Reid My Mind

Audio from 1944 On the Air: History of Radio Broadcasting
“Coming to us out of the sky, the familiar voice of radio brings endless hours of entertainment, information and cheer.” (“cheer” echoes and fades off)

Music Begins: A trumpeting melodic riff that opens to an accompanying piano loop that leads into a smooth inspiring Hip Hop track.

TR:
Over the past few years , this podcast has received a lot more attention.
I’ve been invited on panels, other podcasts and even interviewed for articles in the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.

Ok, mainly in regards to things audio description, but the podcast gets mentioned.

Whenever I talk about the podcast I use the full name of the show; Reid My Mind Radio.

For some reason, many people seem to refer to the podcast as Reid My Mind… no radio.

This podcast, doesn’t exist without the radio.

— Sound of an FM radio tuning through multiple stations and coming to a stop.

Reid My Mind Radio began because I was creating original content for the Gatewave Radio Reading service in New York City.

To access the reading service, you had to have a special radio receiver.
I wanted to share the content with others outside of the service so I just put these audio files up on my already existing blog called Reid My Mind.
I figured anytime I added the audio files I’d just title it Reid My Mind Radio… it sounded better than Reid My Mind Audio.

I didn’t really intend to make it a podcast because there was no real focus at the time.

Well, I wasn’t focused.

When I did decide to make it a real podcast, I kept the name. It sounded cool to me.

I’m your host and producer, Thomas Reid and this is Reid My Mind Radio.

Today, (chuckles) this is just something for the radio!
Simultaneously, “This is just something for the radio.” Biz Markie
— “This is something for the radio.” Biz Markie

— Reid My Mind Radio Theme Music

TR:
When making that theme music, I chose to use the Radio from the Crash Crew, Hi Powered Rap. But I had others to choose from.

— A quick collage of songs with radio in the title:
— “I can’t live without my radio!” LL Cool J “I Can’t Live Without My Radio”
–“Said it on the air, on the radio, a woh ohh ohh ohh, on the radio” Donna Summer “On the Radio”
— “Video killed the radio star.” The Buggles
— Sound of song coming to an abrupt end!

TR:
Yeh, maybe not the last one. Hmm, just not funky enough for me. No hate!

Radio is not just a means of getting information, entertainment and more but
it’s also about actively using our imaginations.
It was audio description before there was a name for it.
News, sports entertainment all delivered via radio, well Blind people and the rest of the hearing public enjoyed a shared experience.

Radio was the way we discovered new music.
I remember having a tape ready to record that song I fell in love with or the Friday and Saturday night mix shows.
Chuck Chillout, Marly Marl.. and of course… Redddddd (Said in the famous style of Red Alert)

From a 1986 Red Alert Radio Show on 98.7 KISS in NYC
— Sound of a explosion followed by a deep voice announcing “DJ Red Alert! The song “P is Free” Boogie Down Productions

Some of y’all know what I’m talking about.

This was the time when I had aspirations of being a DJ. Not necessarily the jock or the announcer, but more so the DJ cuttin, scratchin’ blendin’ mixin!
— “Cuttin and scratchin are the aspects of his game!” RunDMC, Jay’s Jam

When I eventually began sharing my Gatewave productions on the blog, I can’t say that I consciously thought of any of this.

Reid My Mind Radio just came to me. And unless I change the name of the entire podcast… the radio is here to stay.
— “Radio, radio, radio” From On the Radio, Donna Summer

Reid My Mind, the blog, began in 2005.
I learned how to use my screen reader and other access technology.
I was no longer doing any sort of development work and I wanted to learn more about Content Management Systems, CMS.
I enjoyed writing and thought a blog would be a good place to share some of my experiences becoming Blind as an adult.

A friend one day said something like “What’s on your mind T?”
That led me to think about how often it felt like folks were asking me that same question.
I thought to myself; “I should just write it down and then point anyone to the blog who really wants to know.”
Giving them access to what I’m thinking or inviting them to read my mind…

The blog began with some commentary on my experience but I don’t think I was ready to share at that time.
I didn’t really know what I was feeling. I’m sure a lot of that would have been rants about how I was perceived in public spaces.
Some of that could have been the difference in how I was treated by friends and family following blindness.
All of these things have value, but it felt more like a rant that I preferred to keep private.

There’s nothing wrong with sharing these experiences, but for me it’s about doing so creatively and
in a way that can be of help to others.

that’s why podcasting and content creation in general by those with disabilities is so important.
Whether we’re talking to one another or to those outside of the community, our voices, I mean all of our voices are valuable.

Over the years we have and will continue to support disabled podcasters in various ways.

That could mean bringing other podcasters on as guests when it fits the theme, but I hope to show support by featuring some promos.

This year, I’ve had the pleasure of being invited to guest on other podcasts and talk about audio description, podcasting and even share some thoughts on being a Blind Dad. Some of you may know, I’m always ready to talk about my girls. In fact, some would say I often find a way to bring them into my conversations on just about anything.

True!

Shout out to all of those podcasts who invited me on their platforms.

On that note, I need to apologize for a mistake in the last episode.
I incorrectly referred to Lisa Bryant’s podcast as whitestick Connect.
It’s actually White canes Connect.

— “White Canes Connect” theme music begins

shout out to whiteStick Music Fest in Australia! I guess they were on my mind!

— “Hey there PA Federationist, welcome to another episode of White Canes Connect. My name is David Goldstein, I am the Treasurer of the Keystone chapter. Joining me today is co-host and Keystone chapter Second Vice President Lisa Bryant.
— Sound of tape rewinding
— From a past interview
Lisa in conversation with Thomas: ” I cannot not ask you, about the AD illuminati.
Thomas: Hearty laugh. Is it real?
Lisa: You have to talk about this.
— Transitional sound
— Lisa: White Canes Connect… Bye everybody!
— David: Thanks everybody, take care.
— White Canes Connect theme music

Shout out to Chad over at Hindsight is 20/200
Chad: On social media please go To Twitter @unsytedradio. That’s @unsytedradio. And make sure you’re following on Anchor, Spotify and apple podcast. Just search for hindsight is 20/200.
Ambiguously Blind Podcast theme music
Hey, Hey, Hey, it’s John Grimes. Host of the Ambiguously Blind Podcast where we are challenging beliefs and revealing abilities that make people extraordinary. Check us out wherever podcasts are found and at ambiguouslyblind.com

TR:
While it’s not officially a podcast…
— Clip from This Ability Clinic
— “Welcome to This Ability Clinic…”

TR:
big shout out to This Ability Clinic on YouTube with Dr. Stephanie…

— Clip from This Ability Clinic
— Dr. Stephanie: “I’m a Rehabilitation Doctor that specializes in Pain Medicine. But you’re here for the lepidopterist aren’t you?

TR:
Well no. You probably don’t know what that is if you never watched the film the Kingsman.

— “You’re here for the lepidopterist ain’t you?”
Dr. Stephanie:
So the disability that gets the most screen time in the Kingsman movies is Harry’s traumatic brain injury.

TR:
See Dr. Stephanie does these cool movie breakdowns where
she for example points out what’s real or not about medical situations in film.

— Clip from This Ability Clinic
— Loud gun shot) “Is he dead?”

Dr. Stephanie:
Yes, this should have killed him!”…

TR:
Other breakdowns include disability in films as well as interviews
with a bunch of disabled folks from different backgrounds.
She’s a doctor who understands that disability goes beyond the medical model.
She has a really cool edit style and a great personality.

— Clip from This Ability Clinic
Dr. Stephanie:
I’d agree with that!
“Harry’s like a computer that needs to be rebooted.”

Dr. Stephanie:
Harry’s like a computer that’s been shot in the hard drive point blank
— The Theia Show theme music.
TR:
Shout out to Jude Esposito in the UK.

— Clip from The Theia Show
Jude: “Welcome back to the Theia Show”

TR:
Jude’s a part of the family and is a young podcaster himself. he’s in high school and I think we’ll see big things from this young man…
Check out his podcast called The Theia Show.
TheiaForAll.org
— Clip from The Theia Show
Jude:
I think we’ve really hit so many different aspects of the conversation and I’m so thankful that we were able to make this happen finally. Thanks for coming on!

