Embrace It: Episode 49 - Dr. Akilah Cadet, Privilege & Disability - Embrace It with Lainie & Estela - Smashing Disability Stigmas

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 2 (00:03):
Welcome to the Embrace it series, where women
with all types of disabilitiescan be real, resourceful and
stylish.
With each episode, you'll walkor roll away with everyday tips,
life hacks and success storiesfrom community leaders and
influencers.
So take off your leg braces andstay a while with Lainey and
Estella.

Speaker 1 (00:26):
Hi, I'm Lainey and I have CMT.
I'm a neuro-muscular disorderaffecting approximately 2.6
million people worldwide.

Speaker 3 (00:37):
That's as many as MS.
We believe disabilities shouldnever get in the way of looking
or feeling good.
Both of us wear leg braces andhave learned through our own
personal journeys to embrace itBrought to you by Launchpad 516
Studios.

Speaker 1 (00:52):
each episode is designed to challenge your own
stigmas and beliefs arounddisability.
We want our listeners to getthe most value for their time
spent with us, so we interviewsome of the most empowering
disability badasses in the world.
Through storytelling, personalexperiences and tips, we're all
reminded of our own strengthsand endless potential.

Speaker 3 (01:09):
For more information and exclusive resources, check
out our websites attrend-ablecom and hnf-curorg,
and don't forget to hit thesubscribe button for future
episodes and special promos.

Speaker 1 (01:31):
Welcome everyone to another episode of the Embracing
Podcast.
Hey there, lainey, hi Estella,hey, we are so excited to be
bringing a guest who actually wewere connected to through
another past guest, nidhikaChopra, who we had on not too
long ago, who is telling usabout Chronicon, and I was lucky

(01:55):
enough to be a guest atChronicon and then we came
across an amazing panel with DrAkila Kadei, who is today's
guest.
Welcome, dr Kadei, how are you?
Thank?

Speaker 4 (02:07):
you.
Hello, I'm good.
Thank you for having me.
Lainey and Estella, it waslovely to meet you in person too
, which is still a new thing tomeet people in person as we're
coming out of the pandemicthat's still here, but a little
bit safer for folks.
So great to be here.

Speaker 1 (02:23):
Yeah, so you're very young, you are still very
accomplished and it's veryimpressive when we keep reading
about your background here, justlike we keep scrolling on and
on and on because you've done somuch in such a short amount of
time.
But you are the founder ofChronicon and maybe you could
tell us a little bit of you know.

(02:44):
You have an extensivebackground in healthcare.
You have a doctorate inhealthcare, I believe, as well.
We'd love to know a little bitabout what your personal journey
is with disability and how youkind of navigated that as well
as accomplishing all theseincredible things.

Speaker 4 (03:01):
Yeah, so I'm the founder and CEO of Change Kadei.
It's an organizationaldevelopment consulting firm.
We center in creating culturesand spaces of belonging.
We do that with my lens ofintersectionality, as a Black,
disabled woman, and so we'readvocating for our BIPOC, black
and Indigenous, people of colorwomen, lgbtq plus, disabled

(03:24):
communities and how they show upin the workspace.
A lot of people don't realizethat we spend more time at work
than we do in our lives.
For most of us, we have to workin these nine to five spaces,
so it's important that we havethese spaces that can celebrate
and value us, opposed to beingtokenized or overlooked or
othered.
So we do that with companiesall over the world, from small

(03:45):
businesses to startups, all theway up to multi-billion dollar
companies like Google.
We work with tech, beauty,beverage, fashion, you name it.
There's something that we havedone or are currently doing that
you use every day, and it'ssomething that we're very proud
of Along the way of doing all ofthis stuff, a year into being

(04:11):
into my business full time.
So I started changing today as asite household for about a year
and I went into full time.
My baby, my company, is eightyears old.
About a year into it.
I started to have healthproblems and that led to
diagnosis of rare conditions,rare disease.
So I live with three rarediseases.

(04:33):
I'm not trying to win thecompetition, but I feel like I
should get a medal for that.
So what people most know me foris that my body thinks it's
having a heart attack every day.
So the arteries in my heartclose, they just close.
My heart is beautifulstructurally, it's so pretty
solid, but my arteries justclose.

(04:54):
So I live with the symptoms ofa heart attack.
So shortness of breath, I willhave pain in my left arm, I'll
have pain in my chest and then Ialso have so it's called
coronary artery spasms.
I also have Ehlers-Danlossyndrome.
So Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is arare disease.
It's a connective tissuedisease.
I mean my body doesn't makeenough collagen.
Collagen is in everything.

(05:15):
So I have tight muscles, loosemuscles, I have joints that
dislocate, I have joints thatsubluxate, go in and out.
I have a lot of comorbiditiesbecause, again, organs need
collagen and things can happenas a result of that.
Prior to chatting with you today, I was on the floor because I
have orthostatic hypertensionand my blood pressure dropped
really low.
So my team meeting, I was onthe floor for my team meeting so

(05:37):
I could do this for you and situp, and I'll go back on the
floor after this.
But so I say that because whenwe put together creating
cultures of belonging and cominginto building my business as a
black person, as a woman, andthe intersectionality was there

(05:58):
along the way, disability cameinto the mix, and so I didn't
choose to be a disabilityadvocate.
I chose to value my life.
So there's a difference.
So I say things and I do things.
I also realized that I'm cuteAF.
I'm pretty.
I don't look disabled.
I don't look like I havechronic pain or chronic illness.

