Note: Transcripts may contain errors. If you wish to re-use all, or part of, a transcript, please contact CBC for permission. Please check the corresponding audio before quoting in print. Copyright © CBC 2016

The Current Transcript for October 21, 2016

Host: Ing Wong-Ward

STORIES FROM THIS EPISODE

Listen to the full episode

Prologue

[Music: Theme]

SOUNDCLIP

JOSH BLUE: You know, people ask me if I get nervous before coming up on stage. I say heck no, I got this many people staring at me all day. [crowd laughter] I was walking downtown and the drunk tank stopped and picked me up. [crowd laughter] I was like wait a minute here fellas, there’s a misunderstanding, I’m not drunk I have cerebral palsy. They were like that’s a pretty big word for a drunk guy. [crowd laughter] This is also part of my performance, I’d like to inform you, you all are going to hell for laughing at me. [crowd laughter and applause]

ING WONG-WARD: Comedian Josh Blue, living and laughing with disability. He's just one of the guests we'll meet today in the special Friday edition of The Current, all about disability issues. Because when it comes to disability there's a whole lot of diversity, which is something society and the media sometimes seem not to get. We're aiming to change that a bit today, by changing the conversation and engaging with Canada's top politician in charge of disability issues.

SOUNDCLIP

CARLA QUALTROUGH: What I read is directly driven by the size of the font of any given book. So I walk into a library or bookstore, and I don't think gee I'd like to read something, I think what can I read. And I know that everybody that has the same level of vision as me feels the same way. And it's frustrating and it's limiting.

IWW: That's Carla Qualtrough, Canada's Minister for Sport and Persons with Disabilities, and yes she knows her fall inside and out. She'll join us to talk about her quest to draft a national accessibility law, the first of its kind. That’s in a half an hour. Also, I'll be joined by Nujeen Mustafa, in a way she's just a face in the crowd, one of millions of Syrian refugees who have fled their homes in search of a better life. But young Nujeen made her escape across the Mediterranean and through Europe to Germany in a wheelchair. And she is a pretty good idea of what she'd like to do next, head for the moon.

SOUNDCLIP

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: Germany is the most European country that has sent astronauts to the space, I think. I have a good chance in succeeding.

IWW: Her story in an hour. But we're starting with a glimpse of the future of this country and a panel of young Canadians living with a disability. I'm Ing Wong-Ward, and this is a special Friday edition of The Current, focusing on disability.

Back To Top »

Meet the next generation of disability activists 'calling for a revolution'

Guests: Sarah Jama, Elsbeth Dodman, Rana Nasrazadani

SOUNDCLIP

[Piano music playing]

I can do anything if you give me a chance.

ING WONG-WARD: That's just one of the nearly 200 voices of young people living with disabilities, who spoke up as part of a project by Ontario's advocate for children and youth. The name of the project was We Have Something To Say, and it was all about fostering some important conversations. We're going keep that conversation going with our three guests. Rana Nasrazadani is a York University student with cerebral palsy and a member of the Youth Advisory Committee with the Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth. She submitted to and helped review the We Have Something To Say report. She's with me in our Toronto studio. Elsbeth Dodman is an autism advocate and artist, as well as another member of that Youth Advisory Committee. She's also in our Toronto studio. And Sarah Jama is the Ontario Director for the National Educational Association of Disabled Students. She's in Hamilton. Hello to all of you.

MANY VOICES: Hello. Hello. Hi.

IWW: I want to start by asking all of you what your experiences have been like growing up with your disability. So Rana, let's start with you. How aware were you of your cerebral palsy or CP when you were younger?

RANA NASRAZADANI: I was aware of my CP but I never let that stop me from doing the same things as other youth. I was always trying to find ways to do stuff even if that meant that I had to do those things in other ways.

IWW: And Sarah what about you, what were your memories of growing up with CP?

SARAH JAMA: The first time I remember really having to acknowledge that I was different than everybody else was in grade one. My mom pushed for me to be interviewed in a school that didn't have anyone else with a disability and I remember coming home crying, saying the kids kept on asking me what was wrong with me. And I remember sitting on the stairs with my mom and she said, if they're asking you just explain. That was the first time I realized that even though I was six, I was in control of my own narrative. So since then, I've been perpetually aware that like, I'm the one defining what my disability looks like to people around me. I guess the most impactful moment for me was when I was in Alberta, because that was the one time where it was the system around me that was forcing me to acknowledge that I was different than everybody else. The school that I was in at the time in grade 7 tried to force me to enroll in a class with kids with autism, and I have cerebral palsy which is completely different. But because I was the only one in that school with a physical disability, they didn't really know what to do with me. And so, I guess that was the first time like, I ever experienced a sort of system around me that didn't have a space for me because of my disability.

IWW: And I want to talk about the systemic pieces in a moment, but I also wanted to bring Elsbeth Dodman into this conversation. You live with Asperger's, what was your experience growing up like?

ELSBETH DODMAN: When I was younger, Asperger's wasn't a diagnosis to be had, especially by young girls. And so, for a very long time my family knew that there was something not quite typical about me. And my first grade teacher sat down my folks and said there's something wrong with your child. We don't know what it is, but there's something wrong. And I was formally diagnosed at 14, but throughout the years between then from ages six to 14, I noticed that there was a larger and larger gap between myself and my same age peers. There were things that they could do that I for some reason couldn't keep up with. And that was very difficult because without a diagnosis to say this is why, it sort of fell on my shoulders that if I tried harder or if I just smartened up, if I just, you know, cared enough to work harder at it, I too could do the things that they did. The diagnosis gave me a sense of understanding of myself and acceptance for where my limits were.

IWW: I want to pick up on something that you just said, that, you know, the teacher indicated something was wrong, quote unquote. Now that you're a little bit older, now that you've had the experience of living with your disability, what do you make of that assessment that, you know, that the first conversation was, there is something wrong with Elsbeth?

ELSBETH DODMAN: I think it was fairly typical for the time, it's not something that I would ever label myself as or would personally agree with. There's nothing wrong with me. I'm different but I'm not less than others. I think that that was the wording of the time, because society has a very specific narrative for people with disabilities and the very specific set of thoughts on what our lives are or how we are meant to present. And that can be very damaging for us and for our families, if that's the first thing you hear from an educator or a professional. I think we need to work to change that narrative so that people don't hear those kinds of things and that people with disabilities can expect more from their lives and not be given that doom and gloom.

