Our Voices: Conversations of Disability

Andrew Letchuk
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Our Voices is an independent podcast that opens critical conversations on disability by engaging with disabled people, scholars, activists, and advocates. Our Voices is defined as the conception of acknowledging and recognizing disabled people's voices. This podcast holds space to imagine and desire building an alternative world that can value and/or accept our identities in the disability community. What would an accessible world look like without systemic barriers? What issues we still continue to experience? Join me as I dive into discussions independently and with disabled guests.

  1. 3d ago

    301 - The Future Looks Good on You in FUTURES

    The future looks brighter than ever for disabled youth in a program where you can just be yourself. Launched over a year ago, FUTURES is a leadership program for disabled youth who are passionate about making social change. The program offers a variety of programs for disabled youth. This includes a book club, social media internship, and a visual arts program. Prospective participants can choose to join an in-person or online cohort (Fall, winter, spring or summer). The question we'll be answering is: What are some ways FUTURES can help disabled youth become innovative leaders? For the Season 3 premiere, Kelly Johnston joins me in this exciting conversation. Kelly and I became close friends in the Fall 2025 cohort! We discussed our favourite moments from the program, such as the Map Mission and dance workshop activity. We discussed our journey in the program and offered advice to prospective participants. If you're disabled, D/deaf, hard-of-hearing, or neurodivergent and are passionate about building community, FUTURES is the right program for you. Additional information can be found on its website: Futures - The AccessStudioSeasons 1 and 2: The complete series is available to listen.

  2. Sep 2

    211 - Disability and Accommodations in Post-Secondary Education

    When non-disabled people hear the word "accessibility", they think about wheelchair ramps and automated doors with a push button. Let's consider accommodations in post-secondary education. Let's consider how we, as disabled people, have to pay extra money out of our pockets for psycho-educational assessments or medical equipment. We experience financial barriers in Ontario, and with the new school year, Doug Ford makes financial life harder for disabled students. In the season finale episode, Julie "Jules' Emeid and I discuss our lived experience with college and university accommodations. We discuss ways of making post-secondary life accessible and how to improve accessibility policies. This includes giving disabled students a seat at the table as consultants, compensating them for panel talks, and building relationships with professors. The complete episodes of seasons 1 and 2 are available to listen to on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Season 3 will be premiering on October 2nd. Our Voices: Conversations of Disability is a podcast series. Distributed by Cafe Time Productions

  3. Aug 5

    210 - Artist Talks, Curation and Curiosity: Conversations within Disability Arts

    Artist Talks is how we learn to explore and engage in conversations that involve politics and identity. Because Tangled Arts is Canada's first accessible gallery in downtown Toronto, the organization firmly believes in audience engagement. Disability arts challenges the traditional museum norms of visualizing art. This includes the tactile touch of an exhibit. It's important to emphasize that disability must be represented authentically. How have artist talks shaped nuanced perceptions of disability, D/deaf culture, and neurodiversity? In this episode, Sarah Sproule and I had a thorough conversation around our experience with artist talks and curating art exhibitions. Sarah introduces me to the intersections of disability and religion by explaining the ableist logic of the afterlife, arguing that a disabled body can be left behind. We both agreed that this belief is ableist. Disabled bodies and minds are, in fact, desirable. Furthermore, Sarah offered moral support for disabled artists by advising us to work on crip time; the ability to adapt our own pace and productivity level.

  4. Jul 21

    209 - For Justice, For Peace: Disability Pride at the Intersection of LGBTQA+ Rights

    Bigotry, ableism, discrimination. This is the reality we experience every day across the world. These issues occur when we are left vulnerable to discriminatory policies and right-wing politicians. Despite living in dark times, disabled and neurodivergent people in the LGBTQA+ communities continue to resist in a unified voice. This includes advocating trans rights and gender-affirming care, gay rights, and centring disability justice in social movements. How do we interpret community care? Why is it important to speak up? What does it mean to fight for your rights? In this episode, I'm joined by Derek Newman-Stille (they/them), a faculty member from the Gender and Social Justice Department at Trent University. We had an intimate conversation about the social constructions of disability and queerness, analyzing anti-trans rhetoric, and being intentionally vulnerable about authentic identity. We also emphasized the significance of community care through active listening and storytelling.