(06:19):
I live with visible andinvisible disability, depending
on how my body shows up.
Maybe I have a cane, maybe Idon't.
Maybe I have a bracelet, maybeI don't.
So I realized that I have thepower and privilege to use all
of what has been given to me tohelp people think differently.
If they see or hear that I havea disability, maybe they can
have some softness movingforward with other people.
As I advocate for a being awoman or being a black person,

(06:40):
maybe they can have somesoftness, compassion,
understanding, moving forward.
And so I use that trifecta withhow I show up and do that work.
And all of that is tied to thefact that I happen to have too
many degrees.
So my undergrad is in healthscience, community-based public
health.
I have a master's in publichealth and my doctor is in
health science and leadershipand organizational behavior, so
I understand people, systems,leaders and also healthcare and

(07:04):
how health is delivered.
So, as a patient advocate formyself, I was telling people
what they need to do because Ihad that insider experience of
being a health administrator andworking in health and public
health for so long, so I startedto share that.
And then, voila, I'm anadvocate.
So that's the long story.

Speaker 3 (07:24):
Akila, you are so accomplished and, to reiterate,
estella, you're young andaccomplished.
But what's amazing to me, as Ikind of looked at some of this
work you've done and the stuffyou've done and heard you on
other podcasts, it sounds likeyour family was very much an act
.
Your mom was an activistherself and so you came by it

(07:48):
rightly.
But what's interesting to me,which I didn't know, is that
your disabilities, your chronicconditions, didn't come until
pretty recently.
So you already were an activistabout gender and race and, I'm
assuming, disability.
But how did your own diagnosislike?
How did that shift the you knowthe film of what you're

(08:13):
focusing on, because so many ofus are in that DEI right,
community and disability is leftout.
Like that's the theme I hear.
Absolutely, and that's whatdisability advocates always say
is that when companies likeGoogle and those big companies
you work with, when they thinkabout DEI, they're not thinking

(08:33):
about disability, they'rethinking about LGBTQ, they're
thinking about race and on him.
So yeah, okay, that was a lot,but you hear me right, like you
already were an activist.
You already were a hot buttonfor a lot of issues, like you
already were.
You have a platform.
You already was out there, andthen you yourself.

(08:54):
You know and I also, by the waymy disabilities are mostly
invisible as well, and you knowhow did that go?

Speaker 4 (09:02):
Yeah, you have all that.
You confuse people all the time.
I know Right it's so it's sofun.

Speaker 3 (09:07):
Well, it's cool because it's like a breaking of
stereotypes on my end.
Right, and I'm not incomparison people, we're not
comparing.
But I do not have like achronic illness.
You know, I'm pretty much thesame.
You know, most days I have Iwear like braces, I have a
physical you know, physicaldisability.

(09:30):
So I'm some emotional.
I mean that's the best days.
Yeah, that's the best thing Ithink, to show.
Okay, Back to you.
Tell us how that you knowdiagnoses like influenced the
work that you do.

Speaker 4 (09:45):
Yeah, I mean I transfer skillset because I
already had to advocate formyself as a woman, as a black
person, as a young person andleadership positions as someone.
I got my doctor and I was 33.
So you know that isn't not thatpeople don't do that, but it's
not typical to do that.
But I got my doctorate becauseI knew that even if people
didn't value or respect me as ablack person or as a woman, they

(10:07):
still had to call me doctortoday and I love that.
It's so much joy, right.
So they have to do the math andlike, okay, well, at least she
committed to this time andinvestment to do this thing.
And so, when it came todisability, I had to work
through feelings and emotions ofwhat disability meant.
I have absolutely no problembeing disabled.
I have a problem with howsociety views disabled people.
So, for example, I'll saysometimes in talks like do I

(10:30):
look disabled?
And people are like no, I'mlike, we'll see.
This is the problem, becausedisability looks more than one
way.
You were thinking disability ismaybe a wheelchair, because the
sign is always a wheelchair,which is why I've been
discriminated against because Idon't have a wheelchair.
Right, you think it's someonewho looks older or they have
some type of what you may viewas a deformity to be disabled.

