Down to the Struts

Continuing on the theme of disability and education from Episode 3, this episode features a conversation with disability civil rights activist Alan Holdsworth. Qudsiya and Alan dive into Alan's work as Director of Disability Equality in Education, a non-profit dedicated to eradicating disability stigma in schools. Listen to learn how and why disability should fit into the K-12 curricula, fighting disability stigma on college campuses, and the surprising number of U.S. presidents who have been disabled.

This episode of Down to the Struts takes us into the classroom, and to the crossroads of disability and education with Roger Ideishi, Director of Occupational Therapy and Professor of Health, Human Function, and Rehabilitation Sciences at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. Qudsiya and Roger discuss breaking down barriers faced by disabled children, and how small design changes can build diverse educational environments with accessibility and adaptability in mind. We learn how practitioners, healthcare providers and educators can help students achieve their own goals, not those set by an ableist system.

From Zoom conferences to live-streamed concerts, the Covid-19 pandemic appears to have made much of our world more flexible. But does this mean it's more accessible? How do we critically design digital spaces to be truly accessible, during and beyond a global crisis? In this episode, Qudsiya discusses sociospatial thinking and critical design with Aimi Hamraie, Associate Professor of Medicine, Health, & Society at Vanderbilt University, and director of the Critical Design Lab.

How have U.S. immigration laws treated disabled people? How can disability law advance immigrants’ rights? Does immigration law itself create disability? In the premiere episode of Season 2, Qudsiya is joined by Katherine Pérez and Roxana Moussavian, who approach these complex webs from the perspective of disability law and immigration law.

In this season, host Qudsiya Naqui will be joined by even more wonderful guests to discuss topics like immigration, education, and much more, as they relate to disability. Listen in as Qudsiya and her guests explore intersectional problems to complex issues.

From the pandemic to civil rights protests, it’s no question the story of the past year has been told through breaking news headlines. Many of the stories shaping our world are powerfully told through image, with the help of photojournalists and everyday people with smartphones. But how do we make these very visual stories accessible to visually impaired news consumers? This is the topic of this special bonus episode of Down to the Struts. In this episode, Qudsiya sits down with Vox Editor Sean Collins. They talk about how images enhance the information in a news article, and break down the actual technology of how photo description, or "alt text,” works. As an example, Sean takes us through some images from the Black Lives Matter demonstrations of the summer, and discusses how he wrote the alt text to accompany them. Sean also shares some advice for journalists and others on writing quality alt text.

In the final episode of Season 1, Down to the Struts takes a journey into the arts world, offering an introduction to audio description and how to make the arts accessible to people with disabilities. Qudsiya and her guests also talk about what the pandemic has meant for accessibility and the arts. This episode is so full of important reflections and quotes, we wanted to bring it to you in two parts. Part 2 features Nicole Sardella, a certified audio describer who works with Art-Reach and other arts and culture organisations, and shares both her experience describing, as well as some tips.

In the final episode of Season 1, Down to the Struts takes a journey into the arts world, offering an introduction to audio description and how to make the arts accessible to people with disabilities. Qudsiya and her guests also talk about what the pandemic has meant for accessibility and the arts. This episode is so full of important reflections and quotes, we wanted to bring it to you in two parts. In Part 1, you’ll hear from Charlie Miller, Director of Strategic Partnerships at Art-Reach, a Philadelphia-based organization whose aim is to make arts and culture more accessible to people in the disability and low-income communities.

While earlier episodes of Down to the Struts have focused on how to design a more inclusive world at large, this interview looks inward, at how disabled people design and build our own spaces. Justice Shorter, Melissa Lomax, and Conchita Hernandez Legorreta are the founders of WOC World: A Virtual Community for Blind Women of Color. Driven by their values of collective leadership, disability justice, and mutual aid, they have created an active community of support, mentorship, and love for blind women of color. In this episode, Justice, Melissa, Conchita, and Qudsiya discuss navigating the world as people with multiple marginalized identities, why spaces like WOC World are revolutionary and transformative, the importance of diversity and inclusion in mentorship, and what they hope to achieve through this community. This episode is dedicated to disabled women of color everywhere. Know that you are seen, believe that you are beautiful and perfect, and remember that you are loved.

This episode dives into the world of adaptive sports, and specifically looks at Goalball, a sport designed for blind and visually impaired people. Qudsiya is an athlete herself, and in this episode interviews Karla Gilbride and Justin Chan, the co-founders of the Metro Washington Association of Blind Athletes (MWABA). Their conversation explores the importance of design in making athletics accessible, the power of sports to transform lives, and beating stereotypes on and off the court.