Catch me on CTV Your Morning on Tues Jul 22!

Have you ever said “you don’t look disabled” or “I don’t even think of you as having a disability”? Phrases like that can be well-intentioned, but they aren’t actually the compliments some people think they are.

Excited to be on CTV Your Morning on Tues Jul 22 to talk about Disability Pride Month from the perspective of someone living with an invisible disability!

Disability Pride Month is a time to normalize discussions around disability and listen to how people feel about and live with their own, so I love seeing more recognition of it in July. 💃🏽💞✨

Two of the best days of my life aren’t what I ever expected them to be

Last week I told someone that two of the best days of my life were the day I became the #2 Inspirational Speaker of the Year at the Speaker Slam Grand Slam, and the day I gave that same speech at @giovannimarsicoofficial's DestinyFest (formerly Archangel Summit) to an audience of 1,000+.

Both days I wore an absurdly sparkly top, received a standing ovation (!), and was celebrated by incredibly kind audience members. All of those make for a good day by themselves.

But the part that I still can’t believe is that two of the best days of my life involved telling HUNDREDS of people about the disability I was born with, and hid as much as I could for 30+ years.

I’ve been ✨open✨ about my muscle disability for 2.5ish years now, but I still remember what a scary, nerve-wracking transition it was.

There used to be a time I figured I’d never talk about it - and I was fine with that. I didn’t see the point of talking about it, I didn’t feel like I was missing out on anything - that was just life.

I thought if people knew about my muscle disability, they’d think I was using it as an excuse or see me as less capable.

But I can see now that I wasn’t nervous about existing with a disability and people knowing about it - I was nervous about their assumptions and ableism. I was nervous they’d ONLY see me as a person with a disability, as opposed to a person with a
✨personality✨

Now, through my speaking, I love that I get to share my perspectives on life with a disability, and encourage others to embrace what they’re hiding about themselves to share their own unique perspectives too.

Because every time someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place. 💫

Disability Pride Month is a time to normalize discussions around disability and listen to how people feel about and live with their own, so I’m excited to see more recognition of it in July! 💃🏽💞✨

Did you know July is Disability Pride Month?

DID YOU KNOW that July is Disability Pride Month? I only learned that about two years ago, when I started speaking about the rare muscle disorder I was born with and avoided talking about for 30+ years.

Now as an invisible disability speaker on resilience and belonging, I’m especially excited to give keynotes and mini-workshops for audiences from high school to corporate, during a time meant to normalize and invite discussions around disability inclusion.

My keynote “Biases, Beliefs and Belonging: Rewriting Narratives on Disability and Acceptance” is perfect for disability-related ERGs and speaks to:
- The importance of seeing representation of people going through the same challenges as you
- Statistics around disability prevalence and disclosure rates in Canada
- Common biases and beliefs around disability, with my own experiences and stories sprinkled in

My signature keynote “Seeking Strength: How to Build Resilience Through Small Moments of Joy” is best for corporations and associations, and illustrates:
- My lived experience as someone born with a physical disability, undiagnosed for 20+ years and masquerading as a non-disabled person for 30+ years
- A call to action and to empathy for those hiding struggles they’re afraid to share - including yourself
- A 3-step system by which you can embrace all parts of yourself, to form deeper connections with others

My mini workshop “Everyday Ableism and How to Recognize It” is great for youth aged 13-18 and explores:
- Different forms of ableism (from non-disabled people, from within the disability community, and internalized) with real examples from my lived experience
- How bias and language choice can reinforce harmful beliefs about disability
- Practical ways to unlearn ableism and become better allies, especially for people with invisible disabilities

If your organization, association, ERG or youth program is looking to mark Disability Pride Month in July, let’s connect to discuss how I can help! ✨

Building Inclusion Through Empathy - Canadian SME Small Business Magazine

A 2017 “Disabilities & Inclusion” study by Coqual showed that of the 30% of the professional workforce with a disability, only 39% had disclosed to their manager, 34% to their teams, and 31% to HR. 