(10:50):
It doesn't look like me.
But societal standards has saidyou can't be independent, you
can't be successful, you can'tbe smart, you can't be beautiful
, you can't be these things andbe disabled.
That doesn't make any sense.
So you must just be entitled,because that fits into the
stereotype of thing when I'masking for accommodation, when

(11:11):
I'm preboarding on a plane orwhatever the thing may be.
And so I had to go through theemotions of realizing that my
life would be forever changedBecause people wouldn't believe
me, people wouldn't value me,people wouldn't want to provide
accommodations, people heardisability and maybe they

(11:31):
wouldn't want to date me.
All of these things because Idid not.
And still it's harder.
It's getting better to seepositive influences of disabled
people, representative media andpositions of power.
A lot of people will hide thesethings.
I hid it for a year while I wastrying to figure out.
My stuff started with my heartand so I was like clearly it's

(11:54):
going to be fixed because I'm avegetarian, I don't have heart
history issues myself or withinmy family.
When I realized it was forever,I did what people do nowadays,
which is post on Instagram.
I was like, hey, how are wedoing?
This is part of me and I knowwhat this is going to mean for

(12:15):
how people are going to view me.
But I would be doing adisservice to how I was
advocating for myself previouslyif I wasn't embracing the fact
that I was disabled andaccepting what would come along
with it.
I have to accept racism, I haveto accept sexism and
discrimination that comes alongwith it.
So come on in Abelism come intothe fun Then putting it back

(12:38):
into my position of power andprivilege that I've been able to
build so that I can't even talkand role model about it.
Now the interesting thing withmy disability is that my
disability anniversaries nextmonth will be six years that
I've officially been disabled,because it took a while to get
to diagnosis and then once Iknew it.
So I always buy myselfsomething very big, something

(13:01):
very shiny, usually a diamondwhen that happens and because
it's a big deal to live anotheryear with all the stuff that I
have to live with.

Speaker 3 (13:10):
It's like a push present that President Obama
totally deserves right.

Speaker 4 (13:15):
We push through healthcare system discrimination
, abelism, racism, what I haveI've had my whole life, but
things started to come later inlife.
So all of these things aregenetic.
So, as particularly withEhlers-Danlos syndrome, as I
look back on my life I was like,oh, that was not a basketball

(13:36):
injury, that was a subluxation,that was a full dislocation,
that was like my ankle going atrip and my ankle would be
swollen and I'd have to wrap itup.
For whatever.
All of this stuff, it madesense.
Oh, the incision didn't heal.
Like these things.
I'm like, oh, I've had this allmy life.
So the other side of disabilityis realizing that some people

(13:58):
are born with disability andit's a different life.
Some people are disabled lateron in life because of later
diagnosis, genetics, injury,accident, whatever it may be.
So I'm new on my disabilityjourney and so I'm continually
figuring out what that means.
But once I did that Instagrampost, I realized that it is, in

(14:18):
fact, a source of pride and thatwas the start of how I would
educate myself and learn so Ican be a better advocate for
people who are disabled.

Speaker 1 (14:27):
I love that because we're all on our own journey and
, like you said, some of us havebeen.
Even if we've been living withit our entire lives, it still
presents itself in newsituations every day and we're
constantly having to evolve.
You touched upon privilege andI think the panel that you were
on at Chronicon was reallyinteresting to me because it

(14:47):
really highlighted the differenttypes of privilege that I think
, depending on you know ourpersonal experience, we're not
aware of what those points ofprivilege are, how we can go
about identifying them, how wecan be allies to others who
don't have those privileges thatwe have, and also, especially,

(15:10):
in the way of advocating forourselves, for our medical care.
Can you you know, as someonewho has this knowledge and this
expertise in the healthcaresystem, what were some of the
things that you discoveredduring your personal journey
seeking medical care and whatare some gems and words of
wisdom you could share with someof our listeners who might be

(15:32):
struggling with that right now?

Speaker 3 (15:33):
And and definitely the privilege part, because like
you said that.
But what does that mean?

Speaker 4 (15:38):
Right.

Speaker 3 (15:38):
Like, does that mean money?
I think of privilege and Ithink of someone who's well off
work can afford medical care.
So you go ahead Totally.

Speaker 4 (15:48):
So we talked about privilege that's earned and
unearned, so un-urned.
Privilege is granted to anyone,regardless of whether they want
that or not, like it's.
Think about it in the words ofLady Gaga born this way, how did
you come into this world?
Are you a white guy?
You have more privilege.
Did you come from money?
Did you grow up in a middleclass or upper class

(16:09):
neighborhood?
Did you have both your parents?
Right, like, because that's adifferent type of life and
trajectory that individual isgoing to have, regardless of how
they identify.
When we think about theprivilege pyramid, if you will,
the person who has the mostpowers the heterosexual,
cisgender, non-disabled whiteman.
Do you have a heterosexual,cisgender, disabled white man?
Less power because we're deemedas unworthy as disabled people.

