Outlook on Radio Western

Outlook on Radio Western
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Inspired by The Canadian Federation of the Blind, Outlook is a show about accessibility, advocacy, and equality. Hosted by two siblings who were born blind. Heard on 94.9 Radio Western every Monday from 11 AM to noon.

  1. 6d ago

    Outlook 2026-06-01 - Kerry's First Blindness 101 Workshop, King Orca’s First Show

    The theme of National Accessibility Week 2026 (May 31st to June 6): building a strong Accessible Canada It invites all of us including governments, businesses, organisations, and individuals to take actions to advance a barrier free country. Significant progress has been made to eliminate/prevent barriers and by continuing to work together, we can build a truly accessible, inclusive, and equitable Canada. First we consider a new one to us, a new day to focus on awareness. It's Red Shirt Day - the Day of action for accessibility and inclusion. A day when people across Canada come together and wear red to create a visible display of solidarity and to show their support for disabled people and their families to celebrate the achievements of disabled Canadians and to pledge their commitment to help create a fully accessible and inclusive society. It was the Easter Seels organization’s day and they made it a day first in 2019, but as we’re always debating about the value of these awareness days/weeks/months, June being both Pride Month but also National Indigenous History Month, we wonder amongst ourselves if this one might get too mixed up with Red Dress Day. Last year, in August, Brian and his two friends, brought together by the loss of a mutual friend, came together to record some music. It’s dedicated to "their pal Andrew” and one year ago, they had been practicing and the band (reshaped) into “the two Brian band” recorded their songs at The Sugar Shack in London, Ontario. They are now ready to play live and are doing so in London with bands Officepolitik and Hunter Gatherer, lyrics and instrumental performances. This week on Outlook we discuss things like Brian’s band “King Orca” performing, for the first time, songs from their album “The Ceramicist), while they await the release of their vinyl, and are playing live Saturday, June 6th, at Supply and Demand: top notch pizza and beer, and music also. We laugh about sighted people’s wild assumptions about living with blindness (what else can you do) while discussing National Accessibility Week and Kerry’s first Blind Beginnings Blindness 101 workshop at Oxford Tax Service in Ingersoll, Ontario and about how businesses and orgs need to go further than a simple accessibility statement on their website as we grumble a bit about a recent experience with an inaccessible spa (as BF Barry and Kerry celebrate their three year anniversary) by being apart. Also, next year Kerry will be celebrating something else, her 30 year kidney transplant anniversary. As far as blindness goes and as she shares all Kerry has learned from doing her first workshop now, as far as what we want and say on this show, we’re only looking to break the ice and for people to be open to learn how not to be terrified of blindness and for someone to “give a damn!” BF Barry’s testimony, after accompanying Kerry to her first workshop was: Positive, educational, entertaining - PS, he also says: “We are people.” What do you know, we are. We talk about what Brian feels performing in front of a crowd, as Kerry presents in front of one, and we hear about how Kerry chooses to handle these workshops on going over time, putting on a non visual presentation, and rolling in, ready to go, suitcase of supplies and props in hand. While it’s August not March, every March...2nd Thursday of March is World Kidney Day. Brian calls me “Kidney Kerr” (first time he’s saying that, but it might just stick) as we play the YouTube video/audio, showcasing things like the WHO 2025 Kidney Health Resolution, a collaborative effort, and we talk through our own kidney disease experiences as we listen. With support from The International Federation of Kidney Foundations and the Society of Nephrology, it is a global day dedicated to raising awareness - it’s the World Kidney Day 20th anniversary on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFVZo4HfDNg Learn more about the Blindness 101 workshops: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QBUnMdFd_k

  2. Aug 20

    Outlook 2026-05-25 - National Accessibility Awareness Week, Blindness 101 Workshops Begin

