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Okay, welcome to the AdaptX podcast where we have discussions with individuals who are

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building inclusive and accessible businesses or products advocating for inclusion or excelling

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in adaptive sports.

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Our intention is never to speak on behalf of those with disabilities but rather amplify

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their voice and ideas so you can build more inclusive and accessible businesses as well.

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Today we're joined by John McKenzie, a husband, pastor, disability advocate and probably much

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more that I'm looking forward to learning about.

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So John, thanks for coming out to Lancaster and joining us.

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Well, thanks for having me on.

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So ironically, 17 years ago today, right, your life changed pretty significantly.

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Maybe how often do you think about that day and kind of what do you recall from it?

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I mean, the day itself, you know, it was a day really just like today is, you know, it

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was a summer day, beautiful.

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And I don't think about it often until the month comes and you know, it sneaks up on

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me the longer out I get the less I kind of remember it.

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But I remember the whole day or the accident, remember everything that happened.

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I can go into detail if you want on that.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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If you want to maybe give us a little bit of insight into how it happened and what the

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environment was like.

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Yeah.

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You know, I grew up just like any really, you know, average American kid, you know, had

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a lot of fun, did a lot of stupid stuff.

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And it was just August 9th, 2006, when it happened, a group of us were out skateboarding.

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We ended up that night at our local McDonald's in Orange Mass.

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And it was like, I don't know, around eight or so.

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And I was part-time landscaper at that time.

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And my mom called me told me to come home.

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I didn't go home because I didn't want to, you know, miss out on any of the fun stuff

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going down at the McDonald's parking lot.

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Eight o'clock at night in Orange, Massachusetts.

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But our friends asked me to go for a little less joy ride around town and said, sure,

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hop in the back seat.

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As we were pulling out of the McDonald's parking lot, another car full of kids pulled

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up next to us, asked the driver for my car if you want a race, turn left.

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Next thing I know, we're going 100 miles an hour in the opposite lane.

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There's a long straightaway when you need McDonald's to the left.

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There's a corner at the end.

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And as we went around the corner, the car lost control.

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It spun about three times, rolled a bunch of times, went up a banking, up a tree.

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And when it landed, I was in the back seat behind the passenger.

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And right next to the door, actually the door fell off.

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And when the car landed, the top half of my body was out of the car.

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The rest of my body was in the car.

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So the car landed sideways on my neck and so it broke my neck.

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I remember pretty much the whole thing rolling through the air in the car.

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It was like this weird slow motion, weightless feeling.

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I remember waking up with the car on top of me and everyone was just screaming.

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It was utter chaos.

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And thankfully I was the only one that got hurt that night.

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Everyone else climbed out of the sunroof without a scratch on them.

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And I remember being put into the ambulance and taken to an at-home hospital.

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And I didn't know I was paralyzed at that point.

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I never broke a bone or anything prior to that, surprisingly with growing up with some

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motorcross and all that stuff.

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But I thought my legs might have been broken.

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But then they shipped me in a helicopter to UMass in Worcester and everything gets fuzzy

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from there.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Do you still keep in touch with the other people that were in the accident?

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It was kind of a weird scenario.

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I was in the car with one of my childhood best friends and a bunch of other kids I was pretty

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close with.

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And after the accident, everyone just kind of veiled.

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I've talked to maybe them two or three times in the last 17 years.

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And when it first happened, it was a really kind of jarring experience because I was never

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the kind of...

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Everyone handles this injury different.

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Everyone handles becoming disabled, largely different.

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And I woke up with just the attitude of, you know, this is my life now.

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I'm going to let God use it for whatever he wants to.

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And I'm just going to keep pushing forward.

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So I never had a real depression state.

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And so I never understood why everyone just bailed on me.

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You know, at 17, it's kind of an interesting thing to think about.

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You know, I'm the same kid that I was six months ago.

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I'm just sitting down now.

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You know?

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So no.

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Do you hold any animosity towards any of them?

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Probably during the time I was a little frustrated, you know, like it was more along the lines

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like, well, what's wrong with me?

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You know, my friend too, I was so close with don't come around anymore, you know?

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But I've waited for given them.

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It's like, I always say, you know, when we got in the car that night, nobody was like,

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hey, nobody really fun.

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Let's go paralyze John, you know?

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It wasn't an intentional thing.

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We were just young kids doing young kids thing.

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Yeah, but yeah, so that kind of kind of strange, you know?

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You're now our third guest that's had an SEI and there seems to be a similar theme at

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least in the first two, Jesse and Tim, where they kind of talked about how their life was

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better after their disability or it changed them in a lot of positive ways.

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Can you identify maybe some ways in which your life improved after your SEI?

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Oh, yeah.

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I mean, 100%, you know, I always get asked like, would I go back?

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If I couldn't go back in time, would I?

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Right?

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And I mean, yeah, would it be great to walk again and not deal with constant nerve pain

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and all the fun stuff that comes along with having an SEI?

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But everything I've learned over the years, how this accident has shaped me as a man,

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as an advocate, as a, just my whole mindset, you know, it's really been, it's been, I hate

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to say beneficial, but it has, you know, pre-injury, you know, my life was surrounded

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with partying, you know, it's pretty wild, very rebellious.

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And after the accident, you know, I'm kind of screwed my head on straight a little bit.

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And it just, it really taught me a lot about adversity and just, you know, pushing forward

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no matter what.

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And it just made me so grateful to be alive, you know, because I could not be here, you

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know.

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Yeah, you talk about being able to walk again.

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That's another thing that seems to be a theme in the SEI world.

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Like, was that a goal initially with rehab?

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Yeah, see, what I've discovered in this is there's usually two camps in the spinal cord

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world.

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There are people who, and there's no wrong way I feel each camp not bashing one or the

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other, but there's usually either people who are focused on walking again, you know, they

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want to do everything they can to walk again.

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And that's their goal.

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They put everything into their rehab.

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They put everything into that goal, right?

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Or there's people, the camp I've fallen to is walking again was never really a goal,

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but learning just to live my life as it's been given to me, you know, get more independent,

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just learn to live with this disability in a world that's not accessible really in the

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least, you know.

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So I've always been about, you know, just these are the cards I've been dealt and I'm

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going to try to push forward the best I can.

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And I kind of had a different case where like when I was injured, I was so sick, you know,

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there are people who are injured.

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Like when I was in rehab, I don't think I went to more than like five sessions because

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like I couldn't, you know, for the first five years of my injury, like it was really hard,

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you know, I left rehab on a stretcher to go home.

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I couldn't even sit up.

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I kept passing out.

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And it was, it was really hard.

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Like doing an account and maybe detail some of that rehab process.

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Yeah.

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So when I got hurt, you know, I was taken to ICU and I was six weeks in the intensive care

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unit, which is longer than most stay in for that time.

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And I was on an event and they did pretty good there.

