You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D is the Ontario Disability Employment Network’s podcast, launched in 2020.
Our show season runs from April to November.
Each episode we bring you insightful conversations with expert guests that explore from all the angles, the power of disability inclusion in business…in employment…in education…and in our communities…and why disability is an important part of the diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility conversation.
Curious about how we came up with that name? The diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) business conversation still too often focuses on gender and ethnicity only. Disability is left out or is an afterthought. We believe that you can’t really have inclusion without including disability in the conversation. Hence, You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D.
The podcast is co-hosted by Amy Widdows, ODEN’s new CEO, and Dean Askin, our Communications Strategist. Amy stepped in as the new co-host starting in 2025, with Season 6.
Jeannette Campbell, ODEN’s previous CEO, co-hosted the podcast for five seasons (Episodes 1 to 30).
You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D is hosted on Podbean, and available wherever you download your favourite podcasts.
Executive Producer/Co-Host — Amy Widdows
Executive Producer/Co-Host (Seasons 1 to 5, Episodes 1 to 30) — Jeannette Campbell
Producer — Sue Dafoe
Associate Producer/Co-Host — Dean Askin
Audio Production — Dean Askin
In the beginning, the Web was pretty much accessible for everyone….because it was originally text based. In 2023, web-page technology and design has advanced light years beyond the original hypertext markup language (HTML) used to build the world’s first websites. But is accessibility….that universal power of the Web referred to by its inventor, Sir…
This episode is a check-in…a check-in on hidden mobility disabilities in Canada, and the Hidden Mobility Disabilities Project, or the HMD Project for short. What are hidden mobility disabilities? Generally, they’re the inability to walk any great distance or stand for a long time. And the HMD Project has been investigating accessibility as it…
Worldwide, there are an estimated 180 million to 220 million youth who have a disability. In Canada, there are over 540,000 between the ages of 15 and 24. Over 100,000 of these youth are not in education, employment or training (NEET). Seventy-seven per cent of this group — over 83,000 young people who have a…
When you hear the words, “disability inclusion,” what’s the first thing that comes to mind for you? There’s a lot being written these days about accessibility, and disability inclusion in business and employment. But what about something like disability inclusion and accessibility in research? That’s not something many of us have thought about. In this…
It’s called the Inclusive Design for Employment Access (IDEA) initiative. This new, six-year research initiative — being done with $9 million in federal funding — is taking a new, different approach to disability and employment research. One that has the potential to change the conversation about disability inclusion in business and employment. We talk with…
Business leaders can no longer make excuses for not fostering disability inclusion, the leaders of The Valuable 500 declare in this episode. Caroline Casey, founder and creator of The Valuable 500, affirms that they must “be curious and intentional about making change,” and urges leaders to “Go into your people, ask your people in business…
Have you heard the term, Hidden Mobility Disabilities, or HMD, before? There are actually over 500,000 Canadians who live with HMD. It’s an aspect of disability that’s not obvious, and often overlooked. And it’s one that creates some significant obstacles to inclusion and accessibility. In this episode of You Can’t Spell Inclusion Without a D,…
In this episode, we’re bringing some young voices into the show — Voices of Tomorrow. That’s both the name of a new report that’s the subject of this episode, and it describes our two guests. Sarah Julius is a first-year university student at The University of Windsor, Ontario. Natalia Ayala Giraldo is a Grade 12…
If you’re at any point on a disability-inclusion journey in your business, be sure to catch the new episode that’s out today. What a great conversation with John Robinson, the founder of Our Ability and Jobs Ability U.S. Thanks to John for sharing so many business and personal insights about his journey creating Our Ability…
Virtual reality (VR) is mostly known as the realm of gamers. But now — in Ontario, at least — it’s about to burst on the scene in the disability employment sector. Initially, starting at the end of September 2021 (through to the middle of March 2022), VR technology called VjobReady is going to be used…
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