    Nuance - a subtle distinction or variation It was an "unforgettable day of music, community, and celebration” for brother/co-host Brian, telling us about his evening out with his friend Matt for dinner at the newly open since January Hitching post Tavern followed by the Sunfest block party at London Brewing Co-Op to kick off Sunfest season and the music was Sonido Pesao, a Montreal based Latin urban / rap group. Brian likes to share with us about the shows he goes to see in London, Ontario where he lives, but a real part of that while supporting the music scene, is the fatigue that comes with being overstimulated in public settings when you live with blindness and other disabilities and conditions. There are adaptations and ways to make such things easier and we talk about some of those on Outlook this week. Navigating an open event with stalls and stages and crowds can be stressful and difficult for example, but on this episode we discuss the low tech and the high tech tools we use, for whatever we’re looking to make even a little bit easier. From the new glasses our nine-year-old niece recently got and her exclaiming how putting them on finally has made everything show as so beautiful to a new app release for way finding - it’s called NaviLens, it’s available in the UK Grand Central Station in Belfast City Center, not using GPS. We learn, also from the UK, that glasses are sometimes known as jam jars colloquially. As well, we share about something we refer to as advocacy fatigue, along with the cognitive load fatigue that’s possible as we discuss National Accessibility Day and National Accessibility Awareness Week, 2026 - as sister/co-host Kerry’s first Blindness 101 workshop approaches, just before, NAAW being May 31st to June 6th, the latter being the day of Brian’s Band King Orca’s first live show. As we talk more about AI wearables, we again return to the benefits of having one’s phone and its technology with us, monitoring medical concerns like diabetes levels or magnifying our surroundings for us, while too we recognise the toll it all takes on the environment and communities living with it. However, businesses and companies cannot get the message, just because apps are being developed and systems are being put in place that their work and effort is no longer needed and they can avoid their legal requirements and responsibilities. We don’t wish to sugar coat things, it’s more advocacy fatigue in the mix with a local spa jumping to rash conclusions, displaying pigheaded and ignorant attitudes, and automatically making a whole bunch of incorrect assumptions, without looking enough into our own lived experience as blind people, but also we who only wish to act as regular customers like anyone else. This is coming up again, feels like foreshadowing, but the whole thing reminding some of us of the advocating it took to get to experience Toronto’s CN Tower Edge Walk several years back - all these are what National Accessibility Day and National Accessibility Awareness Week are for in the first place. Spring is kicking into high gear and workshop season has begun and Kerry’s even reached out to CBC’s local London Morning for help spreading the message of Blindness 101. In the meantime, check out the video made for the workshops and her appearance on the Blind Beginnings “Limitless” podcast where she speaks with founder and program manager Shawn Marsolais and recent Outlook guest Jennie Bovard about how the year of facilitating is going: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QBUnMdFd_k https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/episode-232-blindness-101-and-national-accessability-week/id1518892826?i=1000767864001 It’s not simply an accessibility tick box somewhere, but more like a series of job interviews to get people to see that AI alone isn’t enough and that community, like the local one with the tea room that’s struggling, where Kerry and BF Barry love to go - why it all matters, in community and connection.

  3. Aug 13

    Outlook 2026-05-18 - In Her Own Words With Daring Sister Laura Dattner

    "When we deny the story it defines us. When we own the story, we can write a brave new ending." Brene Brown Sister/co-host Kerry found a community during Covid times known as The Daring Sisters, a patchwork of blind women from all over, in person and virtual retreats, which serve as support and connection for one another and Laura Datner (having been DS’s secretary since) was one of those women. Joining us from “the roller coaster capital,” this week on Outlook Laura from Ohio shares about her own diagnosis of RP and raising a child with Down Syndrome - from fundraising and inclusion and meeting other women and families to the medical and developmental side of life with these disabilities/conditions such as tunnel vision or a heart condition - it takes a village. Her diagnostic RP story is an example of how crudely physicians can break the news and the utter disconnect between the medical and social models of disability, like low vision/blindness compared to the social model, with connection at the forefront of organisations like Daring Sisters. We talk the start of the summer season with its ice cream, carnivals, and amusement park days - Mother’s Day and the roller coaster ride that is parenthood, and how Laura first met the creator of Daring Sisters when attending their National Ability Center in Utah, both with a shared eye condition, after being diagnosed with retinitis pigmentosa at age twenty-nine herself. Datner describes the in person activities at the NAC which include adaptive skiing, equine therapy, tandem biking, archery, and a high ropes course which Laura couldn’t take part in in 2019 down to the fact that she was pregnant with her first child at the time. Kerry and Laura share about pros and cons of in person vs virtual connections made, the collaborative experience of leisure and support group activities, and the different themed groups (gardening/parenting/book club to name a few) Daring Sisters offers including the virtual one where they first became aware of each other. Thanks to Laura Datner for opening up to us and telling us her story, in her own words, for this one on her welcome package to blindness, in contrast to the welcome package to Daring Sisters Kerry received. DS (Daring Sister) Laura and DS (The Syndrome) she advocates for with her son and the Down syndrome community. This one highlights an essential Mother’s Day message of self care along with more maternal roles since initial diagnosis/prognosis for herself and her child. For more, check out the DS: http://www.daringsisters.org