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And then they shipped me to Boston Medical Center.

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They used to have a spinal cord wing up there.

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They don't anymore.

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And when I got there, it was still, you know, I was so sick.

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I was on the vent.

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I couldn't sit up just getting me, you know, to raise my head up in bed was a big deal.

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You know, I had a lot of blood pressure issues.

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And so every time they tried to take me to therapy, I would either pass out on my therapist

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or throw up on my therapist.

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And it, my therapy experience was terrible, no fault to my PT, but just to how sick that

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I was.

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What do you think was causing that?

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It was just, it was like one thing after the other, you know, tons of infections, respiratory

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issues, trying to get off the ventilator.

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I was on that for about four and a half months.

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And it was, it was just straight up chaos.

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Yeah.

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And the ultimate thing that got you discharged or at like, at what point did they decide

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that you were ready to go home?

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They got to be in December.

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So I was hurt August 9.

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I left rehab on December 11.

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I think it was.

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And I wasn't ready to go home.

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But I think they could see that being in the hospital that long was starting to take us

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home and mental health.

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And so they were like, we're just going to, we're going to move forward and get you sent

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home.

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Thankfully, I have since day one, I've had a very strong support system with my family.

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And so, you know, they knew that I would be taken great care of.

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And so when I went home, had a lot of home PT, but that really didn't accomplish too

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much either.

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I spent some time, which was helpful.

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About a year or two later, I went to Shriners in Philadelphia.

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They had like a six to eight week boot camp for spinal cord injured people.

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I was a little healthier then.

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And so that helped a good little bit, you know, just get my bearings.

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Yeah.

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What kind of led you to turn a corner?

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I said, like, you're really sick right after, like, when did things start trending upwards?

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It wasn't until about five years out.

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Okay.

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I was just, I was in and out of a hospital so much for those first five years.

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And I had a really gnarly staff infection in 2010 ish.

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It was in my hip and that almost killed me.

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You know, it took a ton of surgeries to get it all cleaned out.

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And it seems like after that, things just slowly started to get better.

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And in the meantime, during this first five years of horrendous health issues, you know,

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I never stopped pushing forward, you know, a year after my accident, I regained my license.

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I started driving again.

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I always just kept trying to set little goals, even though they were like, like, I always

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wanted to be in a manual chair.

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You know, I said, if I had two arms, I'm going to use them.

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The best I can with my injury.

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And so just like I'd go for pushes for the best I can, which was maybe around a parking

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lot or something.

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And, you know, just these little goals that for an able-bodied person seemed like nothing,

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but to me, it's like climbing Mount Everest, you know?

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Yeah.

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And those were your goals instead of walking, instead of putting all your effort into walking.

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It was getting back to being able to exist in your environment.

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Yes.

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Just to be able to live a somewhat normal life.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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So you're C6?

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Yes.

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C6, yeah.

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So for people who don't know the levels of SCI, how does that like manifest with like gross

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motor and fine motor function?

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Yeah.

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So a lot of times people get really confused when I tell them a quadriplegic because they

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can't see any movements.

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You see me fidget quite a bit.

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That's from my nerve pain.

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We can talk about that after two, but so yeah, if I had broken my neck at like C1 or C2,

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3 or 4, I would probably not have like any movement.

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Maybe some shoulders or things like that.

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But because I broke at C5, C6, I'm able to have biceps and biceps in both arms.

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I have a tricep in my left arm, which I don't have in my right arm, and I have like real

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strong wrist function.

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And so that's about it.

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I'm paralyzed from the chest sling down.

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But yeah, so it's impairment all four limbs as a quad.

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And you grip strength through the fingers?

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No, I don't have any grip strength in my fingers, but you know, we can use TinoDesis,

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which is a very fancy word for when you bend your wrist, your thumb, what kind of automatically

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reach and it'll grasp through your pointer finger.

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It's hard to hear that through a voice.

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So what was like the, what were their OT and PT interventions that kind of got you that

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function or is that what you had initially?

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And that's just kind of.

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Pretty everything is I have been the same, but just strong.

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You know, I got injured with all this function that I have now.

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It's nothing really, it's just the everyday life of being paralyzed.

237
00:13:52,760 --> 00:13:54,400
I've done stronger.

238
00:13:54,400 --> 00:14:02,840
One of the biggest, most important things that I was able to use and that helped me massively

239
00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:04,600
with YouTube.

240
00:14:04,600 --> 00:14:07,240
And that's why I love social media so much.

241
00:14:07,240 --> 00:14:11,440
You know, because I remember, I remember after I was injured, you know, like I said, I didn't

242
00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:14,600
have a really good rehab experience.

243
00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:19,880
And so I would go on YouTube and I would see all these quads, my level and showing how

244
00:14:19,880 --> 00:14:23,120
they lived their lives, how they get dressed, how they transfer.

245
00:14:23,120 --> 00:14:28,160
And that's really what, that's really what helped me too was just, you know, just seeing

246
00:14:28,160 --> 00:14:33,160
other people with my similar injury, be able to do things I didn't think were possible

247
00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:34,160
of doing.

248
00:14:34,160 --> 00:14:38,880
And that just, it gave me so much motivation and hope to see that, you know, there are

249
00:14:38,880 --> 00:14:43,960
people out there who are taking care of themselves the best way they can and, you know, learning

250
00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:45,280
how to be independent.

251
00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:50,600
And that was really, that's what I call like a lot of my rehab was through YouTube, you

252
00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:54,880
know, that's why I think social media is, you know, like everything, it has massive

253
00:14:54,880 --> 00:14:59,200
downfalls, but it also has some really positive things out there.

254
00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:00,200
Yeah.

255
00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:08,800
So the remote fitness is obviously became more popular with COVID and remote rehab.

256
00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:13,680
And I don't know if it's, it's definitely not an entire replacement for in person, but

257
00:15:13,680 --> 00:15:18,720
like you said, like for people, there's a lot of people that don't have the means of

258
00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,120
getting to a gym or getting to a rehab hospital.

259
00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:28,480
And so it's not the importance of kind of making accessible online is pretty big.

260
00:15:28,480 --> 00:15:33,120
You mentioned nerve pain, kind of how do you, maybe how do you manage that and how does

261
00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:34,120
it manifest?

262
00:15:34,120 --> 00:15:40,760
Oh yeah, nerve pain is like, if I had a, if I had a choice between could you walk again

263
00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:45,240
and keep the nerve pain or stay with your injury and not have nerve pain, I'd be paralyzed

264
00:15:45,240 --> 00:15:46,240
all day.

265
00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:47,240
Yeah.

266
00:15:47,240 --> 00:15:51,880
Nerve pain is for myself, it's probably the hardest thing that I have to deal with because

267
00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:56,760
like 24 seven, my body is just burning constantly.

