1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:05,660 All right, welcome to the AdaptX podcast where we have conversations with individuals who are building accessible businesses, 2 00:00:05,940 --> 00:00:08,820 advocating for inclusion, or excelling in adaptive sports. 3 00:00:08,820 --> 00:00:11,720 Our intention is never to speak on behalf of those with disabilities, 4 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:17,600 but give them a platform to amplify their voice and share insight and information to create a more accessible world. 5 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:22,480 Today we are joined by Wyatt Spalding. Wyatt has been competing in the Special Olympics for 17 years. 6 00:00:22,480 --> 00:00:29,320 We'll talk about his incredibly successful athletic career. He has been involved in athlete leadership, health messenger training, government relations. 7 00:00:29,320 --> 00:00:34,620 He's one of two athletes selected from North America to be a Special Olympics Sergeant Shriver Global Messenger. 8 00:00:34,620 --> 00:00:38,220 And outside of competition, Wyatt is a staff member at Special Olympics Nebraska. 9 00:00:38,220 --> 00:00:40,660 He hosts three podcasts and a friend of many. 10 00:00:40,660 --> 00:00:46,520 I listened to a couple episodes of your show, Braham the Attempt, and I hope that I'm able to be half as good of a host as you are. 11 00:00:46,680 --> 00:00:48,680 Wyatt, thank you for joining me today. 12 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,280 Yeah, thanks for having me. Glad to be on. 13 00:00:51,920 --> 00:00:56,780 Hopefully that intro did you justice, but we'll talk a little bit more about it. 14 00:00:56,780 --> 00:01:00,520 Maybe before we dive into Special Olympics and athletics, 15 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:05,720 you want to tell me a little bit about childhood, maybe growing up, what school was like? 16 00:01:06,440 --> 00:01:08,440 Yeah, so growing up, I'm a twin. 17 00:01:09,320 --> 00:01:14,400 My twin brother Weston and I were born two months premature. 18 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,520 Did not get super into the medical part, because I don't know all of it, but 19 00:01:20,400 --> 00:01:23,120 basically my esophagus wasn't attached to my stomach. 20 00:01:23,120 --> 00:01:28,880 I had a condition called like a T. fistula, and it's like one in 21 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,640 15,000 or the odds of getting it were super low and I got it. 22 00:01:33,640 --> 00:01:37,960 And I ended up having 13 surgeries in the first six months of my life. 23 00:01:39,800 --> 00:01:42,640 I ended up having my 14th surgery my senior year of high school. 24 00:01:43,240 --> 00:01:47,440 So I've had 14 surgeries in my life. And then growing up, 25 00:01:48,000 --> 00:01:50,320 you know, I was just like any other kid. 26 00:01:50,320 --> 00:01:53,600 Had two older sisters, twin brother. 27 00:01:54,120 --> 00:02:00,320 But when I would go to school, I would say probably like around, I don't know, third, fourth grade. 28 00:02:00,320 --> 00:02:03,760 I started to notice I was like a little bit different than the other kids. 29 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:06,680 Obviously, I knew I was different because my hand 30 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:10,960 is really affected by my CP, my right hand. 31 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:18,960 School was, it was tough. I didn't really like school because I would like study. 32 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:26,720 It seemed like more than my siblings would because I just couldn't process all the information as quick. 33 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,840 Or I'd study real hard and not do good on tests. 34 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:32,640 I was in the resource classes. 35 00:02:33,560 --> 00:02:37,280 So I was never with my friends really in any of the classes. 36 00:02:37,280 --> 00:02:41,080 I played, I played like YMCA sports as a kid. 37 00:02:41,360 --> 00:02:45,040 But then as we got older, I still hung out with my friends that played sports. 38 00:02:45,040 --> 00:02:48,880 And eventually I became the manager instead of playing. 39 00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:55,120 And they were all in the same classes usually, but then me, I'm in the resource classes. 40 00:02:55,120 --> 00:02:58,560 And always was kind of like behind. 41 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,960 It was, I always felt stuck in the middle because like I could communicate really well. 42 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:11,760 Yeah, I had a disability, but it was mostly physical, you know, and just I struggled a little intellectually just in school. 43 00:03:11,760 --> 00:03:18,720 And it was just, it was tough. Like I went through some medical stuff on and off throughout going to school. 44 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:23,200 And just missing a lot of school. I'd always be behind. 45 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:26,640 And it wasn't for my parents, especially my mom. 46 00:03:26,640 --> 00:03:29,760 You know, I don't know how far I would have made it in school. 47 00:03:29,760 --> 00:03:33,840 I definitely would have flunked out because it was hard to keep up sometimes. 48 00:03:33,840 --> 00:03:42,400 But yeah, I mean, school, it taught me like, you're not going to do everything you want in life. 49 00:03:42,400 --> 00:03:45,120 But to get to where you want to go, you got to put in the work. 50 00:03:45,120 --> 00:03:51,120 And I knew all I had to do was get through high school and a couple years of college. 51 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:52,880 And I never would have to go to class again. 52 00:03:52,880 --> 00:03:57,040 But yeah, education was really important to my family. 53 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,840 And they tried to help me as much as possible. 54 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:05,440 So yeah, did your school have programs like Special Olympics or Best Buddies? 55 00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:12,640 No, it wasn't like a unified schools, like what we call in Nebraska, unified schools. 56 00:04:12,640 --> 00:04:18,000 Yet the unified schools program was my brother and I telling our friends, 57 00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:22,960 hey, Wyatt's got a Special Olympic game. You got to come, come watch. 58 00:04:22,960 --> 00:04:26,080 And they always think like, you know, and I get it. 59 00:04:26,080 --> 00:04:31,120 Like, is this like kind of a YMCA, you know, everyone plays environment. 60 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:32,880 And it's like, yeah, everybody plays. 61 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:36,240 And you know, it's not like high school where you just play the best players. 62 00:04:36,240 --> 00:04:38,080 Everyone plays, but it's competitive. 63 00:04:38,720 --> 00:04:42,320 And so my brother and I would just go around school and tell our friends. 64 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:46,720 And we got our best friend Kenny to come in middle school. 65 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:49,760 And then when we got to high school, he became one of our coaches. 66 00:04:49,760 --> 00:04:56,400 And then like by my sophomore year, I got a bunch of my friends to come to my game. 67 00:04:56,960 --> 00:05:02,640 And I made this huge shot in a game and my friends went crazy. 68 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:04,800 It was like the loudest I've ever heard the gym. 69 00:05:05,360 --> 00:05:10,400 It was like a YMCA gym and we played full court, but full court on the side hoops. 