The Pulse is continuing to cover the important impact made by a historic $30 million dollar donation from The Slaight Family Foundation to 11 of the leading organizations in disability advocacy and healthcare in Canada.

On this episode, host Grant Hardy is speaking with Sandra Hawken, President and CEO of the Holland Bloorview Foundation. Grant and Sandra have an interesting conversation about the development of Brain Computer Interface programs at Holland Bloorview Kids Rehabilitation Hospital, and what the funds from the donation will do to further improve the programming.

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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

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On Tuesday December 3rd, both Giving Tuesday and International Day of Persons with Disabilities, The Slaight Family Foundation announced a historic $30 million dollar donation to 11 of the leading organizations in disability advocacy and health care. Empowered Kids Ontario is one of those organizations. Jennifer Churchill, EKO’s CEO, joined Grant Hardy on The Pulse to talk about the significant impact this donation will have on the organization!

Find us on Twitter: @AMIaudio #PulseAMI

To contact the Pulse: feedback@ami.ca

Check out our website: https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse

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

Tiffany Houston is CEO of Shine Foundation, a Canadian organization that works to fulfill the dreams of youth with disabilities.

Host Grant Hardy speaks with Tiffany about some of the Shine Dreams they are currently fulfilling, their response to the Canada Post Strike, and how the organization got started.

You can find more information on Shine Foundation at www.shinefoundation.ca and more information on their holiday fundraising campaign at www.shineholiday.ca

Find us on Twitter: @AMIaudio #PulseAMI

To contact the Pulse: feedback@ami.ca

Check out our website: https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse

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

Today on The Pulse, we’re featuring the Makers Making Change Holiday Hackathon! Last month in Burnaby, B.C., host Grant Hardy attended this event, hosted by Makers Making Change, a program offered through the Neil Squire Society in British Columbia. The event offered an opportunity for volunteers to adapt 250 toys to donate to kids with disabilities across Canada.

In this episode, Grant speaks with members of the Makers Making Change team, volunteers, students, and people who will benefit from the adapted toys too!

Grant’s first guest is Reed Schrad, the Web Product Owner at Makers Making Change to give Grant some more information about the event.

Then, Grant speaks with Charlie Kiers, a volunteer at the Holiday Hackathon, who shows us how an adaptation is made to a popular Fisher Price toy.

Ethan Ho, a high school student and volunteer, stopped by to give Grant some more insight into what kind of work is needed to adapt the toys and what kinds of difference these toys will make.

At the event was Marie Brown, an occupational therapist with SET BC who told Grant about the importance of equitable access to inclusive play.

Plus, Evie and Carey Lotz are a mother and daughter pair that were at the Holiday Hackathon. Evie has benefited from one of the toys through the Makers program and Carie spoke to Grant about how important these toys are to kids with disabilities.

Find us on Twitter: @AMIaudio #PulseAMI

To contact the Pulse: feedback@ami.ca

Check out our website: https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse

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

On The Pulse, host Grant Hardy highlights important issues in the disability community. On today’s episode he speaks with Stephanie Pilon, Manager of Campaigns and Advocacy at the CNIB. Stephanie joins the show to share information on the CNIB’s Get on Board! Campaign, including what an accessible bus stop includes, the biggest barriers to public transit, and what you can do to help the CNIB achieve their goal of Safe and Accessible Journeys!

For more information on the Get on Board! Campaign, or to participate in the Secret Rider Survey, visit www.cnib.ca

Highlights:

• Show Intro (00:00)
• Introducing Stephanie Pilon (1:21)
• How does the CNIB gauge what issues need to be prioritized (2:38)
• The CNIB Get on Board! Campaign (4:30)
• Training in municipalities for accessible transit (14:50)
• Access to technology’s impact on transit accessibility (17:30)
• Accessible bus stops (20:15)
• Stephanie’s goals for public transit (24:37)

Find us on Twitter: @AMIaudio #PulseAMI

To contact the Pulse: feedback@ami.ca

Check out our website: https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse

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

Chair of the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act Alliance, David Lepofsky, joins host Grant Hardy to talk about the history of the AODA Alliance, and let’s us know what’s going on at their 30th Anniversary celebrations on November 25th in Toronto.

The AODA Alliance has invited members from all major political parties to attend their event in Queen’s Park in Toronto, Ontario. Members of the disability community can visit www.aodaalliance.org to sign up for a 3 minute time slot to present a speech on accessibility barriers they’ve faced, and their lived experience with disability. The event will be held on November 25th between 2 and 4 p.m. eastern, and people can attend the event virtually or in person at Queen’s Park.

