Today, we are joined by Jared Wikofsky. He is an independent artist and a comic creator. Jared has self-published and produced over 200 pages of comic work. Recently, Jared received a grant from Upstate Creative Corps. This led to his comic book, FALLING. The book delves into a life altering diagnosis and the long-lasting effects of that diagnosis. Jared also runs and edits a podcast entitled PLAYING WITH MADNESS PODCAST. It is a comedy/horror show airing on all the major podcast platforms.

October is National Disability Employment Month, and we’re celebrating with two guests who have cerebral palsy and found fulfilling careers (and even a second career) while overcoming barriers both before and after the Americans with Disabilities Act. We talk with David Clark and Whittier Mikkelsen about their experiences in the workforce, challenges and misconceptions they had to confront and overcome about their disabilities, and how their disabilities have helped to shape their lives and careers.

David Clark is a computer programmer and systems engineer based in the Boston area. Growing up in Connecticut in the ‘70s and ‘80s, David was quickly identified as a candidate for inclusive education at a time when this wasn’t the norm. He excelled in school and went on to The University of California, Berkeley, receiving a BA in Cognitive Science & Rhetoric. Through his career, he has built vast experience with online application development and server administration. David currently works as a Systems Designer in the Digital Research Applications team at Mass General Brigham.

Whittier Mikkelsen was an emergency room clinical psychologist. When chronic pain forced her to move away from this career and slow down, she took the opportunity to look deeply within herself and at the natural world. Through this, she reconnected with her passion for photography and artmaking. Whittier’s art has been shown at the Stirling Art Gallery in Dunedin, Florida, The Dunedin Fine Arts Center, The Art Lofts in St Petersburg, Florida, and at local cafes. You can see some of Whittier's photographs on her website.

Next month, FREED will be bringing The Comedians with Disabilities Act to downtown Grass Valley for a night of laughter, entertainment, and reflections on being disabled in our ablest society. The Comedians with Disabilities Act is a collection of comedians who have disabilities, both seen and unseen, who bring forth the humor they find in their lived experiences as disabled people.

The Comedians with Disabilities Act will be performing on October 16 at 7 p.m. at The Center for the Arts in downtown Grass Valley as a fundraiser for FREED. Click here for more information and to purchase tickets to the show!

Today on Disability Rap, we speak with Nina G, a comedian who performs with The Comedians with Disabilities Act and one of the comedians who will be in the Grass Valley show. Nina is an author who has written three books, including Once Upon an Accommodation: A Book About Learning Disabilities, and she just recently debuted at #1 on two major streaming sites with her solo comedy album, Stutterer Interrupted. Nina has been an advocate for people with disabilities for over 20 years. She has been on many talk shows, radio broadcasts and podcasts.

Last month, we marked the 34th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The ADA granted equal rights and equal protection to people with disabilities in the United States. Today, we wanted to celebrate the anniversary of the ADA by looking back and looking forward at all the work that still needs to be done to make a truly inclusive world for all people, regardless of ability.

We’re joined by two guests. Beck Levin is a Systems Change Advocate at the Dayle McIntosh Center, which is the independent living center in Anaheim, California. Rebecca Donabed is also with us. Rebecca is a Community Organizer with Resources for Independence Central Valley, the independent living center in Visalia, California.

Our guest today, Philip Brubaker, notes that there’s unfortunately a real stigma around mental illness, and that needs to change. Philip is an internationally known and recognized filmmaker and videographic essayist. He also has bipolar disorder. In his most recent film, “How To Explain Your Mental Illness to Stanley Kubrick,” Philip tackles head on the often negative depictions of mental illness in Twentieth Century cinematography. In this deeply personal film, he juxtaposes his own journey with bipolar disorder with images from iconic films that show characters with mental illness as violent and suicidal. In the film, Philip challenges a manifestation of Stanley Kubrick to confront the way Kubrick portrayed mental illness and the effects those portrayals had on society.

This is not Philip’s first film on the subject of mental illness. His 2009 documentary, “Brushes With Life: Art, Artists and Mental Illness,” won multiple awards and was aired on public television. His work has been featured in the Adelio Ferrero Film Festival, the Mental Filmness Festival in Chicago, and the FILMADRID Festival in Madrid, Spain.

We’re joined today by Nicole Luongo, an advocate, author, and public speaker who has Cerebral Palsy. In 2019, Nicole started The Go Green for CP campaign to raise awareness for cerebral palsy in this country and around the world. Through her leadership, the campaign succeeded in getting at least one building or landmark in almost every state lit up in green on National Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day on March 25th and on World CP Day on October 6th. In 2021, she launched a campaign to have the White House light up in Green annually on March 25th. She also created the social media campaign What CP Looks Like.

Nicole is the author of Naked Desires, a book of poetry that chronicles her quest and challenges to find true love. She is a fitness enthusiast and has encouraged others to enjoy fitness and get moving, reshaping our notion of what fitness looks like.

Today, we are joined by two outdoor enthusiasts and avid hikers, Chris Layne and Daniel Wilson. Both Chris and Daniel are wheelchair users. They work with support teams and use specialized equipment to hike trails that are anything but wheelchair accessible. Chris has hiked up Mt. Elbert, the highest peak in the Colorado Rockies. It’s over 14,000 feet. Daniel has traversed rugged trails in the Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Chris acquired her disability after a fall while hiking in her home state of Colorado in 2016, when a spinal cord injury left her paralyzed from the chest down. She went on to win the Ms. Wheelchair Colorado title in 2020, and she is both an active athlete and advocate for accessibility and inclusion in the outdoors and everywhere else.

Daniel became paralyzed after complications from spinal surgery following a fall down an escalator. After recovering, he became active in the British charity organization Sportability, which supports paralyzed athletes’ participation in sports – from archery and quad biking, to tennis and flying light aircraft. Now an experienced adaptive hiker, he competed in the Race The Sun fundraiser in the Lake District National Park.

We recorded our interview with Chris and Daniel in March, as Daniel was preparing to hike the West Highland Way trail in Scotland. Just this week, Daniel successfully completed that trail, along with ten support volunteers from around the world. Daniel is the first person in a wheelchair known to have successfully completed this historic 96-mile trail. He made the trek as a fundraiser for BackUp, a UK organization supporting people with spinal cord injuries.

Hospitals don’t generally sue patients for trespassing, but that is what happened to Alexis Ratcliff. Alexis is 18 years old and has lived in a hospital in Winston-Salem, North Carolina since she was 13. Last year, the hospital sued Alexis for trespassing to try and force her to move out. Alexis wants to leave the hospital, too, just not where the hospital wanted her to go. Alexis wants to live in her own home with support from caregivers. She wants to live close to family and friends. The hospital, Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, wanted to transfer Alexis to a nursing home in another state. Alexis, who won a full academic scholarship to a nearby college and started classes there this fall, is saying no.

On today’s episode of Disability Rap, we speak with Alexis Ratcliff. Alexis is a quadriplegic who uses a wheelchair to get around and a ventilator to help her breathe. She acquired her disability as a result of a car accident when she was 18 months old. We are also joined by Lisa Nesbitt. Lisa is a Supervising Attorney at Disability Rights North Carolina, and she’s part of the team working on Alexis’s case.