70 00:05:10,400 --> 00:05:12,560 So the short way, so it was just packed. 71 00:05:12,880 --> 00:05:16,800 And then in the year, then I'm cheering for me when I made the shot. 72 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:18,480 It was pretty cool. 73 00:05:18,480 --> 00:05:24,560 So yeah, I'd say the program, I guess, which is word of mouth by my brother and I. 74 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:26,800 So nothing like it is today. 75 00:05:26,800 --> 00:05:32,800 You and Weston were both born prematurely, but does he, did he not have as many medical 76 00:05:32,800 --> 00:05:34,480 complications as you did? 77 00:05:34,480 --> 00:05:34,960 Yeah. 78 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:42,000 Like, so actually the funny thing was like when I was born, like my umbilical cord was 79 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,840 like hanging on by an inch or two and I already had weak lungs. 80 00:05:45,840 --> 00:05:50,240 My brother actually had like weaker lungs than I did because I was just used to having 81 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:51,120 to work harder. 82 00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:58,080 But then he was in the hospital for a month and then came home and then I was in the hospital 83 00:05:58,080 --> 00:05:59,600 for like six months. 84 00:05:59,600 --> 00:06:07,280 And so I can tell with some asthma stuff when we got older, but nothing too serious. 85 00:06:08,000 --> 00:06:14,640 And he was healthy, played football, basketball, baseball, uh, multiple sports. 86 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,920 He played basketball, mostly basketball in high school, played college basketball. 87 00:06:19,920 --> 00:06:21,520 He was all good. 88 00:06:21,520 --> 00:06:27,600 And it was kind of hard, you know, like I was always really proud of him and what he 89 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:28,640 did. 90 00:06:28,640 --> 00:06:34,640 And, but I like, I felt a little jealous too, because like, I want to go to basketball camp 91 00:06:34,640 --> 00:06:40,240 or I want to go out for the middle school basketball team, but I just couldn't because 92 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:41,440 of my disability. 93 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:46,080 And I know it was hard for my parents to tell me that, but what my brother would do is he'd 94 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:51,520 go to some summer basketball camp and then come home and we do the same drill as he did 95 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:53,200 at the camp in our driveway. 96 00:06:53,200 --> 00:06:54,560 We just did our own camps. 97 00:06:55,200 --> 00:07:01,520 So he always made sure that I felt like included and like as much as possible. 98 00:07:02,160 --> 00:07:06,560 And I didn't want him to feel bad just because I can't go to basketball camp or he can't 99 00:07:06,560 --> 00:07:08,480 go out for the basketball team. 100 00:07:08,480 --> 00:07:13,200 Like, you know, it's not his fault I have a disability and can't go out for the team. 101 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:18,160 Like I was still the manager and because I wanted to watch him play and hang out with 102 00:07:18,160 --> 00:07:18,720 our friends. 103 00:07:19,280 --> 00:07:20,400 So, yeah. 104 00:07:20,400 --> 00:07:20,720 Yeah. 105 00:07:20,720 --> 00:07:23,120 That's a very mature approach to it. 106 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:26,400 As you were telling the story, that was one of the things I was thinking about, whether 107 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:32,240 that relationship was ever fractured in any way, or whether you were ever envious of your 108 00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:36,800 brother or whether he ever felt guilt that he could play a sport and you can't, but it 109 00:07:36,800 --> 00:07:41,760 sounds like you guys really came to a mutual understanding of how you could both kind of 110 00:07:41,760 --> 00:07:44,400 thrive and perform to the best of your abilities. 111 00:07:45,040 --> 00:07:45,520 Yeah. 112 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:52,080 So it was kind of like, you know, like middle school, we probably weren't the best friends, 113 00:07:52,080 --> 00:07:55,200 but I don't think that would have mattered if I would have a disability or not. 114 00:07:55,200 --> 00:07:55,840 It's middle school. 115 00:07:55,840 --> 00:07:57,120 It's not the greatest time of your life. 116 00:07:57,760 --> 00:08:05,280 And as I went into high school, I went through some pretty serious medical conditions and 117 00:08:05,280 --> 00:08:07,360 we just got closer and closer, it seemed like. 118 00:08:08,960 --> 00:08:17,520 I just would be practicing by myself, shooting hoops, like two to 500 shots a day at the 119 00:08:17,520 --> 00:08:23,200 Y and he would like come find me and we'd go play, go find guys to play two on two together 120 00:08:23,520 --> 00:08:25,040 because he's like, well, you actually play hard. 121 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:27,360 Like some of our friends, like they're just messing around. 122 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:28,560 Like I want to play a real game. 123 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:32,560 So I quit and came to find you so we can go play a real game. 124 00:08:32,560 --> 00:08:40,640 And yeah, I think like just that bond of basketball brought us together and just being twins, 125 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:43,680 there's nothing, it's hard to explain. 126 00:08:43,680 --> 00:08:46,800 And if you're not a twin, it's just a bond that never can be broken. 127 00:08:46,800 --> 00:08:48,400 It's different than just being brothers. 128 00:08:49,040 --> 00:08:56,400 And yeah, I think as we kind of went through more adversity, as we got older in high school 129 00:08:56,400 --> 00:09:00,080 with my medical stuff, we just became really close. 130 00:09:00,080 --> 00:09:04,800 So yeah, my first introduction to disability was through Special Olympics. 131 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:09,200 I really had no experience prior to that. 132 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:14,800 No real introduction to inclusion prior to sophomore year of high school. 133 00:09:15,280 --> 00:09:17,920 I broke my wrist and I couldn't play basketball. 134 00:09:17,920 --> 00:09:22,000 So my mom forced me to volunteer with this new Special Olympics program that had just 135 00:09:22,000 --> 00:09:23,360 been started in the district. 136 00:09:23,360 --> 00:09:27,360 And honestly, I was immediately hooked. 137 00:09:27,360 --> 00:09:33,600 I can't quite explain it, but I was just so attracted to how passionate the athletes were, 138 00:09:33,600 --> 00:09:35,600 how grateful they were for my time. 139 00:09:35,920 --> 00:09:41,600 It felt like in a time in high school where like everyone expected a lot out of you, all 140 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,880 these athletes really expected was like my time and attention. 141 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:47,120 And that was just like so refreshing to me. 142 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,440 Like they didn't have any preconceived idea of what they wanted me to be. 143 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:53,280 They just wanted me to be present for them. 144 00:09:53,280 --> 00:09:55,040 And so I was immediately hooked. 