  4. Jul 19

    Outlook 2026-05-11 - The Accessibility Advantage With Maxwell Ivey

    Our guest for this one has gone from Carnival owner and amusement equipment broker' to life coach to podcast guest booker to accessibility expert who writes, speaks, consults, and hosts his own podcast asking: What is the advantage of accessibility? Sister/co-host Kerry met Maxwell Ivey on LinkedIn over a decade ago and this is his first time, live and solo, with us on the show. This week on Outlook we’re speaking, on a Mother’s Day May Max episode, with Ivey about his advocacy and accessibility journey, alongside Kerry’s. His tagline for years asked an important question: "As far as what I’m doing now, I think I’ve figured out that "what’s your excuse" can still be my tag line, although I have a second tag line now which is "accessibility benefits everyone”." Max shares stories and lessons he learned about determination and perseverance, growing up with his family on the midway since age five, along with a song he sings for us about taking charge of our own destinies and on effective communication with society around issues of accessibility. On all this, Max says: "There a lot of people in business, nonprofits, government agencies that are still finding excuses to not address accessibility with their digital content or inclusion in their workplace or physical locations so the "what’s your excuse" at this point, in 2026, what is it? Check out “The Accessibility Advantage” podcast with Max as he addresses the topic: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-accessibility-advantage/id1740242884 Accessibility is my message because I feel like I am uniquely suited because of my experience, to approach accessibility from the positive benefit side and leave the scare people to death side to everyone else. We talk AI and falling on the ice and getting right back up - It’s Everything Max with a laugh along with our friend with the Texas charm. Check him out, everything Max, by going to his website: http://theaccessibilityadvantage.com