See you soon!
— The Theia Show theme music

TR:
It doesn’t cost you anything to give them a listen:

— The Theia Show theme music ends.

TR:
One night, in 2014, I came across an application for the Association of Independence In Radio New Voice Scholarship.
It was only a few hours before the application deadline.
I listened to the voice inside that told me to go for it.

I got it!

Going for it was a gut reaction that honestly I don’t remember even questioning.
It was as if I knew it was for me and I just had to complete the process.

Mind you, I’ve felt that way multiple times since and let’s just say it wasn’t a success
But that’s ok, it wasn’t for me.

Becoming a New Voice Scholar set off a series of events that led to the opportunity to create original content for Gatewave Radio.

— Clip from Gatewave Radio episode.

Ever since, the opportunities continue to present themselves in ways I never even thought about.

Among them, my guests. I’ve had the chance to talk and build with really cool people doing cool stuff.
Occasionally, I’ll see articles online about someone doing great things or getting an award or receiving a new position and
I’m like, hey that’s R double M Radio Fam! I love that!

Many have become dear friends and colleagues on other projects.

Music Transition, A melancholy piano loop.

Unfortunately, we lost one of our RMM Radio family brothers this summer.
One of the original Holman Prize winners, Ojok Simon past away.
I don’t really know the details of his passing, but
I do know that his work teaching other Blind brothers and sisters in Uganda
how to support themselves and their families with through Bee keeping and farming honey will continue to benefit his community and others around the world.

When I think of Ojok, I always remember the part of our conversation when he told me how much he enjoyed the process of getting honey. Specifically, it was the praise he received from his grandmother…
It inspired me to just put that audio over a beat…

“Ojok:
I love eating honey, I want to get praises”

TR:
That always makes me smile!

Rest in peace King!

Music comes to an end.
Music begins, a bass synth pulsates and builds into a driving energetic Hip Hop groove.

TR:
Hearing from listeners is a big benefit for me.
You know listeners like you are all over the world. Africa, Australia, New Zealand , Asia…

— “All of the Massive” KRS1

TR:
Did you know, an episode of Reid My Mind Radio titled, Let Me Hear You Say Black Lives Matter” is a chapter in a disability studies text book being used in universities.
Big shout out to Prof. Tanya Titchkosky and all those involved in putting together Disappearing: Encounters in Disability Studies. FYI, we’re chapter 4… let’s go!

No bragging, I’m truly sharing with y’all because you rock with the podcast.
You take time out of your day to listen which means you believe in what’s taking place here.
I’m just trying to let you know, others rock with your choice too. And I appreciate you all!

Every year, around the holiday season, I start to feel the effect of producing the podcast. I get tired and start to contemplate bringing it to an end.

I used to raise the idea to my youngest daughter as we chatted over dinner or cleaning up the kitchen together. She insisted that I should keep it going. I’d ask why but she didn’t really explain past, no you should keep it going.

I wonder if she could articulate that more today.

Call Raven:

Siri: A raven is several of any larger body birds…

TR:
What? I didn’t ask you that!

Siri:
… shall I continue?

TR:
No. Call Raven.

Siri:
Calling Raven Reid Mobil

Raven:
Hello

TR:
Hello

Raven:
Hi

TR:
Hey! You got a quick second (Laughs

Raven:
Yeh, what’s up?

TR:
I’m recording you right now. This is for the podcast.

Raven:
Oh gosh! (Giggles)

TR:
Laughs…

Raven:
I’m nervous!

TR:
Laughing…
Back in the day, (sings back in the day)
Remember when I would say anything about…

Raven:
You would say a lot.

TR:
I would say something about… (laughs)
stopping the podcast.

Raven:
Yes, all the time.

TR:
It wasn’t all the time but toward this time of year.

Raven:
Too often.

TR:
You would tell me not to.

I want to see if you have something articulate to say as to why. If you don’t have anything articulate to say I won’t put it in there.

Raven:
Laughs.

TR:
So why did you always say no, keep the podcast going?

Raven:
Well I think that the podcast has been more influential than you think and and I feel like you get to talk to a lot of cool people. You enjoy editing. I feel like you do enjoy this in general and like it reaches people. So I always thought you should keep it going.
Plus how am I supposed to get money for transcripts. Laughing….

TR:
I wanted the truth.

Now for those Dad’s out there I’m just saying, if you have more than one daughter and you include one on your podcast, you better make every attempt to include the other.

Hey Siri Call Riana

Siri:
Calling Riana Reid iPhone

Riana:
Hello

TR:
Hello sweetie how are you? It’s Daddy I’m recording you right now. (Laughs) For the podcast.

Riana:
Ok, is this my big roll

TR:
Riana didn’t have much to say on that subject because honestly she was never a part of that conversation. She was away at school when Raven and I would be talking about that. But I gave her an opportunity and asked her to just give me one of her favorite moments of the podcast.

Riana:
My favorite thing that I enjoyed about the podcast… (long pause)
I got nothing.

TR:
Well apparently my wife and I raised two brutally honest children.
— Sitcom stinger music

I’m not done yet, but I have to figure out where Reid My Mind Radio is going and how I’m going to get it there.
In order to do that, I need to do some work. That’s in addition to the other work and life and life and life.
Please, keep rockin’ with me! Stay subscribed or following the podcast.
I can say for certainty, I’ll be back next year with Flipping the Script on Audio Description.
I’m pretty sure I want to produce some bonus episodes.

If you’re someone who really cares about audio description,
you’ll be interested in some new additional content that will soon show up in the Reid My Mind Radio feed.
We call it Blind Centered Audio Description Chats or BCAD Chats.

The audio we’re sharing are edited versions of these audio description conversations that take place on Twitter Live, Linked In Audio and possibly some other live platforms.

They began from conversations between Nefertiti Matos Oliveras, Cheryl Green and myself.
We’re joined by Scott Blanks and Scott Nixon. AKA, the “Two Scotts” One of them is from Down Under. Come check it out, you’ll figure out which one it is.

I’ll be dropping those in the feed under a separate “season” in order to distinguish from R double M Radio content.

If you’re into the Flipping the Script on Audio Description, I think you will enjoy these edited versions of the live chats. Consider joining us live because that’s where it all really goes down! Check the blog post for this episode that will link you to the different ways of staying updated on the live events.

Allow me to wish you all a very happy holiday season.
The absolute best in 2023 – whatever that means for you.
As long as best for you doesn’t mean keeping someone else down, then I’m good with that.
Riana:
Hi, this is Riana Reid. Allow me to introduce the 2022 Reid My Mind Radio Rap Up!

— Music begins, This is Something for the Radio, Instrumental, Biz Markie

TR talking (Filtered Voice)

Hmm! What goes better with the holiday season then a rap up!
It’s been a minute since I’ve done one.
But before I get into the 2022 seasons…
I’m gonna talk my talk!

TR Rapping:
We got a brand new hit from T R E ID
dedicated to the R double M family
For those new here, and paying attention
I want to take some time just to mention
My brothers and sisters who’ve been on this scene
rocking with a brother since 2014
There’s a lot of podcasts, many come and go
But ain’t nothing like Reid My Mind Radio

TR talking (Filtered Voice)

I don’t usually talk that huh!
But the success of this podcast is all about the guests
Yes, I make it funky, but it’s the guests.
Now if you will allow me 8 more bars
I want to get out my feelings
— DJ Scratch… “Yo!”
TR rapping…
Ok, my name, means a lot to me
I spell it every episode, R E I D
So if I do an interview or a panel presentation
Mess up the podcasts name, feel my frustration
It ain’t personal so I don’t assign blame
but I want to yell out,… Sample: “Put some respect on my Name” Birdman
But I play it cool, cause my Daddy told me so
But please don’t forget my radio!