268
00:15:56,760 --> 00:16:00,880
And as you can see it, when you're in person with me, you know, constantly wiggling and

269
00:16:00,880 --> 00:16:07,240
just in, it's just from, that's usually from my pain, you know, and that's kind of just

270
00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,080
one way I kind of cope with it is to stay moving.

271
00:16:10,080 --> 00:16:11,080
Yeah.

272
00:16:11,080 --> 00:16:12,080
Are you able to sleep through the night?

273
00:16:12,080 --> 00:16:13,800
Yeah, a lot better than I used to.

274
00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:14,800
Yeah.

275
00:16:14,800 --> 00:16:17,640
You know, there used to be times where I'd just be awake for like two nights at a time

276
00:16:17,640 --> 00:16:23,240
and that just takes a massive toll on your mental health here and physicalness.

277
00:16:23,240 --> 00:16:29,400
It's just, but yeah, I mean, I've been on medicine for it, but it doesn't really do

278
00:16:29,400 --> 00:16:31,560
much 17 years out.

279
00:16:31,560 --> 00:16:38,960
You know, when I've come to realize is, you know, distraction is a huge thing for myself,

280
00:16:38,960 --> 00:16:44,320
you know, staying active and whether that's playing a video game for a little while, just

281
00:16:44,320 --> 00:16:46,760
anything to get your mind off of your pain.

282
00:16:46,760 --> 00:16:49,200
Are there any surgical interventions or not?

283
00:16:49,200 --> 00:16:53,800
I've heard of some things like spinal blocks and things like that, but I don't know how

284
00:16:53,800 --> 00:16:55,880
well they work exactly.

285
00:16:55,880 --> 00:16:56,880
Yeah.

286
00:16:56,880 --> 00:17:04,280
Yeah, I wonder before your accident, did you have a career in mind and then kind of maybe

287
00:17:04,280 --> 00:17:06,920
how did you get into this career that you're in now?

288
00:17:06,920 --> 00:17:07,920
Yeah.

289
00:17:07,920 --> 00:17:14,800
So pre-injury, you know, I grew up racing dirt bikes my whole life and, you know, when

290
00:17:14,800 --> 00:17:18,440
you have a sport that you love so deeply and passionately, you want to do that for the

291
00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,520
rest of your life, you know, so that was the goal.

292
00:17:21,520 --> 00:17:23,920
I got to a decently high level of that.

293
00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:28,680
And you know, in my 17 year old mind, I thought I was going to be a professional racer and

294
00:17:28,680 --> 00:17:31,320
that didn't pan out obviously.

295
00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:37,960
But again, going back to my rebelliousness, I dropped out of high school, 15 years old,

296
00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:43,920
left school because I just, it just wasn't my thing, you know, some people say it wasn't

297
00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:45,600
mine, that's for sure.

298
00:17:45,600 --> 00:17:50,880
And so I got a job landscaping and I did that up until my accident.

299
00:17:50,880 --> 00:17:56,600
But I had no real like career goals or really anything.

300
00:17:56,600 --> 00:18:01,000
I was just kind of living day by day, you know, week by week.

301
00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:04,960
And it wasn't until after my accident that, you know, as soon as I woke up in the intensive

302
00:18:04,960 --> 00:18:09,320
care unit, you know, I just, I felt that this happened for a reason.

303
00:18:09,320 --> 00:18:14,040
You know, I grew up in a Christian home, went to church on Sundays and all that stuff, but

304
00:18:14,040 --> 00:18:18,320
it was never really real to me until my accident.

305
00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:21,520
And that's when my mind started shifting.

306
00:18:21,520 --> 00:18:28,440
I just, I said, you know, I just want to use this for whatever God wants for me, you know,

307
00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:33,120
and I had no idea what that looked like at 17 years old laying in the intensive care

308
00:18:33,120 --> 00:18:34,120
unit.

309
00:18:34,120 --> 00:18:38,960
But I just, I knew I wanted to help people, high school students.

310
00:18:38,960 --> 00:18:43,000
Pastoring wasn't in my mind frame yet at all.

311
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:48,280
But then after my injury, I started going to church again and I just, I wanted to serve

312
00:18:48,280 --> 00:18:49,760
any way I could.

313
00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:55,800
And a couple of years later, I met with people from the Johnny Erickson Tata.

314
00:18:55,800 --> 00:18:59,480
I don't know if you're familiar with her, Johnian friends.

315
00:18:59,480 --> 00:19:04,240
They have a foundation where they help so many disabled people do a lot of cool things.

316
00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:07,720
And I met with one of their representatives and asked, what should I do?

317
00:19:07,720 --> 00:19:08,720
What's my next steps?

318
00:19:08,720 --> 00:19:12,120
You know, I want to do something to help people.

319
00:19:12,120 --> 00:19:15,720
And they kind of pushed me in the direction of why don't you go back to school?

320
00:19:15,720 --> 00:19:20,920
You know, again, hated school, left at 15 years old.

321
00:19:20,920 --> 00:19:24,760
That definitely wasn't, wasn't in my plan anyways.

322
00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:26,280
But I ended up going back to school.

323
00:19:26,280 --> 00:19:28,920
I got my college degree.

324
00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:33,640
I went for ministry and became a pastor.

325
00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:34,640
Yeah.

326
00:19:34,640 --> 00:19:35,640
What was that like?

327
00:19:35,640 --> 00:19:38,640
Cause there was probably what seven or eight years between dropping out of high school

328
00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:40,040
and going back into college.

329
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:41,040
Yeah.

330
00:19:41,040 --> 00:19:42,040
That was weird.

331
00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:43,040
Yeah.

332
00:19:43,040 --> 00:19:44,040
Yeah.

333
00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,240
I mean, I did all my classes online again, cause I was so sick and everything, but that

334
00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,840
itself takes a lot of self discipline to do that.

335
00:19:51,840 --> 00:19:54,120
Did you find college to be a much better experience though?

336
00:19:54,120 --> 00:19:56,160
Cause it was something that you were passionate about.

337
00:19:56,160 --> 00:19:58,960
Like sometimes high school just isn't suitable for people.

338
00:19:58,960 --> 00:19:59,960
Yeah.

339
00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:01,560
I think I was just lost in high school.

340
00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:05,080
You know, like it just, this had more of a goal in mind.

341
00:20:05,080 --> 00:20:08,240
You know, like I got to get through these years to be able to do what I want to do.

342
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:09,240
Yeah.

343
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:11,320
And so I did enjoy doing my classes.

344
00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:12,800
It gave me something to focus on.

345
00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:13,800
Yeah.

346
00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:18,720
A different, like I realized this time around that, you know, education is pretty important.

347
00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:24,000
You know, and it's a, it's a blessing to be able to, not everyone can do that.

348
00:20:24,000 --> 00:20:25,000
Yeah.

349
00:20:25,000 --> 00:20:27,960
I wouldn't identify as a deeply religious person.

