Recommendation
Disability wins the Podcast
Soledad Pereyra
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, podcasts have become increasingly popular and have gained recognition as a communication format on specific topics available 24/7. Today we present two recommended podcasts on disability.
For centuries, people with disabilities have been excluded from speaking out in cultural texts. Based on a paternalistic and unfair logic, people with disabilities were considered incapable or unsuitable to talk about their ideas, opinions on current affairs, and even their own experiences. With their technical flexibility and multiple accessibility possibilities, the increasingly popular podcasts are an ideal medium to further deconstruct this logic. And it shows: Increasingly, we find podcasts linked to disability, not only in their topics but also because those who present them are hosts with disabilities who have decided to make themselves heard. Here we tell you about two podcasts that accompanied the development of the pandemic and, from media with high recognition like BBC and DW, built a niche to expand the social dialogue on disability. From politics and sexuality to medical care in hospitals, the range of topics is vast and growing.
It was a BBC podcast that initially emerged in 2018 but took off monthly from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic confinement in March 2020. Your autistic hosts, Robyn Steward and Jamie Knight, initially joined to talk about their lives during that challenging period, when their condition as neurodivergent asked them for a routine. Still, everything had changed overnight or simply stopped. However, the natural development of the podcast gave way to many other topics, to the exchange with listeners and interviews with guests.
Relevant Spokespeople
The final episode, “I fear for the safety of my black autistic son,” broadcasted in June 2021, featured Melissa Simmonds (40), a black autistic woman, mother of two children (one of them autistic) who was diagnosed after her son. As host Robyn Steward says, “three minorities for the price of one.” Melissa highlights a general lack of knowledge on autism concerning the black community in the interview. She insists on how many times the possibility of this diagnosis is not even raised to a black person. Hence, there are no spokespersons, communicators, or scientific literature on the subject. As a result of her diagnosis, Melissa tells us, she decided to educate herself on this subject and studied the MA Autism Spectrum at the University of Sheffield. Today she is dedicated to educating adults and children.
Personal Stories
Another episode worth listening to is “I don’t know how much pain I’m in” (broadcasted on 29.04.2021). Here one of the hosts recounts her own recent experience in an emergency room. Because of her neurodivergent condition, she could not accurately express her pain and physical discomfort. Thus, she was sent home, even though she had a disease that needed to be treated immediately.
The podcast’s episodes can also be found transcribed on the BBC website to ensure barrier-free access.
In this bimonthly DW podcast presented by non-sighted host Matthias Klaus, the general topic of disability is focused on a specific issue: inclusion. Again, we find here the question of taking voice, which the podcast’s motto unambiguously sums up: “Nichts über uns ohne uns” [nothing about us without us]. Unlike other podcasts, this one is not very autobiographical or does not refer to the host’s personal experiences.
Spread Knowledge
In this podcast, the emphasis is on the general dissemination of knowledge about disability and its actual presence in everyday social life through a heterogeneous exchange with various guests who are relevantly connected to the issue of disability (from politicians and professionals to activists and spokespersons). The topics insist again and again in an open dialogue about barriers and inclusion in German society: the participation of people with disabilities in German politics (episode n.17), the lack of inclusion of people with disabilities in German schools (n.6), the ever-present taboos about disability and sexuality (n.28), laws and their application for barrier-free construction (n.39), among others.
Current Issues
An exciting and highly topical episode is n. 37, “Behinderung darf kein Kriterium bei Triage sein” which discusses the medical triage applied in emergency rooms during the COVID-19 pandemic to people with disabilities arriving there. This matter exceeded the German space and was a hot topic of discussion that gave rise to the scientific literature on the subject. Unfortunately, in this medical triage, in addition to the overall probability of survival, the so-called frailty scale would also have been used to assess who was worth ventilating and who was not. For people with disabilities, this is highly problematic and can lead to situations of discrimination. In the episode, this issue is discussed by the host and Hamburg lawyer Prof. Dr. Oliver Tolmein, a law firm Menschen und Rechte member. It is also active in other areas on behalf of people with disabilities.
By accessing the podcast’s web page on DW, you can find the link to each episode with its transcript and links to various platforms to listen to it.