Voices That Matter: Disability Advocacy Through YouTube and Podcasting ~ 1001

Rasheera Dopson
Hello, before we get to the latest episode of Think Inclusive, I want to tell you all about another show I think you’ll enjoy. My name is Rasheera Dopson and I am the host of the Womanhood and Disability Podcast. It’s a podcast about the intersection of what it’s like to be a woman and to live with a disability. You can find it wherever you listen to podcasts, or on Apple Podcasts.

Okay, let’s get ready for the podcast for inclusionists: Think Inclusive, brought to you by MCIE.

Tim Villegas
For Liz Weintraub, understanding policy has always been important.

Liz Weintraub
It goes back to when I was sitting at the dinner table with my family when I was probably 10 or 11 or 12. All the conversation was about policy. And maybe my family is strange, but I love them. I never quite understood what policy was. My family would say, “Well, look it up.” That doesn’t work for me.

Tim Villegas
Now, Liz has a YouTube show called Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All, where she breaks down policy so everyone can understand it. Kenneth Kelty chose podcasting as a medium for advocacy because he realized—

Kenneth Kelty
There’s not a lot out there about self-determination for people with disabilities. Not a lot of people know about inclusive postsecondary education programs. I want there to be more experiences shared by people with lived experience.

Tim Villegas
And with Kenneth’s podcast Exceeding Expectations, he is doing just that—sharing the stories of trailblazers and leaders on both a national and local level.

Tim Villegas
My name is Tim Villegas, and you are listening to Think Inclusive, presented by MCIE. This podcast exists to build bridges between families, educators, and disability rights advocates to create a shared understanding of inclusive education and what inclusion looks like in the real world.

For the first episode of our 10th season, I want to introduce you to Liz Weintraub and Kenneth Kelty—both fantastic content creators. We talked about the motivation behind creating their shows, some of their favorite moments while recording interviews, and what they hope their audience learns. Thank you so much for listening. And now, my interview with Liz Weintraub and Kenneth Kelty.

Today on the podcast, we would like to welcome Liz Weintraub and Kenneth Kelty. We are going to be talking about their respective YouTube channel and podcast. We’re just really happy to have you both on. Why don’t we take some time and have both of you introduce yourselves to our audience of educators? Liz, would you go first?

Liz Weintraub
Okay, sure. Thank you very much for having me on your show. As Tim said, my name is Liz Weintraub. I’m the Senior Advocacy Specialist at the Association for University Centers on Disability—they’re known as AUCD. I’m the host of Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All, which is a monthly YouTube show. I’m also on their policy team, and I have been a self-advocate and advocate for the last probably 20 years. That’s who I am.

Tim Villegas
Thanks, Liz. How about you, Kenneth?

Kenneth Kelty
Yes. Hello, everyone. Like Tim said, my name is Kenneth Kelty, and I have been featured on Tuesdays with Liz. I’m very familiar with the AUCD network as well. I am a motivational speaker and disability advocate at the Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities. My time over at UNC started about seven years ago after I graduated from an inclusive postsecondary education program at Western Carolina University—the University Participant Program.

After graduating, I knew I wanted to get more involved in advocacy work, and speaking has paid off well because I am now an award-winning motivational speaker and activist. Since being over at UNC, I’ve been able to grow in roles as a disability advocate and in policy work as well. And I recently started a podcast of my own—Exceeding Expectations with Kenneth Kelty. Please be sure to follow my pages on both Instagram and Facebook.

Tim Villegas
Fantastic. So this podcast episode is really about Liz’s YouTube show and Kenneth’s podcast. We wanted to just get to know more about Liz and Kenneth and why they started their shows.

Tim Villegas
Why don’t we start with Liz. I’m assuming that Tuesdays with Liz is called that because your show is on Tuesdays?

Liz Weintraub
It started as a weekly show. We decided to make it monthly because I can’t do the editing and producing. I’ve tried to learn, but I can’t do that—just because of my disability, I guess. Typing is not my skill set, and it takes a long time to do a show. So we decided to do it monthly.