350
00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:32,520
Me and my wife and I got married in a Catholic church and I understand the importance of

351
00:20:32,520 --> 00:20:34,840
that as a sacrament.

352
00:20:34,840 --> 00:20:36,440
And we went to church growing up.

353
00:20:36,440 --> 00:20:45,720
But do you think living like, living the way I do, I guess, or like the work that I do

354
00:20:45,720 --> 00:20:54,080
and like the care that I like give towards people is that like a manifestation of religion

355
00:20:54,080 --> 00:20:57,800
as opposed to just like weekly church attendance?

356
00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:02,160
I mean, is there a way to be religious without going to church?

357
00:21:02,160 --> 00:21:05,160
Well, I mean, that's a loaded question.

358
00:21:05,160 --> 00:21:12,360
I mean, in my beliefs, you know, I believe that God designed us to, to be in fellowship

359
00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:13,360
with other Christians.

360
00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:14,360
Yeah.

361
00:21:14,360 --> 00:21:16,680
You know, I think the work you do is, is wonderful.

362
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:23,040
I think that's a God given talent and a God given gift to have that desire to help other

363
00:21:23,040 --> 00:21:24,040
people.

364
00:21:24,040 --> 00:21:26,200
You know, you see that author scripture, right?

365
00:21:26,200 --> 00:21:29,400
I do very much believe in the importance of church attendance.

366
00:21:29,400 --> 00:21:30,400
Yeah.

367
00:21:30,400 --> 00:21:34,240
And not that going to church doesn't mean you're a Christian.

368
00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:35,240
Right.

369
00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:37,840
You know, no more than me sitting in a garage makes me a car.

370
00:21:37,840 --> 00:21:42,040
That was almost what I had a little bit of trouble with was just going to church, but

371
00:21:42,040 --> 00:21:47,760
not always understanding what I was there for or what I was listening to.

372
00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:48,760
Yeah.

373
00:21:48,760 --> 00:21:52,240
So it didn't feel like it was adding a ton to.

374
00:21:52,240 --> 00:21:53,240
And that's totally understandable.

375
00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:54,240
Yeah.

376
00:21:54,240 --> 00:22:01,280
You know, and I think it depends like for myself, like say high school wasn't a good fit.

377
00:22:01,280 --> 00:22:03,600
You know, I didn't, I didn't get anything from it.

378
00:22:03,600 --> 00:22:08,880
You know, if you're going to church and you are not leaving with something that's applicable

379
00:22:08,880 --> 00:22:15,240
to your life, it's, it can feel like you just they're listening to a bunch of nonsense

380
00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:16,240
sometimes.

381
00:22:16,240 --> 00:22:17,240
Yeah.

382
00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:19,400
What's your, what's your process for preparing a sermon?

383
00:22:19,400 --> 00:22:25,160
I process it takes me about 40 hours or so to get my messages done.

384
00:22:25,160 --> 00:22:31,360
And so I dive pretty deep in there, you know, but my whole motto is, you know, I'm open

385
00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:37,040
the Bible, teach the Bible, and then sit down and shut up, you know, we are kind of

386
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:44,800
a no frills kind of congregation, you know, I, I keep my messages around 25 minutes and

387
00:22:44,800 --> 00:22:52,120
I just go through each verse, pick it apart and get the meaning of what the original language

388
00:22:52,120 --> 00:22:58,800
said and what it meant for their hearers in that time and then how it's applicable to

389
00:22:58,800 --> 00:23:03,680
us today, you know, so that's, that's very important.

390
00:23:03,680 --> 00:23:04,680
Yeah.

391
00:23:04,680 --> 00:23:06,520
I don't know, to, uh, was it an acquired skill?

392
00:23:06,520 --> 00:23:11,240
Because obviously giving a sermon's public speaking, do you feel like you've improved

393
00:23:11,240 --> 00:23:14,040
a lot over the years in terms of how you deliver service?

394
00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:15,800
I would definitely say so.

395
00:23:15,800 --> 00:23:18,960
So again, when I was first injured, I knew I wanted to help people.

396
00:23:18,960 --> 00:23:24,320
You know, I knew I figured my story had some value when it to even help my main goal at

397
00:23:24,320 --> 00:23:27,560
that time was speaking to high schools and drivers that programs.

398
00:23:27,560 --> 00:23:34,240
And when I got my first opportunity to go to a school and share my story, it was 2008

399
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:40,680
and get up in front of these kids, the small classroom, you know, I froze.

400
00:23:40,680 --> 00:23:42,320
I didn't say a word.

401
00:23:42,320 --> 00:23:43,320
I couldn't speak.

402
00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:44,320
I had to leave.

403
00:23:44,320 --> 00:23:45,320
It was a mess.

404
00:23:45,320 --> 00:23:47,880
I left there going, well, that's not for me.

405
00:23:47,880 --> 00:23:48,880
I'm done.

406
00:23:48,880 --> 00:23:49,880
Yeah.

407
00:23:49,880 --> 00:23:53,800
You know, and then three years later, pastor of the church out of the tending asked me if

408
00:23:53,800 --> 00:23:55,200
I'd be willing to share my story.

409
00:23:55,200 --> 00:23:57,680
I was like, oh, man, I can't do that.

410
00:23:57,680 --> 00:24:01,040
You know, there's no way, but I just, I didn't want to say no.

411
00:24:01,040 --> 00:24:02,480
So I did it.

412
00:24:02,480 --> 00:24:08,240
And from that point on, you know, it's gotten easier and easier and easier.

413
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:09,240
But it all depends.

414
00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:11,160
You know, I speak weekly.

415
00:24:11,160 --> 00:24:13,680
I speak sometimes more weekly.

416
00:24:13,680 --> 00:24:16,280
I come here today and I'm nervous here.

417
00:24:16,280 --> 00:24:18,880
You know, hopefully not the nervous.

418
00:24:18,880 --> 00:24:19,880
No, no, no.

419
00:24:19,880 --> 00:24:21,720
You're a great host.

420
00:24:21,720 --> 00:24:24,600
It's just the public speaking is nerve-racking.

421
00:24:24,600 --> 00:24:25,600
Yeah.

422
00:24:25,600 --> 00:24:26,600
Yeah, it always is.

423
00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:32,320
I mean, in the same lens, like me preparing for these, I'm trying to play the conversation

424
00:24:32,320 --> 00:24:35,440
in my head or at least think about what I want to talk about.

425
00:24:35,440 --> 00:24:40,080
Like I almost didn't want to mention that religion piece because I don't have the chops

426
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,560
to really have a thorough conversation about it.

427
00:24:42,560 --> 00:24:45,040
So it's like, what should I mention?

428
00:24:45,040 --> 00:24:46,040
What should I not?

429
00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:48,840
I have all these different things that go through my head, but then it's like finding

430
00:24:48,840 --> 00:24:53,440
ways to articulate it within the flow of a conversation is sometimes tough.

