem.

We also discuss inclusion and exclusion from the Church and from advocacy spaces, from the perspective of disabled and neurodivergent people.

Finally, we find some verses that reorient our understandings of our own disabilities and how they work with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

In this episode, we interview Austin Jorgensen!

Austin was born with Cerebral Palsy (Triplegia). He has had several surgeries in his life (including brain surgery!) along with AFOs and series casting during childhood but currently doesn’t require any walking aids.

Austin was born a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He grew up in California and Texas and served a 24-month mission when he was 19 in Utah as an online missionary. He currently lives with his boyfriend of two years in Austin, TX.

In this episode, we discuss coping mechanisms for dealing with ableism while growing up disabled, LGBTQ+ and disabled identities, and some of the complicated feelings and reasons people leave the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Two weeks' worth of Come Follow Me discussion, comprising Doctrine & Covenants Sections 30-40.

In this episode we touch on missionary work, religious victimization, loads and loads of ableist metaphors, free will, body intersectionality, and consent when it comes to interacting with someone else's body, whether that us as mortal humans or Jesus Christ while healing a disabled person.

April is Autism Acceptance Month and we are here for it! We're starting it off with an interview with Sandra.

Sandra is a multiply Neurodivegent, Queer person who is working to raise four Neurodivergent people and support her wife through her demanding career without messing everything up too badly.

They are a late-identified Autistic, working to advocate for their family and other Autistic people as best she can while battling the adversity of a world and society that is largely hostile to the needs those who are not neuro-normative.

In this interview, we discuss autistic parenting, both as an autistic parent and as having autistic children, the difficulties of being nonbinary in the Mormon church, and the baptismal covenant to mourn with those that mourn.

For many disabled people, resurrection is a complicated, often painful topic. This Easter Sunday, we place Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead in a disabled context, tenderly exploring what it means to have a body, especially one that is imperfect and mortal.

Introducing Joseph Featherstone! Joseph, who is Deaf, is a life-long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He currently works as a manager and lead at GoReact, an online feedback software company for ASL and interpreting students. He also teaches ASL at Brigham Young University.

In this episode, Joseph discusses growing up in the Church as Deaf, his introduction to the Deaf community, his spirituality, the tendency of hearing and able-bodied people to infantilize Deaf and disabled people, and what we can do NOW to create a more inclusive environment at church.

In this Come Follow Me episode we discuss two weeks' worth of scripture reading: Doctrine & Covenants 23-26 and 27-28.

With the trials that Joseph and Emma Smith encountered in this time of their lives, we delve into what it means to be patient and why that can be harder for disabled and neurodivergent people than other people.

Introducing the idea of "common consent", we discuss how voting/sustaining LDS leaders has changed from the 1800s to now, and what we can do to reduce modern-day "voter suppression" in the Church.

Finally, we come full circle by revisiting the concept of patience and reiterating that every person deserves to feel peace and joy, regardless of whether that's in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or whether it's by exploring other spiritual practices because of access barriers in the LDS Church.

Introducing Travis Eberhard! Travis is a disabled actor and illustrator and a life-long member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You may recognize him from various films, most notably by playing Albert in T.C. Christiansen's film, 17 Miracles.

In this episode, we discuss Travis's experiences interacting with able-bodied people both in and out of the church, inside of Utah, and outside of Utah. We learn inside details about the production of 17 Miracles and Travis's thoughts on his character.

With both the entertainment industry and the Church having the tendency to "typecast" disabled people into limited stories, we ask, how can we diversify the roles and stories to greater showcase disabled lives?

Our "Fifth Sunday" episode that runs a little longer than usual, but is definitely worth it! We discuss two weeks' worth of Come Follow Me: Doctrine & Covenants 18-19 and Doctrine & Covenants 20-22.

We start off by asking what sin and repentance mean in the disability justice communities, and whether sin is objective or subjective. On the flip side of Section 19, we marvel at the humanity and pain expressed by Jesus, and how his suffering in Gethsemane is yet another example of the Disabled God.

Next, we examine what "years of accountability" in relation to baptism means for intellectually disabled persons, and how the view of disabled spiritual accountability has changed over time and has yet a long way to go.

Finally, we close out by sharing an underquoted example of disability in Joseph and Emma Smith's family life, and how that might have influenced Joseph's revelations in Doctrine & Covenants.