145 00:09:55,040 --> 00:09:59,680 Probably spent a few thousand hours through high school and college coaching, basketball, 146 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:02,160 powerlifting, tennis, golf, soccer. 147 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,760 And I know you competed at USA Games. 148 00:10:05,760 --> 00:10:10,800 I was the tennis coach for Massachusetts at the 2014 USA Games. 149 00:10:10,800 --> 00:10:13,920 So I just missed you by one iteration there. 150 00:10:13,920 --> 00:10:18,240 But Special Olympics obviously completely changed my life. 151 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:22,160 It kind of pointed me on the career path that I'm in now. 152 00:10:22,160 --> 00:10:26,080 When I opened my gym, the premise was to give my Special Olympic athletes a place to train 153 00:10:26,080 --> 00:10:27,680 alongside their peers. 154 00:10:27,680 --> 00:10:32,400 So I know something like that would be important to you and would resonate with you as well. 155 00:10:32,400 --> 00:10:35,760 If someone's hesitant to get involved with an organization like Special Olympics, what 156 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:36,800 would you tell them? 157 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:41,680 I would tell them that, you know, there's no pressure at all. 158 00:10:41,680 --> 00:10:46,560 Like you want athletes that are going to work hard every day when you show up, then Special 159 00:10:46,560 --> 00:10:48,000 Olympics is kind of the place to go. 160 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:56,240 Because like you said, you opened your gym and you wanted athletes like us to be a part 161 00:10:56,240 --> 00:10:57,240 of it. 162 00:10:57,240 --> 00:11:03,040 Like a lot of gyms, you know, we don't go there because not that they don't want us 163 00:11:03,040 --> 00:11:08,400 to be there, but it's kind of hard because like maybe they're not used to having someone 164 00:11:08,400 --> 00:11:09,920 with a disability come to their gym. 165 00:11:09,920 --> 00:11:13,280 So how do we get them to adapt and do the workout? 166 00:11:13,280 --> 00:11:15,600 I think people are just kind of nervous. 167 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:20,640 Sometimes around people with disabilities, and I get it, like sometimes it can be a little 168 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:26,560 nerve wracking, but once you start to talk to them, like we're like one of the hardest 169 00:11:26,560 --> 00:11:32,480 working athletes because we know like we deal with a lot more hard stuff outside of sports 170 00:11:32,480 --> 00:11:34,000 and just winning and losing. 171 00:11:34,000 --> 00:11:39,760 Like I know for me, like there were times in my life, like I was going through some 172 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,920 serious medical stuff and I was like, well, I even be able to play in the gym. 173 00:11:43,920 --> 00:11:49,760 I was like, well, I even be able to play like basketball the next day or ever again. 174 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:56,560 When I had my big back surgery to fix my scoliosis, I didn't know if I'd be able to shoot hoops 175 00:11:56,560 --> 00:11:58,360 in the driveway by myself. 176 00:11:58,360 --> 00:12:00,080 Wasn't even to play a game. 177 00:12:00,080 --> 00:12:02,360 I just wanted to shoot hoops in the driveway. 178 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:09,240 So I think like you get athletes that know that sports is important and yeah, we're here 179 00:12:09,240 --> 00:12:10,240 to win. 180 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:13,560 Like I think people think we're just here to have fun and we don't care about winning. 181 00:12:13,560 --> 00:12:14,560 It's not true. 182 00:12:14,560 --> 00:12:15,560 We're athletes. 183 00:12:15,560 --> 00:12:17,800 Athletes care about winning. 184 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:23,680 And I think we just kind of know like, look, we're going to try our best to win the game. 185 00:12:23,680 --> 00:12:29,240 And if we don't, it's not the end of the world and you know, it sucks, but there's worse 186 00:12:29,240 --> 00:12:31,560 stuff than losing a game. 187 00:12:31,560 --> 00:12:36,600 So I think that's a message that I think sometimes doesn't get communicated to the public very 188 00:12:36,600 --> 00:12:41,080 well is that like, it's not just about a participation trophy. 189 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:46,440 Like we were in competitive special Olympics, like basketball games. 190 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:47,880 Our athletes really want to win. 191 00:12:47,880 --> 00:12:50,400 The other team really wanted to win. 192 00:12:50,400 --> 00:12:56,000 I think what you see sometimes is just this like grand everyone having a good time, but 193 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,680 at the end of the day, like it is competitive. 194 00:12:59,680 --> 00:13:03,680 And I think that's kind of a narrative that I think should be pushed forward as well. 195 00:13:03,680 --> 00:13:07,280 So people kind of have a different perception of disability. 196 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:10,360 Like it's not just like a charity case. 197 00:13:10,360 --> 00:13:13,760 It's these athletes are actually training hard and competing. 198 00:13:13,760 --> 00:13:16,000 Yeah, for sure. 199 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:23,400 I play in this tournament called the experience in Charlotte, Virginia every January and you 200 00:13:23,400 --> 00:13:25,000 have to be invited to the tournament. 201 00:13:25,000 --> 00:13:28,800 You can't just sign up like all the other tournaments. 202 00:13:28,800 --> 00:13:36,720 And it's like the top 32, especially with tennis players in the U S get invited and 203 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:38,000 it's an elite level. 204 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,360 Like special Olympics is really trying to do like elite levels now. 205 00:13:42,360 --> 00:13:47,120 And you know, there are levels where it is about just having fun and you know, that's 206 00:13:47,120 --> 00:13:48,120 great too. 207 00:13:48,120 --> 00:13:54,400 But then there's higher levels like that tournament, like just like if you would play in a state 208 00:13:54,400 --> 00:14:00,040 basketball tournament or whatever growing up, you know, we as athletes with disabilities, 209 00:14:00,040 --> 00:14:02,840 we want to play at the highest level we can. 210 00:14:02,840 --> 00:14:07,600 And I think people don't really think about that, that we want to try to be the best. 211 00:14:07,600 --> 00:14:10,320 Like we were not just out there to have fun. 212 00:14:10,320 --> 00:14:17,480 So you mentioned etiquette and sometimes maybe in like the gym environment, they a trainer 213 00:14:17,480 --> 00:14:21,920 might not be comfortable working with a disability. 214 00:14:21,920 --> 00:14:25,120 What would you want if you were going to a gym for the first time? 215 00:14:25,120 --> 00:14:29,320 What would you want a trainer to ask you about your cerebral palsy or how would you want 216 00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:30,680 them to treat you? 217 00:14:30,680 --> 00:14:35,400 At first, I would like them to just talk to me like they would anybody else. 218 00:14:35,400 --> 00:14:39,880 I get a lot of not all the time, but that happens more than you would think. 219 00:14:39,880 --> 00:14:44,360 Like they talk to me like I'm six years old and I don't know, you know, what's going on. 220 00:14:44,360 --> 00:14:47,280 So that's kind of just, you know, disrespectful. 