431
00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:58,320
And we do put a good amount of time into preparing for all these episodes and doing research

432
00:24:58,320 --> 00:24:59,880
about the guests and stuff.

433
00:24:59,880 --> 00:25:03,960
But do you consider it motivational speaking?

434
00:25:03,960 --> 00:25:09,880
Or do you have thoughts on like motivation, motivational speaking as a whole?

435
00:25:09,880 --> 00:25:16,240
See, I kind of separate the two from what I do at church on Sunday and then say what

436
00:25:16,240 --> 00:25:20,440
I do when I go to Moni Tech and speak to the drivers at programs.

437
00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:29,040
I would say that is when I speak at the high schools and whatnot, it's usually a more motivation,

438
00:25:29,040 --> 00:25:31,760
but motivation to make the right choices in life.

439
00:25:31,760 --> 00:25:37,320
And to not, I speak a lot about safety and making smart choices and how each choice,

440
00:25:37,320 --> 00:25:40,840
but do you realize that or not affects your future?

441
00:25:40,840 --> 00:25:47,760
So I feel like I give them some motivation and try to help them and guide them into realizing

442
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:54,640
that, you know, don't mess up your life so young, you know, you got a lot ahead of you.

443
00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:59,320
I truly believe that, you know, you can really do whatever you want to do if you put the

444
00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:00,320
time into it.

445
00:26:00,320 --> 00:26:04,320
And like I always say, I'm not saying you're going to be president of the United States,

446
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:05,680
but crazier things have happened.

447
00:26:05,680 --> 00:26:07,680
So maybe, maybe so.

448
00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:14,160
I wonder if like, so you're, you're encouraging people to not do dangerous things that could

449
00:26:14,160 --> 00:26:16,400
hurt themselves, which is obvious.

450
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:21,600
But you say like mess up their lives and in some ways your life got better after your

451
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:22,600
accident.

452
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:26,200
So not that that's the lesson that you would want to communicate to someone get a spinal

453
00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:27,960
cord injury, your life might improve.

454
00:26:27,960 --> 00:26:33,720
But is there ever any like friction between those messages or do you ever relay the positives

455
00:26:33,720 --> 00:26:34,720
of your injury?

456
00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:37,240
Oh, I definitely will relay the positives.

457
00:26:37,240 --> 00:26:44,400
You know, it's, it's usually more of motivation with like an underlying, you don't, you don't

458
00:26:44,400 --> 00:26:48,640
want to take the route that I took, you know, I'd rather not take the route that I took.

459
00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:54,040
As you can come to grips with improving your life without the injury.

460
00:26:54,040 --> 00:26:55,040
Yeah.

461
00:26:55,040 --> 00:26:59,880
You know, I would have rather, you know, learned all the lessons that I learned now without

462
00:26:59,880 --> 00:27:04,600
having to deal with the pain and suffering and all the heartache that comes along with

463
00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:05,600
spinal cord injury.

464
00:27:05,600 --> 00:27:06,600
Yeah.

465
00:27:06,600 --> 00:27:11,040
Because no matter how much we try and sugarcoat it, you know, this life is hard, you know,

466
00:27:11,040 --> 00:27:12,040
it's not easy.

467
00:27:12,040 --> 00:27:17,440
You know, some of us may make it look easy, but there is still a lot of weight to carry

468
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:19,440
around a daily basis.

469
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:24,600
I'm a 34 year old man that does stuff during the week that no 34 year old man should have

470
00:27:24,600 --> 00:27:30,760
to do, you know, or that's bathroom stuff or other stuff that comes along that you don't

471
00:27:30,760 --> 00:27:31,760
see.

472
00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:35,640
You know, so I try to motivate these kids, but just motivate them to make smart choices

473
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:38,280
in their life, especially when they get behind the wheel.

474
00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:39,280
Yeah.

475
00:27:39,280 --> 00:27:40,280
I remember I first got my license.

476
00:27:40,280 --> 00:27:44,800
I was wild, you know, and it's just, it's not worth it.

477
00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:45,800
Yeah.

478
00:27:45,800 --> 00:27:51,920
We typically ask some of our guests with disabilities of like their thoughts on the inspiration

479
00:27:51,920 --> 00:27:52,920
narrative.

480
00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:57,760
Like, do you ever get people that say that you're inspirational and kind of what emotions

481
00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:01,600
does that evoke or like, oh man, I get that all the time.

482
00:28:01,600 --> 00:28:03,560
I can't go to the grocery store.

483
00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:05,800
Someone thinking never say anything.

484
00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:09,160
I get a box of Cheerios off the shelves.

485
00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:16,600
But in some ways, there are people who get really offended by it, you know, and I totally

486
00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:17,600
understand that.

487
00:28:17,600 --> 00:28:22,640
And in a lot of ways, I feel the same, you know, I mean, we're just living our lives.

488
00:28:22,640 --> 00:28:27,840
We're not here to be an inspiration for you unless it's in the setting of same motivational

489
00:28:27,840 --> 00:28:30,320
speech or something like that.

490
00:28:30,320 --> 00:28:34,840
But I get that all the time.

491
00:28:34,840 --> 00:28:41,040
But I do know that a lot of people say that, like in the grocery store or at church or

492
00:28:41,040 --> 00:28:44,120
anywhere, you know, a lot of them, it comes from a good place.

493
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:45,680
Yeah, it's always well intentioned.

494
00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:49,320
It's well intentioned a lot of times, even though there are times where it's kind of

495
00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:50,320
offensive.

496
00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:51,320
Yeah.

497
00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:52,320
Right.

498
00:28:52,320 --> 00:28:55,680
So I try to give them grace, you know, because like, if you don't live this life, if you're

499
00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:59,520
not in the field, say you're in and they don't really know.

500
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:00,520
Yeah.

501
00:29:00,520 --> 00:29:01,520
It's like they don't even know what else to say.

502
00:29:01,520 --> 00:29:04,080
Like they don't even know how to start a conversation.

503
00:29:04,080 --> 00:29:05,080
Yeah.

504
00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:09,840
For some reason, I'm not sure what that reason is, but yeah, it's just, there's a lot of

505
00:29:09,840 --> 00:29:14,880
people who I just don't think know how to handle when they see someone so different

506
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:15,880
from themselves.

507
00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:16,880
Yeah.

508
00:29:16,880 --> 00:29:23,440
You know, it's like they look at myself or people like me and it's like, they're just

509
00:29:23,440 --> 00:29:27,160
so I don't like to say, but it's true weirded out by it in a sense.

510
00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:28,160
Yeah.

511
00:29:28,160 --> 00:29:29,800
You know, they just, they don't know how to act.