TR talking (Filtered Voice)

Ok, I got all that off my chest…
Time for the wrap up and some shout outs
Three seasons in 2022
Plus bonus episodes…
But it all starts with the guests…

TR Rapping:
They come on as guest, then become fam
Marguerite kicked it off she’s like “Here I am”
Brandon Orlando Eron, just a few
Disabled Gamers, yeh, We Game Too!
She made Puffin out of nothing accessibility
Tell em’ your name… , , Adriana Malozzi
Closing the season called Doing Your thang
, Question Blind & Famous, “Gang, Gang”
— In a filtered voice, TR talking…
I need you all to understand, I’m not playing…
I’m tired of people thinking disability needs to sound like x y or Z
Update your perceptions son
it sounds like him, her, they and me!
Y’all goin’ learn today!
aight, let me chill!
—
The Access Lab, Prof. Arselli & Salima
AD in the making with Cheryl Green ahh!
Blind in AD, why the controversy
Nef, shouldn’t have to tell you; “We are worthy”
Ok, lemme chill, we should really move on
AD in Fashion, “Natalie Trevonne”
AD in Spanish, I got something for ya
Flipping the script con La Professora

TR talking (Filtered Voice)

Don’t get it twisted,
I have fun, but I take this AD thing seriously.
It’s why we drafted the pledge for cultural competency
People out here trying to hold back Blind people from working in this industry?
I see you!
People say their for diversity… well, put your money where your mouth is…
YGBD, Let’s go

TR rapping!
Disaster Prep with disability in mind
Justice shorter, Young gifted Black & Blind
self description with Haben Girma
Can’t describe yourself, why not learn bruh
The year’s almost up we don’t have much time
Marc Safman advocating for the Deafblind
Closing out the year, all ladies no misters
Lisa, Heather , supporting our sisters
— TR in filtered voice talking…
To the entire RMM Family,
I appreciate you and thank you sincerely for rocking with me!
Salutes!
I want to send a big shout out to :
Annie Are You Ok, our social media Maven… hooking up that FB and IG
both @ReidMyMindRadio
, appreciate you sis,
Shout out my guy Tony Swartz, he came through on the editing help this year…
Salutes…!

My daughters… Raven, helped out with transcripts
Riana, one of my biggest supporters

My wife…

Marlett, helps out with graphics

Ah man, Daddy loves his babies!

Remember, we’ll be back in 2023!
Tell a friend, the catalog is outchere
Stay rockin’ with Reid My Mind Radio wherever you get podcasts.
We have transcripts and more at ReidMyMind.com
Just remember… you know what?
Let’s do it like this…

— “Check this Out” RunDMC

R to the mother funky E I D!
I said it’s the R to the mother funky E I D
I said it’s the R to the mother funky E I D
I said it’s the R to the mother funky E, I, D
— Sample: (“D! And that’s me in the place to be.” Slick Rick)
Like my last name!
“This is something for the radio.”
— Reid My Mind Radio outro
Peace!

Hide the transcript

Sample:
As we proceed…

[HipHop beat comes in]

TR:
With this latest season of flipping the script on audio description, we’re adding to the list of responses to the question: “how can we improve AD ?”
Hopefully, those who are in the position of creating AD or AD policy here and accept these critiques as they’re meant to be received. AD is really getting more attention and thought.

I’m seeing signs that perhaps we’re in the early part of moving past the stage where we need to convince broadcasters and other content providers that we’re deserving audience who should be valued.

Well, hopefully moving into more conversations where AD consumers and providers themselves are looking at the quality of the end product. I’m not saying this for us to get comfortable. We have a long way to go. It’s like we were in surgery. And now we’re being moved to the ICU. We still need to be monitored pretty closely. But at least we can start making some plans for the future.

My name is Thomas Reid, and I am not a doctor. I never even play one on TV. In fact, I don’t even know where the stethoscope goes. I am, however, the host and producer of this HERE podcast which by the way, technically means I make house calls. Welcome to Reid My Mind Radio yall. Lets get it.

Natalie01:35
Hi, my name is Natalie Trevonne, and my pronouns are she and her. I am a African American woman with brown skin, short black shoulder length hair with blue gray eyes, and I have on a white sports bra and orange FUBU joggers, bringing it back to the 90s because I’m on my way to rehearsals, dance rehearsals later, I am an actress, a model, a dancer with infinite flow Dance Company, a fashion and beauty accessibility consultant, and co host of the podcast fashionably tardy, and I am the marketing and PR lead for blind Institute of Technology.

TR in Conversation with Natalie: 02:19
Tell me a little bit about how you became blind. And again, I’m not looking for your whole medical history?

Natalie02:25
No, you’re good. I was diagnosed with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis when I was one. My doctors had said, the inflammation that causes this disease could affect your, your other organs, like your kidneys, your eyes are part of your organs, right. So it was something that we knew could possibly happen. But we just didn’t know when, at 11 years old, I started to develop cataracts and started to see like these thick clouds kind of attaching themselves to my lenses. It was hard for me to read, I ended up getting glasses, got a couple of surgeries, things were good, I could see pretty well.

TR: 03:01
Through her high school years. This was a continuous process: surgery, some vision restored, then more loss.

Natalie: 03:07
I think I just got tired. I could keep going in and out of the hospital. Or I can learn to live with this disability and find some type of joy in the midst of what’s going on. And at least half peace. KI think I’m super blessed because although like my vision is bad, my arthritis isn’t bad. There are days when my bones ache, but for the most part, I’m able to be pretty active without it being an issue

TR: 03:34
With no access to peers or anyone else for that matter experiencing blindness. Natalie focused more on just pushing through, figuring out how to “be blind.” She learned how to use her white cane. She learned her technology and other rehab skills. But it was an opportunity to work at BISM that really made her see blindness differently.

Natalie03:54
BISM, which is Blind industry services in Maryland in Baltimore, Maryland. It just kind of blew my mind, like the amount of independence that we actually could have. Because I didn’t experience that here in California. These students were so advanced compared to what I was taught. Just their level of travel, they were being dropped at random places and finding their way back home. That was part of the training. They gave them like stipends to take trips on their own. And these people were really being independent and they had their own apartment. They live downtown and they would travel to the training program.

TR: 04:32
Maybe this experience let Natalie know she could pursue all of her interests. Among the many she mentioned in her intro. She’s also a writer.

Natalie04:39
I started writing for PopSugar. Late last year. My original article that I pitched to them was about the lack of image descriptions. There was unlabeled links and buttons on websites when it came to retail. Not being able to independently shop on these websites because they weren’t accessible right the fashion side but I’m writing about disability right and the issues that we deal with in relation to fashion that kind of came out of my work with Fashionably Tardy we’re two blind chicks bridging the gap between fashion and disability. I wanted to kind of widen that reach of like who we are talking to and who we’re trying to get to see the bigger picture. I told Melissa like, hey, like, I’m going to start pitching some stories to some fashion magazines or some online media that deals with fashion. And I pitched her quite a few people but Pop Sugar was one of the people that really got it right away.

TR: 05:37
While watching one of her favorite shows Emily in Paris. Emily, the main character who thinks she knows everything about fashion actually sort of sticks out in Paris, wearing really bright or loud colors.

Natalie: 05:48
I would even say shows like Bridgerton, the fashion is part of the show. The season where they try to find the diamond of the season is all about the look. The best dress, the best hair, the shoes and gowns, and there’s these intricate, beautiful colors and garments and big wigs. I don’t remember them really describing wigs. The way I know a lot about Bridgerton is really because of Cat Quinn, the Creative Director for MAC cosmetics and she does a lot of breakdowns of shows. As far as beauty and fashion goes on her Tik Tok and Instagram.

TR: 06:24
No surprise to the true AD heads out here. Having access to this information has implications that go beyond entertainment.

Natalie06:31
If you look at the show Euphoria, clothes sell out, immediately after each episode, people want to dress like what they see on television, if you don’t have any good fashion sense, and you watch television, you’re gonna know what’s in. I think it’s super helpful for somebody who’s blind and low vision because we definitely don’t know what’s hot, especially because there’s not accurate alt text, or no alt text. If we were to have better detail, fashion descriptions with for television and film, I think we would have a better idea of what goes together, what we could buy in the store and what really looks good, or what some of the brands that we could buy from, we need to get better about adding descriptions, especially when fashion is part of the show.

TR: 07:18
Fashion is part of the show doesn’t necessarily mean it’s part of the plot.