IWW: I'm nodding my head, and I see Rana nodding her head as well. What do you think of what Elsbeth's saying, that we need to change the narrative around disability?

RANA NASRAZADANI: I completely agree with that. In our society today there is still discouragement and negativity being put onto youth with disabilities and that really cuts short their potential.

IWW: Now, I understand that you faced discouragement when you were in high school, what happened?

RANA NASRAZADANI: High school was the lowest point of my education, especially during the last few years of high school. I experienced discouragement from educators, discouragement from pursuing post-secondary education when they felt I was ready to.

IWW: And what were people saying to you about that?

RANA NASRAZADANI: I was told that I wasn’t ready to go to university, when I was more than ready. Both with my credits, physically and I was emotionally ready to leave.

IWW: And now you're in university, you're a student at York. So what's that experience been like for you?

RANA NASRAZADANI: It's been a whole 180 degrees, where I'm not discouraged from the things that happen. I'm always encouraged to do more to my best potential.

IWW: So Sarah, when you hear these stories, what do you think, what's your experience been?

SARAH JAMA: I was severely bullied. I was one of two black people in my school in Alberta. The bullying was horrendous. It was to the point where I remember eating alone in an elevator shaft every lunch period so that I could get away from the kids that would bully me. There would be grade niners who were a few years older than me that would yell out in the hallway, she's walking like a drunk, she's in our way, get her away. It was horrendous. But when I came back to Ontario to finish Grade 11 and 12, I remember telling myself that I'd never let that level of bullying happen to me again if I could stop it. And I guess that's the thing that sort of pushed me into the advocacy realm. But yet, even then when I came back to Ontario, my high school teacher, the first question that I was asked was would I be willing to stay a fifth year, and I wasn't behind. Like, I always knew that I was capable of going to university but when educators who you're supposed to look up to pressure you into like, doing otherwise, it causes you to second guess yourself.

IWW: You know, I think one of the things that I find stunning is we've had these conversations in the disability community for decades now, that, you know, we are more than what people see and just by looking at us. And I also wonder though for the three of you, you’re young women, you know, two of you are visible minorities, people of color. How do you think that affects people's perception of you, this notion that there's an intersection of identity?

SARAH JAMA: For me it made it a lot more difficult to find a place, in terms of advocacy. I started to advocate out of frustration. It wasn't that I was passionate about but I was frustrated, and that's what made me sort of find my voice. I do a lot of anti-racism work in Hamilton, Ontario as well as accessibility and disability related advocacy. But I find that people often, even though they have a slight understanding of intersectionality, oftentimes when you're in places that affect policy, they expect you to sort of take one hat off put one hat on. And being a youth and being a black woman of colour with a physical disability, it's often as though I’m either asked to speak for everything and everyone or one issue at a time, and my life doesn't work that way. There are a lot of women of colour out there with disabilities who are silenced, because the narrative of disability right now is you'll see a lot of older advocates who are often white men. And so, oftentimes I find that it's difficult to prove that I know what I'm talking about or that I can wear multiple hats at one time and I don't have to segregate what I'm talking about at a certain time.

IWW: So Sarah, I'm wondering what your experience has been when it comes to self-advocacy at your university at McMaster.

SARAH JAMA: So I started literally out of nowhere. I remember my math class in first year not being physically accessible, at the time I was using my power chair. So I did what I was taught to do in high school, you're taught to go to student accessibility services because they are the end all be all with regard to accessibility on campus. And I went there and they said oh we switched your room, so I went back to my prof and told him that they got a new room and he threw his hands up and said oh no I've taught in this room for years, I'm not going to switch classes. And at that point I started to question OK, if the system in place that's supposed to be supporting me doesn't work, what do I do? And I realized I wasn't taught the skills to not just ask for help but to self-advocate. And so I was so frustrated by the end of that that I decided to run for a seat on the student representative assembly, essentially student council. I got elected by the skin of my teeth and I was able to push the student union into, actually I wrote their first ever accessibility policy. And I was able to push them into creating a service Maccess, which essentially was the first service on campus run by students with disabilities for students with disabilities, that's supposed to teach self-advocacy skills and provide peer support so that students on campus like, would never have to just ask for help but could learn how to advocate. And I really believe that this has to be taught at a younger age.

IWW: Elsbeth, I see you nodding your head in agreement. What's your experience been as a young woman, as someone who was not diagnosed until a bit later in childhood simply because Asperger's doesn’t seem to be a quote unquote girl's disability?

ELSBETH DODMAN: In some ways the difficult part has been getting people to listen to you because of your functioning level. Because people will say well, you're very high functioning, you're not like my son, he's very low functioning and people have had difficulty with the idea of functioning labels. And so people challenging you because you can't be qualified to speak for autism because you're so high functioning. And that can also be turned around and has been on people who are quote unquote lower functioning, because they may not speak in a way that is part of the standard language or part of the standard narrative and therefore people may ignore their advocacy. And I feel like that's been one of the more challenging parts. In many ways I've been extremely lucky because most of my stuff has been fairly well received. And I think that that's in part to that white narrative over people of colour, and that needs to change because disability is very broad and people with disabilities come from all over.

IWW: Yeah. And I think what you're reflecting upon is that there is a hierarchy of disability, that some disabled people are defined as being more worthy. That's not what disability advocates themselves or ourselves promote, but that exists where some are more worthy and some are considered less worthy. And you're right, that is something that needs to change. I do want to get back to the We Have Something To Say report for a moment, Rana. So you looked at the submissions yourself, you were part of that team that looked at the submissions. What patterns did you see emerge in terms of what people were asking for?

RANA NASRAZADANI: Looking at the submissions, it was a complete eye opening experience because I could see so many different stories but every story had overlaps with each other.

IWW: And so, what do you have to say about disability rights and what's missing after you've looked at these 170 submissions. What do you think needs to be part of the conversation?

RANA NASRAZADANI: I think that we have all these voices but there needs to be better ways to have action put into place, because there's all these voices from people but how are they going to be heard if nothing is done about them?

IWW: So Sarah, I'm curious to know what you think. How willing are people to listen to youth with disabilities and to hear the ideas that you want to put forward?