512
00:29:29,800 --> 00:29:35,640
Yeah, so when we think of like what has to be done to make gyms more inclusive and accessible

513
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:42,200
or really any business or environment, it's kind of like normalizing the inclusion of

514
00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:47,120
people with disabilities and just not to like see beyond the wheelchair, not to ignore the

515
00:29:47,120 --> 00:29:52,280
fact that you have a disability, but just to view it, I guess maybe as another characteristic

516
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:54,040
of yourself as an individual.

517
00:29:54,040 --> 00:29:55,040
Yeah.

518
00:29:55,040 --> 00:29:56,040
Yeah.

519
00:29:56,040 --> 00:29:57,040
I mean, I agree with that as well.

520
00:29:57,040 --> 00:30:01,880
I mean, because it's like, and then there's a whole other, if you go to the whole other

521
00:30:01,880 --> 00:30:06,120
end and there are people who are like, well, I don't even see your disability.

522
00:30:06,120 --> 00:30:11,680
And at the same time, that's not entirely correct to say either, you know, because when

523
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:17,720
you, when you go to that far, then you're like just dismissing the struggle, the ableism,

524
00:30:17,720 --> 00:30:20,520
the lack of accessibility we face every day.

525
00:30:20,520 --> 00:30:21,960
So there's like a balance there.

526
00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:26,160
Just in my opinion, just I'm John treat me that way.

527
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:27,160
Yeah.

528
00:30:27,160 --> 00:30:32,960
You know, and, but it's again, I don't fault a lot of people like some people, some people

529
00:30:32,960 --> 00:30:38,680
might know, because like, I maybe might not know what to say to someone in this position

530
00:30:38,680 --> 00:30:41,320
if I wasn't in this myself, you know,

531
00:30:41,320 --> 00:30:42,320
Yeah.

532
00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:47,240
Maybe kind of expanding on that point, we can talk a little bit about etiquette.

533
00:30:47,240 --> 00:30:54,280
How do you feel about the term disabled versus maybe some of the more politically correct

534
00:30:54,280 --> 00:30:56,880
quote unquote terms like differently able?

535
00:30:56,880 --> 00:30:57,880
Yeah.

536
00:30:57,880 --> 00:31:00,880
Again, there's different camps for that as well.

537
00:31:00,880 --> 00:31:08,080
But a lot of myself and most everyone that I'm in contact with in the disability community

538
00:31:08,080 --> 00:31:12,800
who has a disability, what I've discovered is nine times out of 10, they want to be called

539
00:31:12,800 --> 00:31:13,800
disabled.

540
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:14,800
Yeah.

541
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:19,080
You know, because like you use terms like differently able or things of that nature,

542
00:31:19,080 --> 00:31:25,480
it can often feel like you're trying to minimize the disability aspect and you're trying to

543
00:31:25,480 --> 00:31:31,080
make you're trying to make disabled less offensive in your mind.

544
00:31:31,080 --> 00:31:32,560
That's how I feel.

545
00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:36,080
Anyways, like we're disabled and there's nothing wrong with that.

546
00:31:36,080 --> 00:31:40,400
You know, we don't have to call it other names to make yourselves more comfortable.

547
00:31:40,400 --> 00:31:41,400
You know,

548
00:31:41,400 --> 00:31:47,360
Yeah, I almost I've read I've read about it as almost a strategy for someone without

549
00:31:47,360 --> 00:31:51,160
a disability, like you said, to just feel more comfortable or like feel better about

550
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:53,400
themselves for using this different phrase.

551
00:31:53,400 --> 00:31:59,640
But there's some people whose entire model of inclusion revolves around person first

552
00:31:59,640 --> 00:32:06,480
language or terms like differently abled and in some ways, but then I see the disability

553
00:32:06,480 --> 00:32:09,160
community that's like, Oh, no, we hate those things.

554
00:32:09,160 --> 00:32:12,520
So it's like, so it's tough to relay.

555
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:16,840
So if I'm teaching a new personal trainer, a new fitness professional, how to work with

556
00:32:16,840 --> 00:32:19,920
someone with a disability, there's so many nuances.

557
00:32:19,920 --> 00:32:23,520
It's tough to make blanket statements like this is how you communicate with someone with

558
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:25,000
a disability.

559
00:32:25,000 --> 00:32:27,160
What kind of what advice would you give?

560
00:32:27,160 --> 00:32:32,720
So if you if you went into a gym for the first time and you were about you were ready to

561
00:32:32,720 --> 00:32:38,000
work with a personal trainer, what would you want them to ask you or how would you want

562
00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:39,280
to be treated?

563
00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:42,000
So I put myself in that scenario.

564
00:32:42,000 --> 00:32:48,560
I come into your gym, right, and I would obviously this goes by saying want to be treated just

565
00:32:48,560 --> 00:32:51,360
like any other member that comes in.

566
00:32:51,360 --> 00:32:56,320
And I think the worst thing that a person can do is assume, right?

567
00:32:56,320 --> 00:33:02,680
If say a trainer comes up to myself and just grabs my chair, you know, and starts helping

568
00:33:02,680 --> 00:33:06,880
without asking first, you know, I understand that their heart is probably in the right

569
00:33:06,880 --> 00:33:10,160
place, you know, because they see someone that might look like they need help.

570
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:12,600
But you always got to ask first, right?

571
00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:17,000
Like, hey, my name is, I don't know what this trainer's name was trainer Todd.

572
00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:18,000
Okay.

573
00:33:18,000 --> 00:33:22,400
Trainer Todd comes up to me and says, Hey, my name's Todd.

574
00:33:22,400 --> 00:33:26,240
And I want to introduce myself and, you know, you start a conversation like a normal person

575
00:33:26,240 --> 00:33:27,240
would.

576
00:33:27,240 --> 00:33:32,320
And then I would want that person to say, I don't want to assume that you need help.

577
00:33:32,320 --> 00:33:38,240
But if there is anything I can do to make your time here more accessible and I can be

578
00:33:38,240 --> 00:33:40,680
of any assistance, please don't be afraid to ask.

579
00:33:40,680 --> 00:33:41,680
Yeah.

580
00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:46,480
So it's assuming it's assuming competency and then having just an open line of communication

581
00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:48,760
with what needs, it will support so they need.

582
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:54,640
I think most people can tell when someone's being genuine, you know, I think that goes

583
00:33:54,640 --> 00:33:56,040
a long way.

584
00:33:56,040 --> 00:34:00,360
Like not everyone's going to be able to work things perfectly.

585
00:34:00,360 --> 00:34:05,640
You know, I might, I might be offended by different labels and then you might get to

586
00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:09,920
other people who prefer to be called differently abled or something like that.

587
00:34:09,920 --> 00:34:16,360
So I think, I think we can, I think we're pretty smart at seeing genuineness, you know,

588
00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:19,280
like this person just wants to help.

589
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:20,280
Yeah.

590
00:34:20,280 --> 00:34:26,400
No, but definitely my biggest thing is not to assume you need help, you know, just, just

591
00:34:26,400 --> 00:34:28,160
ask and be respectful about it.

