Adventures in Accessibility Rocky Mountain ADA Center

Transcript: bit.ly/AIAe058

Erik Weihenmayer is one of the most celebrated and accomplished athletes in the world. In 2001, he became the only blind person in history to climb Mount Everest. When he stood on top of Carstensz pyramid in 2008, he completed his quest to climb all of the seven summits, the tallest peak on each of the seven continents. 

Erik is the author of the bestselling memoir, Touch the top of the world, which was made into a feature film as well as the Adversity Advantage, which shows readers how to turn everyday struggles into everyday greatness. His latest book, No Barriers, A Blind Man's Journey to kayak The Grand Canyon is more than an adventure story. It illuminates how we move forward in our lives towards growth and purpose, despite the barriers that get in our way. He is an internationally recognized speaker and brings his message of living a no-barriers life to audiences around the world.

In September, 2014, Erik and blinded Navy veteran Lonnie Bedwell kayaked the entire 277 miles of the Grand Canyon on the Colorado River, considered one of the most formidable whitewater adventures in the world. Erik continually seeks out new adventures, focusing his efforts on empowering people traditionally swept to the sidelines of life. He founded an organization called No Barriers, which helps people with challenges tap into the human spirit, break through barriers, and contribute to the world.

Connect with Erik:

Erik Weihenmayer – Adventurer | Speaker | Author | Teacher
No Barriers | No Barriers - Resilience, Hope & Optimism For Youth And Adults (nobarriersusa.org)
Erik Weihenmayer (@erikweihenmayer) • Instagram photos and videos

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Transcript: bit.ly/AIAe057

Sommer is a 29 year old mental health advocate in the Denver area and the owner of Discreet Journal. She was diagnosed with severe obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and speaks out about her challenges and opportunities with mental health.

Connect with Sommer:

Discreet Journal - Therapy Workbook, Mindfulness Journal
Discreet Journal | Facebook
Discreet Journal (@discreetjournal) • Instagram photos and videos
Discreet Journal (DiscreetJournal) - Profile | Pinterest

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Transcript: bit.ly/AIAe056

After being diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy at the age of two, Cory Lee’s thirst for adventure never ceased. He has traveled across all seven continents in his powered wheelchair while managing to run his travel blog CurbFreeWithCoryLee.com, where he shares his accessible — and sometimes not so accessible — travel adventures with others. Cory also does annual group trips, where his followers can join him in international destinations, and in 2022, he launched The Curb Free Foundation. This nonprofit provides wheelchair users with travel grants to go on their dream trip. As always, Cory’s goal is to inspire other wheelchair users to roll out of their comfort zones and see all of the beauty our world has to offer.

Connect with Cory:

Curb Free with Cory Lee: A Wheelchair Travel Blog
Cory Lee | Wheelchair Travel Expert (@curbfreecorylee) • Instagram photos and videos
The Curb Free Foundation

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Transcript: bit.ly/AIAe055

Tom Wheaton grew up in the suburbs of Minneapolis. He decided to enlist in the U.S. Navy for many reasons, the most notable being that his grandfathers and dad served during World War II and the Vietnam War, respectively.

Wheaton began serving in the U.S. Navy in 1986 and is a plank owner (original crew member) of the USS Fort McHenry. In 1988, while on active duty in Perth, Australia, he sustained a spinal cord injury. After his initial treatment at the Royal Perth Rehabilitation Hospital, he was transferred to the Milwaukee VA Spinal Cord Injury Center.

In 1989, Wheaton became a member of the North Central Chapter of PVA in Sioux Falls, SD. In 1993, he became a member of the new Minnesota Chapter of PVA, where Wheaton was the chapter’s first director of sports and recreation, and also served as chapter treasurer. After moving to Golden, CO, Wheaton served on a regional basis as sports director, treasurer, hospital liaison, and executive director of the Mountain States Chapter of PVA. He also served as first vice president of the United Veterans Committee of Colorado.

For the last 24 years, Wheaton has served on PVA’s Executive Committee in various capacities, including as the organization’s senior vice president and parliamentarian. Serving alongside many dedicated leaders on the Executive Committee has had a profound effect on his life. Wheaton says, “Journeying together to determine how we can best assist in enhancing the lives of our nation’s heroes has been extremely rewarding.”

Wheaton was re-elected national treasurer of PVA in May 2022 during the organization’s 76th Annual Convention, to begin a new, one-year term on July 1, 2022. He wants people to know that “this is a significant time for us to continue to push forward and prove just how unstoppable we are.”

In addition to his responsibilities at PVA, Wheaton has served on various national veterans and disability advisory committees, including the National Spinal Cord Injury Association. Whenever he has spare time, Wheaton enjoys doing puzzles because they are a metaphor for facing life’s challenges and overcoming them. Within his community, he is an elder of Hillside Community Church and co-leads its children’s ministries with his wife, Angela. The Wheatons have been married for 21 years and are proud parents of two school-age children.

Connect with Tom:

Paralyzed Veterans of America
twheaton@pva.org

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Transcript: bit.ly/AIAe054-1

VOLORES’ debut album, AGES, explores universal themes of life, love, and death through dark indie rock, stylish post-punk motifs, and disarmingly frank lyricism. The Colorado-based couple – Flogging Molly bassist Nathen Maxwell and his singer-songwriter wife Shelby – lightheartedly dub their singular sound “mountain goth.”

Organic, haunting, and relentlessly authentic, VOLORES’ broad appeal lies in its raw channeling of the mortal condition, including mental health struggles, that they’ve not only experienced, but experienced together. Simple, yet effortlessly beautiful, AGES celebrates the shared musical passions that brought the Maxwells together – from Leonard Cohen and Elliot Smith to The Cure and Interpol – through unfiltered expressions that cast deeply personal shadows in plain sight, coated only in intuitive melody and elegant songcraft.

VOLORES (voloresband.com)
𝗩𝗢𝗟𝗢𝗥𝗘𝗦 (@voloresband) • Instagram photos and videos
‎VOLORES - Apple Music
VOLORES - YouTube
Nathen Maxwell (@nathenmaxwell) • Instagram photos and videos
Flogging Molly

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Transcript: bit.ly/AIAe053-01

Today’s guest is our very own Chris Murphy. Chris grew up having a disability but not understanding that it was a disability. He wasn’t allowed to participate in sports as a child, but was able to pursue music, taking up the trombone at age 12.

Chris majored in trombone performance at California State University Fullerton and earned a Bachelors of Music in 2002. He lived as a freelance musician in Southern California, having the opportunity to perform in multiple genres of music, including being a musician at Disneyland between 2007-2012. It was during this period that Chris began riding a bike as a commuter and began finding enjoyment in exercise.

He inadvertently learned about Paracycling while researching symptoms of overuse he began having on his unaffected arm. At this time, Chris began to understand that the medical condition he had all his life was a disability. Chris pursued Paracycling, which brought him to Colorado to train at the Olympic and Paralympic Training Center, eventually participating in 2 Paralympic Games, earning 9 world-level medals including 2 gold medals, breaking a word record two times, and winning around 30 national championships in a 10-year period.

Chris has worked at the RMADAC as an information specialist since 2017 and is now full-time, taking on a new role as a knowledge translation specialist.

Contact Chris: chris.muphy@unco.edu
Chris Murphy (@gofastmurph) • Instagram

Connect with the Rocky Mountain ADA Center at RockyMountainADA.org or find us on social media. Don't forget to subscribe, rate and review us on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, or anywhere else you get your podcasts!