Natalie07:21
When I was writing this article, I asked on Facebook, like hey, are there any shows that are doing a good job about this, and people said, selling Tampa?

TR: 07:30
Seriously, this was a coincidence. But shout out to the crew at IDC.

Natalie: 07:34
I watched the whole season. And I would agree that time was taken to actually describe what the women were wearing on the show. And I found it to be extremely helpful. Brittany Koch, who’s mentioned in the article actually said she went back and watched the first matrix, and they did a very great job of talking about what people were wearing. And she said she even researched the fashion in the movie, it was a match. They actually did their homework, the clothes were being accurately described.

TR in Conversation with Natalie: 08:06
What sort of feedback have you been receiving about this whole idea of describing more fashion?

Natalie: 08:12
I think some people working in AD like the comments kind of came from them, they were a little offended. They were like oh we’re doing the best. And there’s not always enough time. And it wasn’t an attack on AD really, it was just to say like, Hey, we do care about this, it was more of a invitation to work together. Let’s see what we all can do to make this better. With anything. You always want to know how you can grow and improve, because you never want to just stay the same. There’s always room to do better. And there’s always room to advance.

TR in Conversation with Natalie: 08:45
Yeah, at least those who are really committed to quality. Those are the folks who want to learn, and are interested in saying, Oh, wait, tell me more about that. The folks who are not, they usually out themselves by just kind of pushing back and not even taking the time to listen. Forget them. And that was me putting in nicely.

Do you ever get any sort of opposite feedback from the community? Like are there people who are saying, “ Eh, I don’t want that?”

Natalie09:13
I haven’t seen anybody flat out say like, “Oh, I’m not interested in this.” I did see a few guys be like, “Oh, I never thought about this. That’s interesting.” One guy was like, “Well, I’m going to actually pay attention to that when I watch my next show with audio description.” So I think for guys, it was kind of like, you know, like, I didn’t think about it, but maybe now I’ll pay attention.

TR: 09:35
Fellas. Nice job. We should think about it.

Natalie: 09:39
Say a woman is going out on a date in a movie or TV show. If she’s putting on some red lipstick and have tight fitted dress. She’s either going on a date or going out or somewhere where she’s trying to make a statement. I think, yes, depending on the storyline that’s important that lipstick color is important because if I’m just maybe going out with friends and I might do more of a nude color. Even with makeup like I might do a smoky eye if I’m trying to be sexy, right? Or if I’m just like, just trying to go out for a nice day at the bare, I just might do eyebrows.

TR: 10:13
Natalie’s interest in audio description extends beyond fashion, as in her critique of a show called Abbott Elementary.

Natalie10:19
It’s about black teachers, mostly black cast in Philadelphia. It’s just such a great show. But because the audio describer is not a person of color, I feel like they kind of miss because there’s a lot of like, cultural things that we do and say, they really should try to match the audio describer with the tone of the show.

Sample from “Boomerang” Eddie Murphy & John Whitherspoon “Coordinate!”: 10:44
Well, the secret is you got to coordinate. Most people don’t coordinate, so you got to coordinate. That’s what you did.

TR: 10:51
I just assumed Natalie was always interested in fashion, or coordinating. She admitted she grew up as a tomboy. And it wasn’t until she became blind that she became more interested in fashion. That’s just one of the incorrect assumptions I had before our conversation. I also assumed she has been watching movies with audio description. Since her introduction to blindness.

Natalie11:12
I like got on the audio description bandwagon way later than I should, because I wasn’t around a lot of people who are blind. And so I didn’t really know that that was a resource, and people would tell me about it. But I was like, okay, like, I’ll try it out. I’ll try it out. One day, I really sat there and tried it out. And it was a beautiful thing. Because now I was able to really keep up with the movie, especially if there’s a lot of action.

TR: 11:35
no matter how long we as blind people have been consuming. Add this value in all of our experiences, especially when we’re solution based.

Natalie: 11:44
I think that it would be super helpful if we could work with AD teams on how to better include fashion detail. And I know they don’t always have a lot of time. But I’ve seen examples of where there’s some dead time that outfits could be described a little better. I’m not saying that it’s going to be like oh, she had on a shirt with a criss cross dip way loads are back and it was fitted like Nobody’s expecting that. At least like the color, the texture, was it short or long. Even if you said she had on a blue, strapless jumpsuit with the backout that’s still giving me a lot. At least color texture fit could be great.

TR: 12:28
Critically thinking about our access to vision related information will have real world implications. Even if you’re not interested in design. Natalie was invited to co design with a digital artist. Considering how little she sees representation of blind people in the bridal space. She decided to design a wedding dress.

Natalie: 12:47
I wanted to create this dress to kind of raise awareness about the fact that we are not represented in this way because people don’t expect us to fall in love or have families. They don’t expect us to be part of the real world. I was featured at meta Fashion Week. And next to some really cool brands like Dolce and Gabbana, Levi Tommy Hilfiger, Cavalli essence picked up the story, and they featured me and they talked about me being the first blind designer in the metaverse.

TR: 13:14
New to the idea of the metaverse? In all actuality, it doesn’t exist in full just yet. It’s a virtual world where people will work and play fully online, sort of like the games where you have an avatar that represents you. You interact with other avatars and participate in transactions, except these transactions aren’t for your virtual form, but rather a real world buying and selling of both digital and physical goods.

TR in Conversation with Natalie:
Describe the dress!

Natalie: 13:43
it was super important to me, even though that this is a digital asset that we played with textures, and that you could kind of see the different textures on the dress. It’s a very, it’s a very sexy wedding dress, actually. It’s a lacy, backless dress, and it’s strapless but it kind of has like these gold chains on the shoulder and then there’s one that comes across the back. Kind of a mermaid fit. With a see through middle. You can see my stomach and then it poops out into like a long train at the bottom. There’s some gold detail kind of going through the lace towards the bottom.

TR in Conversation with Natalie: 14:25
Okay. Is it one channel as a crossing in the bag? Is it an X?

Natalie14:30
No, it’s just one chain that comes across.

TR in Conversation with Natalie:
Oh that’s fly. And what color?

Natalie:
It’s traditional white.

TR in Conversation with Natalie:
Oh duh! [laughs]

Natalie:
Well no it didn’t have to be. Its not a traditional dress, because it’s a little sexy, but we did want to keep the white the classic white of it.

TR in Conversation with Natalie: 14:47
And what about the shoes? My wife’s a shoe lady. So I gotta ask about the shoes or their shoes in this picture.

TR:
If you’re interested in the shoes, a gold with thick high heels, but they’re hidden by the train of, the dress. Sort of how the lack of audio description hides visual information from us. Hmm.

Natalie: 15:04
Something that really hit me was that “well, how does my community enjoy this?” Right? I mean, they can read about it. And I can give an image description of the dress, but our able bodied counterparts are able to go click on this dress and get a 3d image of it front to back, view me spinning in it, the front view and the back for you, you can really get the full vision of this dress. And if you’re blind, you don’t get that. Obviously, you can’t add alt text to a moving image.

TR: 15:32
Maybe you don’t care about buying outfits online. What if everything becomes a moving digital rendering of a product?

Natalie: 15:38
I as a blind person should be able to hear that description of what is going on? What’s the future for NFT when it comes to the blindness community? I really do feel like it’s audio description.

TR: 15:52
podcaster, writer designer for the metaverse, Natalie actually had other plans.

Natalie: 15:58
When I graduated from college, I was pretty discouraged because I wanted to be a publicist, there were no blind publicists. And I just couldn’t find that one. And people looked at me weird when I would come in my cane to these big public relations agencies. I had to write internships. I went to school, I had good grades, I had the ability to do the work.

I just didn’t see a lot of people with disabilities in general, working behind the scenes in entertainment at all. By 2016. It had been two years and like, I wasn’t really breaking into entertainment, PR I was kind of working freelance. And then I met this lady named Whitney Davis, who was at the time the diversity manager at CBS. And she kind of took me under her wings. And it was like introducing me to a bunch of people hiring me to do jobs for her. She was so helpful. She’s like, “you know, I’ll back you up 100% with what you want to do,” but she’s like, “I really think that you should jump into advocacy because I don’t see any people with disabilities working in my department. And this is diversity, equity inclusion.”

