

Today’s episode is all about what our storytellers do to find, build, and maintain community. Paul, our very first international guest, shares his lifelong drive to protect others from bullying. Marco talks about taking a risk by going to a new dance class, which leads him to some unexpected discoveries about himself. Ally and Becca chat statistics around bullying, LGBTQ+ people with I/DD, and flipping the script that assumes folks with I/DD can’t be community leaders.

Ally Day is Associate Professor of Disability Studies at the University of Toledo and author of several articles and book chapters, as well as the book The Politicial Economy of Stigma: HIV, Memoir, Medicine and Crip Positionalities. She is also co-producer for the film series HIV in the Rust Belt: The Story of David's House Compassion, directed by Holly Hey.

Becca Monteleone is Assistant Professor of Disability Studies at the University of Toledo and author of several articles and book chapters, co-editor of the book Disability and Social Justice in Kenya: Scholars, Policymakers, and Activists in Conversation, and author of the forthcoming book Bodily Transgressions: Disability, Authority, and Medical Technology in the 21st Century. She has run storytelling workshops with people with intellectual and developmental disabilities across the country and is one of the founders of the Plain Truth Project, aimed at making news media more cognitively accessible.
Voices Around Us® is supported in part by American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds allocated by the City of Toledo and the Lucas County Commissioners and administered by The Arts Commission.