592
00:34:28,160 --> 00:34:29,160
Yeah.

593
00:34:29,160 --> 00:34:32,480
What type of questions are kind of off limits and what questions do you not mind being

594
00:34:32,480 --> 00:34:34,720
asked?

595
00:34:34,720 --> 00:34:37,240
Myself, you can ask me anything.

596
00:34:37,240 --> 00:34:44,200
No, but I know there are people who are more easily, I guess you might want to get you

597
00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:51,000
to offended who don't really just even want to be bothered when they come into a place.

598
00:34:51,000 --> 00:34:55,960
I just, again, I think the most appropriate thing to do for a physical therapist would

599
00:34:55,960 --> 00:35:02,000
be like, is if there is any way that I can help you, you know, please just communicate

600
00:35:02,000 --> 00:35:05,560
with me what you need and I'll help you.

601
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:07,120
What are your needs?

602
00:35:07,120 --> 00:35:13,360
You know, and how can I better help you get done what you need done?

603
00:35:13,360 --> 00:35:20,520
And that's why we like, we try to demystify is not the word, but we try to lower the perceived

604
00:35:20,520 --> 00:35:23,920
barrier of entry for fitness professionals to like more inclusive options.

605
00:35:23,920 --> 00:35:30,480
Because I think sometimes people think it's like a highly complex, you need all of this

606
00:35:30,480 --> 00:35:35,400
advanced schooling, you need all this advanced equipment.

607
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:41,040
When in reality, I would hope that every gym finds ways to be more accessible, just like

608
00:35:41,040 --> 00:35:45,720
we call like incremental universal design, just like slowly making changes that improve

609
00:35:45,720 --> 00:35:47,960
the accessibility of something.

610
00:35:47,960 --> 00:35:52,360
But oftentimes, like you said, it's just like the genuineness of the staff and the conversations

611
00:35:52,360 --> 00:35:58,040
they're willing to have with people, understanding your unique needs in the same way that we're

612
00:35:58,040 --> 00:36:03,400
trying to understand our neurotypical adults unique needs or our high school and collegiate

613
00:36:03,400 --> 00:36:04,600
athletes unique needs.

614
00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:08,760
It's, I guess the presence of a disability just becomes another thing to consider when

615
00:36:08,760 --> 00:36:09,760
writing a workout.

616
00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:13,480
But because if you think about it, like if you go up to an able-bodied person, you ask

617
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:15,320
them what they need help for.

618
00:36:15,320 --> 00:36:16,800
And it's really just the same thing.

619
00:36:16,800 --> 00:36:20,320
You know, you're there to help that person, whether they have a disability or not, you

620
00:36:20,320 --> 00:36:27,400
know, just try not to assume that they, you know, need certain things that and a lot of

621
00:36:27,400 --> 00:36:34,600
times for myself, what drives me nuts and happens so often is like when people talk

622
00:36:34,600 --> 00:36:38,320
to us like we're children, that happens a lot.

623
00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:43,160
You know, and so it's just about being respectful of treating that disabled person really no

624
00:36:43,160 --> 00:36:45,600
different than you would treat an able-bodied member in the gym.

625
00:36:45,600 --> 00:36:50,520
But at the same time, you know, just ask with respect and genuineness, like, how can I help

626
00:36:50,520 --> 00:36:53,200
you, you know, if you need help?

627
00:36:53,200 --> 00:36:59,280
You know, what do you think needs to be changed as a question we usually ask people towards

628
00:36:59,280 --> 00:37:00,480
the end of the conversations?

629
00:37:00,480 --> 00:37:05,800
Like, what do you think needs to be changed to make gyms or the fitness industry as a whole

630
00:37:05,800 --> 00:37:08,000
more inclusive and accessible?

631
00:37:08,000 --> 00:37:11,480
And again, it depends.

632
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:15,280
You know, I mean, I think just like today, you know, like how you guys have the buttons

633
00:37:15,280 --> 00:37:20,480
outside, the flat entrance, you know, it's so easy for me to get into, right?

634
00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:22,440
A lot of gyms and places don't have that.

635
00:37:22,440 --> 00:37:27,840
You know, they have doors that are like, I couldn't even open on my own if I tried to.

636
00:37:27,840 --> 00:37:30,600
And again, no place is perfectly accessible, right?

637
00:37:30,600 --> 00:37:35,640
There's going to be a learning curve and there's going to be, like you said, incremental changes,

638
00:37:35,640 --> 00:37:36,640
right?

639
00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:42,520
But I think for fitness professionals, you know, listen to the disabled community, you

640
00:37:42,520 --> 00:37:48,160
know, and really try to hear how you can help their individual needs.

641
00:37:48,160 --> 00:37:53,600
You know, try to make things more accessible, try to keep in mind the space between equipment

642
00:37:53,600 --> 00:38:01,080
for wheelchair users and even just the level of certain equipment things and stuff like

643
00:38:01,080 --> 00:38:02,080
that, you know?

644
00:38:02,080 --> 00:38:10,560
Yeah, that's why we wanted to trim some portions of this conversation to include in the content

645
00:38:10,560 --> 00:38:16,360
that we teach because I've always liked your approach to etiquette that you put out on

646
00:38:16,360 --> 00:38:18,880
social media.

647
00:38:18,880 --> 00:38:23,880
So we'll plug that your Instagram handle, it's the Wheelie Life Official.

648
00:38:23,880 --> 00:38:24,880
The Wheel Life Official.

649
00:38:24,880 --> 00:38:25,960
The Wheel Life Official.

650
00:38:25,960 --> 00:38:30,960
And what's that platform been like for you in terms of like growing it and why'd you

651
00:38:30,960 --> 00:38:31,960
start it?

652
00:38:31,960 --> 00:38:32,960
It's been great.

653
00:38:32,960 --> 00:38:36,840
Like I said, you know, social media has always played a big role in my life starting with

654
00:38:36,840 --> 00:38:40,560
YouTube stuff and seeing how much they helped me.

655
00:38:40,560 --> 00:38:44,960
And you know, I kind of just started that Instagram on a whim because I was bored one

656
00:38:44,960 --> 00:38:49,120
day and I just wanted to be able to, I wanted to be able to share my real feelings about

657
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:52,840
this facility and not have to filter myself.

658
00:38:52,840 --> 00:38:58,040
And I just wanted to share the things I've learned and hopefully help some other newly

659
00:38:58,040 --> 00:39:03,240
injured patient or person who's been hurt 20 years and just needs some encouragement,

660
00:39:03,240 --> 00:39:04,240
you know?

661
00:39:04,240 --> 00:39:13,880
And so I started that one day and I just try to put out content that's real, you know,

662
00:39:13,880 --> 00:39:23,040
that's directed at people like myself, you know, but at the same time, someone who's

663
00:39:23,040 --> 00:39:27,600
an able-bodied fitness instructor like yourself can read a thing.