221 00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:52,840 But first, you know, like I said, talk to me like I'm a 28 year old man. 222 00:14:52,840 --> 00:14:59,040 And then second would be you can act like I'm okay with ask with anyone asking me anything 223 00:14:59,040 --> 00:15:02,880 like what kind of movements can you do? 224 00:15:02,880 --> 00:15:07,400 Like can you how much can you lift, especially on your right side? 225 00:15:07,400 --> 00:15:08,560 How far can you stretch? 226 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:10,440 You know, just stuff like that. 227 00:15:10,440 --> 00:15:17,520 Like I went to a kickboxing class the other day and the instructor was real cool. 228 00:15:17,520 --> 00:15:20,480 She said, yes, just do what you can do. 229 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:22,760 And I just told her like I've done classes like that before. 230 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:27,840 And she's like, yeah, if you can't like do certain things, no problem. 231 00:15:27,840 --> 00:15:30,000 We can always adapt to it. 232 00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:33,120 And yeah, it went really well. 233 00:15:33,120 --> 00:15:38,440 So I think like just being upfront about it, because sometimes if you're like hesitant 234 00:15:38,440 --> 00:15:43,680 and you try to be over nice and kind of come off as like a little disrespectful because 235 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:48,600 you're not just like being upfront with us like we like we don't really know anything. 236 00:15:48,600 --> 00:15:50,880 Like yeah, we know we have a disability. 237 00:15:50,880 --> 00:15:51,880 We know it's going to be hard. 238 00:15:51,880 --> 00:15:57,760 But we're looking for you to like help us adapt to it or at least tell us ways to be 239 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,440 safe so we can do the class with everybody else. 240 00:16:00,440 --> 00:16:08,080 So that's a common thing that we try to teach our volunteers at the gym or back in the days 241 00:16:08,080 --> 00:16:12,920 that I was running Special Olympics programs is like communicating with the individual 242 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:19,120 as an individual as their biological age, maybe not like their cognitive age. 243 00:16:19,120 --> 00:16:24,000 Like if you're speaking to a 30 year old with Down syndrome, speak to them as if they're 244 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,080 a 30 year old adult. 245 00:16:26,080 --> 00:16:31,600 Maybe they maybe they do function at a younger age equivalent, but that doesn't mean that 246 00:16:31,600 --> 00:16:32,720 they should be spoken to. 247 00:16:32,720 --> 00:16:37,640 But I think that's it's always it's never ill intentioned, but people default to that 248 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:39,920 like baby talk sort of thing. 249 00:16:39,920 --> 00:16:40,920 Yeah. 250 00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:44,840 And it's definitely one of the one of the hardest things to communicate to like new 251 00:16:44,840 --> 00:16:49,120 high school volunteers sometimes is like, yeah, these are athletes that are older than 252 00:16:49,120 --> 00:16:55,040 you like speak to them like they're adults and find ways to support them in an age appropriate 253 00:16:55,040 --> 00:16:56,040 manner. 254 00:16:56,040 --> 00:17:00,360 And sometimes it's adults and it's like I get mad more at adults because it's like you're 255 00:17:00,360 --> 00:17:01,360 an adult. 256 00:17:01,360 --> 00:17:03,680 You know better than come on man. 257 00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:08,480 But some kids are pretty good because they don't really care if you have a disability 258 00:17:08,480 --> 00:17:09,480 or not. 259 00:17:09,480 --> 00:17:10,480 So absolutely. 260 00:17:10,480 --> 00:17:15,520 Sometimes that blissful ignorance is actually a beneficial thing. 261 00:17:15,520 --> 00:17:16,840 Just not knowing any better. 262 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,480 What would you say is your most memorable sporting experience? 263 00:17:20,480 --> 00:17:24,280 Oh man, that's a hard one. 264 00:17:24,280 --> 00:17:30,040 I'd say probably playing in the USA games. 265 00:17:30,040 --> 00:17:33,120 I played in the 2018 Special McUSA games. 266 00:17:33,120 --> 00:17:43,360 I played tennis and I got third in singles and then I got first in doubles with my doubles 267 00:17:43,360 --> 00:17:44,640 partner Haley Wagner. 268 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:51,560 We were actually down like eight to four in the third set tiebreaker and we came back 269 00:17:51,560 --> 00:17:53,040 and won 10 to eight. 270 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:55,760 It was pretty crazy. 271 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:58,240 And we were like, did we just do that? 272 00:17:58,240 --> 00:18:05,400 Like wow, like we were about to lose two points ago it seemed like and we just came back and 273 00:18:05,400 --> 00:18:07,560 that was like kind of dream come true. 274 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:16,080 And then I played in the 2022 USA games and what made that special was I got to play basketball, 275 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:20,080 unified basketball with my twin brother Weston. 276 00:18:20,080 --> 00:18:25,840 And that was cool because growing up we always wanted to play on the same high school or 277 00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:29,400 college team together and it didn't happen. 278 00:18:29,400 --> 00:18:36,800 But we started playing unified in college and so we did that and had cool experiences 279 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:37,800 with that. 280 00:18:37,800 --> 00:18:43,720 But to play at the USA games was like playing at the highest level for both of us and it 281 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:46,200 was just cool to share that with him. 282 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:50,560 We ended up playing in the first division and we got fourth. 283 00:18:50,560 --> 00:18:57,580 So we didn't get a medal but we finished fourth out of the top 13 in the US for unified teams 284 00:18:57,580 --> 00:19:02,080 and that was pretty cool because Nebraska is not really known for basketball. 285 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:04,960 So we showed that we were good at basketball. 286 00:19:04,960 --> 00:19:13,040 So I just think like those big moments because I worked when I went to 2018 what made it 287 00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:15,840 cool was I thought I was going to go to 2014. 288 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:22,160 Like you did for coaching but I had my back surgery so then I couldn't even get picked. 289 00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:26,800 So then I worked all four years for that to not get picked because of a medical thing. 290 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:31,760 So then I worked another four years and got picked and basketball I never knew if I would 291 00:19:31,760 --> 00:19:35,800 get picked because it's my favorite sport but it's not my best sport. 292 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:40,680 Like tennis I'm probably better at but basketball I just like a little more. 293 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:44,800 So just to be able to know that I worked hard enough to become a good enough basketball 294 00:19:44,800 --> 00:19:48,240 player and to play with my brother that was a huge accomplishment. 295 00:19:48,240 --> 00:19:51,720 So are you a big NBA fan? 296 00:19:51,720 --> 00:19:53,360 Yeah I like the Celtics. 297 00:19:53,360 --> 00:19:55,360 So yeah there we go. 298 00:19:55,360 --> 00:19:56,360 Yes. 299 00:19:56,360 --> 00:19:57,360 Perfect. 