  5. Jun 24

    208 - Invisible Disabilities in Dialogues of Lived Experiences

    When non-disabled people think about the terms "disability" or "disabled", they recognize it as a physical appearance. What happens when they meet someone whose disability is non-apparent? The answer: frequent stigmatization. For instance, accusing a chronically ill person of faking their disability or an autistic person being told they don't look autistic. In this episode, Kat and I chatted about her lived experience as a neurodivergent Vietnamese woman in her education and workplace. Secondly, we uncovered the many reasons why non-visibly disabled people face stigmatization, one-sided tropes and stereotypes by society. We also discussed the wonderful social group we made on Instagram called NeuroAmigos.

  6. Mar 6

    207 - Access, Accommodation and Inclusivity: Disability and Employment Issues in Ontario

    Disabled people have been categorized as the most unemployed group not only in Ontario, but also in Canada (statistically). Issues can range from fear of disclosing accommodations to the influence of employer and policy attitudes in the workplace. What happens when accommodations are not met? What are your rights and responsibilities as a disabled employee? Mary Neilans, founder of AIM for Inclusion, joins me in this episode. With many years of experience as an aging consultant, Mary works closely with employers to make workplaces accessible through AODA training and consultation. We both discuss the contrasts between accommodations (individual requests), accessibility, and inclusivity. We then discuss disclosing one's accommodation to an employer, acquiring access needs, common misconceptions, and the hiring process. Should you require a transcript version of the episode, feel free to reach out: aletchuk@yahoo.ca

  7. 12/08/2025

    206 - Representing Disability Through The Arts by The Disability Collective

    How have disability art events amplified disabled, D/deaf, and neurodivergent people? In this episode, I'm joined by a kind friend of mine, Emily Maxwell (She/they). Emily is a disabled, queer, and neurodivergent artistic director for The Disability Collective - an organization that coordinates arts-based events made for and by disabled people. Sunday, Dec. 7th, was our fourth year of the Disability Holiday Festival at Wychwood Barns in Toronto. Emily and I chatted about the significance of putting community care over profit (supporting disabled artists and their work), humble beginnings and the development of TDC, experiences with financial barriers for disabled people, and the importance of emphasizing access needs. We also shared some of our favourite moments from the TDC events, the day we first met three years ago, and our shared lived experiences as disabled people. If you would like to learn more about this organization, you can find them on social media! They post detailed information about events they host. This includes access and venue guides, visual descriptions, and "save your spoons" guide videos. This is the last production episode for this year and will return in 2026! Thank you so much, everyone, for all your support this year. Should you request a transcript, please don't hesitate to reach out. Email me at: aletchuk@yahoo.ca

  8. 11/26/2025

    205 - Politics of Mental Health from a Mad Studies Perspective

    Why Mad Studies? How have mad studies periodically shaped nuanced perceptions of psychiatry and madness? In this episode, I am joined by Max Ferguson (he/they) as we dive into a thorough understanding of the conception of mad studies, how it exposes oppressive attitudes in psychiatric institutions, and its relationality to disability studies. Although some people may disagree with the term "Mad," well-known scholars such as Geoffrey Reaume, Rachel Gorman, Danielle Landry, and Jenna Reid use it as reclaimed language to rationalize lived experience with the mental health system. This further extends to grassroots movements (mad pride, consumer/survivor/ex-patient movement) that reject societal prejudices from medical professionals and policies that dictate diagnoses or treatment. Max introduces us to the term "sanism," which is a prejudiced belief that favours able-minded, healthy brains and frowns upon psychiatric minds. Lastly, we both discussed learning to set boundaries on consuming news media in Canada and from the United States. *Content warning: Max briefly discusses suicidal ideation from a book he read and a family experience. Because this brief piece of content is subjectively heavy, I am giving a head of caution for those who may feel sensitive to this subject* Book recommendations: Mad Matters: A Critical Reader in Canadian Mad Studies (2013). Brenda A. LeFrancois, Robert Menzies, and Geoffrey Reaume.

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Our Voices is an independent podcast that opens critical conversations on disability by engaging with disabled people, scholars, activists, and advocates. Our Voices is defined as the conception of acknowledging and recognizing disabled people's voices. This podcast holds space to imagine and desire building an alternative world that can value and/or accept our identities in the disability community. What would an accessible world look like without systemic barriers? What issues we still continue to experience? Join me as I dive into discussions independently and with disabled guests.

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