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. 2D AGO

    Outlook 2026-02-16 - Barry Presents The Return of the Kijewski Sighted Siblings

    Sibling: each of two or more children or offspring having one or both parents in common; a brother or sister Regular co-host BF Barry isn’t used to this term, being from Ireland where the word is less commonly used and more something clinical, a word a social worker might use. He is an only child so we figured he’d be the perfect person to moderate this year’s Family Day sibling episode. This week on Outlook, in honour of it being Family Day, Outlook is doing our third one of these (after sibling episodes both in 2021 and 2022) and after taking a few years off of doing this themed show: us four Kijewski siblings are back together. We start by covering pets, like we often do the weather with our other guests, talking new dogs added to the gang since we last recorded one of these: bulldog Ethel having joined our brother’s family (along with first bulldog Norman back in 2020) and including sister Kim’s “big, dopey sweetheart” Otis the Golden Doodle. And we can’t forget Barry’s guide dog Oyster in the midst of it all. Sister Kim’s family are down to zero bunnies after last count of eleven and we even cover brother Paul’s longtime pet snake Meekus. From pets to wild animal encounters, Paul shares how he first got fascinated by snakes on a 1992 family vacation in Florida. While the sisters recount a surprise interaction with a rattlesnake on a gravel path, in the woods, at the camp all four of us attended as a pre-grade eight graduation class trip where Kim was sister/co-host Kerr’s guide for the week. From pets and wildlife to children/nieces and nephew updates, Paul and Kim share about the ages their children are now at. Paul’s Sophia is in high school, all grown up, and going for her driver’s permit at the end of this year while Kim’s daughter Mya is in third grade and liking school, nots so much until she is there, but enjoys a good old snow day when she can get it growing up in snowy Canada like we four all did. The nephews (Reed and Max) are growing up too. Max is an old soul and constantly surprises his mother and father, melts his mother Sue's/Paul’s wife’s heart with the things he says. Kim’s Reed is heading for the same camp we all attended, near to Kerry’s favourite memorable spot on the rocks by the water, heading for graduation from eighth grade and onward to high school next year. Kerry will only be down the street if he ever needs somewhere to go for lunch. Barry inquires whether our sibling’s peers ever said anything mean about Paul and Kim having younger siblings who were blind, but the answer is surprising, more hopeful and positive than that. Then, he asks them if they ever liked to tease us because we couldn’t see them, however their answer is a regular, boring one whereby we all recount tormenting each other in equal measure (sneaking up on one another) just like any other sibling might do. We all get along rather well and our memories are of growing up in a family like any other, the usual fighting over the TV, as only child Barry ponders what it might be like to have such close bonded relationships as we’ve been lucky enough to have. We talk the effort our sister and brother make to learn enough braille to make holiday cards for us in accessible formats, while this next generation continues, in curiosity with our niece having made braille bookmarks to hand out to her teacher and classmates in the past. It’s a good, old fashioned family conversation about snakes and dogs and kids. Barry says, in regards to doing this show with the four of us: A good bunch you’s are. While oldest sibling Paul says in reply: We like talking to you. You are a good dude. And so BF Barry leads us through this familial chat as part of our family now. Maybe next year he will do an episode where he and our sister and brother-in-law have a chat about what it’s like joining the Kijewski family along the way. Check out the previous two Family Day (sibling episodes) here: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2021-02-15-family-day-with-the-kijewski-siblings/id1527876739?i=1000509546236 https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2022-02-21-family-day-2022-return-of/id1527876739?i=1000551891982

