Welcome to Disability Exchange, a podcast centering and elevating the voices of people with disabilities through meaningful conversation and connection. This podcast is brought to you by the University of Iowa Center for Disabilities and Development, designated as Iowa’s University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDD).
To learn more about Iowa's University of Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, visit: https://uihc.org/ucedd/.
Begin Transcript:
Mike H: My name is Mike Hoenig and I am a program coordinator at the UCEDD here in Iowa City. I'm very excited to be a part of this podcast. I have been blind since birth and have had a real life-long passion for self-advocacy and getting the voices of people with disabilities into the forefront, and I think this is doing to give us an excellent opportunity to do that.
Judy W: Hi, my name is Judy Warth, and I'm a program manager here at Iowa's UCEDD. I am boots on the ground. I am a job coach, self-advocate builder, and a champion for people with disabilities and this is an exciting opportunity to share stories, real stories of people with you.
Caitlin O: My name is Caitlin Owens and I am a social worker by training and the operations manager of the Iowa UCEDD. Most of my career has been spent working with people with disabilities in various settings and I am very excited to be a part of this podcast and have conversations with people with disabilities and those who care about them.
MH: So, Caitlin, as a person with a disability, oftentimes I run into alphabet soup, and I just wonder if you could explain what a UCEDD is? Because I have a feeling that is an acronym.
CO: It is, so the Iowa UCEDD, UCEDD stands for the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities. Judy, Mike, and I all work at the UCEDD which is housed at the Centers for Disabilities and Development at the University of Iowa.
MH: Some of you may remember 'Hello, It's Us'. It was a program focused on disability inclusion and it aired on public access television in Iowa City for many years. Disability Exchange is the successor to that program. I'd like to take a moment to acknowledge our retired UCEDD director, Bob Bacon, and Johnson County Disability Advocate, Kieth Ruff, who were the founders of Hello, It's Us, and also, Sujit Singh, who was the long time technical director. We wouldn't be at a point of launching this new podcast, Disability Exchange, without all of their contributions.
CO: So, Judy, why do you think there is a need for a podcast like this?
JW: Oh, Caitlin, you know, we know that people with disabilities have important stories to tell and we're passionate and committed to providing a space for this to happen. We want to reach out to people with disabilities and people who care about them; their families, direct care staff, as well as just our community, in general, to help share these stories of challenges and successes. Since our philosophy is 'Nothing about us without us', you'll be hearing from people with disabilities and their shared experiences.
MH: You're so right Judy, and the voices of people with disabilities are what's going to make this podcast so powerful. So, we want to invite you into this space. This is our intro episode. We will begin dropping episodes starting in early August and you can download those from wherever you normally download your podcasts.
CO: Thank you for joining us today on Disability Exchange. Disability Exchange is produced by the University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities, housed at the Center for Disabilities and Development at the University of Iowa.
MH: Special thanks to the team at the Institute for Public Health Practice at the University of Iowa College of Public Health for their production assistance.
