Psychological Health and Safety in an Ableist World - with Michael Zalle

This week, host Dr. I. David Daniels will speak with Michael Zalle, founder and CEO of Yellowbird. Michael will share his experience as a Health and Safety entrepreneur, despite the challenges of being born without a right hand. He has been highly successful in the “business of safety” despite living in an often ableist world. Ableism is a set of beliefs or practices that devalue and discriminate against people with physical, intellectual, or psychiatric disabilities and often rests on the assumption that disabled people need to be ‘fixed’ in one form or another. Like many other forms of systemic discrimination, ableism is intertwined in our culture due to many limiting beliefs about what disability does or does not mean, how able-bodied people learn to treat people with disabilities, and how they are often not included at the table for critical decisions. Supported by loving parents, Michael learned early that he was capable of doing anything that anyone else could do, though often he had to do it differently. Not only has he taken a seat at several tables, he recently created a “new table” in creating an innovative company that allows safety professionals and organizations to match needs with capabilities.