OCALI’s Inspiring Change
Stories and connections from OCALI’s ongoing work of inspiring change and promoting access for people with disabilities.
Episodes
32 episodes
Quest for Curiosity: Bringing Interoception to Life
This episode of Connecting the Dots takes listeners inside a panel discussion recorded during OCALICONLINE, OCALI’s annual conference. Hosts Megan Trowbridge and Simon Buehrer explore what truly happens after professional development b...
Everyone’s Game: Rethinking Accessibility in Sports Venues
Live sports are about more than the game; they’re about connection, excitement, and shared community experiences. In this episode of Connecting the Dots, OCALI hosts Megan Trowbridge and Simon Buehrer sit down with Tim O’Connell, Senior Vice Pr...
This Music Will Continue to Play: A Conversation with Autism Center Program Director Amy Bixler Coffin
Megan and Simon are joined by Amy Bixler Coffin, program director of the Autism Center at OCALI and program manager of the Multi-System Navigation Center at OCALI. It’s a big and bittersweet moment as Amy retires after a 20-year career at OCALI...
We Know What Works: Jim Taylor on Learning Styles, Community, Football, and 45+ Years in the Field of Autism
In this episode of Connecting the Dots from the Autism Center at OCALI, hosts Megan Trowbridge and Simon Buehrer sit down with long-time friend and autism expert Jim Taylor from Stirling, Scotland. With over 45 years of experience in t...
It’s Not a Celebration of Ohio if All Ohioans Can’t Come: Building a More Inclusive Fair Experience
Join us for the debut of Connecting the Dots, a new podcast series from the Autism Center at OCALI, aimed at raising awareness about autism and empowering communities. In our first episode, we explore how the 2024 Ohio State Fair is ad...
Making Change In The World. And Out of It. Dr. Sheri Wells-Jensen on Disability in Space
Intuitive Machine’s Odysseus recently completed the U.S.’s first moon landing in 50 years. As we continue to explore the “final frontier,” how can we leverage disability’s practical, creative, and ingenuous problem-solving skills – and...
Grace and Grit: A Conversation with Judy Heumann, Temple Grandin, and Haben Girma
The OCALICON Rewind series continues featuring a conversation with three leaders, legends, and luminaries. Judy, Temple, and Haben come together for the first time to reflect on their work, contributions, and advocacy efforts over the ...
Small Gestures and True Wins: The A + B = C Equation
OCALI’s Executive Director, Shawn Henry, discusses the necessary components of access and belonging when building community in closing remarks delivered at OCALICON.
There Is Strength In Every Community: A Conversation about Special Education in Rural and Urban Settings
OCALI's "Rewind" series continues with a dialogue about the current state of disability education in both rural and urban settings. The conversations features leaders from ACRES, an organization focused...
It’s Really About Living Your Moments Well With Other People
How can we build and foster better and more significant relationships? Using a framework grounded in research, Tim Vogt and Danyetta Najoli from Starfire in Cincinnati, and Jill Mays from
“We Get Stuff Done": A Conversation about Women and Autism
The Rewind series resumes with a candid conversation with two autistic women and the parent of a young woman with autism as they share their personal stories of the journey to receiving a diagnosis, as well as the challenges that they faced in ...
”May the Power Be With You”: The Margaret Burley Family Impact Award
Since 2016, OCALI has awarded the Margaret Burley Family Impact Award to a parent or professional who has made a significant impact on the lives of families of those with disabilities. But who is Margaret Burley? And why is her work, impact, an...
“Those Children Are Going to Be Very Different”: The Ongoing Work of Building A Diverse and Inclusive Society
Sheila Graschinsky is the president and CEO of Fundación Ian, an organization in Buenos Aires focused on promoting a diverse and inclusive society. She collaborated with Mundoloco CGI to produce the short animated film
The Smell of the Room is a Fire in My Nose: A Conversation on Autism and Trauma
Kim Clairy, OTR/L, and Kelly Mahler, OTD, OTR/L, challenge us to step beyond traditional thinking and understanding of trauma and reflect on how trauma is defined and experienced differently by people on the autism spectrum – including complica...
Baked Into the Process: Advancing Equitable Outcomes Through the Lens of Social Justice
New! The Rewind podcast series features speakers, sessions, and stories from OCALICON – the premier autism and disabilities conference. Dr. Charles Barrett is a nationally-certified school psychologist, as well as a writer, mu...
Inclusion is the Future: A Conversation with Dani Bowman
Dani Bowman is an animator, filmmaker, author, teacher, student, and entrepreneur from Southern California. We first met in the summer of 2012 while she was teaching an animation camp to kids and young adults at our offices in Columbus. Dani wa...
Gabby’s Team: A Multiagency Approach to Transition
A conversation with Gabby Kozinski, a recent high school graduate from Bucyrus, OH, and the multi-agency group of professionals who have been her support team as she gets ready for the next phase in her journey.
An Inspiring Conversation with Kevin Miller
We catch up with director Kevin Miller from Opportunities for Ohioans with Disabilities at the ODNR park at the Ohio State Fair.
“We Are All Able”: A Conversation with LeDerick Horne on Vision, Inclusion, and Belonging
OCALI’s Jen Bavry and Shawn Henry chat with poet, speaker, and advocate LeDerick Horne about his experiences as a young man with disabilities, his work towards helping give young people a vision for what is possible, and the fresh world of oppo...
“It Gives You Teeth”: Reflections on the 30-Year Anniversary of the ADA
July 2020 marks the 30-year anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, signed into law by the first President Bush in 1990.We talk to D’Arcee Neal, Diana Mairose, and Mark Seifarth – three people from three different generations – abou...
"We Are in This Together, and We Need to Stay Connected" – How Ohio’s Daily COVID-19 Update has Elevated Awareness About the Importance of Access
We chat with Marla Berkowitz, Lena Smith, and Christy Horne – the superstar team of ASL interpreters for Ohio Governor Mike DeWine’s daily COVID-19 press conferences. John Moore of DSC is the discussion moderator. Closing music from Sean Forbes...
An Inspiring Conversation with Kim Clairy and William Miller
Kim Clairy is an occupational therapist, consultant, poet, and self-advocate. Her husband, William Miller, is a writer and novelist. The two of them sat down with us during a short open mic interview at OCALICON 2019 to share the story of how t...
I Feel Like I’m in School All Over Again: More Tales from Home Schooling During A Global Pandemic
We chat with an intervention specialist and two parents from Lancaster, OH, about what it’s like to try and educate and engage students while schools are closed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rachael Mills teaches first through third-grade stude...
Pull Out the Christmas Lights and Create a Dance Studio: Direct Care and Residential Programs During a Global Pandemic
REM Ohio provides an array of supports and services for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, most of which involve direct, face-to-face, hands-on, and physical proximity. So how do these services continue in the era of socia...