Joeita speaks about "Affective Ablenationalism" with Anastasia Todd from the University of Kentucky.

SUMMARY

An in-depth conversation about disability and ablenationalism, exploring how disabled individuals are often coded as able-bodied in the imagined community of the nation. 

Using the story of Trevor Maroshek, a former Navy SEAL, and his service dog, Chopper as a case study, we examine the concept of service dogs as a technology of rehabilitation, allowing disabled individuals to fit into the able-bodied norm and the white American nuclear family, the veneration of Chopper as a national hero and the role of military dogs in securing the nation state. Looking at the real-world implications such as confusion about the rights of people with service dogs and the discrimination they face.

Guest Bio: 

Anastasia Todd is an Assistant Professor of Gender and Women's Studies at the University of Kentucky. Broadly, her research investigates the intersections of disability and girlhood from a feminist disability studies perspective. Her forthcoming book, Cripping Girlhood (winner of the 2022 Tobin Siebers Prize for Disability Studies in the Humanities), is interested in what happens and what it means when certain disabled girl subjects gain cultural recognition and visibility as “American girls, too,” to use the words of Melissa Shang, who in 2014 created a viral Change.org petition imploring American Girl to create a disabled doll of the year. The book explores the promise and peril of this newfound cultural visibility for select disabled girls. In examining representations and self-representations of disabled girls and girlhoods across the mediascape at the beginning of the twenty-first century, spanning HBO documentaries to TikTok, Cripping Girlhood uncovers the variegated ways the figure of the disabled girl is imbued with meaning and mobilized as a spectacular representational symbol. Cripping Girlhood also explores how disabled girls, more than symbolic figures to be used in others’ narratives, circulate their own capacious re-envisioning of what it means to be a disabled girl. The book uncovers the cultural and political work that disabled girls’ self-representational practices perform, from cultivating disability community through generating intimacy online, to affirming the value of care labor and interdependence across the species barrier.

Highlights:

• Show Open (00:00)
• Introducing Anastasia Todd (01:59) 
• What is Ablenationalism? (02:27)
• History of Reliance on Service Dogs (07:00)
• Technology of Rehabilitation (08:36)
• How does the story of Chopper Perpetuate the Nation State? (10:53)
• The State of Veteran Mental Health and Wellbeing (16:40)
• Reciprocity in Service Dog Relationships (19:23)
• Service Dogs as Saviors (23:10) 
• Show Close (28:13)

Links:

Pre-order Cripping Girlhood (University of Michigan Press, 2024)

Her new research project, in collaboration with Heather Switzer (WGS, Arizona State University) explores the intersection of invisible disability and young womanhood through creating and analyzing an archive of invisible disability narratives. As a cripistemological intervention, the project seeks to expand disability studies by taking seriously bodyminds that experience ableism yet have an uneasy and tenuous relationship with disability as it has been conventionally defined—that is, as physical, unchanging, and visible.  

Anastasia Todd. 2023. “Cripping Visibility: Re-presenting Disabled Girls and Girlhoods.” NEOS. 15(1).

Anastasia Todd. 2023. “Affective Ablenationalisms and Interspecies Entanglements.” Disability Studies Quarterly. 42(3).

About The Pulse:

On The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta brings us closer to issues impacting the disability community across Canada.

Joeita Gupta has nurtured a life-long dream to work in radio! She's blind, moved to Toronto in 2004 and got her start in radio at CKLN, 88.1 FM in Toronto. A former co-host of AMI-audio's Live from Studio 5, Joeita also works full-time at a nonprofit in Toronto, specializing in housing/tenant rights.

Find Joeita on Twitter: @JoeitaGupta

The Pulse airs weekly on AMI-audio. For more information, visit https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse/recent_episodes

Learn more at AMI.ca

Connect on Twitter @AccessibleMedia

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Joeita speaks to Paralympic Cross-Country Skiier and gold medalist Natalie Wilkie. This is the third of a three part series profiling the 2023 inductees to the Canada Disability Hall of Fame.

