Good morning, Portia. Thank you for having me.

It's wonderful to see you. First: Why did you want to create this series Disability Debunked?

Throughout my 32 years of existence, I've noticed that people have a lot of misconceptions about disability or view us in a certain light that isn't true. So, it's not because they're like mean or, you know, anything like that. It's just they don't know. They don't have that knowledge. So as an educator I thought, it was my responsibility to give them that knowledge and I think this was a good way to do that.

It sounds like you had a lot of misconceptions to debunk.

Yes. I got asked by an adult if I slept in the chair. I was like no, no I don't do that.

And then people in the grocery store come up to me and say, you know, 'You're so brave. If I was disabled like you, I'd kill myself.' These are random strangers that I do not know, so we are viewed as pitiful. As somehow suffering. You know, I call it the Tiny Tim trope. You know, they view us as poor little disabled people who like, can't do anything. And that's not true.

Many of us, we contribute in a lot of different ways. And we are perfectly capable of living full, productive lives. The only thing that holds us back are the misconceptions or our society and the societal oppression that we face every day.

And so, you know, just hearing some of those questions that you get asked.
I mean, what's the, what is the tone that you've decided to go for in the podcast? Because you, you could be irritated. You could be.

I am very irritated. But again, these people are saying these things not to be mean or rude. They're saying these things because they simply don't know. So the ignorance is something I can combat. And so that's what I'm chosen to do here. So I take a very, I don't want to say neutral because that's not correct, but, you know, I view it as they don't know any better so it's not their fault. And it's my job as an educator. But it's not every disabled person's job. But I have chosen to be an educator. And for those of us who have chosen to be educators, it is our job to educate and combat that ignorance. So this is one of the many ways I've been able to do that.

And do you hope that maybe somebody else won't get the question?

Exactly. That's the whole point. If I can answer the question, then somebody in the grocery store who's just like minding their own business and trying to buy their broccoli won't get it.

Yes. Vicky, why don't we listen to episode one?

Absolutely.

According to the UN Declaration of the Rights of Disabled People, Persons with Disabilities include those who have long-term physical, mental, intellectual or sensory impairment, which, in interaction with various barriers, may hinder their full and effective participation in society on the equal basis with others.

I have chosen to use this as my definition because it is inclusive and does not limit it to people with official diagnosis. And if it's good enough for the international community, it's good enough for me.

The second term I would like to find ableism.

And I'm afraid I'll have to use my own definition for this, because there is no singular definition that I can find that is endorsed by any particular body. To me, it is a set of beliefs and systems that prohibit people with disabilities from reaching their full potential and their ability to participate in society.

I've been turned away from jobs because of my disability, I know I have.

They didn't say it outright, but you know, they needed volunteers to teach conversational English to immigrants.
And all you had to do was sit in the library for two hours a week and have a conversation with an immigrant and ask them questions. And I was like, it's good they were in English. I learn about their culture. It gets me out of the house once a week. I'm being a good citizen. And then when I went to do the interview, the lady told me that she wouldn't hire me because as a person with disability, immigrants would not be comfortable working with someone with their disability.

I didn't know what to say. It's my first time with blatant ableism. I don't want to go where I'm not wanted.

Most people don't even know they're doing it. Because it's been so engrained.

I'm one of the only positive portrayals of somebody with a disability that I've seen on the news.

Everything else is a sob story. And I mean they tried to do that with me when I first did this work, but I had to prove to them, as I do in any neurotypical able-bodied space, that I deserve to be there, that I'm capable of being there, and that I am just like everybody else.

If there's a person with a disability that you want to help or a group of disabled persons you you wanna help, don't go in and be the able-bodied saviour.
Go to those groups and go: I'm here to help. What do you need me to do? It's the golden rule.
Treat people the way you wouldn't want to be treated.
And if you have questions, ask. Be respectful about it, but ask.

You know what? Gen-Z gives me hope. The generation coming up after me is way less ableist. They're way more accepting of difference of all kinds.

They know that people are just people. The kids are going to be all right. The world is going to be alright because these young people get it. They don't just act like they get it. You can tell they get it, and they get how important these things are.

Vicky, thanks for being here. I'm looking forward to your next episode.

Thank you so much. I hope everybody liked the first one.