Ouch: Disability Talk

As 2021 has been a strange old year, the BBC Ouch team decided to look back at some of their favourite podcasts from the past 365 days. From space travel on the “vomit comet” to Love Island, Covid-19, climate change and adoption – we really have covered it all with our own unique and disabled look at the world. Some podcasts were sad, some were happy but all (we like to think) were insightful. Merry Ouchmas! Presented by Emma Tracey, Beth Rose and Keiligh Baker Produced by Keiligh Baker Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Matilda Feyisayo Ibini became physically disabled at five but wasn’t diagnosed with the progressive muscle-weakening condition Limb-girdle muscular dystrophy until aged 13. Her radio play, Little Miss Burden, captures the fun and anxiety of growing up in an inaccessible London council house in the 90s, with a single mother and two non-disabled siblings. Here, Matilda tells Emma Tracey about managing mental health difficulties and the freedom of living independently for the first time in her mid-20s.

While millions of people might dream about space travel, with the exacting requirements often expected of astronauts some disabled people might have counted themselves out...until now.Mission: AstroAccess - a crew of disabled scientists, students and artists based in America - has just launched to make space travel accessible for all the right reasons.Wouldn't it make sense if a shuttle could be navigated by a blind person so, if the lights went down, everyone could get around? And what about making sign language a requirement so everyone could be in on the conversation? Then again, how does signing work when you're floating upside down?Mary Cooper, who has a prosthetic leg, and Sina Bahram, who is blind, are two of the crew members who set out to find answers to these questions on board Mission: AstroAccess's first parabolic flight where they floated around in zero gravity. Presented by Beth Rose.Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.Picture credit: Al P

With COP26, the big UN climate conference, kicking off in Glasgow next week, the BBC Ouch team got wondering - how will the one billion disabled people living around the world be impacted by the climate emergency?Whether it's heatwaves, hurricanes or rising sea levels there is plenty to think about. From escape routes being inaccessible to vital medication which makes it difficult for the body to moderate heat, research suggests that 20% of those most vulnerable to climate change are disabled.So why is this? And what's being done about it?Professor Sébastien Jodoin, from McGill University in Montreal, and Dr Mary Keogh, the disability inclusion director for charity CBM Global, join us on this episode alongside cameos from a 'lockdown' puppy and a hammering builder - Happy Halloween! Presented by Keiligh Baker. Produced by Damon Rose and Emma Tracey.Useful links if you’d like to learn more: https://www.disabilityinclusiveclimate.orghttps://ukcop26.org/the-conference/green-zone-programme-of-events/https://www

Presenters Seaneen and Mark trade their own war stories about work. Joining them is CEO of the Business Disability Forum, Diane Lightfoot, who helps big companies employ (and keep) disabled staff. Disability Passports, advance statements and reasonable adjustments - learn the jargon and how to use it at work. Our new catchily named feature Maladaptive Coping Strategy of the Month has an airing. Plus, um, chip shops. With Mark Brown and Seaneen Molloy. Produced by Emma Tracey

Aruba had never had a Paralympic team until Shardea Arias de la Cruz, a student in her 20s, decided to make it happen.From finding her first athlete at the supermarket, to his sudden disappearance at the Rio Games, it has been a story of jeopardy, hustling and absolute belief. The charismatic Elliott Loonstra is the island's hope for Tokyo 2020. After working at a scuba dive shop at the weekends and spending his week-days training on Aruba's idyllic beaches, Elliott's ready to take on Tokyo in the para-taekwondo. And it's the first time the sport has featured at a Paralympic Games.Presented by Beth Rose.Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Libby Clegg MBE and Samantha Kinghorn, two of Britain’s top female Paralympians, describe their journeys to Tokyo 2020. Libby Clegg won gold at Rio 2016 then dealt with mental health difficulties directly afterwards. She’s defending her Athletics Women's 200m T11 title. Samantha Kinghorn became disabled aged 14 and started wheelchair racing to look cool in front of her friends. She lost out at the 2016 Paralympics because she wasn’t mentally prepared but has already won a bronze medal in the Athletics Women's 100m T53 at Tokyo. She will also race in the 400m and 800m . Samantha and Libby spoke to disabled sports fan Michael McEwan for BBC Radio Scotland.