TR: 17:01
At the time, Natalie wasn’t really in tune with the blind community. She knew if she was going to advocate, she should be more aware of what the community actually wants. She came across an ad seeking a blind actress who could sing. She’s been singing in the church for years. So she decided to pursue that opportunity without the acting experience.

[clip of a woman singing]

She got involved with a class of blind actors and realized:

Natalie17:23
“Oh well this is a way for me to be more blind people right?” And have fun doing it. I joined that group. Ended up falling in love with acting and being pretty good at it got scouted getting an agent. And the rest is kind of history.

TR: 17:37
Today, she has been in several commercials, including one from spectrum access, the audio description app.

Natalie17:41
I recently did some California connect commercials where I play art teacher even though it was about assistive technology. The focus wasn’t on me being blind. I was actually being an art teacher, and like painting stuff and teaching and it was a really cool experience for me. The one television show I was in was speechless on ABC. I played a film student one episode

TR: 18:05
She starred in three short films for the Easterseals film challenge.

Natalie18:09
The first one was Natalie’s point of view. And it was a documentary. That was the thing that year in 2020. And we made it to the top 12. We were one of the finalists.

Then in 2021 the thing was mockumentary we decided to do like a behind the scenes of this like made up Hip Hop icon they named Nay Nay Too Bomb. She was just like this very wild like hip hop to raise awareness for body positivity.

[Clip of woman rapping plays]

Clip from the mockumentary:
Growing up as a woman of color, you know, especially in the black and Latino community, we tend to be a little bit curvier you know so my little cousins and best friends was waking up like “suprise shawty!” and they had like a little extra in the back

Natalie:
We really went into that one just wanting to have fun. Didn’t really know where it will take us.

TR: 19:02
This brought them three nominations in total. Best film, Best Director, and Best Actor.

Natalie: 19:08
I took home the Best Actor award last year. This year we did a spin off of Buffy the Vampire Slayer which is one of my favorite movies. And I played a slayer that just so happens to be blind.

Sample from “Seven”:
Male sounding character: 19:22
Seven, do you know what a slayer is?

Natalie:19:23
Yeah, you mean Rihanna?

Male sounding character:
I’m being serious.

Natalie:
Me too.

Natalie19:29
You only know that I’m blind in the beginning because I kind of walk into frame with my cane. But other than that, it’s just about a girl who is kind of dealing with the fact that she has to give up her normal life to become a slayer. I’m actually like boxing and like jumping rope and like kicking and doing burpees and like a lot of action stuff.

TR: 19:50
Did I just hear a metaphor for adjusting to disability?

Sample from “Seven”:

Natalie: 19:53
What exactly are we doing? I’m kind of in the dark.
Male sounding character:

Do you know who you are?

Natalie:
I think so.

Male sounding character:
You were born to be champion.

TR: 20:05
Once again, the film was nominated for Best Film and Best Actor

Natalie: 20:10
Clip from Easterseals Film Challenge Award Ceremony:

And the winner is Natalie Trevonne “Seven”.

Natalie:
And I was super surprised, but I’m super grateful.

TR:
Big shout out to her team.

The first year Natalie’s point of view I recruited my best friend name for Nay Nay Too Bomb and seven I worked with Marie Elise Rodriguez. And then Regina joined us again, for seven.

TR: 20:30
I used to see these sorts of stories of falling into something you really enjoy as luck. Today, I think I know better. For me, theyre the results of pursuing your interests. I know you’re wondering, Natalie says she’s currently looking into getting someone to have the film audio described. Easterseals Film Festival, with all love and respect, at least for the award winning films, audio description, captions. That’s an editorial from me with love and respect. For more on fashion and disability, you have to check out the podcast fashionably tardy.

From Fashionably Tardy:
We’re just two blind chicks bridging the gap between the disability community and the fashion industry by telling some amazing stories from some dope fashion creatives killing it in the game today.

Natalie:
We’re on hiatus. We are hoping to drop some surprise episodes in the near future. So just stay tuned. We’re @FTontheScene on all social media platforms. F t o n t h e s c e n e

TR: 21:35
To find Natalie,

Natalie21:36
I’m @NatalieTreveonne, everywhere TikTok, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, that’s @NatalieTrevonne, pretty much post all my articles and links. So whatever I’m doing on my social media platforms, so you can easily find my work on any of those.

TR in Conversation with Natalie: 22:00
Well, Natalie, when folks come on the podcast, and they share the information, they share their point of view, I like to let you know that I appreciate that in the whole Reid My Mind Radio family appreciates that. And by you doing that, that actually makes you an official

[air horn]

Member of the Reid My Mind Family. I need for you to know that and let you know that we appreciate you.

Natalie: 22:25
Thank you so much. I really enjoyed speaking with you. And I’m all about our community. So any opportunity that I get to link up with other blind collaborators and creatives, I’m always for it because we are the future.

TR: 22:39
Being optimistic about the future is increasingly more challenging every day. The attacks on our rights from those in power may make some feel that conversations about audio description are frivolous. But I don’t think things are separate as some may think we are always at risk of losing our access as people with disabilities. For blind people specifically, digital access can truly be our lifeline. With every new emerging technology, we have to consider our place.

Natalie recognizing this issue of NFT access through audio description is just another example of how important it is to really speak from our own interest. I have to admit, as a former tech dude, I really don’t get NFT’s, Bitcoin, blockchain.
In support myself, I’ve been out of the game for a minute focusing on other things. What I do realize is that yeah, there’s lots of hype, but pay attention to the technology. There’s always going to be something new, and the earlier we assure our access and our involvement, the better. What’s your interest or area of expertise, or the opportunities or challenges that we should be considering? I’m always interested you want to share hit me up at reidmymindradio@gmail.com. You don’t have to wait for the future to subscribe or follow the podcast which is available on your favorite podcast app smart device or even in print as in transcripts which are available at reidmymind.com

That’s R to the E I D.
Sample Slick Rick:
“D! And that’s me in the place to be!”

TR:
like my last name.

Nay Nay Too Bomb:
Surprise Shortay!”

Audio: Reid My Mind Radio Outro

TR:

peace

Hide the transcript

TR:
Greetings! My name is Thomas Reid, host and producer of this here podcast called Reid My Mind Radio.

We’re just about half way through the year. And this year has been full of emotions. I’m realizing now that 2021may be the start of a new season in my life.

Later this year, I’m sort of joining that category of parents known as empty nesters.

Both of my baby girls are moving on in their education in pursuit of what I hope is their passions. my oldest is headed to grad school. Shout out to Temple University and just a few miles away, her little sister will be at Villanova. Proud Dad in full effect.

Things are really going to be different around here.

— Audio – Knock on the door

TR:

Uh, come in.

Marlett:

I need you to come wash these dishes please!

TR:

Okay, I’ll be right there.
Maybe not that different after all.

I’ll be right back y’all!
Audio: Reid My Mind Theme Music

TR:

Creating content for people adjusting to blindness and disability has some inherent obstacles to overcome.

For example, much of my targeted audience may not even be online. After all, they need to learn how to use the Access Technology assuming they were familiar and comfortable using computers prior to their loss of sight. If they were not, well that could be a very frustrating challenge that not everyone is willing to take.

Then there are those who don’t even want to see themselves as Blind and definitely not disabled so why in the world am I including that in my description. Compelling people impacted by all degrees of blindness and disability?

I’m sure some may not even think that’s possible. “What’s compelling about a person with a disability?”

In this first part of 2021 I really wanted to highlight exactly that. I wanted to really make sure this podcast is being a resource for all those new to blindness. When I say a resource, I don’t mean providing steps 1 through 10 on completing a specific task. I mean the sort of resource that stimulates that confidence and belief in the idea that it’s possible. not by me shouting at you and telling you you are a winner and coming up with a cool slogan but rather, introducing you to the cool people who are either doing it or have done it already.

One great example of what’s possible when we change our perspective is my friend Cathy Kudlick. Among many things, she discuses the important role history played in her moving from denial to where she is today.

