Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & Martyn Sibley

We return once again with Mai Ling and the Xceptional Podcast Network team to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association national convention. In this episode, Mai shares some great conversations that she recorded with ASHA19 attendees who write blogs in the SLP space. Featured today are Hallie Sherman, Kristin Cummings, and Whitney Smith.

Mai Ling and the Xceptional Podcast Network team have once again taken their recording gear to the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association national convention. In this episode, Mai shares some great conversations with ASHA19 attendees who are producing podcasts in the SLP space. Featured today are Michelle Dawson, Erin Forward, Ayelet Marinovich, Kelly Kleinhans, Ruchi Gadodia, Maria Kotsonis, and Deborah Brooks.

Our guest today is wheelchair model Samanta Bullock. Martyn interviews this amazing inclusivity advocate turned fashion designer about her efforts to make adaptive clothing that meets the needs of those who need accommodations but also fits well for those who are able-bodied. Samanta talks about why she started on this journey, shares some of her biggest challenges, and expresses why she feels it important to have both able-bodied and disabled people model the same ensemble in the marketing of her fashion line called SB. Mentioned in This Show Samanta Bullock https://samantabullock.com/ Styling With Adaptive Clothing with Mindy Scheier http://xceptionalleaders.libsyn.com/styling-with-adaptive-clothing-with-mindy-scheier  Episode 16: Samanta Bullock - That Happy Buzzing Feeling https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/martyn-sibley/the-martyn-sibley-show/e/54465859  American Speech-Language Hearing Association 2019 National Convention https://convention.asha.org/ 

Actor and comedian Danny Woodburn is our guest today on the show. In addition to his acting work, Woodburn is a disability rights activist and serves on the Performers with Disabilities Committee for SAG-AFTRA. He talks with Mai Ling about the importance of inclusion for actors with disabilities, holding the film entertainment industry accountable for making auditions and jobs accessible to everyone, and his one-on-one chat with Bryan Cranston regarding these issues. Don’t miss this insightful and informative conversation with a Hollywood insider.

Our new co-host, Martyn takes the lead and interviews his friend and co-founder of Accomable, Srin Madipalli. Accomable was an accessible accommodation website that Martyn and Srin later on sold to Airbnb. Through late-night coding, angel investors, and many trans Atlantic flights; Srin pulled off the impossible. Learn how he managed such a progressive achievement in this insightful and inspiring conversation.

This episode is the first with our new format and new co-host. Martyn Sibley joins Xceptional leaders as our regular co-host so today we spend a few minutes getting to know him. He shares a bit about his background with Disability Horizons and Accomable and then he and Mai Ling tease the new format for the show.

This week, our host, Mai Ling Chan, is in the hot seat. The roles are reversed as fellow Xceptional Podcast Network host, Matt Hott of Speech Science takes the mic to interview Mai Ling. She talks with Matt about what prompted her to start this podcast, gives insight into what keeps her going, and shares some news about the future of the show. In addition to all this valuable info, Matt digs into just what makes Mai who she is as a person.

Xceptional Leader Sara Simpson is our guest on this edition. As a person with physical challenges, Sara has nevertheless led a fulfilling life and achieved many goals that are remarkable. She shares about how she has excelled in corporate America with a disability, gives her personal story of hardship and how she turned it into a speaking career, and talks about her special heart for reaching out to children.

Catherine Hughes, aka The Caffeinated Advocate, is our guest today. She has been advocating on behalf of those with special needs for many years and she brings a wealth of knowledge on the advocacy space to this conversation. Catherine talks about the nitty-gritty of advocacy work, strategies for reaching out to politicians for advocating, and some of the things that drive her in her work.

We are joined by Karen Siff Exkorn, bestselling author of The Autism Sourcebook: Everything You Need to Know About Diagnosis, Treatment, Coping, and Healing--from a Mother Whose Child Recovered. Karen shares with us why she wrote the book and how she approached the book-writing process. She also gives some tips and encouragement for someone who wants to write a book, and even talks a bit about the controversial topic of autism recovery.

We are joined on the show today by the multi-talented, young Cassidy Huff. She is a singer/songwriter, musician, and a voiceover artist for Dreamworks and Amazon. Cassidy has a rare disease which has resulted in her undergoing dozens of surgeries, yet this encouraging teenager is constantly giving back to others in the same condition. You don’t want to miss her sharing her inspiring journey on this episode.

Speech-language pathologist, Amanda Charney, is our guest today. Amanda founded Small Steps in Speech, an organization that provides grants to families with children with speech and language disorders who are either not covered or not fully covered by their health insurance. She tells the story of what led to the creation of the nonprofit, shares tips on how to select board members for a nonprofit, and explains the importance of building relationships and partnering with others in your field.

IEP Coach and international speaker, Catherine Whitcher, is our guest today. Catherine is an expert at helping educators and parents create IEPs that fit their specific needs and she teaches others her methods through online and in-person training. She shares with us about building an online brand, challenges with setting pricing for online resources, and reminds us that not everyone in your niche is a potential client. Don’t miss this informative conversation.

Kenny Salvini is our guest today to share about his journey since a skiing accident made him a quadriplegic as a young adult. After a meeting with other individuals with similar disabilities opened his eyes to the importance of community, Salvini took it upon himself to make the same thing happen for others. He founded the Here and Now Project to meet that need for those in the Pacific Northwest and he shares the story with us today on the show.

Entrepreneur, computing technology expert, and universal design advocate, Todd Stabelfeldt, is our guest today. Todd is a C4 quadriplegic who is passionate about discovering new ways for disabled individuals to gain more independence. He shares the story of the accident which caused his spinal cord injury and talks about gaining as much independence as possible through the assistance of technology. Todd is a business owner and in recent years was a keynote presenter at Apple’s WWDC.

Steven Spohn is our guest today and he began his journey in the world of accessible gaming as a gamer with disabilities himself. He’s now an author and the Chief Operations Officer and Community Outreach Director for the AbleGamers Foundation. Steven shares his thoughts on when “gated communities” for gaming are appropriate, advocates for insurance companies to cover gaming as social therapy, and much more in this engaging conversation.

Steve Isaacs joins us today to talk about using gaming in the classroom. He clarifies the difference between gamification and game-based learning, shares his insights as a game design and development teacher, and speaks about his involvement with Minefaire, the #1 Minecraft event in the United States.

Dr. Kathryn Ringland joins Mai Ling to share with us how she used the Autcraft Minecraft server as a research environment to learn first-hand how it was benefitting autistic kids. In addition to sharing what she learned from the research project, Kathryn tells how she is using the data she collected and how others can use it as a resource for similar efforts. She also talks about the recent founding of her own non-profit and gives us 3 tips that we can take action on in our own projects.

Stuart Duncan runs the Minecraft server, Autcraft, and he is with us on the show to share his experiences with us. Autcraft is a Minecraft environment created especially for kids of all ages with autism to play the game in a safe setting. Stuart tells us the origin of the idea for the server, a bit about his background, and the volunteer team he’s put together on the server. He also explains how running Autcraft led to him giving a TEDx Talk and he also talks about his approach to preparing for it.

Blogger and gamer Erin Hawley is our guest today. Erin has muscular dystrophy which can inhibit her gaming so she shares with us her strategy for choosing new game titles, the story of how she began working with Microsoft on an adaptive controller for the Xbox, and the origins of her blog, The Geeky Gimp. She also talks about how she overcame her reservations about hosting an audio podcast.