(16:31):
We are in a press group becausewe're not perfect the best and
that's a tenant of whitesupremacy.
So there's that.
So you have an un-unprivileged,but we also have earned
privilege.
So what were people able toacquire over time themselves?
Right?
Maybe it was built off of theirun-unprivileged.
So maybe they were able to getan undergrad degree, but they

(16:52):
had to pay for their master'sdegree or their doctoral degree
to get this additional level ofprivilege.
Maybe you know the degree waspaid for by parents or wealth or
access to money, whatever thatwas, without being in debt.
But they're the first woman tobe in that program, right?
Or they're the first woman towork at a big company, right,

(17:13):
and have that afforded privilege, like if you, you know, if you
work at Nike, you were set youcan work anywhere, right?
We know that there's thesecertain companies and brands.
If you're there, then thatchanges your career and your
trajectory.
It changes your access that youmay have.
Maybe you want the lotto that's, you know, earned privilege.
Now you have more money, right?
Whatever that thing may be,there's a lot of things that are

(17:33):
there, and so when you realizeyou have earned an
un-unprivileged, that's how youknow how you can move into the
world.
So I have un-unprivilegedbecause I grew up in a
middle-class neighborhood.
I found the way I sound.
Some people think I talk white,but I talk like an American
because that's where I'm from,and maybe I sound smart because
I have three degrees.
So it makes sense right forthat, you know.

(17:56):
So those are some of the thingsthat I offer un-unprivileged.
When it comes to earnedprivilege, having a company, I
had to do that myself.
I had to finance that myself,my doctorate.
I had to do that myself.
You know, like these types ofthings I do for myself.
But, as I mentioned earlier,because I have this doctor title
, people believe what I have tosay.
It's a lot of power and a lotof privilege.
As a result of that, 3% ofpeople in the US have a doctoral

(18:19):
level degree, and for blackwomen it's like less than 1%.
So I know I'm in a veryprivileged group.
So that's setting the stage forprivilege.
So how do we use that?
And you know how we show up inadvocacy for ourselves.
So because I worked inhealthcare, because I went to my
doctorate from a med schoollike I, you know, non-clinical.

(18:41):
I'm a non-clinical person, Ihave a lot of tools.
So when I go in and I meet anew provider I just met a new
provider a couple of weeks agoshe came in and was like hi,
miss Kitty, and I said no, it'sdoctor.
And then there's a question andI'll say I have a non-clinical
degree, my doctorate is in blah,blah, blah and I was also

(19:01):
formerly pre-med but I changedmy major to be into
administration.
So I understand.
So I'll set the expectation.
I understand what you're goingto tell me.
If I don't, I will clearly askyou a question.
I have a knowledge of myself,my body, and I set that right
away.
If they're defensive, usuallynever going to see them again.
But if they understand thatthey'll be like oh great, thank
you, we go there.

(19:23):
If I have to go to the emergencyroom, I always have a doctor's
note that's sent with me.
It's usually my cardiologist,because it's usually when I have
to go to the emergency room andwe're besties because he values
me and I value him and he hastwo doctorates and I have one
and we have a lot in common andhe always believed that I had a
heart problem and so we'veestablished this relationship

(19:43):
where he sends a note ahead oftime.
So I'm further believed becauseI'm a black woman.
So that means my pain is notbelieved as a black person.
There's lots of data out therethat shows that.
So understanding your privilege, power, intersectionality or
identity is really important tohow you advocate for yourself.
And I'm a woman, so my heartstuff is never believed, even

(20:06):
though it's on my chart, eventhough there's a history of that
.
So women in cardiovascularhealth were viewed completely
differently because we'restressed, you know, for being a
woman.

Speaker 1 (20:15):
We have so much anxiety.

Speaker 4 (20:17):
It's so hard, yeah, yeah, it's so hard, right, and
so that's why I have that note.
It adds more fire on top of thefact that I'm also a colleague
of that individual.
That's a doctor.
I understand that's additionalprivilege, but everyone can ask
for a doctor's note in thatscenario.
Then it's important to knowyour patient rights.
What are your patient rights?
Wherever you live, you need toknow them so you can use them.

(20:39):
Also know who your patientadvocate is within your
healthcare system.
They can figure stuff out foryou.
You don't have to necessarilydo that.
There's literal advocates.
They're there.
You just may do a littledigging.

Speaker 3 (20:51):
Like in the hospitals you need, like you lay it out
In your healthcare system.

Speaker 4 (20:54):
So, whether you're calling someone, there's
advocacy programs, there'snavigating, chronic illness
things.
There's social work that cancome up from it.
Social work is not justplacement for someone who
doesn't have access to a home orneeds to be placed in a home.
It's also for how you'readvocating for yourself.
There's that, but it's also howyou're talking to the provider
too.
So if you've done your ownresearch and a lot of us do,

(21:18):
because we will research thingswe'll use Google as a search
tool to figure out certainthings.
We'll ask questions, we'll goto conferences, we'll go to
Chronicon to figure things out,as you're bringing these things
up to your provider and yourappointments obviously write
things down.
But if they're saying no, youprobably don't have that or know
we don't have to test for that.
Here's what you say.
Can you notate that in thechart, please?

(21:39):
And once you say that they'relike fine, I'll do it.
And the reason is there canalways be a risk that someone
else in the same system doesthat test and they find
something and that creates apotential liability for said
doctor, and so you always wantthem to notate that If they
don't do that, you can follow up.
When you get your chart summaryat the end of your appointment,

(22:01):
you can follow up via email,because now it's a paper trail.
Please notate that you don'twant to do this test for this
procedure or this examination,so I have it on record and
usually they'll order the thing.