Cathy:
I direct the Longmore Institute, it’s a cultural center that tries to put disability at the center of all culture and academics. It celebrates scholar activism, and tries to get people to think about disability as a creative, generative force for change, and to really revolutionize social views around disability.

We believe in a world where everyone thinks that disabled people, they get better, and that the world is better because of disabled people. And that’s a very radical idea, but we do it through the film festival, we do it through lot of online programming over the past year with different cultural groups and trying to look at intersections and look at convergences and all of these ways that di sability is not just pity and tragedy and trauma and terror and all of those, but to really see it as a creative force.

TR:

Where we get to in our thinking about disability is going to be based on a variety of factors.
Like how we process information and our ability to be self-aware.

Pramit Bhargava, founder of the Louie app, was so generous with his sharing. He admitted he never considered disability because he was caught up in his own climb up the corporate ladder.

He also realized how he wasn’t putting in the work that he needed to do which included learning how to use a screen reader as well as other blindness skills.

Pramit:

In fact, If I can Thomas add to that, sometimes what happens We process somebody as low vision, or no vision as saying, oh, he cannot see. But I think important thing is what is going on in that person’s mind. Right, and how do we process it? How do we deal with that condition? I think that’s the bottom line.

TR:

In this season of Reid My Mind Radio, I really wanted to bring you a different idea of what many people often consider when they think of blindness and disability.

Disability impacts across race, gender, sexuality. However, so often in the media we only see a specific white cis gender privilege experience.

Similarly, we often see a very specific version of success. Usually that is based on financial statements, awards and recognition.

Well, either I’m going to be a part of the problem or I’m going to set out to actively do something about that.

In March I was really happy to bring you an episode featuring Lachi. She’s a musician, producer and just someone who does whatever she wants to do and of course I say that with the ut most respect.

During our conversation she shared a bit on success and it’s definitely something I can rock with!

Lachi:

And when I say success, I mean, right now people would consider me successful just because, you know, I’ve been doing international songs and touring and I’m all over the place and do a lot of great things with a lot of spins. And being on the Grammy panels, but honestly, my success started when I was just able to come out of my shell and showcase to everybody that I’m really good.

TR:

Similarly when I met young brother Envizion who in his own words said he owns everything about his blindness. We saw how he made a clear decision based on what was important to him immediately after losing his sight. That continues as he pursues his passion. To me, that’s an important level of success that needs to be recognized.

Embracing every part of yourself and staying focused on your goal.

Envizion:

I have this tag where I say (singing…) I don’t see nobody.

It’s a hater blocking term. Yeah, really. I’m blind. It’s all of that. And when you’re on your way to the top two, you don’t want to be focused on everybody.

— Applause …
— “We interrupt this program for a special news bulletin!” (Classic News Announcer)
— Applause continues… “Can you feel it?” (The Jacksons, Live in Concert)

TR:

That’s the message that we’re sharing!

— Applause continues… “Can you feel it?” (The Jacksons, Live in Concert)

TR:

I’m talking about this podcast!

— Music begins, Cool up tempo Hip Hop beat

TR:

For whatever reason, rating and reviewing the podcast on Apple Podcast actually helps.

Right now, we have a 5 star rating. That means if this was food being cooked up twice a month, it’s considered delicious.

Then there’s the actual reviews. Check out what people are saying:

Pioneer 94 says: Love the AJ episode it’s so well produced. Can’t wait to listen for more.

Angel Sweetheart says: Download and start listening now!
This podcast is very well put together. A strong activist in our community. Face with heart shaped eyes, grinning face
Grinning face with starry eyes, hands with medium dark skin tone raised in celebration, thumbs up with medium dark skin tone, flex bicep with dark skin tone

Thank you so much and I love the emoji’s.

shnupperdoodlez says; Great podcast
Engaging light hearted and fun, even when talking about the tough stuf. I enjoy popping in to learn more. your voice is needed out here

Hey Shnuppledoodlez, I appreciate you, but I’m going to need a bit more commitment from you. You are family so I’d expect you to be here on a regular basis. I miss you when you’re gone too long!

Blind Widow says This man knows his topic
I highly recommend this podcast to help people learn about disability and blindness and become comfortable with it and in all aspects of it.
It affects every aspect of our lives.
Ffor me a woman who is blind, acceptance in the arena of online dating as an older adult, the more normal people see us the better it is for everyone.

Blind Widow, I see you as super intelligent, powerful and go ahead with your bad self in the online dating arena. You’re a Gladiator, but don’t hurt them out there too badly love.

I hope I’ll be able to see more 5 star ratings and even more cool reviews. And go ahead and feel free to throw those emoji’s up there. You know that fire, raised fists, hearts and all that.

— Music ends abruptly.

— Now we return back to our show (Classic News Announcer)

TR:

Success is getting to know yourself and being comfortable with that person. Acquiring a disability later in life can feel as though you have to do this all over again.

It goes beyond the emotional. Catarina Rivera aka Blindish Latina recognized a real need to consider her blindness when moving through life.

Catarina:

I just started to see disability as something that I would incorporate into my life decisions, but not let it dictate my life.

When I was in college, the first thing that was happening to me with night blindness, and I had some issues with peripheral vision, as well. And I remember that I decided not to drink alcohol, because I didn’t want to impair myself any further, I saw that people were really cutting loose and partying. I remember thinking to myself is it’s every person for themselves here, I’m not gonna, I’m not gonna get caught unaware, because, you know, I was a freshman.

My friends would help me navigate parties, I would dance, I would focus more on dancing, because I couldn’t hear people when the music was loud, and I love to dance. It didn’t stop me from having a good time. And making friendships and living life.

TR:

Whether disabled or not, chances are we experience something in life that changes our course. Most people I know had different plans for their lives. Yet, looking deeper, you may realize that your life contains the things that you were actually seeking. Love, friendships, opportunity

These episode make up the first season of 2021. All focused on that adjustment experience.

Lawyer and fellow podcaster Qudsiya Naqui beautifully wrapped up her episode and the season with some thoughts that can only come from someone who has been through their own adjustment experience.

Qudsiya:

Everyone has their own journey and their own experience and their own way of going through those stages of grief and getting to the other side, or whatever the other side looks like, and that’s okay. And you have to be kind to yourself, but know that there’s a community waiting for you. And there’s a lot of possibility and that you are a whole person. And your blindness is a part of that. And it is a really beautiful part of that. That’s something that you should honor about yourself.

TR:

Honor about yourself. I really like that.

Do you ever consider the decisions that we make that actually dishonor ourselves? It could be decisions based on money alone, how we spend our time or how we perceive our own value.

Honoring ourselves, that’s what this podcast is all about!

If you missed any of the episodes this year, I truly encourage you to take a listen.

Going forward in 2021 , we’re touching on topics. We’ll start with Audio Description. Now, at first you may think, wait, what more can we talk about with AD?
Well, I guess you’re going to have to wait and see. You know, it’s right there, but in order to really get into it, you have to Flip the Script.

I’m taking the month of June off. The podcast will be back in July
To make sure you don’t miss anything, my suggestion is that you follow the podcast on your favorite platform. Apple, Spotify, Google, whatever man!

You can also find it at ReidMyMind.com where we have all the transcripts and other resources too.

Now all that’s left is for you to properly spell that. Let me help you… it’s R to the E I D
(“D! And that’s me in the place to be!” Slick Rick)

Like my last name.

Audio: Reid My Mind Outro

Peace!

Hide the transcript

— Ambient music begins…

TR:

Greetings Reid My Mind Radio Family!
Welcome back to the podcast bringing you compelling people impacted by all degrees of blindness and disability.
You know, we’ve been here since 2014 so make sure you take a look in the archive if you’re new in these parts.

My name is Thomas Reid and I get to serve as host and producer.
I like to consider each of these individual episodes as a part of a larger collective story.
If you know anyone new to blindness or disability in general, please go ahead and let them know what’s happening here.
I’m confident that they would find a lot of value in the lived experiences stored in these audio file (and transcripts).
All just waiting for the right person.

Today’s episode is the latest addition to this growing archive that will not disappoint.
So let’s get down to it!