664
00:39:27,600 --> 00:39:29,520
Oh, okay, that makes sense.

665
00:39:29,520 --> 00:39:33,440
I'm going to try to implement that and learn from that, you know?

666
00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:38,160
Do you plan out content or do you usually just like identify a problem or something

667
00:39:38,160 --> 00:39:41,560
that happened in your life and think to yourself like, oh, I should share that?

668
00:39:41,560 --> 00:39:46,120
When I really started growing and things were kind of happening and I was getting, you know,

669
00:39:46,120 --> 00:39:51,680
I don't have a massive following or anything, but like a little bit, like I really was super

670
00:39:51,680 --> 00:39:53,320
diligent, you know?

671
00:39:53,320 --> 00:39:58,840
I did, like I had certain days I would record my reels and then certain times I would talk

672
00:39:58,840 --> 00:40:03,080
about disability history and I would schedule those posts in advance.

673
00:40:03,080 --> 00:40:09,960
But as we've kind of gone with everything, sometimes it's planned out a week in advance.

674
00:40:09,960 --> 00:40:13,440
Sometimes I just wake up in the morning and something strikes me like, you know what,

675
00:40:13,440 --> 00:40:14,440
I'm going to talk about that.

676
00:40:14,440 --> 00:40:19,560
I'm going to rant about this a little bit and we'll make a post about it.

677
00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:27,200
Can you maybe plug some products or businesses that you're familiar with that are either

678
00:40:27,200 --> 00:40:32,280
making like good products for people with disabilities or doing something?

679
00:40:32,280 --> 00:40:36,760
I got a lot of really good, cool thing about the disability community is it's kind of

680
00:40:36,760 --> 00:40:41,320
tight knit, even though we've really all lived across like the country from each other.

681
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:46,240
Some of my closest friends, they're like so brilliant, you know, you've probably seen

682
00:40:46,240 --> 00:40:48,720
abilities on Instagram.

683
00:40:48,720 --> 00:40:52,000
So that's ability and then the word ease, right?

684
00:40:52,000 --> 00:40:53,600
Yeah, that's ability.

685
00:40:53,600 --> 00:40:54,600
Ability.

686
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:58,000
Yeah, we can plug them.

687
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:00,080
Yeah, no, he's great.

688
00:41:00,080 --> 00:41:04,840
And he just, I don't know where his mind goes, but he just comes up with the coolest 3D printed

689
00:41:04,840 --> 00:41:07,920
stuff to make life easier for us.

690
00:41:07,920 --> 00:41:09,440
And it's pretty cool.

691
00:41:09,440 --> 00:41:12,960
You know, there are people who at the same time don't like using adaptive equipment and

692
00:41:12,960 --> 00:41:13,960
that's fine too.

693
00:41:13,960 --> 00:41:16,280
And at the beginning of my injury, I hated it.

694
00:41:16,280 --> 00:41:21,280
I didn't want to be any different from anyone else, but as I've grown as a person and more

695
00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:24,200
comfortable with my disability, I just want to use anything that helps me.

696
00:41:24,200 --> 00:41:31,080
Yeah, that's probably, yeah, that's an interesting topic because I have a client post stroke who

697
00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:35,520
seems to adopt that perspective where he doesn't want to use adaptive things.

698
00:41:35,520 --> 00:41:40,800
And I'm like, well, if it helps you do what you want to do, then it might be useful in

699
00:41:40,800 --> 00:41:46,520
the same way that I have to wear glasses to see and someone that's to wear a hearing aid

700
00:41:46,520 --> 00:41:52,600
to hear like sometimes the adaptive technologies just allows you to do what you want to do.

701
00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:53,960
But yeah, no, that's great.

702
00:41:53,960 --> 00:41:57,720
And I'm glad all those resources exist.

703
00:41:57,720 --> 00:42:03,440
And I hope that I can have conversations with people like that and share those, share what

704
00:42:03,440 --> 00:42:08,040
they're doing and share their experiences and what they've learned.

705
00:42:08,040 --> 00:42:12,920
Like I said, I mean, it's tough to put myself in a position of like teaching the course that

706
00:42:12,920 --> 00:42:18,120
I teach because I don't want to speak on your behalf or I don't want to speak on the community's

707
00:42:18,120 --> 00:42:20,400
behalf as a whole.

708
00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:25,400
But I recognize that I might be in a position to bring some of this content to people.

709
00:42:25,400 --> 00:42:30,280
So it would be foolish for me to not at least do my best.

710
00:42:30,280 --> 00:42:35,320
And hopefully, if we make mistakes or suggest something that's not important that people

711
00:42:35,320 --> 00:42:39,000
have the grace to just see that it's always well-intentioned.

712
00:42:39,000 --> 00:42:43,600
So, but that's why these podcast recordings have been great because it allows me to just

713
00:42:43,600 --> 00:42:49,040
have transparent conversations and kind of work on the edges and work within the nuance

714
00:42:49,040 --> 00:42:50,840
of disability.

715
00:42:50,840 --> 00:42:55,480
And hopefully the people that take my course will also listen to these because they're great

716
00:42:55,480 --> 00:43:00,360
supplements for the more like exercise science related stuff that we teach.

717
00:43:00,360 --> 00:43:03,800
But I think you guys are doing one of the most important things.

718
00:43:03,800 --> 00:43:08,040
It's giving disabled people, you know, a platform to share.

719
00:43:08,040 --> 00:43:14,760
Because they might not go after or they might not find someone like you unless it's through

720
00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:17,720
someone like that's already in the fitness space.

721
00:43:17,720 --> 00:43:22,520
So hopefully we can kind of be that segue to introduce them to people that can speak

722
00:43:22,520 --> 00:43:24,000
on a lift experience better.

723
00:43:24,000 --> 00:43:25,720
But John, it was a pleasure.

724
00:43:25,720 --> 00:43:31,440
I really appreciate you coming out from orange to Lancaster talking with us today.

725
00:43:31,440 --> 00:43:32,440
It's my pleasure.

726
00:43:32,440 --> 00:43:36,440
Thank you for letting me rant for a while.

727
00:43:36,440 --> 00:43:38,760
Thank you for listening to the AdaptX podcast.

728
00:43:38,760 --> 00:43:42,640
Our effort to amplify the ideas of our guests and create more inclusive and accessible industries

729
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:45,760
is futile unless these episodes reach a larger audience.

730
00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:49,600
If you enjoyed our discussion today, please leave us a rating or review on whichever platform

731
00:43:49,600 --> 00:43:50,600
you use.

732
00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:53,640
And if you would like to learn more about AdaptX, the course that we teach to health

733
00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:57,480
and fitness professionals and the projects that our organization is working on, you can

734
00:43:57,480 --> 00:44:02,080
subscribe to our newsletter through our website, www.adaptx.org.

735
00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:18,160
Until next Monday.