Speaker 1 (22:15):
Does that go for like something like genetic testing?
I don't know if you know thespecifics of that, because with
the H&F we see that a lot wherepatients are coming to us
through our genetic testingprogram because their doctors
have denied it or kind of talkedthem out of it, so that's a
larger systemic issue.

Speaker 4 (22:36):
That's a larger systemic issue.
So geneticists and healthcaresystems are far and few between,
just get paid more being with aprivate company.
So that's where they are.
So people are paying out ofpocket for that.
So, for example, I'm part ofUCSF, so University of
California, san Francisco, forspecialty care.
I could not get into thegenetics testing.

(22:59):
I could not get in, so I had topay for it out of pocket.
And when I was able to get mytest, to work with a geneticist
to figure out an appropriateplan or be placed into a
specialty care clinic, I wasrejected because I went outside
to get my testing done, whichmakes no sense.
But the catch is 22, right,right, yeah, but that genetics

(23:21):
testing I've used with myproviders that I already am in
care with, and so I had to do myown care.
So instead of me going to, likethe Ellersdano's you know the
center to get wrap around care,multidisciplinary care, because
with EDS we don't have aprovider, we don't have a
gastroenterologist.
We may have agastroenterologist, but that's
not the person who solves it.

(23:42):
We have it's amultidisciplinary focus for EDS,
right?
So instead of having someone dothat for me and centralize, I
have to do it for myself, but Icould have waited maybe another
year.
I did all the steps andappointments I had to do to get
reports and everything, but Ididn't want to suffer.
And I have the privilege to payfor genetic testing, which is

(24:06):
not expensive.
You know, depending on theperson, you can save up for the
200 bucks or 150 bucks or 80,but whatever it was.
But I chose to do that so I canget better care and better pay
management.
But that doesn't work withinthe systems.
So that's the last thing.
Healthcare is designed forprofitability.
It is not designed for you tothrive.

(24:28):
It's not designed for you to bewell, it's designed for you to
be unwell.
So you know, when you know that, you realize like, well, how
can I advocate for myself?
What are the structures andsystems that are in place?
What resources can I use?
Who in my family or friends orchosen family can come to me
with an appointment or bewilling to help schedule

(24:50):
appointments for you?
Whatever you need to do for yourcapacity to get that done, I
feel one of the worst things inAmerica is that as a patient,
you also have to be an advocate.
So you can't even heal right,so I can't have stress.
If I have stress I can haveheart attack.
So I live with the symptoms ofa heart attack, but I can have a
heart attack at any moment intime.

(25:11):
I could die at any moment intime.
Boom, just like that.
So I have to be as chill aspossible.
But when I can't get anappointment or someone's not
calling me back or heaven forbidsomething has to be faxed.

Speaker 3 (25:22):
Right isn't that crazy.
I know those like 2023.

Speaker 1 (25:27):
2023, something is faxed Well, don't you?

Speaker 3 (25:29):
have online, can't I?
I don't understand, I can't.
Just, you know, email.
I can't use any other form butsnail mail or fax, electronic
records.

Speaker 4 (25:41):
Yeah, and I'm like, okay, it's a funny thing.
I was at an appointment andthey could see the imaging, but
now all of a sudden you can'tsee the imaging.
I was recently in the emergencyroom, last month, because
that's where I like to hang out,you know every time I go there
I'm like, maybe I'll find myhusband.
I've never found my husband, Ihad to consult a vascular
surgeon and so I was given areferral from the health system

(26:05):
that I was in for emergency care, and then another referral, so
for one health system andanother referral for UCSF.
I call the UCSF.
They're like we won't see you.
We need a referral, we need allthese things, we know, and we
will call you and we are gonnacall you, but you actually have
to call us back.
I don't know if we're gonna getit faxed, something, something

(26:26):
or another.
I call the other one to set ourhealth, the system I'm part of,
and they're like when I say thesame thing, I just was
discharged from emergency room.
These things are happening formy imaging.
I need to consult a vascularsurgeon and they're like yeah,
sure, no problem, we see that.
Yep, well, can you come nextweek?
Do you need a referral?
Nope, that's us, that's for usto take care of.

(26:47):
We'll see you next week, okay,well, can I fly?
I'm supposed to fly in two days.
Hold on, let me ask the doctor.
Yes, you can fly right, andthat is an example of how fucked
up healthcare is right and howthat works.
So imagine navigating that overand over again.
This is why some people don'tget the care that they need

(27:07):
because they don't have the timeand energy to invest in what's
needed to advocate forthemselves to be well.

Speaker 3 (27:14):
Or to be better and like as you started the whole
thing.
With unearned I mean obviouslyin a lot of cases unearned
privilege leads people to earnedprivilege, right.
You no one helped you maybestart your business, but because
of your unearned privilege ofgrowing up in a middle class

(27:36):
neighborhood and being exposedto people who had their own
businesses and were successfulor not successful, you then felt
you could.
It's impossible.
A lot of people don't feel liketheir voice matters.
So like and so like people whoare listening to us right now.
You guys know that Estelle andI do a lot of work with help

(27:56):
with people, like finding theirvoice and teaching people
assertiveness skills as itrelates to disability.
Like talking about what youhave, feeling comfortable, have
comebacks to when people saythings and it triggers your
anger or sensitivity or feelingsof need to withdraw, Like
having tools.