SARAH JAMA: I think people are willing. Oftentimes growing up with a disability, your experiences are very individualized. You're not taught that you have a history, that you belong to the movement, that you belong to, like, a country where women with disabilities used to be sterilized. Or where we used to institutionalize and that's going on to an extent, people with disabilities. You’re not taught that disability as a whole is a lot bigger than your individual struggle in the moment and I think that's very isolating, and it's very, it takes away your power and your ability to push for space. I think once we start teaching youth at a younger age that these things are happening around us and that we are part of communities and that our voices matter, all of a sudden teachers who tell us that we can't graduate on time are less powerful. I think the earlier we start to educate youth about disability rights, the less we feel like we're asking for help when really we're pushing for our right to space. Does that make sense?

IWW: It absolutely does, there's no question, I'm nodding my head in agreement. [chuckles] So I am curious for all three of you. You know, you’re at a stage of life where you're in early adulthood, you know, where do you see your lives developing or how do you see your lives developing over the next several years? And you know, where do you think disability rights, what role does disability rights play in this?

ELSBETH DODMAN: For me right now, the autism spectrum has an 80 per cent unemployment rate. And so, my future is rather vague. We're trying to create jobs, trying to get myself, I'm trying to with the help of my mom and my dad, who are my primary caregivers, to get assistance on finding and creating jobs, as well as working on building skills, like executive functioning skills so that I can get by in an adult world. It can be terrifying because when you look at an 80 per cent unemployment rate, that's huge. And I think one of my worries for myself and my other friends on the spectrum is that the change will come too late for us. That we need to be the generation we're waiting for. We need to work to show that we can be an asset, not the token disabled person hired in a company, not a charity case, that we are valuable employees, that we are valuable in society. And by the same token, I don't think that I want to wait and spend my life waiting for society to recognize my value, I should be of value now as I am.

IWW: It sounds like you're prepared to take a leadership role. Rana what about you, do you relate to that?

RANA NASRAZADANI: Yeah, I completely agree with that, because if no one states that there's an issue or a problem then the lesser chance it is going to be fixed or it's going to take longer to fix.

IWW: And Sarah, what about you, what's your main focus right now?

SARAH JAMA: I don't just want to be a disability advocate or an anti-racism activist. I want to be someone who can holistically push for systemic change. And I haven't exactly figured out how to do that [chuckles] other than like, waving a red flag or calling for a revolution, right? But I want to be the type of person that figures out how to work outside of systems and within systems to push for systemic change as a whole. And I think right now I’ve developed a little bit of a taste for politics, so I might be treading that path and maybe someday running for city council, we’ll see.

IWW: Well, I have to say after speaking to you, I am optimistic as a middle-aged disability rights advocate, because I look to you as the future and I think the future of the disability rights movement in this country is in good hands because of people such as yourself. So thank you very much for speaking with me today.

MANY VOICES: Thank you so much.

IWW: Rana Nasrazadani is York University student. Elsbeth Dodman is an artist and autism advocate. They were with me in our Toronto studio. And Sarah Jama is the Ontario Director for the National Educational Association of Disabled Students. She was in our Hamilton studio. If their experience resonates with you, let us know. Tweet us @TheCurrentCBC, find us on Facebook or e-mail from our website cbc.ca/thecurrent and click on contact. The news is next. Then Carla Qualtrough, the Federal Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities joins me to talk about her work drafting Canada's first national accessibility law. I’m Ing Wong-Ward, and you're listening to a special Friday edition of The Current focusing on disability.

[Music: Extro]

Back To Top »

Minister Carla Qualtrough says Canada's new disability act will 'make history'

Guests: Carla Qualtrough

ING WONG-WARD: Hello, I'm Ing Wong-Ward, and you're listening to a special Friday edition of The Current focusing on disability.

[Music: Theme]

IWW: Still to come, Nujeen Mustafa endured a journey few of us can imagine. Traveling as a refugee from Syria across the Mediterranean and through Europe to Germany, and she did it all in a wheelchair. She'll join me in half an hour. Before that, we'll talk about putting disability on TV and having a few laughs with comedian Josh Blue. But first, legislating accessibility, because it's 2016.

[Music: Theme]

IWW: Early in the show we heard from a panel of young disability activists about what accessibility means to them. Well, that's exactly the sort of conversation my next guest has been having with people right across this country. Carla Qualtrough is the Federal Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities, she is also legally blind. And she has been carrying out a consultation process with the aim of creating new accessibility legislation for Canada. Minister Qualtrough is with us from Vancouver. Hello.

CARLA QUALTROUGH: Good morning, thanks for having me.

IWW: Thanks for being with us. So you are the first ever minister responsible for Canadians with disabilities. What is the federal government acknowledging by creating this cabinet position?

CARLA QUALTROUGH: Well, I think it's sending a strong signal to Canadians just how important disability and accessibility issues are to our government.

IWW: Now, you yourself are a person with a disability, you're a former Paralympian and an accomplished individual. How do you intend on advocating for Canadians with disabilities? Do you feel pressure as a person with a disability to really represent here?

CARLA QUALTROUGH: I'm not sure pressure, but I certainly feel the weight of the responsibility. It's an incredible honour and a huge opportunity and I'm taking a couple of different approaches to my position. So first of all, the number one priority in my mandate letter is to create accessibility legislation, or what we were formerly calling it Canadians with Disabilities Act. And the idea there of course, is to create some kind of proactive legislation that will create some standards or guidelines of we're not quite sure what legally it will look like, but the idea being is that we're going to set expectations on businesses, service providers and program deliverers on what an accessible Canada should look like. So that's the more public side of it and behind the scenes of course, I sit at the cabinet table as a full cabinet minister, and I see my job as making sure that I provide a disability or accessibility lens to all the decisions that cabinet contemplates.

IWW: Yeah, and I think it's very important, I think, what many people don't necessarily realize how important it is to have the voice at the table. I did want to ask you how accessible and supportive do you think Canada is for people with disabilities today?

CARLA QUALTROUGH: You know what, I think it depends on the exact area you're talking about. I think we do some things really well here in Canada and I think in other areas we have some work to be done. Like for example, I think we have as an outlet for addressing and funding a matter of redress when people are discriminated against. But ultimately, we have to wait until people are discriminated against before we can help them. So there's no kind of proactive systemic way legally for people to have issues of accessibility addressed. You know, I think we have strong attitudes around inclusion and equity when we talk about the way we want to be and when we talk about values in Canada, but sometimes that doesn't translate into opportunities for communities with disabilities.