300 00:19:57,360 --> 00:20:00,360 Last night was pretty bad but other than that. 301 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:03,360 Yeah I can't believe they lost last night. 302 00:20:03,360 --> 00:20:04,360 That was rough. 303 00:20:04,360 --> 00:20:05,360 That's funny. 304 00:20:05,360 --> 00:20:08,280 Yeah we're in Massachusetts obviously a big Celtics fan here as well. 305 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:14,560 I'm not sure how they lost the Lakers without LeBron or AD but that's beside the point. 306 00:20:14,560 --> 00:20:19,080 You're a podcast host several different shows. 307 00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:23,120 What is your preparation like before you record an episode? 308 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:27,440 So first I'll look up facts about who I'm interviewing. 309 00:20:27,440 --> 00:20:31,920 Kind of think come up with some questions. 310 00:20:31,920 --> 00:20:39,800 Probably a list of anywhere from like 8 to 12 questions and then just kind of prepare 311 00:20:39,800 --> 00:20:44,720 like tell the person I'm interviewing like here's a question I'm going to ask you or 312 00:20:44,720 --> 00:20:49,240 you know ask them too like kind of like what you told me like is there anything you don't 313 00:20:49,240 --> 00:20:53,120 want to talk about or are you good with talking about anything? 314 00:20:53,120 --> 00:20:56,400 And so and every podcast is kind of different. 315 00:20:56,400 --> 00:21:04,200 My Be Unexpected podcast I wrote with my best friend Jake Burnside and that's more about 316 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:09,640 like going through adversity and like hard times in life because Jake and I have both 317 00:21:09,640 --> 00:21:15,480 gone through some pretty challenging times in life that not a lot of like 17 year olds 318 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:20,080 will go through when we were younger and so we like to hear people's stories about how 319 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:25,280 they overcame adversity so it gets pretty personal so we do ask them is it okay to like 320 00:21:25,280 --> 00:21:34,720 are you okay sharing that and then the special McWan Brave in the Attempt is like about health 321 00:21:34,720 --> 00:21:40,000 and also kind of like how special McAthletes kind of live their lives a little bit and 322 00:21:40,000 --> 00:21:44,480 so I get like health professionals on I've had a couple of dietitians. 323 00:21:44,480 --> 00:21:50,840 I had Tim Shriver on the chairman of special McSoul that was really cool and just kind 324 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:56,240 of like I always send them questions like here are the questions I will be asking you 325 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:03,360 and so that just kind of like laying the guests be comfortable with coming on the podcast 326 00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:10,040 and doing my research about what I want to ask them and then I ended up running a third 327 00:22:10,040 --> 00:22:15,840 one because my and it just started so it's not too big yet my twin brother wanted to 328 00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:21,080 do one and so that's just kind of us like talking about what it was like growing up 329 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:26,160 with me with disability him as an athlete playing high school sports in college and 330 00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:32,680 you know just talking with your brother you know but yeah when I'm the other two though 331 00:22:32,680 --> 00:22:38,240 I just try to prepare as best as I can to be professional and like I said make the guests 332 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:40,200 feel comfortable so. 333 00:22:40,200 --> 00:22:47,520 On the unexpected one you talk about overcoming adversity sorry what would you say are the 334 00:22:47,520 --> 00:22:55,320 biggest challenges that you have personally overcome over the last ten years maybe since 335 00:22:55,320 --> 00:22:57,760 finishing high school? 336 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:04,960 Well so my senior year of high school I had scoliosis really bad it was like an 80 degree 337 00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:10,840 curve so like my whole body was kind of turned and like I could like I felt my head to the 338 00:23:10,840 --> 00:23:17,280 left my ear could touch almost my shoulder and so that was like a huge thing they really 339 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:22,840 took my spine from the top of my neck to the middle of my back and they just pulled it 340 00:23:22,840 --> 00:23:29,960 back up and so today I have like three rods and 27 screws in my spine and that was really 341 00:23:29,960 --> 00:23:36,760 tough I remember coming out of surgery just feeling the most excruciating pain I've ever 342 00:23:36,760 --> 00:23:43,320 felt in my life it was like a two year recovery but special Olympics actually helped me get 343 00:23:43,320 --> 00:23:51,680 back because like my my physical therapy was I just had to walk like a bunch and I just 344 00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:57,000 kind of thought how I didn't make it to the USA games in 2014 and that was like my goal 345 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:00,840 from like freshman year of high school and now it's I made it to my senior year of high 346 00:24:00,840 --> 00:24:08,760 school and I just took like ten steps backwards and I knew that 2018 was you know four years 347 00:24:08,760 --> 00:24:14,940 from that from then but I just kind of like would listen to motivational speeches music 348 00:24:14,940 --> 00:24:21,360 drill a basketball around my neighborhoods and just kind of envision myself like making 349 00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:27,360 it to the 2018 USA games and I think just having that belief that you know everything's 350 00:24:27,360 --> 00:24:35,200 gonna be alright like I may be down now but I'll make it you know I wasn't supposed to 351 00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:39,800 you know even make it when I was born there were a couple episodes where they had to like 352 00:24:39,800 --> 00:24:47,720 revive me or bring me back to life when I was a baby because I was just having all kinds 353 00:24:47,720 --> 00:24:56,280 of medical problems so I mean if I did that as a baby now I was like a 18 19 year old 354 00:24:56,280 --> 00:25:02,320 you know I'm a lot stronger how can I not come back from this so that was like my biggest 355 00:25:02,320 --> 00:25:11,000 hurdle and then couple years down the road 2018 I all of a sudden started having these 356 00:25:11,000 --> 00:25:19,080 choking episodes and I started like not being able to eat as much like I couldn't get as 357 00:25:19,080 --> 00:25:25,960 much down so I think it's called like dysphagia and what happens is like I have this wrap 358 00:25:25,960 --> 00:25:32,400 so the wrap is what connected my esophagus to my stomach when I was born and apparently 359 00:25:32,400 --> 00:25:39,840 it can like slowly fail and so that's what was kind of happening it was like slowly failing 360 00:25:39,840 --> 00:25:47,000 and then like the entry into my stomach would like close up one time it closed up like completely 361 00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:53,960 and I couldn't even get water down and I got dehydrated and I lost 10 pounds in two days 362 00:25:53,960 --> 00:25:58,800 and then I had to go to the hospital for a couple days and then it took me like 10 months 363 00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:06,080 