(28:17):
What you're saying really isthat you have a PhD, I mean
you're smart.
There's so many people who youknow, having nothing to do with
education, but literally withtheir own sense of like,
respecting doctors, like theythink the doctor knows so they
just let them handle thedecision, like the old school

(28:39):
way of like our parents, parentslike they believe, like every
doctor.
There wasn't WebMT, thereweren't things to Google.
People who don't have privilegemay not have access to big
mouths, like Laini, ishvia, like, who are like you should
advocate for yourself.
Make sure to write everythingdown, make sure to tape it.

(29:01):
Don't trust it.
There's no one coordinating.
Get a second, I'm not paying it.
Yeah, there is no.
The olden days of yourinternist coordinating things is
done.
People, you know you have tohave a very special internist,
like because they don't evenhave hospital privileges anymore
, like a lot of them are.

(29:21):
No one is seeing what the otheris doing, so it takes a smart
individual yourself usually totrack everything and you know I
don't know.
It's exhausting.
I mean it's exhausting justthinking about yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:36):
Yeah, and that's the reason you know patients come to
us.
They're completely overwhelmed.
We'll be right back.

Speaker 6 (29:54):
This is George, fred and Jason, the co-leaders of
Speak, interrupting to say thatwe hope you're enjoying this
episode, but please make sure tocheck out our new show, the
Speak Podcast, another greatshow produced by Launchpad 516
Studios.
New episodes available everyweek on all of your favorite
podcast platforms.

Speaker 5 (30:14):
Each Speak Talk is about six to 10 minutes in
length, and the talks are givenin storytelling format.
There are three key moments ineach Speak Talk the moment of
truth, the moment oftransformation and the moment of
impact.
We host pop-up events all overthe world, and now we're
bringing our talks to yourdevice.

Speaker 6 (30:34):
Join us on the Speak Podcast as our speakers step
onto the stage and into thespotlight with impactful ideas
and stories.
We'll let you get back to theshow.

Speaker 1 (30:45):
You were listening to another great podcast from
Launchpad 516 Studios.
You're tuning in to embrace itwith Laini Anastella, brought to
you by Launchpad 516 Studios.
They've gone.
They've spent, you know, just ashitload of money on doctors

(31:06):
that have not helped them.
They wait months for aneurologist appointment just for
a neurologist to walk in thereand do nothing and gaslight them
which I want to get into aswell.
You know meaning dismissingtheir symptoms, meaning, oh,
that can't be CMT because youhave flat feet and you don't

(31:26):
have high-ash feet Justuninformed, dismissive doctors.
And they come back fresh and itdiscourages them from pursuing
additional care without thoseresources, without that
privilege.
Where should they start so thatthey're not, they don't run the
risk of burnout and overwhelm,but at the same time, they're
moving towards advocating forbetter care and, you know,

(31:51):
quality of life.

Speaker 4 (31:52):
Yeah.
So one of the things, one partof my advocacy journey for
advocating for chronically ill,chronic pain, disabled folks, is
the fact that if I am havingall this trouble and I have all
the tools, then it is harder forother people, and so

(32:14):
gaslighting is definitely one ofthose things.
So that's what I'm sayingunderstanding your power, your
privilege, understanding youridentity, your intersectionality
.
So again, when I go into, likeyou know, when I was initially
looking for my cardiologist, Iwas assigned one.
So my primary care, myinternist, she actually does Run

(32:38):
Point on my team.
I hate to use sports terms, butshe's the person in basketball
who has the ball.
She, you know, similar to likeSteph Curry.

Speaker 3 (32:47):
You have a good one.
You have a good one I do.

Speaker 4 (32:49):
But that's because another thing is to say no to
doctors.
If they aren't serving you, youdon't have to see them.
There's so many of them.
Go somewhere else, right.
But I was believed from thebeginning.
So I found a cardiologist thathad the same type of energy as
her was believed, but I'm alsome.
So I did talk to othercardiologists to figure stuff

(33:10):
out.
I had one cardiologist who waslike, yeah, let's just do
ablation, burn electrodes in myheart, which is not smart.
I was like I don't have adiagnosis, so why would you go
in and burn?
That doesn't make any sense.
Right To do that anyway.
That's all to say.
I did my due diligence, evenwith the cardiologist I'm with
now to continually work through.
But those two people becausethey believed me, it helped with

(33:33):
figuring out the other stuff toget to the diagnosis of EDS.
I've had that same thing with aneurologist being gaslit.
I'm like I have pain in my leg.
What is this pain in my leg?
I now know it's EDS, but he wasa horrible gaslighter.
So I told him that you are awaste of my time and I will not

(33:57):
see you again.
I never saw another neurologistafter that, but it gave me the
energy to go and do stuff.
So what is medical gaslighting?
Medical gaslighting is you'refine.
I don't know where this pain iscoming from, and maybe you're
thinking you have this pain, butmaybe it's not.
Or maybe you should juststretch more, or have you tried