IWW: So you mentioned, you know, that there's room for improvement. What do you think could be improved?

CARLA QUALTROUGH: Well I think, you know, systemically there is a huge onus or a burden, I would say, on individuals to pursue more systemic complaints. So if I see a barrier in a bank for example, you know, it's a barrier that anyone with my disability would face but it's up to me to pursue it, it takes a long time. You know, we have to wait till the barriers identified before we as a system can go and try and make it better. I'm hoping that some proactive legislation will allow organizations and the government to go into that bank before it gets to the point of exclusion. And then, we have examples right? We have the Americans With Disabilities Act, we have an Ontarians With Disabilities Act, so we have some 25 year old legislation in the States and 10 year old legislation in Ontario that really gives us some guidance in terms of the directions we could take, and of course there’s other international models. But I think it's an incredible opportunity to learn from what was done well in those cases and what we can improve upon to really get this right and make a difference.

IWW: As you know, in the province of Ontario where I live, where I'm speaking to you from, there are many people who feel that the Ontarians With Disabilities Act has not been as strong as it can be, that enforcement is an issue. So I wonder if you're looking at a federal act, how do you deal with some of those issues around enforcement, to make sure that you get people on board with the need for this kind of legislation?

CARLA QUALTROUGH: I think what we have to do is figure out, you know, the carrot and stick. How much of a carrot do we want to give and how much of a stick? And I don't want to get us in the business too far along of compliance, as in hiring people to go out in and challenge businesses and what have you. But at the same time, we need to hold businesses and groups accountable for legal requirements with respect to accessibility. So I think we need to have enough incentives, have enough kind of efforts on the attitudinal change and on incentivizing side that people, you know, people understand the business case for accessibility and inclusion. People understand their obligations but at the same time have sufficient consequences that if that doesn't happen, we can go and, you know, make it better. You know, and one of the interesting options I've heard from groups is some kind of accessibility commissioner who could go out and report on the overall access levels of our country and be that advocate for accessibility to government, hold government accountable for accessibility. And I find that model interesting.

IWW: Mmhmm. Now, lack of accessibility is just one of the most visible barriers that people with disabilities in the country face. But you pointed out that there are systemic issues. And I know some advocates are concerned that, you know, focusing on physical accessibility takes away from issues such as housing, such as employment. We are living in a country where after decades of discussions around the capabilities of people with disabilities, we still have a 70 per cent unemployment rate in this country. So how do you deal with those larger systemic issues that aren't so visible?

CARLA QUALTROUGH: Thank you for asking that, because I should clarify that when I say accessibility, I mean broader than just physical access. You know, what some people might call inclusion. So as part of our consultations, we're doing an employment roundtable, a transportation roundtable, a procurement roundtable. So trying to get at the broader systemic issues of, you know, of exclusion. And the reason we have chosen right now to use the word accessibility and of course, you know, as many people as there are, there are different words out there to describe the same thing. But, you know, using the notion of inclusion seems broader and a little more vague. And of course, you know, you must understand that the language is a working title if you will, but we are very deliberately going beyond the physical access both in what we're consulting on and what we intend to put in the law, to recognize exactly what you're talking about. I spent many years before this job working as Chair of the Employment Accessibility Committee in BC, and it's the biggest barrier. What I hear from people the most, what I hear from Canadians the most is that they can't find work. And Canadians with disabilities, pardon me, is that they can't find work and they have the skills, and we want to work. And so, for me a lot of what we're doing always comes back to is, will this create better employment opportunities?

IWW: And we know that that is one of the significant barriers in this country.

CARLA QUALTROUGH: Absolutely.

IWW: And now, you've been, you know, you and your staff have been holding consultations across the country. As you well know as a federal cabinet minister, this is a diverse country and people with disabilities are a diverse population. How are you going to meet the needs of varying interests? Rural, urban, people who are disabled and belong to minority groups, visible minority groups, people who have issues around poverty. How do you balance all these issues?

CARLA QUALTROUGH: It's a big challenge and we're very alive to it. You know, it's by its very nature, the kind of change we want is individualistic. It will, you know, ideally address the individual needs and respond to the individual circumstances of a singular person. Designing a system that responds to individual needs flexibly is tough. And that's what we're trying to do, I mean, we're alive to it, people have made really interesting suggestions throughout the consultations. Again, I'm not sure where we'll land in terms of how we draft the law. So, you know, will it be more aspirational and more enabling, coupled with regulations? Will it be more prescriptive and kind of entrench a disability policy? All of that is still in the development phase, it's actually really exciting to have the opportunity to not be tethered to anything and just build something new and innovative from the start, learning from everything we've seen around the world.

IWW: As you proceed with these consultations with yourself and your staff, what has surprised you? Because you’ve worked in the field of disability rights for a long time, what has surprised you as you've heard from people?

CARLA QUALTROUGH: It's a good question. You know, sometimes I sit in a room of advocates and activists and organizations and families, and I think of how far we've come in terms of, you know, what we have managed to achieve even in my lifetime. And at other times I sit back and I think, I heard similar submissions 20 years ago when I was first in law school, I heard it ten years ago, I heard it five years ago. So sometimes what surprises me is we are still tackling the same issues we've been tackling for decades. What I think is interesting right now with the political will we have with, you know, how far Canadians have come and their attitudes toward equity and inclusion, with the kind of momentum around the world, is we may have an opportunity now that you need to actually address some of these problems.

IWW: So given that we know some of the larger issues, and as you point out, some of these issues have been with us for decades now. Is there such a strong need then to have such a broad based consultation?

CARLA QUALTROUGH: Well, you know, yes, I'd say absolutely. Partially because we've never done this before in Canadian history. We've never actually gone out and done a national consultation, and so history tells us that most of these decisions have been imposed and nobody's been consulted. You know, people who have been thinking about this for their entire lives and have been waiting for an opportunity to be heard. I mean, they've said it before but now they're being heard. And I think it's really important to have built that momentum that comes with just the very fact that we're holding consultations and that everybody's perspectives are being sought out.

IWW: Now, we have about a minute and a half now, but I wanted to ask you a more personal question. You and I, I would say we're not typical in that we have jobs, good paying jobs, we are two women with our families of our own. I, like you, am a parent. And I wonder how do we, you know, how do we shift things so that more people with disabilities have the same kind of opportunities you and I have had, so that we're no longer outliers a generation from now?