But let’s step back. Why did I want to start the show? And why is it on a Tuesday? It began because we have a weekly newsletter about policy that comes out on Mondays for our network and whoever else wants it. We thought it would be a great idea to have a version of that come out on Tuesday.

But why did I want to start the show? It goes back to when I was sitting at the dinner table with my family when I was probably 10 or 11 or 12. All the conversation was about policy. Maybe my family is strange, but I love them. I never quite understood what policy was. I never could understand these big words. I never understood what home- and community-based services are, what appropriation is, what a budget is, what the ABLE Act is, or what the Higher Education Act is.

I wanted to make sure that my friends could go to Capitol Hill or in Maryland to talk to legislators. Yes, people like yourself could help us understand what it means to advocate and what these issues are. I’m sure you would do a great job, but I wanted to understand these issues myself so I could go by myself.

People in my family would say, “Look it up.” That doesn’t work for me. So, for these interviews—which are usually three to five minutes long (before they were 15, but most people don’t listen to a 15-minute YouTube show)—we just introduce the topic and talk to a legislator. For example, I interviewed a senator about the Transformative Competitive Employment Act so people could understand that difficult language.

Tim Villegas
Yeah, I’m looking forward to that interview, Liz. I’m glad you didn’t spoil it for me. So let’s turn to Kenneth. You said the name of your podcast is Exceeding Expectations?

Kenneth Kelty
Yes, Exceeding Expectations with Kenneth Kelty. Just like Liz, I also came from a family of educators and people who were in big roles in the education system during my lifelong learning. I’ve always enjoyed journalism, being a documentarian, and being a storyteller.

My podcast, Exceeding Expectations, likes to feature trailblazers on a local or national level. Just like Tuesdays with Liz, I want it to include both people with and without disabilities who are making a difference in the disability community. I want the focus to be on empowerment.

I also want to focus on inclusive postsecondary education and people with disabilities having a career of their choosing because there’s not a lot of talk out there about empowerment or shows run by a person with disabilities. My target audience is professionals in the disability field, people with different types of disabilities, self-advocates interested in policy work, and families who play a strong role in this as well.

Tim Villegas
Kenneth, have you already done interviews for your podcast?

Kenneth Kelty
Yes. My first episode was in October, which is Disability Employment Awareness Month. I interviewed my friends from UNC who are the founders of B3 Coffee, which is a pop-up market that goes around the Chapel Hill, Carrboro, and Durham area. It was pretty cool getting to interview them about competitive employment and embracing opportunities.

I also recently uploaded a podcast in December about the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, which is December 3. I interviewed my friend Leah, who’s the mother of a teenage daughter with dwarfism. She used to live in North Carolina—we were coworkers and classmates at UNC—but now she and her family live in Ireland. It was neat hearing from an international disability perspective.

Tim Villegas
Is there a memory about the podcast that stands out to you? Maybe an interview that was special?

Kenneth Kelty
Yes, definitely. One of my friends from B3 Coffee talked about how people with disabilities are often seen as puppets rather than being embraced for their unique abilities. That really stuck with me.

Also, from the recent episode in December, it was interesting to learn how some services in Ireland are more advanced than in America. I never knew that inclusion is more of the norm in Ireland. We’ve come a long way here, but some people still don’t understand why we need to embrace disabilities rather than hide them.

Tim Villegas
That’s really interesting, Kenneth. We interviewed someone recently who made a trip to Ireland, and they said the same thing—that organizations there already have an infrastructure for supporting people with disabilities, which is much different than here. In the U.S., you often have to advocate hard for support if you’re going to use those services.

Tim Villegas
I want to go back to Liz and ask—you’ve been doing your YouTube show for a while. Do you have a fond memory of making your show, maybe with a particular guest?

Liz Weintraub
Yeah, I’ve done the YouTube show for probably five to seven years—over 200 episodes.