  5. Jul 9

    Outlook 2026-05-04 - Mom & Me, & On Being Rare

    Our guest says: It really made you realise how different all of us/all of you with rare diseases are. We assumed we’d find some things in common but we found more differences than more things in common which is interesting just because of how vast it is and what an area it covers. Janet is back, talking being the mother of two one in a million children, a full seven years since that time after her first well received radio show guest appearance with us back in May of 2019 - that’s right, we’re speaking with our mother for the full hour on Outlook this week. We’re thrown right into sounds from the big city of Toronto, to kick off the show, as today we’re discussing sister/co-host Kerry’s recent attendance at a rare disease conference put on by The Canadian Organisation for Rare Disorders. CORD, as they’re known, gave her a scholarship to attend, in person this year. It was Kerry’s first year going to this particular conference, but she went with our mother who once had no other way of researching her child’s rare disease back in the mid 90s, new, and scary symptoms during the pre-Internet days, but than to request medical journal articles (full of complex clinical language) being sent from one library to another. Check out this first half hour appearance of Janet, our mom, on Outlook with us all the way back during our very first Mother’s Day episode: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2019-05-13-mothers-day-feat-our-mom-janet/id1527876739?i=1000488226654 Returning to this latest hour, we discuss again how Kerry found out about this conference and its associated scholarship to begin with, about going as one of the patient advocates while feeling lost amongst the medical minefield of a hotel conference room full of mostly physicians and drug companies and researchers, and about why it was decided for Kerry and our mom to go together (from both Kerry and our mom’s perspectives). They share a bit about their relaxing stay at a downtown Toronto hotel which included sitting by the coy pond and fountain, about the sketchy wifi, and about the handy location of the place in the city even if the rooftop pool wasn’t yet open for the season, along with the wonderful array of healthy and not snacks and meals provided which also included room service after a long conference day. Both share about what it felt like to be amongst other families, parents, and caregivers, earlier along in their loved one’s rare disease journey than we are, who they could see themselves in, doing anything and everything to advocate and learn about rare and ultra rare diseases. It was easy to empathise, in a place like that, with both Kerry and brother/co-host Brian having been diagnosed with Senior Loken Syndrome by the geneticist team at Toronto’s Hospital For Sick Children in 1997. Kerry describes not only the positive parts of attending, but also about hearing the word “burden” used throughout the conference. She explains what it felt like when a room of medical professionals looked at things clinically, from a medical model of disability and chronic (rare) disorders, when those of us who are the patients, in this case are why the conference was going on in the first place. Janet then describes what it feels like to be a parent in a room like this, 30 years on from Kerry’s first diagnosis with a rare disease related condition of renal failure. Note from Kerry: I talk a lot about rare disease, but just chronic illness in general and how we accept things in life and how we learn to live with them. Then when do you push for some answers and that’s what I’m doing right now and that’s why I attended this conference for the first time. Again I wanna thank CORD, Canadian Organisation For Rare Disorders for supporting me and attending my first rare disease conference with them. Check out more from CORD by going to their website: https://www.raredisorders.ca

  6. Jul 3

    Outlook 2026-04-27 - All Aboard The Archers Omnibus

    What’s an omnibus? What’s an archer? This week’s program kicks off with the theme to BBC Radio 4’s The Archers Omnibus, a song that pumps up Kerry and Barry at the start of every week. The Archers, which is celebrating it’s 75th anniversary this year, also happens to be the longest running serial in the world. This radio drama which takes place in rural England has become routine listening for Kerry and Barry the last couple years. They comment on the show’s impressive sound design, how it tackles issues such as race and class, and how the plotlines mirror real life. Though Kerry has always loved TV, radio dramas like this appeal to her these days with her vision lessening because they give her brain a break from the visual stimuli. We wrap up this mixed bag month discussing the varying quality of audio description out there. Brian comments on the AD for Running Point as voiced by friend Nefertiti Matos Olivares comparing it to that of the new King of the Hill season. This is an excellent example demonstrating how important it is to blend into a show as an audio describer, without trying to sound like your own character. We also put out a call for donations to The Pacific Training Centre for the Blind as unfortunately a grant they rely on wasn’t approved this year. We’ve spoke of them on this show a lot, outlining how essential centres like this are where blind people share their lived experience with other blind people to help with independent living. Donate here: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/blindstewards/ To finish off, we hop back on The Archers Omnibus and head to the Academic Archers Conference in Birmingham. Kerry and Barry had been planning to go to this for months and as luck would have it, they were sick, but still took the trek. They share about accessibility including the cab driver walking them for 5 minutes into the airport as there was no accessible drop off close to it. Workers from the hotel they stayed at offered to guide them to the conference centre during the weekend event. There were volunteers at the conference that helped them with the food as a buffet lunch isn’t the most convenient for blind people. They share about the papers and panels presented. One of the actors from the show, Ryan Kelly, who also happens to be blind was there. Another great example of representation, a blind person playing a character in a show that isn’t blind. They briefly got to meet him, though the exchange was awkward, showing just because someone is also blind it doesn’t mean we immediately connect with them. Though Barry also met an attendee who is blind and they had much more time to chat as they were at the same table during the banquet while Ryan Kelly was on his way out. And the big highlight for them was sitting in a giant meeting room with everyone at the conference on the Sunday morning, listening live to The Archers Omnibus together. This was a one-of-a-kind, shared experience with all of the show’s quirky and nerdy fans. Listen to The Archers Omnibus: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/the-archers-omnibus/id338529121 And learn more about the PTCB from Elizabeth Lalonde’s appearance earlier this year: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2026-02-02-structured-discovery-training-in/id1527876739?i=1000752097822