CARLA QUALTROUGH: Well, first of all I completely agree with you, that we are lucky but we are in the minority. And, you know, it's a question that weighs heavily on me as I more regularly than I care to admit, remind people, you know, respectfully, that I'm the exception to the rule, I'm not the rule. And I think what we need to do is fundamentally shift the conversation around disability issues in this country. So what my not so secret agenda in having these consultations is to raise this profile of how we even talk about disability, not about charity, not about lending a hand, not about welfare, or all the things, you know, the medical kind of model, charitable paternalistic model that we have that we've butted our heads against for so many years. And talk about economic participation and full citizenship and just the notion of being Canadian and just shifting the conversation to more contribution focus, not handout focus, I guess is the best way I would say it. So just having a discussion and taking the opportunity to even harmonize our own federal government disability policy to reflect economic participation and full citizenship for all of us.

IWW: On that note, I thank you very much for joining us this morning.

CARLA QUALTROUGH: My pleasure.

IWW: And I look forward to seeing how the consultations and the legislation unfolds.

CARLA QUALTROUGH: Well, I thank you for your time and thank you for doing this. It's a very exciting time and I'm convinced we're going to make history here.

IWW: I believe that as well.

CARLA QUALTROUGH: [laughs] Thank you.

IWW: Carla Qualtrough is the Federal Minister of Sport and Persons with Disabilities. She was in Vancouver. Well, now we'd like to hear from you. Do you have a disability? What do you think the federal government should know about your life? How accessible, inclusive do you find your hometown? Let us know. Tweet us @TheCurrentCBC, tweet me @IngWongWard. Post on the story on The Current’s Facebook page, or email us by clicking on contact, at cbc.ca/thecurrent. We are committed to making The Current accessible to a wide range of Canadians. Since February, we have been posting daily transcripts to make the show available to people who are deaf or who are hard of hearing. Transcripts are available every day by 5:00 pm at cbc.ca/thecurrent.

[Music: guitar folk song]

Back To Top »

Comedian Josh Blue says new show Speechless isn't 'delicate' about disability

Guests: Josh Blue

ING WONG-WARD: I’m Ing Wong-Ward and you're listening to a special Friday edition of The Current, focusing on disability, here on CBC Radio One. Moving on now from lawmaking to laugh making.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: loud rock music playing]

VOICE 1: He’s all there upstairs and he’s got a thing about staring. That’s the finger.

[Sound: whistling song]

VOICE 2: We’re moving.

VOICE 3: To here?

VOICE 4: I-t, it, s-u, sucks. It sucks.

VOICE 5: This will won’t be the sixth goal in two years.

VOICE 6: Because I found the perfect situation for your brother. It is full time aid, someone who’s going to be by your side.

VOICE 7: A voice.

VOICE 8: Is my new voice guy cool?

VOICE 9: Well, it’s a she, and--

VOICE 10: JJ, [screaming], hello sugar.

VOICE 11: I was thinking I’d call you J tizzy.

VOICE 12: Oh yeah, don’t do that.

IWW: That's a clip from the new TV comedy Speechless. The show has been getting rave reviews for its realistic portrayal of family life when one member of the family has a disability. Speechless is also being praised for having a disabled lead character who is actually played by a person with a disability. Josh Blue is a stand-up comedian who has been promoting Speechless. You may remember him as a past winner of NBC’s Last Comic Standing. He has cerebral palsy, Josh Blue joins me from Denver, Colorado. Hello.

JOSH BLUE: Hey good morning, how are you?

IWW: I'm well, thank you. So for people who haven't seen Speechless, tell us a little bit more about it.

JOSH BLUE: Well, it starts out seeming like it’s about a kid with cerebral palsy, which is pretty ground-breaking in my opinion. But then you find out it’s show about a family and how they all interact with a disabled family member. I think they did an amazing job with it. It's not delicate, which of times people are too delicate with disability, when in fact, it's a very raw and real thing.

IWW: When you refer to shows being delicate about disability, what do you mean by that?

JOSH BLUE: Well, a lot of times people look at a disabled person, like, whoa, oh that poor person, instead of seeing them as a human, they see them as a disability. First of all, we're humans and then we're disabled after that. So we're just like you, we just have a different way of getting to the answer, [laughs] if that makes sense.

IWW: Yes. I am also a person with a disability, so I relate exactly to what you're saying. So I'm curious you pointed out that this is initially a show about a family. When you watched the show and you see this young man JJ growing up with a disability, going to high school, dealing with his siblings and his parents, how much can you relate to the experience that JJ has?

JOSH BLUE: Well, it’s amazing, every episode I'm like hey, did I write that? That is pretty much down to the T. You know, I was one of the first disabled kids to go through public school in Minnesota. It was definitely an uphill battle. You know, my mom was much like JJ’s mom, who would have to go down to the school and bust heads. I mean, I'm pretty sure she made quite a few of my teachers cry. [laughs]

IWW: [laughs] And maybe they deserved it, who knows, right?

JOSH BLUE: Well, the thing is, is I don't think people are usually mean for the sake of being mean, it’s like that they just are ignorant to a different way of life. Yes, I’m in a class with all these able bodied students and they're able to write, and then I’m in there not able to write, but I'm able to get to the answer. It just took people a long time to realize that we don't have to put everyone in a mould of what is acceptable. What’s really cool too is I mean, in that show JJ has an aid that goes class to class with him, and I actually had the same thing. I have trouble writing and reading, so the aid that they provided for me was an amazing woman. Her name is Rosa-Marie Daniels from Mississippi, a large black woman, a very strong person. So it's kind of like going to school with my big black mom. [laughs] Pretty intense.

IWW: [laughs] And what was that like?

JOSH BLUE: I guess I look at it like, the only things that I wasn't able to do were probably bad things. [chuckles] You know, I wasn't writing notes to the girls in the desks next to me. I’ll be like OK Miss. Daniels can you tell Susan to meet me at 2:00 and then she’d slap me, pay attention boy.

IWW: [laughs] It's unfortunate that you didn't have a smartphone back then because then you could just text the girls automatically, right?

JOSH BLUE: Exactly.

IWW: [chuckles] So I want to get back to the show Speechless for a moment. Why do you think the show is significant to people who have disabilities?

JOSH BLUE: Well, it's giving us a voice. I would say even up to like, maybe five years ago, if this show even had a chance then they probably would have hired an able-bodied actor to play the role of a disabled person, which is ridiculous. It's hard enough for disabled people to get acting jobs without able-bodied people taking them.