Tim Villegas
That’s impressive.

Liz Weintraub
Thank you. Every interview is special to me. I learn something every time I interview people. But one interview that stands out is when I tried to explain what congressional recess was. It’s more than just an interview show—I try to teach people about policy.

We said that recess wasn’t like recess at school where you play on the jungle gym. In a congressional sense, it means members of Congress are back in their districts. It’s not time to relax; they’re meeting with their constituents—that’s us, the voters.

Another memory is whenever I interview a senator or member of Congress. They don’t have a lot of time—they’re very busy. When they take the time to talk to me and my viewers about an issue like the Transformative Competitive Employment Act, that makes me feel special.

Tim Villegas
That is special. And you’re right—they are so busy. I appreciate your description of recess. That’s great.

So let’s go back to Kenneth. Kenneth, what do you want your listeners to be thinking when they finish one of your podcast episodes?

Kenneth Kelty
When people listen to my podcast, I hope their perspective changes. I want them to be open-minded about all abilities. I hope to plant seeds with families so they realize they have opportunities to move forward and that they have their whole lives ahead of them.

I also hope organizations and stakeholders—whether affinity groups or advocacy networks—see the need to expand opportunities for higher education and integrated competitive employment instead of the traditional path that doesn’t really lead to much.

Tim Villegas
What is it about podcasting that intrigued you? Why did you want to use audio for advocacy?

Kenneth Kelty
I chose to have a podcast because, as I said earlier, there’s not a lot out there about self-determination for people with disabilities. Not a lot of people know about inclusive postsecondary education programs. I want there to be more experiences shared by people with lived experience.

I’m very glad that I’m creating content that professors will use for their class materials. I’m a firm believer in one of Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s quotes: “Fight for the things you care about.” It’s special because you get to listen to people tell their stories and give them a place where they can share.

And the great thing about podcasts is that you can go back and listen anytime. It doesn’t matter where you are, as long as you have internet access. We’re giving people a hub where they can share their stories through lived experiences.

Tim Villegas
That’s great. So why don’t you tell us where people can find your podcast?

Kenneth Kelty
I have a Spreaker account where you can find Exceeding Expectations with Kenneth Kelty. On Spreaker, it’s listed as “CIDD Presents: Exceeding Expectations with Kenneth Kelty.” I also have public Facebook and Instagram pages for the podcast. It’s also featured on Spotify and Google Podcasts.

Tim Villegas
Awesome. And Liz, you’re on YouTube?

Liz Weintraub
Yes—aucd.org.

Tim Villegas
Where can people find your show?

Liz Weintraub
Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All on YouTube.

Tim Villegas
So, Kenneth, your podcast is on Spreaker under “CIDD Presents: Exceeding Expectations with Kenneth Kelty.” And Liz, your show is Tuesdays with Liz: Disability Policy for All on YouTube.

Liz, you interviewed Kenneth, is that right?

Liz Weintraub
Yes, I’ve interviewed Kenneth twice. For the last four years, we’ve done new Tuesdays with Liz episodes on different topics. This year, the topic was vaccines—because everything was about vaccines these days—and Kenneth won that contest. I think you won that, right? Sometimes it’s fuzzy for me to keep everything straight, but he was fabulous.

I also interviewed him once more for Think College as a student. Is that right, Kenneth?

Kenneth Kelty
Yes, it was. It was the Think College Disability Advocates program. They interviewed me, and I was also featured in a Think College article about my experience.

Tim Villegas
We’d like to thank Liz Weintraub and Kenneth Kelty for being on the Think Inclusive Podcast. We appreciate your time.

Liz Weintraub
Thank you so much.

Kenneth Kelty
Thank you—glad to be here.

Tim Villegas
Think Inclusive is written, edited, and sound-designed by Tim Villegas and is a production of MCIE. Original music by Miles Kredich.

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Tim Villegas
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We’ll be back in a couple of weeks. Thanks for your time and attention. And remember: Inclusion always works.