Boccia is not just a sport, but a family affair for the McCowan family.Brothers, Scott and Jamie, who both have Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, play Boccia for ParaGB while their parents, Gary and Linda, are their ramp assistants.It's created quite the competition between the brothers - especially during lockdown when they turned their living room into a Boccia court so they could continue training.But what's it like to live with your biggest rival? How often do they argue over match results? And what happens when husband and wife are pitted against each other in a match? Presented by Beth RoseSubscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Caz Walton was just 17 when she competed at the 1964 Paralympic Games in Tokyo and won gold for Great Britain. From the wheelchair slalom to organiser of athletes, Paralympic legend Caz Walkon has had quite the sports career. After a memorable opening ceremony in Japan with Crown Prince Akihito, Caz went on to win several gold medals, notably in the wheelchair dash and wheelchair slalom - two sports that no longer appear in the Games. Over the next four decades she won 10 gold medals ... and a mysterious 11th has just come to light... Now aged 74, Caz still works for ParaGB and is out in Tokyo supporting this year's team. Presented by Beth Rose Edited by Drew Miller Hindman Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

The world's eyes are on Tokyo with the Paralympic Games taking place - but what's it like to live in Japan if you're disabled? Mizuki Hsu grew up in Kyoto as a wheelchair-user. Now a mother-of-two and working for Google she says job hunting in Japan can be fraught if you disclose you're disabled - which you have to for its quota system. Josh Grisdale was born and raised in Canada, but became a Japanese citizen a few years ago. He says the accessible bathroom situation and electronic toilets in Japan are tip-top but accessible escalators are terrifying contraptions. From house-hunting to nights out, we've got it covered in this whistle-stop tour of Japan. Presented by Beth Rose. Produced by Damon Rose. Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

With just days to go before the Tokyo Paralympics, an international campaign called WeThe15 has been launched to improve the lives of the 1.2bn disabled people around the world. Meet South African Eddie Ndopu. He is an internationally acclaimed writer, or “mover and shaker”, who also works for the United Nations. Eddie, disabled himself, gives us the lowdown of WeThe15 on this podcast. You’ll love him.He also hopes to become the first disabled person in space. While he might have signed several NDAs on these “imminent” plans, Eddie couldn’t help but spill some of the secrets to BBC Ouch. According to the World Health Organisation, 15% of the world’s population is disabled, hence WeThe15. Spearheaded by the International Paralympic Committee and International Disability Alliance, the project has brought together organisations from Unesco to The Valuable 500 big businesses for the first time.Presented by Beth Rose and Emma Tracey.

Indy car driver Sam Schmidt was paralysed from the shoulders down when he reversed into a wall at 200 miles an hour.This summer, and more than 20 years after his accident, Sam made his second racing debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.He drives using a special straw that he “sips and puffs” to accelerate and brake, and cameras that use his head movements to steer.BBC Disability Correspondent Nikki Fox chats to Sam about learning to drive again and how this technology could help other disabled people get behind the wheel.Produced by Drew Miller Hyndman.Subscribe to this podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

Love Island is in full swing and this year it featured its first ever physically disabled contestant. Hugo Hammond, who has just been dumped, is a 24-year-old PE teacher who was born with a club foot. The show’s producers have previously said the villa can’t be adapted for disabled contestants due the cost of insurance and "budget constraints" - and with Hugo’s disability they didn’t have to change anything. But we, at BBC Ouch, were wondering – could the Love Island villa be made accessible? And if so, how much would it cost? BBC entertainment reporter Alex Taylor, Kamran Mallick, the CEO of Disability Rights UK and access consultant Natasha Davies all get grafting to see if accessibility and Love Island can couple up – or will it lead to someone getting pied? Presented and produced by Keiligh Baker.

The end of lockdown is nigh for many of us! Legal restrictions on mask wearing and social distancing in England are going, the other nations are taking it more slowly.Disability charities like Sense and Scope, are warning disabled people could be "left behind".On this week's podcast we hear from two disabled people about their apprehension and anticipation for the end of lockdown. From going out in their community and using public transport again, to getting back to school and college and finding the confidence to shop alone. What will 'Freedom Day' mean for disabled people? Presented by Keiligh Baker. Produced by Drew Miller-Hyndman.Subscribe to the podcast on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. And say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker to hear our latest programme. Email ouch@bbc.co.uk if you have a story to tell us about the end of lockdown or anything else.