IWW: Why do you think it is problematic that non-disabled people are acting disabled?

JOSH BLUE: Well, for one, as an actor, I know that I'm not going to be stealing any able-bodied roles from any able-bodied people. This industry is pretty tough because even if I do ever get, like, they want me to be on a TV show, they’re like oh we need somebody with x disability, let’s bring Josh Blue in. And I’m like well, does this character have spina bifida and cerebral palsy too? Because I can’t unact that.

IWW: [laughs] Right.

JOSH BLUE: You know, and the other thing is a lot of times when we are cast, kind of a degrading role, they want you to play up your disability or stutter or make it seem worse than it is. And I know that’s called acting, but also let's be realistic about who we are, you know?

IWW: Yeah, and I think a lot of people want a fair portrayal. That's what many of us are essentially asking for. But let's talk about your work for a moment. Much of your stand-up routine relates to disability issues. Let's take a listen to some of your stage performance.

SOUNDCLIP

JOSH BLUE: You know what I’ve learned along the way is that a lot of disabled people, we don't like to be called inspirational. We call it the I word because it's offensive to us. [crowd laughs] I know you think you're being nice, like, oh you're so inspirational. But what we hear is, man if I was you I’d have killed myself. [crowd roaring with laughter and applause]

IWW: Now I have to admit, I'm laughing out loud and clearly people are laughing with you. But for the most part do you think people who are not disabled get what you're trying to say here?

JOSH BLUE: Well, that joke is very jarring to people, I think, because they never even think about that sort of, how we feel about you putting us as an inspirational person. I mean, I had an old joke too about that, like, I was walking down the street the other day and someone comes up and goes it’s just so inspirational that you're out.

IWW: Ah.

JOSH BLUE: I'm like, I'm on my way to the liquor store, is that inspirational?

IWW: [laughs]

JOSH BLUE: They don't expect that's how I feel about them, what they view as giving me a compliment.

IWW: Mmhmm.

JOSH BLUE: It’s actually pretty offensive.

IWW: [chuckles] Do you ever feel that you're educating as well as trying to entertain people?

JOSH BLUE: Yes. You know, I've always felt like I'm not trying to beat you over the head and say this is my message. I want you to leave my show with a different perspective of disability, whether you realize it or not. I'm just showing you how the large majority of disabled people feel about the way you talk to us or, you know, you talk slow to us. It's just so condescending that people just assume that because my body moves differently that I’m also not capable of understanding my world around me.

IWW: Mmhmm. We've been talking about portrayal of people with disabilities and, you know, Speechless, as many people have pointed out is groundbreaking for a number of different reasons. But, you know, how hopeful are you that in the future we'll see more people with disabilities cast in more Hollywood productions. You know, maybe as a romantic lead, maybe as a superhero, maybe as the person next door who just happens to have a disability.

JOSH BLUE: You know, the disabled community is the largest minority group on the planet. So I don't know why it’s so taboo. Another thing is it's the only minority group that you can join at any time.

IWW: Well, on that note I'm going to thank you for your time today and it was really great to meet you on the radio.

JOSH BLUE: It was my pleasure. Thanks for having me on.

IWW: Josh Blue is the comedian with the new comedy special on Hulu called Delete. He was in Denver, Colorado. Coming up in our next half hour, the incredible story of Nujeen Mustafa who traveled from war torn Syria to Germany as a teenage refugee in a wheelchair. I’m Ing Wong-Ward, and you're listening to a special Friday edition of The Current, focusing on disability here on CBC Radio One.

[Music: Extro]

Back To Top »

Teen Syrian refugee recounts journey to Germany in wheelchair

Guests: Nujeen Mustafa

ING WONG-WARD: Hello, I’m Ing Wong-Ward and this is a special Friday edition of The Current, on disability.

SOUNDCLIP

[Sound: babies crying and anguish]

IWW: The sounds of refugees arriving on the shore of the Greek island of Lesbos, after a perilous journey in a crowded rubber boat. My next guest was one of the many Syrians who had to make such a journey after she was forced to leave her country. Nujeen Mustafa is a teenage girl who traveled from Syria to Germany with her older sister. The journey took 16 months from Turkey and the deadly crossing of the Mediterranean Sea to Greece, through Macedonia, Serbia, Hungary and finally to Germany. And since Nujeen Mustafa has cerebral palsy, she did it all in a wheelchair. Nujeen Mustafa is the author of Nujeen: One Girl's Journey From War Torn Syria in a Wheelchair. And she is in Cologne, Germany. Good morning.

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: Good morning, good afternoon it’s here.

IWW: That's right. So you were living in Aleppo with your family when the conflict first began. How old were you?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: I was 14.

IWW: And what was daily life like for you at that point?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: When the war broke out, initially there was a lot of fear. We feared that the military is going to break into the city and that the way out would be blocked. Bombing on the countryside started earlier, so we would hear the sounds and then I thought of it, that could be 14 and die. Though I have faith in God, whatever God decided I was willing to accept. So I was ready to welcome death if it came to me.

IWW: That's extremely intense for someone who's 14 to think about that. At what point did you realize that you're going to have to flee Syria for a safer place?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: There is a lot of fear and generally there's nothing on the horizon for us. You know, my brother used to say that his friends who had not seen him in a long time had called him a walking dead. We all looked so pale because of the stress, we were just not dead but still not alive, you know. And it was hard for our parents to make the decision of leaving Syria, but we just figured out that we had to do it.

IWW: Now, you are a person living with a disability. How concerned were you about making this kind of journey to leave a country that's being bombed? It's not a linear destination, it’s not a simple destination.

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: I had more childish approach on it. I thought of it as opportunity and as an adventure, as some kind of practice to what I would face in the future when I get to Germany. [unintelligible] if I pass the sea, I would just get there and I only had to leave my doorstep. And I was sure that we are going to get to Germany, no matter what.

IWW: Now, you know, I recall reading in your book that when you were growing up in Syria, as a person with a disability, your life was fairly isolated. Can you tell us what day to day life was like? Did you go to school, for example, were you able to leave the house easily?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: I never attended school, unfortunately. We lived at the fifth floor without a lift, so that was hard. And I barely left home. But I do not consider my childhood as a miserable one. I was happy to be who I am and I surrounded myself with this circle of my family who trusted me and did not judge me as the rest of the society did. I pretty much didn't like going out because I thought I know what was going on on people's mind. Not much is expected from you when you are disabled in Syria. So I said they must be pitying me and I hated that feeling. So I almost always surrounded myself by people who trusted me and tried to maintain my self-confidence.