Audio: Reid My Mind Theme Music

Qudsiya:

My story of blindness is, to take a page out of Michelle Obama’s words, it’s a story of becoming.

My name is Qudsiya Naqui. And I am a lawyer and I’m based in Washington DC. I use she her hers pronouns.

I am a South Asian woman. I’m quite petite. I’m about five one. Right now I have sort of long, dark brown black hair that’s very long because of the pandemic and I haven’t been able to cut it and have kind of medium brown skin and brown eyes.

TR:

Qudsiya is the host of Down to the Struts, a podcast that explores the inner workings of
disability design and it’s various intersections.

Today, she shares some of the transformational experiences along her journey that helped shaped her view of blindness.

At 2 years old, Qudsiya was diagnosed with a congenital degenerative condition.
By the time she began reading, standard print was sufficient.

qudsiya:

But I had trouble in dark and dim places.

We were blessed and fortunate to be able to live in homes that worked for me. That had lots of sunlight, and we had lots of extra lighting. So that was the way that we kind of help make the environment accessible for me.

My mom was proactive and had me in sort of rehabilitation services with the state agency.

— Melancholy Ambient Music begins
TR:

That’s the New Jersey State Commission for the Blind, where she received mobility training and other blindness skills as a child

Qudsiya:

My usable vision was so good when I was young that I wasn’t quite understanding sometimes, like, why I had to use a mobility cane because

oftentimes, the trainer would come during the day, and I could see really well during the day.

When I reflect on it, I’m like, why didn’t they train me with the cane? At night? When I actually couldn’t see and then I would understand the benefit of it.

I had a hard time explaining to people what my situation was also because I present as sighted I don’t fit the sort of stereotypical appearance of what a blind person looks like. And so I sort of passed for lack of a better word because I didn’t have a vocabulary to talk about my disability, I didn’t even use the word disability, disability wasn’t even in my lexicon when I was a child and a teenager and even a young adult. I really struggled.

TR:

As a child, struggling with bullying and making friends.

Qudsiya:

I do think it shaped a lot of my identity. I was quite introverted, I love to read. It definitely did shape who I was when I was younger in slightly more negative ways, I felt like it was something I had to hide and that I had some degree of shame about. That really affected my willingness and desire to engage socially and to make friends and to put myself out there.

TR:

There are two main perspectives in viewing disability.
Whether you’re familiar with them or not, you may recognize your own way of thinking.

The medical model. This approach sees the problem as the illness, disease or injury. The focus is on fixing the person.

Qudsiya:

I started losing vision really quite rapidly kind of at the end of college when I was 22. At that same time, there was a experimental gene therapy. That became available and my parents really were encouraging me. They had very good intentions, and they love me very much. They wanted me to feel good about myself and be successful. And their pathway towards that was, you know, to have this therapy that would help me either gain vision back or halt the degeneration.

I did enroll in the clinical trial. I really believe that people should have choices about how they want to live, I have a little bit more healthy skepticism about that, because so much of it is rooted in ableism, which is a term that I use a lot now, but was really unaware of at that time.

— Ambient music ends

TR:

That’s the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that typical abilities are superior.
It assumes that disabled people require ‘fixing’ and
defines people by their disability.

Qudsiya says she’s unsure if the therapy has helped reduce the degeneration but notes she didn’t regain any vision.
She did however slowly begin inching toward that alternative way of viewing disability, but first, she had to go through some things.

Qudsiya:

I went through a really dark time in my 20s, just trying to like sort of, quote, fix myself,

When I was young they told me that my vision would be stable, you know that I had nothing to like, quote, worry about, and it would just be the same as it was. And that was pretty doable.

TR:

While preparing to enter Law School at Temple University, Qudsiya began seeing a new doctor who explained that her vision loss was degenerative.

Qudsiya:

That really explained what I was experiencing in the two or three years prior, reading was starting to become really difficult.

Law school, is very difficult for a whole host of reasons. And it’s a difficult environment, it’s just a lot of work. It’s very hard. And there’s a lot of reading, like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of pages of reading a week.

TR:

Since grade school, Qudsiya prided herself on her ability to study hard and have the grades to reflect that effort.

Her vision and grades both deteriorating she considered dropping out.

Qudsiya:

And somehow, I didn’t, I had a couple of really amazing professors. And then I got a really cool internship at the ACLU of Pennsylvania, the summer after my first year, because I happened to meet the Legal Director at a career fair. And we just totally hit it off. And she was an incredibly supportive person. And between her and a couple of my professors, I just, I stayed and I didn’t quit, and I didn’t give up. I started to explore text to voice software and the different kinds of technologies that were emerging. Blind people have been using it for years.

I kind of taught myself to learn by listening because I’d always been a visual learner. And I had to completely transform the way my brain worked. And I was able, it took me a long time. And it was hard, but I did it.

TR:

The grades improved, her self confidence returned and she was making strides in her blindness journey.

Qudsiya:

Oftentimes, a lot of sighted techniques are foisted on you. Like there’s always the imperative for you to use your eyes. But that was the first time I started to realize you know what, like, it’s not about like forcing me to use my eyes if my eyes aren’t the most efficient way to get something done. And so I started to like embrace like new Non sighted ways of doing things which made me a lot more efficient and made things easier for me.

The day that I said, I need to use jaws 100% of the time, like changed my life.

TR:

But what about accepting that white cane?

Qudsiya:

There was so much stigma for me associated with it. Shame.

I got myself into real difficulty. There was one time I was in Penn Station, and I fell on the train tracks.

TR:

Thankfully, the train wasn’t moving and someone quickly pulled her up.

Although already familiar with proper cane technique, Qudsiya wasn’t a practicing user. Living in New York City at the time, she
reached out to the New York Commission for the Blind and got herself an Orientation and Mobility instructor.

Qudsiya:

I said, I need you to force me to use it in front of you until I get to a point where I’m okay with it in myself.

We worked every day a couple times a week for like an hour and little by little after a while, I started to just feel comfortable with the cane.

I went from someone who would carry the cane folded up in their purse, never even think about it, to a person who now uses a cane pretty much all day all the time and never is without it and has a very healthy relationship with it. That took a long time. And it took a lot of struggle and a lot of moving past my own stereotypes and my own ableism

TR:

Qudsiya offers some additional thoughts on what could be helpful in decreasing the stigma associated with blindness and disability.

Qudsiya:

There’s such a lack of education in a young age to a culture eight children to the concept of disability and like these disability positive messages.

I just remember in high school I never learned about the ADA, I never learned about the Rehab Act, I never learned about disability rights history.

I feel like if I had existed in an environment that was giving me all these positive messages and welcoming messages and accessible messages about who I was, and the fact that my disability was okay. I think my outlook would have been quite different. But I was in an environment where my disability was sort of invisiblized. I see that changing now for young people. But I think we have a long way to go.

TR:

Another transitional moment for Qudsiya along her blindness journey came when she experienced job discrimination.

Qudsiya:

That was the first time in my life, I had been exposed to disability rights and Disability Law and the civil protections that are available to people to prevent against discrimination. And I didn’t really understand that I had been repeatedly discriminated against in various work settings until I had this experience that became so extreme that I had to get an advocate to help me.

TR:

She credits that person with changing her life.
Helping her become clear about the problem and to see things from a different perspective.

Qudsiya:

Okay, it’s not me, that’s the problem here. It’s the system. That’s the problem. And it’s a system that is not designed to give me access, and I need to fight for that access.

— Music begins – a bright melody that moves to a driving beat…

TR:

The social model of disability.

This views disability as a part of life and not the problem.
Rather recognizing that society erects barriers in various ways that can limit opportunities.

Qudsiya not only learned how to advocate for herself, , she found a community of people who also had a positive outlook on their own blindness and disability.

Moving to Washington DC from New York City, she was introduced to another Blind Lawyer.

Qudsiya:

She and I actually connected over something completely unrelated to blindness. We connected over the fact that we were both athletes. She was a cyclist and runner, and I was a runner also.

She was starting up this sports group in DC called the Metro Washington Association of Blind Athletes. And she kept encouraging me to come and try out tandem cycling.

I hadn’t been on a bike since I was a little kid.