    59 min

  2. 5D AGO

    Outlook 2026-02-09 - We Identify As Blind, An Early February Mixed Bag Monday

    Ra Ra Braille! We at Outlook are cheerleaders for braille, whether it’s Braille Literacy Month in January or now being into the month of February and for this first Mixed Bag show of the month following January’s BLM, we continue talking braille this and braille that. This time we’re talking third co-host BF Barry using his learned braille skills to play a card game with brother/co-host Brian or Brian having a go at playing a new game on his phone: Whack a Braille! “An audio first and blind first game built around increasing your touch typing and braille literacy.” This week we’re talking bagpipes, supporting local, and accessible app and game development with Barry’s tales of his favourite inclusive game Glory Frontline. Sister/co-host and Birthday Girl Kerry shares about an audiobook she’s been reading, a memoir by a female musician first introduced to Kerry at the Perkins Museum in Boston in 2024 - I Identify as Blind: A Brazen Celebration of Disability Culture, Identity, and Power. Lachi says about disability, “Just say the word,” along with describing what she terms “disploitation” meaning the exploitation of people and their disabilities (for centuries with a bunch of racism tossed into the mix), then speaking of PEP which stands for positivity, empathy, and pride in the “Disability Movement” and in oneself. And speaking of...Kerry talks trying to be open to another side or perspective (in this case a conservative viewpoint) with a recent Canadian Conservative Leadership Review weekend in Alberta and a Con politician who propped up a trans Con to say that intersectionalities like those on the gender spectrum are unimportant: “Me being trans as like the least interesting thing about me,” this person said on said politician’s video This, Kerry and the boys discuss, is about ideology and tokenism and the well-known “I have a black friend” defence for things like belittling and scrapping the need for EDI (equity/diversity/inclusion) even if that is representative of recognising us all, on this show, as full human beings who acknowledge all the parts of us. So from online and virtual games to the old-school card games made accessible, whether it’s using braille or listening skills and being comfortable with our own voices with a good old-fashioned ramble we’re delving into the mixed bag of topics for this one at the start of this Rare Disease Month. Find out more about Whack a Braille! and play by going here: https://marconius.com/fun/whackABraille/ Check out resources for Black History Month and beyond at Western: https://www.edi.uwo.ca/events/black-history-month/ Learn more about the organization, “Recording Artists and Music Professionals with Disabilities”, that Lachi founded: https://rampd.org And here’s a little bagpipe action by Mudmen for you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=00kh2OZ79L8

    59 min

  3. FEB 28

    Outlook 2026-02-02 - Structured Discovery Training In Canada With Elizabeth Lalonde

    For White Cane week in February, this year we have a discussion with Elizabeth Lalonde about the recent completion of her Masters Thesis: --An Interpretive Analysis of the Effectiveness of Non-traditional or ‘Structured Discovery’ Blindness Rehabilitation in Canada from the Perspective of Blind Service Recipients and teachers This week on Outlook we’re speaking with Elizabeth about building confidence as a blind traveler and the difference between route training and the “structured discovery method” we’ve often spoke about on this show and of which Lalonde teaches at The Pacific Training Centre for the Blind, which she founded and runs on Vancouver Island on the west coast of Canada. She tells us: Structure discovery, it can include routes. Sometimes that’s the best way to get somewhere is you wanna learn the route. So it doesn’t mean that it excludes more traditional forms of rehabilitation. It just means that it opens the door for other ways of perceiving your environment, learning to perceive your environment in a more holistic way." Elizabeth shares her lived experience of blindness growing up and connecting with an opportunity to “learn blindness skills” training which led her to want to bring the same sort of rehab program to others closer to home. She tells us about the non visual skills they offer at the PTCB and the “Blind People In Charge” program she launched with the help of a grant from the provincial B.C. government. Elizabeth recognises with non visual learning: “When you have sight, you just tend to use it, (you can’t help it) so it can distract you from using your other senses to get around and to do things.” We talk about the hesitancy, whether new to blindness or not, for many of us to be afraid of wearing things like sleep shades to remove the distraction of any level of seeing when we’re learning how to explore our environment, with all our senses and perceptions, during blindness rehab. We reflect on the types of messages on blindness and early O and M instruction we were given and training we were taught, we highlight the common sense and lived experience in the expression “the blind leading the blind” as sister/co-host Kerry relates that back to her most recent memory of the community and confidence-building that can come from traveling in a group of blind people, and we examine ways of adapting “structure discovery” for the individual and their specific intersectionalities and unique learning styles, Regular Outlook co-host Barry says: “We’re getting taught static navigation for a dynamic world,” when it comes to how blind people receive orientation and mobility instruction. This conversational, truly from an international perspective along with our focus on Canada (with the thesis we’re featuring for its historical significance to blindness rehabilitation anywhere) episode provides a fairly comprehensive bunch of topics that return, always, to the subject of Elizabeth Lalonde’s thesis and our lived experiences with it. We at Outlook want to thank Elizabeth Lalonde for her hard work on presenting us all with a wider window on the landscape of blindness skills training here in Canada, on some more particulars around this thesis, and by doing this on completion of a Master’s degree in Community Development from the University of Victoria. Your work on this topic will be an important study and resource of rehabilitation for the blind in Canada and beyond. Through multiple modalities: including literature study and interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA, a qualitative methodology) ) with interviews she conducted with both students and teachers of the “structure discovery model”, Elizabeth paints a clearer picture of the landscape of Canada’s attitudes and offerings of blindness skills training. To learn more, check out the contents of Elizabeth’s thesis at this link: https://dspace.library.uvic.ca/items/28e4e9ee-884b-44f7-9111-9ff43af95eea