IWW: So clearly you're a strong willed person and, you know, if readers read your book they'll find out that you're also a very curious person. How did you connect with the outside world when you were living in such an isolated way?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: Pretty much the TV and what I had seen. If I couldn’t develop myself physically, I made up for that with mental development. You know, if I do not learn something new, the next day I would just feel awful about myself, you know.

IWW: Yeah. And I have to say even though our lives are very different, you know, I too am physically disabled and I've focused on my intellectual development as opposed to my physical development. I want to get back to, you know, to your method of learning. I understand that you learned English by watching Days of Our Lives. How did you do that?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: I did. It just came along I was interested in the story at first. And I kind of found out that I had this gift too, I had a good ear initially. And I wanted to be a teenager, I wanted to remember that when I got older, instead of ISIS, you know. There are much better to remember than remembering ISIS and the war when you are a teenager. So I was just seeking this normality of my age. The show was a great distraction from the war, I think. And that’s why you may notice in the book that there are pretty childish stuff describing the show. So I wanted to be a teenager, I don't want to grow indifferent to things. You know, when you are in wars, you tend to grow indifferent to things you used to love. You know, I wanted to still care about things I loved like soccer. It still mattered if Barcelona lost, you know.

IWW: You know, you obviously connected to the world and tried to live as regular a life as possible when all this was going on by watching TV and reading books. But when you actually set out on the journey to make it to Germany, what was going through your mind about what you were seeing and what you were experiencing, because the circumstances are so extraordinary no matter who you are.

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: When I saw all of this misery they have surrounded by all the refugees, I wondered if I ever did the right thing by staying positive or not. But then I would pull myself together and say this is not wrong, you should be happy, and this is not my fault. And I felt in a way that this was unfair, I mean, this was not my fault. So I just try to maintain hope and stay happy, though I sometimes felt guilty about it when I saw other people suffering.

IWW: Now, your first stop out of Syria was Turkey. What did it feel like to leave your country when you when you actually made it into Turkey? And there you are, what did that feel like?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: I think to go to Turkey was a really tough decision to be made. And when we did it, it felt a bit like Syria was heaven, even though I know that there was a war. But you grew nostalgic and you sort of keep the good scenes in your mind. And as a Kurd initially, we were treated not in a bad way, but you still feel that you are unwelcome, that you are someone everyone wants to get rid of.

IWW: Now you reunited with some family while you were in Turkey and then you and your family had to find a way to get across to Greece. What challenges did you personally face as someone who uses a wheelchair, in terms of getting across the Mediterranean?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: In a way, that was a reminder of who I really was, because in theory I had this regular life. I had my family’s support and I felt like a normal person back then, I had this normal childhood. So that actually reminded me of who I really was and how my condition really was and that I was different from everyone else. And to be forced to take such a heavy thing as a wheelchair with you just because of me was unpleasant feeling, I felt like an obstacle. And that's that's not a good feeling at all. But then I said well, you know, you're not an extra number in the world's population, you should not wish yourself to be dead just because of some difficulty and that you deserve better. You deserve better Nujeen, so stop it. Stop blaming yourself.

IWW: How willing were people to bring, as you point out the wheelchair was very heavy. How willing were they to bring it on board to a boat that was, you know, that was not exactly the most sturdy in many cases.

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: They said that they were afraid. And some even freaked out, but they knew that I needed the wheelchair, so we have to bring it with us. In a way I felt, OK, sometimes you have to be selfish. It's not going to go another way, you know. It’s not going to work.

IWW: So, you know, eventually you cross, you enter Greece. But I wonder for you at what point did you realize that you were now a refugee, that you were not just a Syrian, but you had this new label attached to you?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: The crossing itself sounded plausible because it's, like, either there was death or life, you know, or a total new life, so it sounded plausible. It looked like some kind of a good scene and a good script for a story. So that sounds plausible. And when I got to Greece of course, the volunteers helped. Everything seemed ready for refugees, so I said OK, the differences is already obvious. Being a refugee sounded great at the beginning, because like people are helping, they were treating me like a human. But then when it gets stuck with the registration and get interrogated, that was an unpleasant feeling. So I feel like second class citizen, it’s not.

IWW: And now, what does the word refugee mean to you now?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: It means someone everyone's trying to get rid of it. So I'm a guest and I love to tell everyone that. If you ever had the chance, we will gladly go back. We are not eager to learn European languages.

IWW: I wanted to ask you Nujeen, you know, how challenging just traveling through all the countries that you did, what kind of physical toll did that take on you?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: Well, you are always tired and sleepy all the time. I got bruised under arms and I had to make sounds just to cope with the pain. But I always told myself that OK, this is going to be soon over and you’re going to miss what's happening now. So I just try to enjoy the experience, so you don't regret it later.

IWW: It must have taken a lot though to, you know, it's a tough journey, it's a painful journey, you're in a wheelchair that didn't fit you and yet it sounds like it felt very important to you that you try to enjoy the journey. Why was that so important?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: Because I know I would have, as I said, I would have regretted had I not done that. I would have regretted and told myself later OK, why didn't you look around at the landscapes. Why didn't you look around at the mountains? Don't you remember how beautiful they looked, and the sunsets, oh it looked beautiful in Slovenia or Croatia, or whatever.

IWW: And, you know, for much of the journey it was you and your older sister Nasreen. How did you two work together, how did you make this journey together that was so hard relying on one another?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: I think the age gap between me and her became most obvious during the journey. Because she is like always serious, it was obvious that she was having really big difficulty, and I was like the teenager, I was just having fun. So after [unintelligible] for her, she must have felt the weight of this responsibility that she had, especially during the crossing. And I think the fear, the anxiety of everything that might happen, especially getting fingerprinted must have been heavy on her. So I pitied her, but I just couldn't keep fear, I couldn't stop myself from feeling different, from feeling happy and excited about the experience itself.

IWW: And now how is your family doing? Where is your family located now?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: Well, they live near Cologne in a small apartment. It looks like a Barbie house, I like it. So we just have our daily routine and Nasreen attends a German course, she is trying to learn German. I try to help her sometimes but I'm totally impatient. I'm a perfectionist so when her pronunciation is bad I just get mad at her. [laughs] For me, I'm going to school, I'm just doing homework, I’m developing an interest in psychology, I like it, I really do.