I didn’t know anything about tandem. I was like, this is gonna be a disaster.

Finally she pushed me and I went and I got really into it, I just fell in love with it.

TR:

That led to other sports and activities like adaptive rock climbing,
guided running and most importantly friendships with other Blind people.

Qudsiya:

That was really transformative, mostly because I never had Blind friends in my life. And so I suddenly had this massive, wonderful, supportive, fantastic community of other Blind people that were doing all sorts of things had all sorts of professions came from all different types of backgrounds. And we just had fun together. And we support each other.

TR:

That support is invaluable. From the practical to the emotional, helping you become your best self.

Qudsiya:

I’m like a b minus blind person, and I’m trying to get to an A plus.

TR:

I think she’s being tough on herself.

Even if we’re not being graded, a community of people to learn and share with along any journey is important.

Qudsiya:

I started on that journey kind of later in life, as opposed to some of my peers who were born blind or lost their vision when they’re really young. They really became resources to me, and I just started to see the world really differently.

I’m also part of another new group that just started last summer. It’s called WOC World. W O C. It’s a group for blind women of color – a virtual community of blind women to support blind women of color.

TR in Conversation with Qudsiya: 39:15
I always like to highlight the importance of meeting people. Because I think it plays a big role. I always bring it back to the podcast, because that’s what this podcast is all about. Not everyone is in an area where they can actually have access to all of these people. And so that that transition process that I think really is impacted by meeting people may take even longer because you have no sort of model of what blindness can actually be.

— Music ends with an ambient fade out

TR:

Qudsiya is a fellow podcaster. She’s the founder and host of Down to the Struts.

Qudsiya:

A strut is like an engineering device that you’d use to hold stuff together.

It’s sort of evokes this idea of like, what are the building blocks? What holds the world together? And how do we change structures and systems.

I wanted to make non disabled people see why they need to think about things from a disability lens and why that’s important and why we should care about it.

TR:

While she was being pushed to write and publish law review articles she found her heart just wasn’t in it.

Already a consumer of audio content including books and podcasts,
she recognized the opportunity to explore some of her interests and expertise.

Qudsiya:

The article I was working on was about disability, specifically disability in the US. And its intersection with immigration, which is one of my areas of expertise as a lawyer.

I really care about disability and its intersections with other types of things like race or other types of policy issues like disability, unemployment, disability and health care.

And I am a person who has experience with like policy and research and these sorts of things.

I really care about this area of work. And I love audio content. And it’s a pandemic, and I’m sitting at home and I got nowhere to go and nothing to do. And I was like, You know what, I’m gonna do it. That’s how Down to the Struts was born.

— Music begins a Hip Hop beat opening with hi hats…

TR:

Occasionally, I’m asked about starting a podcast. My advice closely aligns with the steps Qudsiya lays out.

Qudsiya:

I decided I wanted to do an interview style show and bring a mix of sort of people with lived experience, people who are experts in their fields to talk about sort of very broadly speaking, disability design and intersectionality.

I got a team of people together.

I don’t know how to design a website, I don’t know how to audio edit, I got a lot of brains together. And at first it was just for advice. But then a couple of friends of mine, really like wanted to be involved and wanted to work on it. And I was so touched by their desire to be supportive, they just loved the idea of the project.

I had a focus group of a whole bunch of friends that helped me vote on the title.

We launched our first season in October of 2020. And there’s six episodes, and we’ve just launched season two.

TR:

She narrowed her subject, figured out what aspects best fit her skills and interests.
Assembled others for advice and ended up with a team.
She’s also using a seasonal approach which I highly recommend.
It takes away some of the stress in producing regular content.
And of course, she got feedback on her podcast name. Did I mention she has herself a team?

Qudsiya:

I went to Barnard College, which is part of the women’s college that’s part of Columbia University. So I went looking for a student who was interested in audio editing. That’s how I came across Anna Wu, who is a junior at Barnard.

She brought along her friend Adrian Kahn, who does our transcripts.

I have two other friends. Ilana Nevins is our audio editor and my friend Adriana pole who is fabulous social media coordinator and manages all my Twitter and Facebook and Instagram so I don’t have to. (Laughs )

I’m scared of social media!

TR:

Yes, I’ll admit it, I am a bit envious of her team.

A lot of thought and planning went into the creation of Down to the Struts. Ultimately, it’s figuring out what you want. I get the sense that this is how Qudsiya operates.

Qudsiya:
I realized very, very quickly, that I did not want to be a practicing attorney, I think I probably even knew that before law school, but I knew I was interested in immigration, and I knew I was interested in kind of policy.

A lot of the policy people were like, Well, you can’t really fix the system if you don’t understand the experience of people who are going through it.

So I did practice immigration law, representing asylum seekers and survivors of domestic violence.

And then I went to a different organization where I was managing the program that was delivering services to unaccompanied children who were in federal custody, on the border and in other parts of the country.

TR:

She continued doing that work for a different organization while expanding into disaster recovery and other areas.

— Music ends…

Qudsiya:

now most recently, I’m at a big research like policy institution working on civil court reform work. Making this civil court system for like people who experience evictions and debt collection lawsuits and have to deal with child support cases and things like that to making the system more accessible especially for people who don’t have lawyers, and I bring a lot of my disability kind of focus in there too, because, especially with all the technology and courts, like a big concern is like making sure everything’s accessible.

I feel like, it all kind of bleeds together.

TR in Conversation with Qudsiya:

What do you want people to sort of take away from your podcast?

Qudsiya:

For disabled people, I want them to leave the podcast feeling like their issues are being addressed, that I’m exposing and uncovering the barriers they face and providing positive solutions and proactive solutions to how we can break down those barriers and fix those problems. And for

For the non disabled people I want their eyes to be opened to how the systems and structures that we live inside, whether that’s the immigration system, whether that’s the education system, whether that’s health care, how, they affect disabled people, and how ableism plays a role in that. So that they can walk away and know, there’s solutions to solve them. And I want that information to get out to the people who are the decision makers and the stakeholders in the system so that they can start to make change.

TR:
Think about the importance of all the transitional moments Qudsiya experienced.
From her battle with the white cane to experiencing discrimination on the job
which led to her meeting people who would come to positively influence her life.
Combine these experiences with her own positive attitude and drive and consider her advice for those new to vision loss.

Qudsiya:

Everyone has their own journey and their own experience and their own way of going through those stages of grief and getting to the other side, or whatever the other side looks like, and that’s okay. And you have to be kind to yourself, but know that there’s a community waiting for you. And there’s a lot of possibility and that you are a whole person. And your blindness is a part of that. And it is a really beautiful part of that. That’s something that you should honor about yourself.

— Music begins, a bright inspiring Hip Hop beat

TR in Conversation with Qudsiya:

Qudsiya, you know that you are now an official, and I want to say it twice, an official member of the Reid, My MindRadio family now that you’ve been on the podcast, you know that right?

Qudsiya:

Oh, that’s awesome. Thank you. Thank you for welcoming me into the family.

(TR & Qudsiya laugh…)

TR:

To get in contact with Qudsiya and or where to find the podcast;

Qudsiya:

You can email us at down to the struts@gmail.com. You can find our website which is www got down to the struts.com. We’re also on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at down to the struts. And you can subscribe rate review the podcast on Apple podcast, Spotify, Stitcher, or wherever you love to listen, so definitely check it out.

TR in Conversation with Qudsiya: 1:00:19
Spoken like a true podcaster.

(TR & Qudsiya Laugh)

TR:

I really liked the way Qudsiya identifies and appreciates the different moments throughout her journey for the value they helped bring to her life.

Once again shout out to Qudsiya, I really enjoyed our conversation.

If you too enjoyed it well you can always feel free to let me know that or any other comments you may have by emailing me at ReidMyMindRadio@gmail.com.
Tell others about the podcast so they can listen for themselves. All I want to do here is to reach as many people experiencing vision loss as early as possible.

You know we have transcripts and more over at ReidMyMind.com right?

And I know you know, that I know you know, it’s R to the E I D
(“D, and that’s me in the place to be! Slick Rick)
)
Like my last name.

Audio: Reid My Mind Outro

Peace!

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