Access All: Disability News and Mental Health

They're useful to many, but Seaneen often feels isolated during mental health awareness weeks because her story hasn't had a perfect ending. The presenters discuss how standing out as a mentally ill teen has stayed with them and still makes connecting with others tricky. Meet Shuranjeet Singh from Taraki, a mental health organisation for the UK Punjabi community. And the Amazing New Feature would be funny, if it wasn’t so unfunny. With Mark Brown and Seaneen Molloy, produced by Emma Tracey. Subscribe to Ouch on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker

Can you tell if your pain or symptoms mean you have a physical or mental problem? Our presenters often delay getting medical help because of this and worry everything will be put down to mental ill health. Plus, guest Helen Moulinos from POHWER explains what advocacy is, and describes how she learned to speak up for herself and her mentally ill father from very young. She is also a 9/11 survivor. With Seaneen Molloy and Mark Brown. Produced by Emma Tracey. Subscribe to Ouch on BBC Sounds or tell your smart speaker "Ask the BBC for Ouch" email ouch@bbc.co.uk

Having pets has helped presenters Seaneen and Mark with their mental health ... though Seaneen admits it’s tricky hiding cats from landlords. Hear listeners' stories including gaming journalist Sam's choice of animal which might be more distressing than helpful for some! His rats give him something to come home to, he says. Pictures of pets mentioned in this episode will appear on our Twitter feed @bbcouch With Seaneen Molloy and Mark Brown - every week in January 2022. Produced by Emma Tracey. Use your smart speaker to "Ask the BBC for Ouch". And subscribe on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts.

As 2021 has been a strange old year, the BBC Ouch team decided to look back at some of their favourite podcasts from the past 365 days. From space travel on the “vomit comet” to Love Island, Covid-19, climate change and adoption – we really have covered it all with our own unique and disabled look at the world. Some podcasts were sad, some were happy but all (we like to think) were insightful. Merry Ouchmas! Presented by Emma Tracey, Beth Rose and Keiligh Baker Produced by Keiligh Baker Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Matilda Feyisayo Ibini became physically disabled at five but wasn’t diagnosed with the progressive muscle-weakening condition Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy until aged 13. Her radio play, Little Miss Burden, captures the fun and anxiety of growing up in an inaccessible London council house in the 90s, with a single mother and two non-disabled siblings. Here, Matilda tells Emma Tracey about managing mental health difficulties and the freedom of living independently for the first time in her mid-20s.

While millions of people might dream about space travel, with the exacting requirements often expected of astronauts some disabled people might have counted themselves out...until now.Mission: AstroAccess - a crew of disabled scientists, students and artists based in America - has just launched to make space travel accessible for all the right reasons.Wouldn't it make sense if a shuttle could be navigated by a blind person so, if the lights went down, everyone could get around? And what about making sign language a requirement so everyone could be in on the conversation? Then again, how does signing work when you're floating upside down?Mary Cooper, who has a prosthetic leg, and Sina Bahram, who is blind, are two of the crew members who set out to find answers to these questions on board Mission: AstroAccess's first parabolic flight where they floated around in zero gravity. Presented by Beth Rose.Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.Picture credit: Al Powers at Zero Gravity Corporation

With COP26, the big UN climate conference, kicking off in Glasgow next week, the BBC Ouch team got wondering - how will the one billion disabled people living around the world be impacted by the climate emergency?Whether it's heatwaves, hurricanes or rising sea levels there is plenty to think about. From escape routes being inaccessible to vital medication which makes it difficult for the body to moderate heat, research suggests that 20% of those most vulnerable to climate change are disabled.So why is this? And what's being done about it?Professor Sébastien Jodoin, from McGill University in Montreal, and Dr Mary Keogh, the disability inclusion director for charity CBM Global, join us on this episode alongside cameos from a 'lockdown' puppy and a hammering builder - Happy Halloween! Presented by Keiligh Baker. Produced by Damon Rose and Emma Tracey.Useful links if you’d like to learn more: https://www.disabilityinclusiveclimate.orghttps://ukcop26.org/the-conference/green-zone-programme-of-events/https://www.cbmuk.org.uk/news/disability-inclusion-in-climate-action-new-guide-published/https://cbm-global.org/news/disability-and-climate-change-report/

Presenters Seaneen and Mark trade their own war stories about work. Joining them is CEO of the Business Disability Forum, Diane Lightfoot, who helps big companies employ (and keep) disabled staff. Disability Passports, advance statements and reasonable adjustments - learn the jargon and how to use it at work. Our new catchily named feature Maladaptive Coping Strategy of the Month has an airing. Plus, um, chip shops. With Mark Brown and Seaneen Molloy. Produced by Emma Tracey

Aruba had never had a Paralympic team until Shardea Arias de la Cruz, a student in her 20s, decided to make it happen.From finding her first athlete at the supermarket, to his sudden disappearance at the Rio Games, it has been a story of jeopardy, hustling and absolute belief. The charismatic Elliott Loonstra is the island's hope for Tokyo 2020. After working at a scuba dive shop at the weekends and spending his week-days training on Aruba's idyllic beaches, Elliott's ready to take on Tokyo in the para-taekwondo. And it's the first time the sport has featured at a Paralympic Games.Presented by Beth Rose.Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Libby Clegg MBE and Samantha Kinghorn, two of Britain’s top female Paralympians, describe their journeys to Tokyo 2020. Libby Clegg won gold at Rio 2016 then dealt with mental health difficulties directly afterwards. She’s defending her Athletics Women's 200m T11 title. Samantha Kinghorn became disabled aged 14 and started wheelchair racing to look cool in front of her friends. She lost out at the 2016 Paralympics because she wasn’t mentally prepared but has already won a bronze medal in the Athletics Women's 100m T53 at Tokyo. She will also race in the 400m and 800m . Samantha and Libby spoke to disabled sports fan Michael McEwan for BBC Radio Scotland.