IWW: And the rest of your family, because you have many brothers and sisters and, you know, you have your parents. Where is everyone?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: Three other siblings of ours are in Germany. They’re also trying to learn German but that sounds hard. And they are completely jealous, and I always say how life was much easier before everyone thinks that I was some kind of genius in languages, which I'm not.

IWW: [laughs]

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: So, but they're just happy that we are together and that life is going on, you know.

IWW: Your parents are still in Turkey, you have one sister in Syria. How concerned are you for them?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: I am concerned. As for my parents, I think that this distance between us is really hard for us both emotionally and physically in every way. But I was just happy to give them some kind of relief that they should not worry about me anymore. And that they know now that my future is assured and that I will attend school and study and do whatever I wanted. As for my sister, of course I am worried about her. You feel so powerless and you’re always worried and you don't know what to do about it. So you only have to pray and have faith in God that things will end up well, you know, that she will be safe.

IWW: I hope so too.

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: Mmhmm.

IWW: So what are your plans now? You just said that, you know, you see yourself as a guest, so how do you see yourself in Germany?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: [sighs] I'm currently trying to be a good ambassador of the refugees and to look and behave German-like, and would do my best to be number one. That's what I like about Germany, they are pretty conscientious and they're perfectionists, and so am I, so I try to be number one in everything I do. I've tried to seize this opportunity. I don’t know if you know this but I think Germany is the most European country who has sent astronauts to the space, I think. I have a good chance, I have a good chance in succeeding. So I only have to do my best.

IWW: So that’s your dream, right? To become an astronaut, is it?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: Yes. And I have also plan B, which is continue writing. I think I love the experience of writing a book. So if something goes wrong with Plan A, Plan B is already there.

IWW: So tell me how different your life in Germany is to your growing up? Germany as far as I understand is reasonably accessible as a person who uses a wheelchair. It's supposed to be easier to get around. Attitudes towards disability are perhaps different than they are in Syria. So what's your life like now?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: My life is absolutely normal. When I grow up, I'm going to get a job or try to go to university and study physics and just do my homework or whatever. But I think I have matured in many ways because of what happened in Syria and because of the journey. You know, I have learned to appreciate what I have because not everyone in the world is as lucky as I am, so in fact I do not complain about the daily routine I have.

IWW: So what about school. You're in school, now what's that experience like?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: At first it is intimidating and it's some kind of crushed my imagination about school, because I have always thought that I'm going to go to some Arabic school and not German. German schools are more practical and I like the German system, I really like it. I was pretty well-received in the German school, and I am pretty thankful for the style of the language is that I learned so fast and am able to communicate. But what I liked the most about this experience is that when you are in a new society, and new surroundings you tend to prove yourself worthy. My tutor still complains that I don't take breaks, that I always do homework, and that I'm always like really precise with things, overdoing stuff. So I think that's an advantage, when you are in new society, you tend to prove yourself worthy.

IWW: Do you feel additional pressure because you are visibly disabled? Because I know no matter where you are in the world there's often an assumption that people with disabilities aren't as smart or aren't as competent. Do you feel pressure to show that you can do things?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: I do think so and I think that the fact that what made me different from anyone else in the world was so obvious that I became some kind of perfectionist. I didn't want to make any mistakes because you tend to make up for everything else, you know.

IWW: So what have you learned about yourself through all of this? Through the journey, through settling in Germany and now writing this book, what do you think you’ve learned?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: I think I've learned that you never know what you are capable of doing until you try. So I now believe in myself even more than I used to. This experience with the book was I think awesome, that is the word for it, because I've always wanted to do my part in making this world a better place.

IWW: And what do you hope people take away once they read your book? What do you hope that they take away from what you've been through your experiences as both a refugee, as a person with a disability, as a young woman?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: I would love for people to realize when they are finished that refugees are not that scary and not aliens to be afraid of, and that they are people. And that if you look different, it's OK. You are a special in every way. Just being alive is a blessing. So be happy, you know. Even if you are surrounded by misery, stay optimistic and this isn’t wrong. Don’t be buried alive, just stay alive in every sense of the word.

IWW: I have one last question and that is about the labels that have been placed upon you, refugee, disabled. And I wonder for you, now that you've had this journey, and time to think about what you've been through, how would you define yourself? How would you define who Nujeen Mustafa is?

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: Nujeen Mustafa is a human being, she belongs to the humanity. She’s a Kurd and really proud of it. Nujeen Mustafa is happy with who she is, she loves herself. She loves everyone else as well. Nujeen Mustafa is sometimes eccentric, but she likes it. Nujeen Mustafa loves to be happy, loves to go crazy, Nujeen Mustafa loves life and loves the whole world. And just has a different approach on everything that is happening.

IWW: Well, I think we are very lucky to hear from you Nujeen Mustafa, and I really want to thank you for your time today, for sharing your story with us and for speaking with me.

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: I’d love to thank you too. And maybe you could voice some audio books here, your voice is awesome.

IWW: [laughs] Thank you. I guess I have another career waiting for me.

NUJEEN MUSTAFA: OK.

IWW: Nujeen Mustafa is the author of Nujeen: One Girl's Journey From War Torn Syria in a Wheelchair. She was in Cologne, Germany. That's our program for today. And thank you for listening to the special Friday edition of The Current, focusing on disability.

[Music: guitar strumming]

IWW: As Canadians we pride ourselves on our diversity. People with disabilities as you have heard today are part of this diverse fabric. Our issues haven't always been heard, but that's starting to change. I hope you've enjoyed hearing the range of stories we've shared with you today, from people living lives on their own terms. It may not fit a conventional norm but they embody the spirit of independent living. Their innovative view of the world helps make our communities stronger. As a proud member of a strong and vibrant community of people with disabilities, it's been my honour to share some of our perspectives with you today. I'll leave you with a song that was written to honour the legendary artist and disability icon Frida Kahlo. Coldplay’s Viva La Vida.

[Music: Coldplay]

IWW: I’m Ing Wong-Ward, thanks for listening.

Back To Top »

Provide Transcript Feedback

CBC would like to acknowledge the support of the Broadcasting Accessibility Fund.

October 21, 2016 full episode transcript

More Stories Like This