to gain back 10 pounds so I've been dealing with that ever since 2018 and so what I do 364 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:14,840 is I go in every 8 to 12 weeks and it's called scope and they basically like take this camera 365 00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:21,440 I'll go down and they use like this balloon thing and open up my stomach again so I've 366 00:26:21,440 --> 00:26:25,840 been doing through that and of course like I always have like the worst timing it got 367 00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:30,560 really bad during the covid time so I didn't deal with that during when we were all dealing 368 00:26:30,560 --> 00:26:39,320 with covid and I think like that was a big moment for me because being 24 25 at a time 369 00:26:39,320 --> 00:26:44,820 you know I wanted to be independent wanted to move out just like my sisters and my twin 370 00:26:44,820 --> 00:26:50,120 brother have done but you know my parents were always like you know but you got this 371 00:26:50,120 --> 00:26:57,560 and got this medical condition you know and I was gonna move out in 2020 I was two days 372 00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:02,760 away and then covid happened and then I couldn't move out because I was at high risk so I was 373 00:27:02,760 --> 00:27:08,080 so close and then kind of fell short of my dream but I kind of came to the realization 374 00:27:08,080 --> 00:27:13,080 it was like look I'm always gonna have a medical problem probably you know I'll always have 375 00:27:13,080 --> 00:27:18,840 CP it's just part of my life it doesn't make me who I am but it's just something I have 376 00:27:18,840 --> 00:27:23,760 to deal with it sucks but you know I'm just gonna have to face that adversity probably 377 00:27:23,760 --> 00:27:30,080 for the rest of my life and I'm not saying I've always been in a good mood I've had down 378 00:27:30,080 --> 00:27:34,360 days and negative days but eventually what I've learned is you got to pull yourself out 379 00:27:34,360 --> 00:27:39,180 of it because you know it's like they always say like you know life doesn't life just keeps 380 00:27:39,180 --> 00:27:44,680 going like it doesn't stop for anybody so you just got to keep going even if like I'll 381 00:27:44,680 --> 00:27:49,920 fake it like I'm in a good mood but really deep down I'm like hurting or I've gone through 382 00:27:49,920 --> 00:27:56,000 depression several times especially as a kid growing up and in a little bit in my early 383 00:27:56,000 --> 00:28:02,080 twenties I went through depression and it's just you got to keep going man I mean I'd 384 00:28:02,080 --> 00:28:07,440 say motivational sports movies have always helped me because I felt like I am those guys 385 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:13,240 like you come back from this big adversity and no one thought you could do it and you 386 00:28:13,240 --> 00:28:18,360 just proved everybody wrong and that's always really fun to do so just having the belief 387 00:28:18,360 --> 00:28:23,320 that everything's gonna be okay and having the faith that everything will work out in 388 00:28:23,320 --> 00:28:26,920 the end even it's not the way you planned it so. 389 00:28:26,920 --> 00:28:30,600 Thanks for sharing that vulnerability there's a lot of a lot of really good quotes in there 390 00:28:30,600 --> 00:28:33,720 that you said appreciate you sharing that. 391 00:28:33,720 --> 00:28:36,720 What are your goals for the next five years maybe? 392 00:28:36,720 --> 00:28:46,040 So like you said when you introduced me I'm a Sergeant Shriver Global Messenger now so 393 00:28:46,040 --> 00:28:53,040 I want to do really well in that you know become a pretty well-known speaker for Special 394 00:28:53,040 --> 00:28:57,600 Olympics and just people with disabilities in general and I hope to like make a good 395 00:28:57,600 --> 00:29:01,480 impact on people's lives as I do that. 396 00:29:01,480 --> 00:29:07,320 I go to training in Washington DC like in May so I'm really looking forward to that 397 00:29:07,320 --> 00:29:12,400 so just becoming a well-known speaker and sharing my stories and ups and downs and helping 398 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:17,560 people get through their everyday lives and telling them like hey man like if I did it 399 00:29:17,560 --> 00:29:22,760 with all these medical problems and I'm like you're like two times my size because I don't 400 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:28,960 even weigh a hundred pounds and not even five foot ten you know you can do it too and so 401 00:29:28,960 --> 00:29:34,520 doing that and sports wise just trying to work on my basketball and tennis game mostly 402 00:29:34,520 --> 00:29:40,160 trying to become one of the best especially tennis players in the US someday you know 403 00:29:40,160 --> 00:29:45,720 it's a hard dream but working on it and basketball I just want to you know be able to do what 404 00:29:45,720 --> 00:29:52,160 I can help my team leave my team and scoring assist or whatever they need me to do and 405 00:29:52,160 --> 00:29:56,400 showing people I can play quarterbacks on the smallest guy out there that's always fun 406 00:29:56,400 --> 00:30:03,520 because I'm thankful that my parents were athletic and I have a decent arm so but and 407 00:30:03,520 --> 00:30:08,320 then just like personal again want to be independent man I'd probably say that's the big thing 408 00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:14,960 I want to be independent you know live on my own and maybe have my own apartment someday 409 00:30:14,960 --> 00:30:21,160 be able to support myself I live with my parents right now one goal of mine that I did complete 410 00:30:21,160 --> 00:30:26,720 that I got my parents I lived in a I grew up in Fremont Nebraska which about a smaller 411 00:30:26,720 --> 00:30:31,400 town about an hour from Lincoln Nebraska well I got my parents to move to Lincoln Nebraska 412 00:30:31,400 --> 00:30:36,880 finally so now I just kind of like there's more to do here and just like I wanted that 413 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:42,720 adventure of you know not having to live in my hometown because like I didn't get a choice 414 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:47,840 I went to the college in my hometown because around that time like I said the back surgery 415 00:30:47,840 --> 00:30:55,280 so I'm just kind of another step towards independence and happy I got to Lincoln and I got friends 416 00:30:55,280 --> 00:31:00,040 I live here and I made some new friends but hoping I can move out and live in an apartment 417 00:31:00,040 --> 00:31:08,040 someday if I could even get have having my parents have now my siblings have I'd feel 418 00:31:08,040 --> 00:31:13,400 like a millionaire man because I you know when you can't really support yourself and 419 00:31:13,400 --> 00:31:17,700 not because you're not trying because of medical stuff and stuff that's out of your control 420 00:31:17,700 --> 00:31:24,640 really you know it's hard but I try to tell myself like you try to control you can control 421 00:31:24,640 --> 00:31:31,000 and with me it's just like great things have happened to me the same as my siblings it 422 00:31:31,000 --> 00:31:37,040 just has taken me longer so I'll get there and one day I will be independent and be able 423 00:31:37,040 --> 00:31:43,680 to support myself so yeah that's kind of my main dream besides everything else so yeah 424 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:49,200 I love that the person who facilitated this connection Michaela I was actually just on 425 00:31:49,200 --> 00:31:53,680 a call with her a couple hours ago presenting to one of her groups but she was saying