That same study also found that employees who disclosed their disabilities to most people they interacted with, were over TWICE as likely to feel regularly happy or content at work, compared to those who disclosed to no one.

After hiding my muscle disability at my nonprofit arts/events job from everyone but my director and one other colleague for 10+ years, I can definitely speak to how freeing it felt to be my whole self, once I started speaking about my lived experience with an invisible physical disability!

So happy to share my thoughts with CanadianSME Small Business Magazine on Building Inclusion Through Empathy, to create workplaces where people feel safe to disclose the barriers they’re facing.

You can read the full article linked here 🫶🏽💃🏽✨

My first Rick Hansen Foundation School Program presentation - 900 students later!

Last Friday morning, I did my first virtual presentation as an Ambassador for the Rick Hansen Foundation School Program, and I’m still not over it. 40 classes in the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board signed in, and they estimated that over 900 grade 5-8 students attended! 🎉

The chat was overflowing with questions from the students, and it was so heartwarming to know they were so engaged. From “Did you ever feel left out at recess?” to “What different mental health strategies do you use to block out the negative comments towards your condition?” to “How does your disability affect your future choices?” and “Have you written a book?” (🥹), the idea that I got so many students thinking about how other people experience the world, and the different things that can be going on with them, feels exciting.

In one section of the presentation, where other ambassadors can talk about the mobility aids and adaptations they use in their day-to-day, I talked about having to pace myself to be able to get things done, and about the daily yay. Absolutely surreal to think I could share that with hundreds of students and 40 teachers to end off National AccessAbility Week!

The school year is coming to an end soon, but I’m definitely looking forward to my next presentation to help create a more inclusive, empathetic world 🫶🏽✨

The Yay Team hit our IDA Walk and Roll step and funding goals!

Saturday was the last day of Mobility Awareness Month and the numbers for the Invisible Disabilities Association Walk and Roll are in - SO happy to say that The Yay Team (aka my mom and I ☺️) both overshot our step goals AND our funding goal! 💃🏽

- I exceeded my step goal of 85,000 steps, rounding out at 85,520 steps in May🎉
- My mom exceeded her step goal of 100 km and walked 105 km 🥳
- I came in #3 in Participant Rank and my mom came in #2 (aka we raised the second- and third-most money!) 💰
- The Yay Team raised $1,021 USD, 102% of our $1,000 goal, and placed #2 for Team Rank and Unique Donors Rank 🙌🏽

Thank you to my mom for always being the best support, and to my boyfriend Dan for getting me out on a walk on Friday to make sure I got my steps in. And of course, thank you SO MUCH to everyone who donated! It was such a thrill to see every time, and to feel the support and motivation during what was generally a wildly busy month, made such a difference in keeping me going. I truly appreciate it and I’m so glad I was able to live up to what I’d committed to doing.

My third year of the fundraiser down, and I’m excited to say that across those three years, myself and The Yay Team have officially raised over $5,000 USD for the Invisible Disabilities Association! Now that’s definitely a daily yay 🥰💃🏽✨

National AccessAbility Week recap

National AccessAbility Week has ended, and what a week it was! On Monday I was in the studio audience of The Social to watch Lindsey Mazza (@thelindseymazza) talk about what kids with disabilities should know, on Tuesday I got to watch Patti Bevilacqua (@fearlesswithms), who I’m a huge fan of, win second place at Speaker Slam, and on Wednesday I was the guest speaker at an Ableism workshop for 25-30 students at Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic Secondary School in Oshawa and got some great feedback.