    58 min

  4. FEB 24

    Outlook 2026-01-26 - Blindness 101 With Shawn Marsolais & Shawna Lawson

    Blindness 101 testimonial: Shawna (mother of a son who is blind) says, "People won’t leave being an expert in blindness, I don’t think as a sighted person I would ever call myself an expert. Even when Charlie is sixty, but I think that de-stigmatizing is what the workshop’s intending to do and ending the awkwardness is the hope, that people feel like they’ve had enough information and they’ve had the experience to interact with the facilitator who’s blind or has low vision…the hope really is, if you employ people or you serve people then this training is right for you so we’re just trying to get it out to as many organisations as we can." The first week of February was White Cane Week and it’s important to make the public aware of things like what a white cane means for its user, January was Braille Literacy Month and speaking with braille users is the best way to learn the necessity and value of braille in our lives, plus this discussion with these two guests brings together the perspectives of two people who know that blindness doesn’t mean less capable and that we’re out here in the world. On this episode of Outlook we speak with Shawn Marsolais (founder of Blind Beginnings and blind herself) and Shawna Lawson (co-founder and innovation lead at Inclusive Experiences and mother to son (Charlie) who was born blind) about the creation of the “Blindness 101” workshops and sister/-co-host Kerrys’ facilitator role in them in Ontario in 2026. We talk for the hour together...Laughing over the language discussion and terminology game of disability but it goes further than language (the chicken or the egg problem), and about the value and purpose of Blind Beginnings gathering, what Shawna refers to it as, “a national network of workshop facilitators with the lived experience of blindness,” thanks to a grant from the federal government for a year of free Blindness 101 workshop offerings all across the country (even though these offerings are worth paying for and so these free offerings this year are a definite bargain). Shawna says: "It’s so important to have facilitators with lived experience of blindness and that is a big part of the workshop magic too." The Blind Beginnings “Limitless) philosophy is centre stage with this work and Shawn says, "Anywhere where there are people, there might be people who are blind. Train yourself up so you’re ready when they come into your program or your restaurant or your store or your whatever so there isn’t that awkwardness. It really does teach some of the etiquette and it’s "blindness 101" cause it’s an introduction to how to offer sighted guide, how to read braille, (just the alphabet) or think about how to include somebody in a social situation. It really it just gives you those basics." Shawn has done these workshops, for years now on her own in Vancouver, for things like daycare worker staff training and medical office assistant college classes so anyone could potentially hold these for their employees or students or members. So if there’s any organisation, company, group, or business (public services) who would like to discuss having one of these workshops, please do reach out to either us, outlookonradiowestern@gmail.com (for Ontario) or (in other provinces) Blind Beginnings for more information: https://www.blindbeginnings.ca/blindness-101-workshop Contact Kerry: https://kayconsulting.ca Learn more about Shawna Lawson’s Inclusive Experiences: https://www.inclusive-experiences.ca And listen to Shawn Marsolais’ previous appearance on the show: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/outlook-2022-10-10-limitless-possibilities-with-blind/id1527876739?i=1000582557754