  7. Jun 29

    Outlook 2026-04-20 - Holding Court With One Court

    Well sports fans, holding court and One Court - it’s snowflakes in April, along with it being National Volunteer Week with its benefits to the community and yet with a historical track record of exploitation of people with lived experience of disability. As you can tell, it’s another Outlook with a mixture of topics this week. We’re back, all of us, and live in studio - sister/co-host Kerry is thrown off her train of thought, with soundscape of her recent Irish train trip to Limerick with BF Barry and Oyster. Students at Western are finishing up for another year and we’d like to thank The Gazette for their article written featuring us and the show this year. We’re all talking what shows and movies we’re into lately, Kerry and Barry are sharing about their return travel back to Canada with stories of their Air Canada cabin manager friend Elizabeth and on pushing back on the airline policy of passengers with disabilities waiting till the end for assistance while telling the story of a rather inappropriate discussion about Canada with an assistant bashing Canada and our weather and Canadians, even though they are a representative of the airline as they talk as they guide us through the airport. Kerry recently held court in a hotel lobby in Dublin, meeting and greeting friendly Irish and international travellers, and shares all about her conversations and orientation of her surroundings using her listening skills and AI and technology. Travel is a multi sensory experience and soundscape and riding the rails especially, in Ireland, brings all sorts of adventures, as topics, to us here on the mic, even as brother/co-host Brian turns Barry’s mic down for a time. Brian shares about the discovery of the One Court device, a way of making sports more accessible and inclusive, as a tactile experience and allowing us to enjoy and follow the games (be it baseball, football, soccer, or basketball). It’s a home run with the "One Court” and for more information on this device, check out: https://www.onecourt.io

  8. Jun 21

    Outlook 2026-04-13 - A Mid April Mixed Bag Monday

    “Are you really blind?” We three don’t usually get questioned on whether or not we’re really unable to see, but in a large room with around eight hundred people, BF Barry had the question posed to him as he held a mic and called out the guy, on stage, with the bag over his head. It’s a somewhat x rated April mixed bag show, last one from Ireland to Canada for a while, with Sibling’s Day having happened recently, but one difference between Canada and Ireland is that the word “siblings” isn’t used in the latter like it is in the former. We spoke, back in February on our third Family Day show, about the word “siblings” with our brother and sister as our guests once more, while this time brother/co-host Brian shares how he learned since then that the word doesn’t exist in Spanish either. This week on Outlook we speak on sister/co-host Kerry, BF Barry, and Oyster’s recent adventures which include head injuries acquired in a hotel lobby, more lack of braille on the floors above, and inaccessible room menus. They share about getting over the “not Covid” along with fuel shortages and bus station closures, Brian describing his recent experience taking public transportation in Toronto, while Barry and Kerry were having to look for assistance from other travellers after being escorted by a security guard over the bridge when Dublin practically shut down (image description Brian reads painting the picture of a famous Irish capital city’s street in the midst of country wide fuel protests by farmers). This was after their trip, down south, to Limerick City to see a live recording of their favourite Irish podcaster who just so happens to call himself “Blind Boy,” even though he’s not actually blind, known for wearing a bag over his head. We all share our thoughts on someone calling themselves blind when they are not. Also, the upheaval across Ireland produces flashbacks of the 2022 winter Ottawa trucker convoy and the chaos that too caused as we discuss how such protests, while reflecting real and serious issues in both countries, can create very real and serious barriers, especially for people with disabilities. From north to south - travels lately and everything from stab vests to moon launches on this latest one. For more on Blind Boy and his podcast, go here: https://shows.acast.com/blindboy

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5
out of 5
4 Ratings

About

Inspired by The Canadian Federation of the Blind, Outlook is a show about accessibility, advocacy, and equality. Hosted by two siblings who were born blind. Heard on 94.9 Radio Western every Monday from 11 AM to noon.

Information

  • Creator
    Outlook on Radio Western
  • Years Active
    2020 - 2026
  • Episodes
    357
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Outlook on Radio Western

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