Synopsis

This episode of The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta and guest, King Clancy Award winner and Paralympic cross-country skier, Natalie Wilkie discuss parasport and determination, highlighting the achievements of Paralympic athletes. The perception of people with disabilities as objects of pity has been shattered by the competitiveness and sportsmanship displayed in Paralympic games.  Despite facing a life-altering accident, Wilkie returned to skiing just two weeks later and went on to win gold, silver, and bronze medals at the 2018 Paralympic Games. The interview explores Wilkie's journey, including her introduction to the parasport and the challenges and strategies involved in cross-country skiing. Additionally, Wilkie shares her passion for painting, photography, and training horses.  

Episode Highlights:

• What It Means to Be The Recipient of the King Clancy Award (2:50)
• How Natalie Got Her Start in Cross Country Skiing (3:46)
• Participating in the Paralympic Games (8:39)
• The Differences Between Para-Cross-Country Skiing & Able-Bodied Skiing (9:40)
• The Draw of Competition (12:18)
• Achieving Positive Work-Life Balance (14:03)
• The Impact of Natalie's Legacy on People with Disabilities (20:17)
• Life Aspirations Going Forward (22:24)

About

Natalie Wilkie burst onto the international scene at the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games. At age 17, she was the youngest member of the Canadian team.  In South Korea, Wilkie prevailed over her more experienced rivals to take a much-celebrated gold in the women’s middle distance standing. She followed that up with bronze in the sprint and silver in the mixed relay.  As a result, she received the Canadian Paralympic Sport Award for Best Paralympic Debut by a Female Athlete.  Wilkie lost four fingers on her left hand in an accident during woodwork class at school in 2016.

Team Canada Profile Link

About The Pulse

On The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta brings us closer to issues impacting the disability community across Canada.

Joeita Gupta has nurtured a life-long dream to work in radio! She's blind, moved to Toronto in 2004 and got her start in radio at CKLN, 88.1 FM in Toronto. A former co-host of AMI-audio's Live from Studio 5, Joeita also works full-time at a nonprofit in Toronto, specializing in housing/tenant rights.

Find Joeita on Twitter: @JoeitaGupta

The Pulse airs weekly on AMI-audio. For more information, visit https://www.ami.ca/ThePulse/recent_episodes

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

Email feedback@ami.ca

Synopsis

This episode of The Pulse, host Joeita Gupta is joined by Canada Disability Hall of Fame Inductee, Michelle Stilwell.  Together they discuss the intersection of sports, politics, and disability. The role of sports in social inclusion for people with disabilities is highlighted. Michelle also discusses her transition to wheelchair racing and her involvement in politics as a member of the Legislative Assembly in British Columbia. She emphasizes the importance of representation and policy influence for people with disabilities. The interview concludes with a discussion on the need for increased employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities.

Link:

https://paralympic.ca/team-canada/michelle-stilwell

Episode Highlights:

Introducing Canada Disability Hall of Fame Inductee, Michelle Stilwell (1:57)

Significance of Being Inducted to the Canada Disability Hall of Fame (2:56)

Getting Started in Wheelchair Basketball  (4:00)

Representing Canada Internationally (6:40)

Medals in Other Sports (9:19)

Training for Wheelchair Racing (10:46)

Financial Barriers to Parasport (12:10)

Career Highlights (13:07)

How Can Sport Prepare you for Politics? (17:02)

Proudest Accomplishments in the Legislature (18:10)

Another Run for Office? (21:12)

Feelings on Evolution of Disability Rights and Inclusion in Canada (21:50)

Hopes for Disability Inclusion in the Future (24:40)

Advice for Others Facing Significant Injuries (25:56)

About Michelle Stilwell

Michelle Stilwell is the only Canadian woman to win gold medals in two sports at the Paralympic Games. She and the Canadian team won gold in women’s wheelchair basketball at the 2000 Paralympic Games in Sydney. Stilwell also won gold in women’s wheelchair racing at the 2008, 2012 and 2016 Paralympic Games. From 2006 to 2016, she was the fastest wheelchair racer in the world in the T52-class; she currently holds world records in the women’s 100 m and 200 m. She also served as a BC MLA for Parksville-Qualicum from 2013 to 2020.

Reference:  

https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/michelle-stilwell