    59 min

  5. FEB 16

    Outlook 2026-01-19 - The Sound of Braille

    Sounds like… sounds like braille! What does braille sound like anyway? This week on Outlook we’re continuing with braille. What does it sound like, look like, feel like? From the analog to the electronic and the hiss of fingers sliding, reading along braille paper’s page, it’s the music of the six dots of the Braille code we’re listening to on another Braille Literacy Month edition of Outlook with a mixed bag of topics with our first all-back-in-studio show together of the new year. We discuss the upcoming year’s Blindness 101 workshops sister/co-host Kerry will be putting on in Ontario, with the next episode’s guests coming on to explain how these will work, so we’re going over ways to demonstrate the six dot braille cell. Speaking of music and the media, we’re also talking accessible guitar amps, sound boards, and other accessible devices in our digital world, all while we’re joined (in-studio) by a Western Gazette newspaper representative who’s doing a story on Outlook, six years on from some of our first media coverage for the show. Kerry and BF Barry share about their most recent Air Canada flight and requesting seat back entertainment system screen reader activation, requiring the flight crew to turn it on at their station, not to mention the wider helpfulness of the crew on this last flight when such customer service isn’t always the case. Plus, an airport inclusion update, from customer service to customs officers. Then there’s story time with storyteller brother/co-host Brian and a tale of Mr. Rogers, a young blind fan, and a question about the feeding schedule status of the on-set goldfish. This alongside discussion of some more upcoming Outlook guests, including for March’s International Women’s Day, while looking back on the previous few years of IWD guests, restorative justice, and a CBC Morning story, in the news, of lived experience of a sexual assault victim minimised in police academy student chat logs. From harsh discrediting to quiet inclusion to book reviews and release announcements (with “The Will To Change” and the January 20th release of “The Culting of America”). We’re grateful for accurate media representation, with coverage for this radio show/podcast, but we also needed to end off this one by revisiting the lazy use of “blind” and “blindness” in the commonly used language and culture. Mechanical or manual, slate or sheet. Keys or stylus. These are the sounds of BRAILLe and check out a link to the patchwork of braille sounds we found in this Youtube video we feature to start this week’s program which our blind and sighted audience can all get something out of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HGMsc7G1kiQ

    1 hr

  6. FEB 14

    Outlook 2026-01-12 - Filing a Human Rights Complaint With Erik Burggraaf

    Our first Outlook guest of the year says: I think we’re very poor at educating our population about what our government does and what it doesn’t do and what our rights are and what they aren’t. Late last year he made headlines after a ruling, his case covered by multiple media sources, but the sensationalisation of how much he was awarded in damages became the clickbait detail, in the end letting the company off the hook from having to truly address their discriminatory attitudes and practices. So, in the end, is this truly a win for workers with disabilities or society as a whole? We discuss seven modalities of learning and the benefits of learning braille for the brain and for future career development as we begin the show, with our first guest of 2026 and January, for Braille Literacy Month and our conversation with all three of us and long-time friend, Erik Burggraaf. (Happy ending spoiler, he now has a rewarding job in the federal government only after years of fighting with employers to be given a chance to prove he could do the work.) This week on Outlook we’re speaking with our friend about his recent human rights case, a lawsuit win and the media coverage that has followed from his success plus the parts that don’t feel like success even still. So how do you know what a legitimate grievance is? How do you know that you have a human rights complaint? Our guest for this one will share his experiences filing human rights cases. It took nearly a decade but Erik was awarded a settlement after proving he was discriminated against when applying for work at a company unable to prove they had exhausted every possible option for making their in-house software accessible and inclusive. Erik Burggraaf shares how those in positions of authority but with no lived experience discouraged him from exploring his full potential and extensive variety of interests as a young person, how he felt he learned more about his own rights from briefly being in the States than all the rest of his life (up until that point) as a Canadian living in the country of his birth, and how he can’t imagine what life would be like now if he were to lose the job he currently has helping other federal workers receive the accommodations they need to continue to do the work in the positions they hold. He happily imparts his own knowledge, wisdom, and experiences, hard earned, with us and our listeners. Check out an article and video on the ruling from CTV News: https://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/article/im-relieved-blind-ontario-man-awarded-28000-for-facing-discrimination/ And read the full Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario’s decision here: https://dawncanada.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Human-Rights-Tribunal-Decision-Erik-Burggraaf-Convergys-.pdf