that 426 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:58,680 you were crushing it at Special Olympics Nebraska and they like moved you from a volunteer to 427 00:31:58,680 --> 00:32:04,720 a to a paid position so that's a huge yeah that's a huge accomplishment what is your 428 00:32:04,720 --> 00:32:11,440 what is your role within the state organization there so I'm like a program associate and 429 00:32:11,440 --> 00:32:19,280 I help with like athlete leadership and then I do the podcast for them I'm starting to 430 00:32:19,280 --> 00:32:25,780 learn my role in like the social media part of it and kind of like I'll help out with 431 00:32:25,780 --> 00:32:30,040 all different areas like I haven't really started now but I think I'm gonna help out 432 00:32:30,040 --> 00:32:35,240 with like there's thing called YACS so that's like the high school students they get involved 433 00:32:35,240 --> 00:32:42,600 with the unified schools help out with that go around and I'm gonna do like some health 434 00:32:42,600 --> 00:32:49,120 seminars for health professionals that are either in school or that are in the medical 435 00:32:49,120 --> 00:32:56,920 field now and just like teach them what it's like to deal with someone with a disability 436 00:32:56,920 --> 00:33:01,720 in a doctor's office what we need them to do so they can help us and we can help them 437 00:33:01,720 --> 00:33:06,800 understand like how they can help us become more healthy because a lot of people with 438 00:33:06,800 --> 00:33:13,880 disabilities I think that's the statistic is like like we died 15 years earlier than 439 00:33:13,880 --> 00:33:19,120 we're supposed to and so that's one of my roles too and I just kind of started so I'm 440 00:33:19,120 --> 00:33:23,400 kind of all over the place but I'm really excited because like my job basically is like 441 00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:28,560 helping a lot of different areas but those are like the main ones right now and I like 442 00:33:28,560 --> 00:33:34,160 I'm pretty I love my job like I can't wait to see like in a year what a where I'm at 443 00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:39,160 so with the special links Nebraska so they've done a lot to me even before I got the job 444 00:33:39,160 --> 00:33:44,320 to like I wouldn't be here without special links Nebraska so yeah it's awesome to be 445 00:33:44,320 --> 00:33:49,800 able to give back to that organization that meant so much to you and it's cool like I'm 446 00:33:49,800 --> 00:33:56,040 we're relatively new in our podcasting journey too and it's it's fun to be a beginner and 447 00:33:56,040 --> 00:34:02,240 be learning how to host a podcast better disseminate a podcast better like edit a podcast better 448 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:06,800 it's it's been a cool process so I would imagine you kind of have some of those similar 449 00:34:06,800 --> 00:34:11,360 experiences where you're kind of always refining your craft but it's been a fun learning experience 450 00:34:11,360 --> 00:34:16,360 for sure it keeps it keeps the exciting yeah definitely like I think before I started my 451 00:34:16,360 --> 00:34:22,120 first one I spent a month just trying to learn everything like especially like the tech stuff 452 00:34:22,120 --> 00:34:26,960 if you like good like I'm good at content but you know tech stuff I was like this is 453 00:34:26,960 --> 00:34:32,240 not my area so like I'm just trying to learn the basics start off and we'll go from there 454 00:34:32,240 --> 00:34:38,240 you know yeah we'll have to talk after the episode and stay in touch as we're both trying 455 00:34:38,240 --> 00:34:44,880 to trying to grow our platforms there it'll be a mutually beneficial I'm sure what are 456 00:34:44,880 --> 00:34:51,240 common misconceptions that people have about you and your disability I think they think 457 00:34:51,240 --> 00:34:57,760 I maybe just I can't do a lot of stuff that's on that that doesn't have disability can do 458 00:34:57,760 --> 00:35:04,240 like people always ask me like you know can you walk this far a distance and stuff and 459 00:35:04,240 --> 00:35:09,960 I was like yeah I can do that like yeah my legs probably bug me every day but because 460 00:35:09,960 --> 00:35:18,360 I work out and stuff I just I can do it like I deal with several several palsy pain every 461 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:25,480 day which for me is like a spasm and then like a burning on my feet kind of but it's 462 00:35:25,480 --> 00:35:29,960 all about mental toughness too like what my parents taught me like the best thing my parents 463 00:35:29,960 --> 00:35:35,680 ever told me were these three things life isn't fair suck it up and rub some dirt on 464 00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:43,280 it right so I just kind of would always say that and when I was in retail I think people 465 00:35:43,280 --> 00:35:48,400 like customers sometimes would talk to me like like I went back for like I was six or 466 00:35:48,400 --> 00:35:53,280 it was just like it was ridiculous and they just wouldn't respect me because I had a disability 467 00:35:53,280 --> 00:35:58,920 and or like I had a great co-workers but they always ask like do you sit down like now I'm 468 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:04,400 fine my legs are killing me but I was like I don't want to be different than everyone 469 00:36:04,400 --> 00:36:10,040 else I'm fine like I'll sit down when I get home you know so I think just knowing that 470 00:36:10,040 --> 00:36:16,120 people with disabilities like some of us like we had to grow up a lot faster so we're like 471 00:36:16,120 --> 00:36:21,460 a lot mentally tougher than people that don't have disabilities because we had to go through 472 00:36:21,460 --> 00:36:31,840 some adult adversity at 15 13 maybe 10 years old we couldn't be a kid sometimes we had 473 00:36:31,840 --> 00:36:37,500 to like go through this adult situation with our medical condition or maybe we're left 474 00:36:37,500 --> 00:36:43,600 out of something because we need to be safe like of sports or whatever so I think like 475 00:36:43,600 --> 00:36:49,240 people don't think we are tough enough to take the hard reality of life when really 476 00:36:49,240 --> 00:36:53,560 we've been learning about the hard reality of life way before anyone without a disability 477 00:36:53,560 --> 00:36:59,320 was because I mean the first day I was born you know when I came in the world like I kind 478 00:36:59,320 --> 00:37:06,060 of like I kind of lost like I was felt I had adversity right away and nobody wants a disability 479 00:37:06,060 --> 00:37:11,280 like no parent wants a kid to have a disability but if you do have a disability what we're 480 00:37:11,280 --> 00:37:15,760 really good at is making the best of it like yeah we have a disability but it doesn't define 481 00:37:15,760 --> 00:37:20,960 who we are I could be the way I am today without a disability you know my disability doesn't 482 00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:26,040 make me this way I am this way because I'm why it's balding not because I have cerebral 483 00:37:26,040 --> 00:37:33,360 palsy so I think if you talk to us you'd be surprised what we've learned about life from 484 00:37:33,360 --> 00:37:40,800 an early age on because we've just been dealt with a little tougher hand than some so. 485 00:37:40,800 --> 00:37:45,640 Health and fitness is obviously important to you what do you think needs to be done 486 00:37:45,640 --> 00:37:51,280 to make fitness more accessible for people with disabilities more inclusive? 