Warning: This podcast discusses sexual harassment and assault, so there is occasionally some graphic content. When Dr Amy Kavanagh started using a white cane, she realised she was being sexually harassed far more frequently than when she wasn’t “visibly” disabled.By 2018, the visually impaired activist decided she’d had enough and started the #JustAskDontGrab campaign on social media. It encourages the public to ask disabled people whether they actually need help, rather than just assuming and diving in – sometimes inappropriately. It’s something freelance journalist Melissa Parker and inclusion specialist Roxanne Steel, who both have cerebral palsy, can relate to. Melissa has been inappropriately touched in a nightclub under the guise of being “helped” with her bra strap, while Roxanne changed the way she dressed to try and protect herself from unwanted advances.This ties in with the figures - according to the Office for National Statistics, between March 2015 and 2018 disabled women were almost twice as

Kate Monaghan has a painful energy-zapping condition, her wife Holly is on immuno-suppressants and they have two small children. Adjusting to the world as lockdown relaxes has been eventful. Their five-year-old had been at school until positive cases of Covid had been identified in her year. Now she's back to isolating at home... and it's somehow not as simple as before. For Holly, the idea of starting to hug people again feels alien and unnecessary whilst Kate says simple activities she used to enjoy now fill her with anxiety. Produced by Amy Elizabeth. If you want to message Kate or ask her a question, email amy.elizabeth@bbc.co.uk. Subscribe to the podcast on BBC Sounds or say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker.

As Covid restrictions ease in the UK, our presenters share their mental health travel stories. Why is Seaneen banned from using one of the budget airlines? Why does Mark stay in hotels instead of with family? And identical twins Claire and Laura explain why seeing the world helps them stay well. We come up with ideas that the travel industry could implement to make life easier for people with mental health difficulties and explore why being told to get out into nature for therapeutic reasons can feel frustrating. With Mark Brown and Seaneen Molloy Produced by Emma Tracey. Write to Mark and Seaneen: ouch@bbc.co.uk Hear the two regularly on Ouch. Subscribe to the Ouch podcast on BBC Sounds or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also say "Ask the BBC for Ouch" to your smart speaker to hear our latest programme.

Warning: This podcast discusses domestic abuse and sexual violence with occasional graphic content. Ebere* was 31 when she finally fled Nigeria for the UK to study, with hopes she had left domestic abuse behind. But a new relationship soon turned controlling, then violent and brought back memories of the sexual and physical abuse she had experienced as a child. As a black, disabled, queer woman, Ebere has experienced abuse throughout her life and struggled to find an accessible refuge when she needed it most. She hopes that by telling her story, and how she survived, it will help other women to leave abusive situations. Produced and presented by Keiligh Baker. *not her real name. If you, or someone you know, have been affected by domestic abuse or violence, the organisations listed on the links below may be able to help. If you are in immediate danger, you should dial 999. Visit the BBC Action Line page for Information and Support on Domestic Abuse: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/3FQFSnx6

Warning: This podcast discusses domestic abuse with occasional graphic content. Emma Dalmayne was just 17-years-old when she fled her abusive partner with her baby. Emma, who is autistic, has experienced violence at the hands of two ex-partners and has lived in a women's refuge. Saliha Rashid faced honour-based violence from her family. As a blind woman she thought they were being protective, until she went to university and realised their behaviour was abuse. It took her three attempts to escape. According to the statistics, disabled people are three times more likely to experience domestic abuse - but why is this? Emma, Saliha and Sara Cincurova, a journalist and former domestic abuse support worker, tell their stories and discuss what needs to be done to improve the situation. Presented by Keiligh Baker. If you, or someone you know, have been affected by domestic abuse or violence, the organisations listed on the links below may be able to help. If you are in immediate danger, you should dial 999.Visit th

Seaneen has a bipolar diagnosis, so when she experienced sudden and severe anxiety after having baby Jack in January, the perinatal mental health team came straight away. A medication increase caused further difficulties and an infection landed her in A&E. Recovering now, she feels "robbed" of Jack’s first golden month and worries what impact it has had on him. Plus, we discuss how to talk to your child about Mummy or Daddy's mental health difficulties. And there’s another clanger from the Book of Awkward Questions. Presented by Mark Brown and Seaneen Molloy. Produced by Emma Tracey. Subscribe with BBC Sounds and say to your smart speaker "Ask the BBC for Ouch"Reach our presenters by email: ouch@bbc.co.uk