    1h 1m

  7. JAN 17

    Outlook 2026-01-05 - Happy Braille Literacy Month (First Mixed Bag of 2026)

    Over in Ireland, compared to North America, there’s braille on prescription medications and other products, standard in elevators (lifts) but go down the halls, to the rooms, and none next to or on the hotel room doors. Happy Braille Literacy Month. The Kijewski siblings (and Barry) are back - new year, let’s go. Welcome to the first Mixed Bag episode of Outlook for 2026, with brother/sibling co-host Brian live in studio and sister/sibling co-host Kerry and BF Barry joining from Ireland. Kerry paints a picture of her first Christmas and New Year’s away from Canada, including traveling out in the snowy weather, or at least Ireland’s idea of what that weather can be. We’re all sharing about our most recent holiday season, including staying in a castle in Dublin (more to come on the accessibility of this) before moving on into a brand new year and giving a brief glimpse into what’s to come in the months ahead. Recently, at the start of January, a post was made on the Elections Canada social media and on the United Nations Facebook page sharing about Braille and his invention, framing Braille literacy as a right not simply a privilege. We’re talking orgs like the RNIB (Royal National Institute of the Blind) not even encouraging the learning of braille, its practical uses in career prospects, and much more including low tech, manual, and technological advancements with braille in recent years including the need to bring down the cost of electronic braille devices. Brian also describes how braille came in useful over Christmas. This week we’re talking awareness days/weeks/months, (like came up on a recent invitation on the AT Banter podcast) with January being the month of Louis Braille’s birth as we talk literacy and equity - access, geography, training, stigma, misinformation, excuses against offering literacy inclusively when it comes to braille. An outlook, a perspective from a sometimes co-host like Barry is valuable, when the other two of us learned braille as children, but having a different perspective on learning and knowing and using braille illustrates something powerful. Tune in to hear this variety of outlooks on parts of being blind. Check out our end-of-year guest appearance on the AT Banter podcast from December, 2025 where we discuss braille and much more: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/at-banter-podcast-episode-447-real-talk-with-the/id1118496048?i=1000740865070 And check out BBC episodes of the "In Touch" podcast: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qxww/episodes/player

    1 hr

  8. 12/26/2025

    Outlook 2025-12-22 - In His Own Words With Author Robert Kingett, Pt. 2

    Whether it’s being shamed by your appliance or corrupting the data stream (check out Part One for more on all this if you haven’t yet), it’s all in his own words with blind/gay writer, (lover of chocolate and chocolate chip cookies) who writes romance fiction with disabled protagonists and non-fiction celebrating every bit of love and found family he can find. It’s Robert Kingett on Part Two of our pre-holiday 2025 show. This week on Outlook we’re returning with Robert and some holiday cheer with musical clips from Ontario family fiddling and step dancing sibling band The Fitzgeralds. This one begins with a clip from sister/co-host Kerry's favourite Christmas song, sung in multiple versions including by Raffi, from her childhood: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8WvBFwEu710 Kingett says: “If Apple released a software update that made every screen black and nobody could see the screen then you’d have an uproar. The same thing needs to happen to accessibility and accessible design." Robert tells us about screen readers tech bros think can be created using AI instead of accessibility being a cornerstone on the syllabi in higher education environments of all kinds, about venting on the blank page/document about doorknobs, and about voicemails that hold the voice of a dear friend who was killed in a hate crime and keeping audio as memory artefact like sighted people keep pictures on their phones to be able to look back. Our chat in this second, slightly shorter, part picks up with a discussion on AI and the spots it comes up in our guest’s writing and life and ends, in the spirit of the season, with a heartfelt voicemail message…wrapping things up with a third grader’s letter to Santa. We’re hearing more from Kingett’s perspective, along with a selection of his essays, turned into audio essays narrated by Sean Crisden who you can find here: https://seancrisden.com/en-cad Don’t forget to go and check out Robert’s musings, perspectives begun with a feeling rather than sharing endless opinions over on social media, over on his own personal blog: https://sightlessscribbles.com Learn more about The Fitzgeralds: https://www.thefitzgeraldsmusic.com

    48 min
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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
    344
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © All rights reserved
  • Show Website
    Outlook on Radio Western

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