On Friday, I had my first virtual presentation for the Rick Hansen Foundation School Program, for all the grade 5-8s in the Renfrew County Catholic District School Board, and they estimated that around 900 students attended! 40 classes signed in, and the coordinator from the school board said he’s done a lot of virtual live presentations, and has never seen the chat that active with questions for the speaker, to the point that it was overwhelming LOL. Yay! 🥹

The week was a bit of a whirlwind but also so exciting.Maybe I’ll finally rest a bit in June 🙃💃🏽✨

New presentation for schools and youth: Everyday Ableism and How to Recognize It

When I was first asked to be a guest speaker at a workshop for high school students on ableism, the final workshop in a 4-part series on discrimination, the organizer said she wanted the students to be aware of ableist experiences in everyday life.

I had the idea to share some of the personal experiences of ableist comments I’ve gotten before and how I’ve felt internalized ableism, but thought “would I really have enough examples to make that work?”

Turns out the answer was yes 🙃 from “do you think your ex broke up with you because he thought you wouldn’t be able to keep a house clean?” from a family member, to “So laziness is a disability?” from a random internet man on YouTube, to somehow both wondering if I have “enough” of a disability AND feeling like someone without my disability might be better at my job last summer - let’s just say when I thought about it, the content was definitely there. 🥲

Yesterday I spoke to students at Monsignor John Pereyma Catholic Secondary School in Oshawa with my newest presentation, Everyday Ableism and How to Recognize It, for Red Shirt Day of Action for Accessibility and Inclusion. I got some beautiful comments in the student feedback, and I’m excited to bring this presentation to more schools or youth organizations!💃🏽✨

Rethinking Disabilities Toronto at Arta Gallery

This past Thursday, I was one of the speakers at Rethinking Disabilities Toronto, an event for HR leaders, talent acquisition specialists and DEI practitioners, where I led a session on What We Don’t See: Supporting Invisible Disabilities at Work. As someone who hid my muscle disability as much as I could for 30+ years, it was exciting to be in a space full of disability advocates, sharing my perspective and chatting with people advancing disability inclusion.

From connecting with an attendee who was also diagnosed later in life, to hearing another attendee’s story of how she was only able to explore getting a diagnosis after hearing someone else’s similar story - as one kind attendee said about my session, it was such a life-affirming night. Thanks to Scale HR for having me, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for future events! 🎉✨

National AccessAbility Week and becoming a Rick Hansen Foundation School Program Ambassador

This week, May 25-31, is National AccessAbility Week, founded and inspired by Rick Hansen’s Man in Motion World Tour in 1988. It’s especially exciting for me this year, as earlier this month I was selected as an Ambassador for the Rick Hansen Foundation School Program!

The RHFSP starts conversations about disability in K-12 classes, provides schools across Canada with education and awareness tools to create more disability-inclusive classrooms and communities, and promotes understanding and empathy through the sharing of lived experience.

Growing up with little to no disability representation, and without the language to talk about it, since I was undiagnosed for my whole childhood, it feels amazing to know that I’ll get to be part of the disability representation for students that I never had. My first virtual presentation is this Friday, for all the grade 7s and 8s in the Renfrew County District School Board (!!!) as part of their programming for National AccessAbility Week!

NAAW celebrates Canadians with disabilities and raises awareness of the need for accessibility and inclusion for all in our communities. So happy to be part of the cause! 🙏🏽🎉✨

I’m walking 57 km in May for Mobility Awareness Month!

I came back from my family trip to Paris at the end of April, and while I was there, I walked a lot. Which was great prep for my third year participating in the Invisible Disabilities Association’s Walk and Roll for Mobility Awareness Month in May!

I was born with Central Core Disease, a rare neuromuscular disorder and invisible disability. As the only Canadian ambassador for the IDA and to raise awareness for invisible disabilities, I’ve decided to walk 85,000 steps in May (about 57 km) - which is a lot when your life is about balancing your energy, because you have 33% of the physical strength of the average person.

Deciding to walk that many steps in a month is a bit daunting for someone with 33% strength.

Luckily, I also have 100% spirit. ✨

I’d love to have you join or support! You can donate to my participant page (in USD) here - as of this afternoon, I’ve walked almost 12 km, and raised $300 USD!