Highlights:

• Show Intro (00:00)
• David’s role in the AODA Alliance (00:58)
• History of the AODA and the AODA Alliance (2:45)
• The AODA Alliance’s 30th Anniversary Celebration (16:13)
• David’s hope for the future of accessibility (23:35)

Find us on Twitter: @AMIaudio #PulseAMI

To contact the Pulse: feedback@ami.ca

Check out our website: https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse

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

Grant Hardy hosts The Pulse, and speaks with Dilshad Kassam-Lallani, and Wesley Magee-Saxton from Holland Bloorview Kid’s Rehabilitation Hospital about the “Turning 18 isn’t so sweet: the critical gaps in health care for young adults with disabilities” report, part of their bigger advocacy campaign called “No Piece of Cake.”

The report highlights the systemic change that is needed to support patients with disabilities through their transition from pediatric healthcare to the adult health care system.

Dilshad Kassam-Lallani is a nurse practitioner in the Spina Bifida/Spinal Cord Injury Clinic at Holland Bloorview and sat on the advisory panel for the report. She speaks to Grant about the experiences with patients that helped her advise the reporters for this campaign, and what kind of impact this kind of report can have on the disability community.

Then, Wesley Magee-Saxton joins Grant for a conversation about their lived experience aging out of the pediatric healthcare system. Wesley is 24 years old and has Cerebral Palsy. They were a patient of Holland Bloorview from 18 months old to 18 years old and describes their 18th birthday as “falling off a cliff.”

You can read the full report at www.nopieceofcake.ca

Highlights:

• Show Intro (00:00)
• Introducing Dilshad Kassam-Lallani (1:30)
• Key findings from the report (3:39)
• Demographics and location’s impact on healthcare accessibility (6:30)
• Dilshad’s biggest takeaway from the report (8:01)
• Biggest risks that patients face coming out of pediatric care (10:48)
• What can we do to create change? (12:39)
• Introducing Wesley Magee-Saxton (15:47)
• What was the transition to adult health care like? (17:04)
• Ways to support patients coming out of pediatric care (18:01)
• The most shocking aspect of aging out of pediatric care (19:49)
• What can be changed in the adult health care system? (20:43)
• Young adults deserve better during this transitional period (22:41)
• Wesley’s work at Holland Bloorview (25:46)
• Wesley’s dreams in Hollywood! (26:41)

Find us on Twitter: @AMIaudio #PulseAMI

To contact the Pulse: feedback@ami.ca

Check out our website: https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse

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

Joeita interviews Arthur Gwynne, operations manager at RAMPD, the Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities, about creating disability-inclusive spaces in the performing arts.

Highlights

• Disability Inclusion in the Performing Arts - Opening Remarks (00:00)
• Introducing Arthur Gwynne – Head of Operations at RAMPD (01:11)
• About RAMPD - Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities (01:38)
• The Origins of RAMPD (03:11)
• The RAMPD Community (07:48)
• Disability Advocacy in the Music Industry (12:25)
• Pushing the Boundaries of Art Itself (20:13)
• Closing Remarks (26:08)

RAMPD –

Award-winning platform equipping the Music Industry with Disability inclusive solutions, programs, and a directory of peer-vetted music professionals and creators with disabilities, neurodivergence and chronic and mental health conditions.

Find RAMPD online - Facebook, Instagram

Arthur Gwynne Bio - from LinkedIn

Arthur heads operations for the award-winning platform RAMPD (Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities) where he’s collaborated with the likes of Netflix and the Recording Academy to build inclusive programming. Arthur also manages the career of globally touring recording artist, charting songwriter and cultural activist Lachi—the go-to voice on Disability Culture in the music industry through her work on the GRAMMYs Board and as CEO of RAMPD. Throughout the course of this mission-work, Arthur stepped away from a career in executive recruitment, and opened up publicly about his own neurodiversity. Today Arthur runs a robust diverse team, booking national tours, negotiating major contracts, working everything from creative projects and music releases to development programs from cradle-to-grave.

Arthur speaks on panels and podcasts—at places like the Kennedy Center and the Music Managers Forum—on how embracing one’s neurodivergence is an asset in the music industry. He has also made it his mission to break down the silos and barriers holding back the disability community, laying seeds for a national conversation on Disability Culture and what Inclusion and Universal Accessible Design means at a practical and industrial level. Beyond all of this, Arthur is Lachi’s stylist, and designs her iconic Glam Canes.

Find us on Twitter: @AMIaudio #PulseAMI

To contact the Pulse: feedback@ami.ca

Check out our website: https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse

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