(34:18):
low-trend or heavy-propan, ormaybe you should minimize your
stress, not realizing thatthere's things that are going on
and not real.
So a medical gaslighter is theperson who's telling you yes,
you were not an expert of yourbody.
I've been in this body for 40years.
I understand my body betterthan any doctor.
I need them to use theirexpertise, their privilege,

(34:40):
their power to make my body feelas good as it can feel amongst
my rare disease and amongst mydisability.
When they don't see any part ofyou, that's where you're gaslit
.
That's usually the person whenyou're saying can you notate in
the chart that you don't wannado that type of thing?
If you leave an appointment andyou're angry, you're frustrated
, you're crying, you're gettinggaslit because your pain is real

(35:04):
.
Now, systemically, going backinto intersectionality and how
people view themselves, the datais not there for you,
potentially.
So I've had an appointmentwhere someone was quoting data
and I followed up with them andI was like, out of the data you
quoted, can you tell me the Nfor black women in that study,

(35:27):
the average number?
She got very upset with mebecause I held her accountable.
So what of that study?
Is this study just white men?
Because then my symptoms who'sfinding my symptoms right?
How do you know that?
Have you worked with someonewho has things like me, Like
asking these types of questions?

(35:47):
To get to the facts, that alsocan lead to gaslighting.
But when the research doesn'tshow, or the research isn't
there or it's limited, that alsois harder to diagnose.
So if you have somethinghappening on your skin and you
have a deeper complexion, it maylook like something else.
As a woman, a heart attacksometimes for me can be stomach
pain, but that's not the samefor men, but data is specific to

(36:10):
men.
So then it's probably just likeI hate something bad, like
maybe you have heartburn orwhatever.
It is Not that it could be anactual TIA stroke heart attack.
Something is happeningcardiovascularly.
So those systems also goagainst us and add to
gaslighting.
I mentioned pain.
Black people are not believedto be in pain.

(36:31):
Black women aren't believed tobe in pain, which is why we have
a high maternal fetal mortalityrate in US.
It's also why pain for blackpeople is not believed in
general.
It stems from enslavement ofblack people in this country.
So to justify harm, maiming,rape, abuse and death for black
people, they could take it.

(36:51):
It's a pain tolerance for allof those horrific, horrible
things, so you can't be in pain.
That is taught in our medicaleducation.
That's there.
The reason why gynecologicalcare is the way it is is there
is a particular doctor who wouldtest things on black women

(37:14):
without anesthesia but would forwhite women and would take
enslaved people to test thingsout.
So all the way down to thespeculum that goes in those who
have those parts, that comes andfolds and baked into the
education in which providersreceive Right, oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (37:33):
So yeah, yeah, I'm just I'm so many of the things
that you're saying I have neverheard before, which is you know?
I'm so educated, I'm so soeducated and whatnot, but I have
never heard about black peoplehaving like the assumption of a

(37:57):
higher pain tolerance, like thatis the first time I've ever
heard that and, yeah, I wouldencourage people to look into
that Right.

Speaker 4 (38:07):
There's a lot of that Pretty late in general.
Yeah, to advocate, or if youyou know you identify as black
or intersectionality of whateverblack means for you.
But you could just start bylooking at Dr Mary and Sims.
He is the person who did thatRight.
So things that are still usinggynecological care today came
from him and his inventions.
But it's all around fistulasand fistulas are incredibly

(38:32):
painful.
It's tied to like pregnancy andhow he was trying to adjust
fistulas.
But looking to that, you cansee how it shows up.

Speaker 3 (38:38):
But it's the very reason why my, my, my big
takeaway well, I have lots oftakeaways that are of interest
that I'm going to follow up on,but for people who are listening
, if I don't know in yoursinstead of his dialogue, I think
it's important question to askany doctor if whatever you have
is how many people have you seen, how many women for me, how

(39:04):
many Ashkenazi Jewish women haveyou seen with sharp hermary
tooth, right, exactly.
So that's like the lesson.
It's like you know, I listenedto a ton of podcasts about
hormones and like thisfunctional medicine and blah,
blah, blah.
So, to sum it up, what I gotfrom learning about that is that

(39:24):
traditional medicine, as yousaid, their studies are based on
a average, and I am using airquotes in average.
So when we talk about hormones,the studies are based on the
average American woman which isa size 14, which is blah, blah,
blah.
I am not that person, so thatmedical evidence doesn't

(39:48):
necessarily apply to me.
So, people, your lesson iswhenever you see any physician,
one question to ask is to thinkabout you and yourself and what
kinds of inherited things youmay have yourself, what you
bring to the table obviously,your race, your, you know,

(40:10):
inherited diseases, whatever,and to say can you tell me not
in a confrontational way but ina true, like you're interviewing
a doctor, inquisitive yeah, aninterviewist you're a good fit
or you're not.
That doesn't mean they're a baddoctor, but they are
necessarily a good fit for you.
If they've never seen for me anAshkenazi Jewish woman in her

(40:33):
fifties Sorry, I can't see youanymore and especially with
Charcot-Murray-Tooth and otherdamage syndrome, how many
patients do you see?