487 00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:57,800 I think like if like gyms will maybe kind of post on their websites or add some time 488 00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:08,880 advertisement like hey we have adaptive classes or we will adapt to your ability of physical 489 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:16,120 activity like I went to a gym Genesis where I read the description of the classes and 490 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:27,000 they're like it's for all people any athletic ability we will adapt to your physical ability 491 00:38:27,000 --> 00:38:33,200 and I like that because like oh good like so if I show up you know if I can do something 492 00:38:33,200 --> 00:38:38,120 they'll be cool with it like and sometimes they do advertise it but you know it's not 493 00:38:38,120 --> 00:38:45,240 like big like on like a somewhere you can click on it just in this little tiny description 494 00:38:45,240 --> 00:38:54,200 in the class which a lot of people maybe won't look at but I think just kind of being more 495 00:38:54,200 --> 00:39:01,160 vocal about it like maybe you could bring in a couple athletes that have a disability 496 00:39:01,160 --> 00:39:06,960 and have just one class for them to start with if they don't want to do it with everyone 497 00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:13,080 else in the gym so they feel comfortable and then gradually they come back and do the classes 498 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:19,400 with everyone else because I think like people want us at the gym but maybe people with disabilities 499 00:39:19,400 --> 00:39:24,720 don't feel like they want us like because we're nervous like you know like I said not 500 00:39:24,720 --> 00:39:31,240 a lot of people like have cerebral palsy like when I go to a gym I maybe know I don't see 501 00:39:31,240 --> 00:39:36,360 anybody that looks like me with like one hand and then another hand that doesn't look all 502 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:43,120 that great like so it's kind of confidence too like you're just helping maybe the just 503 00:39:43,120 --> 00:39:47,680 having the confidence to go in and I know athletes do but if someone at the gym would 504 00:39:47,680 --> 00:39:52,640 kind of be more confident in reaching out to us and being like hey will you come to 505 00:39:52,640 --> 00:39:57,600 our gym and we'll make it adaptable for you and it's a safe place. 506 00:39:57,600 --> 00:40:03,840 So transparent, transparent messaging and marketing from the gym like demonstrating that they're 507 00:40:03,840 --> 00:40:09,920 willing to make those modifications when needed because I think oftentimes people with disabilities 508 00:40:09,920 --> 00:40:15,400 aren't marketed to but it's tough from like the business owner standpoint as well I've 509 00:40:15,400 --> 00:40:22,120 talked about this on some other episodes how I never want to like exploit my adaptive athletes 510 00:40:22,120 --> 00:40:28,640 like sometimes I'll share awesome accomplishment from one of our athletes and the audience 511 00:40:28,640 --> 00:40:33,880 or the people like commenting will direct their praise towards me like it's like oh 512 00:40:33,880 --> 00:40:37,560 Brendan you're doing such a great thing by having this gym and I'm like no like that's 513 00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:42,580 not what I'm trying to show I'm trying to show what the athlete's capable of so sometimes 514 00:40:42,580 --> 00:40:49,640 as a business owner it's tough to find that line between marketing and demonstrating that 515 00:40:49,640 --> 00:40:56,960 you're inclusive but not like exploiting or not looking for praise if that makes sense. 516 00:40:56,960 --> 00:41:02,340 Yeah for sure or people like with me it's like I don't want to like I don't want that 517 00:41:02,340 --> 00:41:08,520 over praise like oh man you're such an inspiration like yeah that's cool sometimes but sometimes 518 00:41:08,520 --> 00:41:13,240 it gets overworked and it's like I just want to work out here like everybody else you know 519 00:41:13,240 --> 00:41:17,600 I don't want it to be a big deal that I came to this gym and I'm not one guy with a disability 520 00:41:17,600 --> 00:41:21,040 you know I'm just here to work out so. 521 00:41:21,040 --> 00:41:26,800 Yeah so normalizing it and I think you made an important point where like obviously our 522 00:41:26,800 --> 00:41:31,640 idea of inclusion as people with and without disabilities coexisting but you mentioned 523 00:41:31,640 --> 00:41:37,040 how the adaptive athlete themselves might be more comfortable kind of in a group of 524 00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:40,840 only other people with disabilities or maybe working in a one-to-one until they kind of 525 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:45,320 build up the confidence to be immersed within that group so I think that's that's a big 526 00:41:45,320 --> 00:41:52,000 thing that gyms can do as well is to make sure they have like a clear onboarding process 527 00:41:52,000 --> 00:41:56,480 for not only people with disabilities but for everyone to make sure they are comfortable 528 00:41:56,480 --> 00:42:00,800 they have the prerequisite skills to like exist in these group classes so I think that's 529 00:42:00,800 --> 00:42:06,940 a simple thing that all gyms could do is just making sure that members are comfortable and 530 00:42:06,940 --> 00:42:11,720 onboarded properly and kind of acclimated to the environment that they offer. 531 00:42:11,720 --> 00:42:13,840 Yeah sure. 532 00:42:13,840 --> 00:42:20,920 Well Wyatt I think you shared a ton of great stuff super impressed by how articulate and 533 00:42:20,920 --> 00:42:26,680 how you demonstrated and shared your message really appreciate it we'll definitely link 534 00:42:26,680 --> 00:42:32,120 Brave in the Attempt and either of the other podcasts if you'd like to us to share those 535 00:42:32,120 --> 00:42:38,640 as well but is there anything that you'd like to share with our audience is there any way 536 00:42:38,640 --> 00:42:41,640 that they can benefit the work that you're doing? 537 00:42:41,640 --> 00:42:48,560 Yeah I mean just like with people with disabilities I would just say you know just don't be afraid 538 00:42:48,560 --> 00:42:55,540 to ask questions like we enjoy conversations with anybody and there's no need to be nervous 539 00:42:55,540 --> 00:43:00,640 about coming up coming up someone with a disability and you can just ask questions like hey how 540 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:05,960 did you get CP or like you know what what is wrong with like why does your hand look 541 00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:11,160 like that or something you know there's nothing shameful about that and we just want to be 542 00:43:11,160 --> 00:43:16,080 treated like everyone else like like we're just the same as you we want to work out and 543 00:43:16,080 --> 00:43:21,360 be in good shape and compete in sports just like the next athlete so yeah. 544 00:43:21,360 --> 00:43:23,660 Thank you for listening to the AdaptX Podcast. 545 00:43:23,660 --> 00:43:27,560 Our effort to amplify the ideas of our guests and create more inclusive and accessible industries 546 00:43:27,560 --> 00:43:30,660 is futile unless these episodes reach a larger audience. 547 00:43:30,660 --> 00:43:34,520 If you enjoyed our discussion today please leave us a rating or review on whichever platform 548 00:43:34,520 --> 00:43:38,560 you use and if you would like to learn more about AdaptX the course that we teach to health 549 00:43:38,560 --> 00:43:42,400 and fitness professionals and the projects that our organization is working on you can 550 00:43:42,400 --> 00:43:46,840 subscribe to our newsletter through our website www.adaptx.org. 551 00:43:46,840 --> 00:43:57,960 Until next Monday.