『Visible and Invisible Disability: with Jennifer Chassman Browne and Dr. Arielle Dance』のカバーアート

Visible and Invisible Disability: with Jennifer Chassman Browne and Dr. Arielle Dance

Visible and Invisible Disability: with Jennifer Chassman Browne and Dr. Arielle Dance

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On this episode, I had the pleasure of talking with two remarkable women: Jennifer Chassman Browne, a lifelong educator and author currently finishing her book See Us Know Us: Profiles of Disability, and Dr. Arielle Dance, an award-winning children's book author, poet, and disability advocate. Both women are contributors to Jennifer's book project, and our conversation ranged from the very different experiences of visible versus invisible disability to storytelling as a tool for advocacy, to what real allyship actually looks like. ON With The Show Watch On Youtube Listen On Podcast Players When a Disability Becomes Visible Later in Life Jennifer was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis at six years old, at a time when almost no support systems existed for children with the condition. For most of her life, she was able to keep it largely hidden — managing medications, braces, and doctor's appointments privately while the outside world saw only her professional accomplishments as an educator and school leader. That changed in her 40s, when her disability became physically visible. She described the shift starkly: the same people who once reflected back her competence and expertise now approach her first by asking if she needs help — as if her capability had changed overnight, when nothing about her had changed at all except what people could see. Finding Community Through Access Needs Dr. Dance's path looked different. Diagnosed with endometriosis at 15 and living with an evolving list of chronic conditions including fibromyalgia and past blood clots, she described herself as someone whose disability is invisible to most people who meet her — she still dances, still shows up, and still "looks fine" to the outside eye. Her real entry into the disability community came in college, when a lack of air conditioning in her dorm (a serious issue for her as an asthmatic) landed her in disability housing. That single accommodation opened the door to a whole community of students who taught her she could request the things she needed — extensions, extra time, whatever her situation required — language and permission she'd never had before. Jennifer, by contrast, grew up without that kind of community at all, and didn't find one until she sought it out as an adult. Both women agreed on something important: disability isn't only about diagnosis, it's about encountering a world that wasn't built to include you — physically, procedurally, or socially. Storytelling as Advocacy Jennifer explained that See Us Know Us grew directly out of her disability advocacy and DEI training work, where she noticed something consistent. People connected far more with personal stories than with statistics or policy arguments. The book combines narrative biographies, professional portrait photography, and original poems built from deep, focused conversations about each contributor's lived experience with disability — a three-part structure designed to help readers see the whole person, not just a diagnosis. Dr. Dance's own writing is similarly personal. She's working on a novel and an essay anthology inspired by her grandmother, who died of breast cancer at 34 — before Dr. Dance ever had the chance to meet her. She also writes for the disability advocacy organization Diversability, where she works to amplify stories from across the disability community, including many experiences she'd never encountered before joining that work. The Fight to Keep — and Expand — Access Dr. Dance was direct about the current moment: much of her advocacy work right ˆnow is focused on protecting hard-won gains from Section 504, the ADA, and the Olmstead decision, rather than only pushing forward. She pointed to real threats to in-home support services and the qualifying thresholds tied to them — support that many people depend on simply to get out of bed, get dressed, or show up for remote work. On the employment side, she talked about how outdated job requirements — like a "must be able to lift 50 pounds" line dating back to 1953 — can disqualify capable candidates for tasks that rarely come up and could easily be handled by someone else on a team. She also advocates for giving every candidate interview questions in advance, framing it not as an accommodation but as basic fairness: you wouldn't ask someone to take a test without telling them what's on it. Dr. Dance also shared advocacy work from her role at the American Cancer Society, where her employee group recently helped push out research on delayed cancer screenings for disabled patients — often due to inaccessible equipment like mammography machines that can't accommodate a wheelchair, or providers who simply lack the equipment to perform an exam safely. Accommodations That Already Help Everyone One of the most memorable moments of our conversation was Jennifer describing a training session where she asked a room full of people whether they used closed captions ...
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