Speaker 4 (40:44):
Okay, or actually I would say do you know what it is
?
Yeah, that's important too.
Yeah, I had a procedureyesterday actually and I was
being, you know, intake.
I had to go under for thisbiopsy.
Second, I had to go under forit and the nurse that was doing
my intake was asking I told herI have heart conditions, I have

(41:09):
four heart conditions and I haveEhlers-Danlos syndrome.
And she was like, well, what isEhlers-Danlos syndrome?
And you know, because I canobviously see this puzzling look
, I'm like do you know what itis?
And I have to educate.
She freaked out how can I begoing under?
How can I be having thisprocedure done?
She kept coming in multipletimes about like, okay, but your

(41:30):
blood pressure is low, yeah, Ihave orthostatic hypertension, I
have low blood pressure, that'snormal for me.
Okay, but EDS means okay, butdo you have chest pain?
I'm always in chest pain, Ihave chest pain every day.
Okay, but do you have?
You know?
Like all of these things werepopping up and I was like this
is my doctor.
She's done several procedureson me, she knows all these
things, we're good, we're good,we're fine.

(41:52):
And then she never came back.
She sent it another nurse.

Speaker 1 (41:56):
Yeah, and I think you know, what really stands out to
me is, like you said, does yourdoctor believe you?
And on top of that, I think thegaslighting also includes oh
yeah, you have pain, but there'snothing we can do about that.
Or, yes, you're having this,but that's just part of the

(42:18):
disease and there's nothing wecan do to alleviate that.
I feel like that is such ahopeless place to be for a
patient and I want to remindpeople that that is not the case
, even if it's somethingprogressive like CMT, you know,
because that's my livedexperience.

(42:39):
Yeah, there is no cure, butthere's a shit ton of things I
can do to help myself.
I can exercise, I can eat right, I can meditate, I can sleep
well, I can take vitamins,supplements I can do all of
these things.
So when a doctor tells youthere's nothing you can do about
it, I encourage people to pushback and maybe it's not vocally

(43:03):
in that conversation andstarting an argument with your
doctor, but know that of course,there are things that we have
the power to do in our lives.
You know, with maybe thatresearch, maybe with their
support of an organization likeHNAP or whatever.
You know your disease orchronic illness is to connect
with community and to find otheroptions for improving your

(43:28):
health.
Can you talk a little bit aboutbecause I know you're big on
community obviously you were aspeaker at Chronic Con.
Can you speak to the importanceof what your experience has
been with connecting with thedisability and chronic illness
community and how that hassupported you throughout this
journey?

Speaker 4 (43:46):
It has been a wonderful journey to being
community with people who have adisability, chronic illness or
disease.
It is one of the mostrefreshing things in the world
to just joke about howhealthcare sucks or how you have
this new pain thing or you haveto wear this new brace, and
I've been able to develop richand important relationships.

(44:06):
But it's also realizing thatthere is a range of what
disability looks like too, andthat ableism isn't just from
non-disabled people, it's alsofrom disabled people as well, so
I can be viewed completelydifferently than someone else,
right, and what that looks like,and so that's been interesting

(44:27):
to see how that plays out incertain spaces.
It's also been interesting tosee how again, I have multiple
points of intersectionality herethat I do think about from time
to time what it would be likeif I were a white woman
navigating this right because mypain would be believed, and how
I can hear that through somestories of however I'm
participating at ChronicCon orin a certain space or in

(44:50):
conversations I may have withfolks who live with disability
or chronic illness, or how theywere able to get to diagnosis
sooner or whatever.
That may be Right.
So that's another side thatcomes from the community aspect.
But I was diagnosed withofficially diagnosed with
Ehlers-Danlos syndrome in May of2021.
And again, I've had it all mylife.

(45:11):
In May is Ehlers-DanlosAwareness Month, so I was like,
wow, this is great.
This is very unbranded for meand you know Instagram posts
that I had this thing and did itin May.

Speaker 3 (45:20):
Post the zebra, the zebra is the symbol of people of
Ehlers-Danlos.

Speaker 4 (45:27):
Yeah, it's the zebra.
And I mean it's because peopledon't necessarily see us.
They aren't looking for thezebra, they're looking for the
thing they're traditionallytaught, right Again, that
example that I told youyesterday.
It's like she literally wrotedown EDS, what is the thing that
you have?
Like I feel like she went to goGoogle, you know, and like
figure that out, which is fine,like there's nothing wrong with

(45:49):
it.
But within community, I'm ableto see how much it sucks for
other people.
Right, if I have rare disease,so Ehlers-Danlos syndrome is
rare disease, but it's even rarefor me because there's very
little about what that means forblack people, black women.
So it's even harder for me tobe diagnosed, it's even harder
for me to be seen and validated.

(46:10):
But I've been championing, I'vebeen talking about it, I've
been educating and I'm proud tosay this Sunday to fly to
Ireland to be the keynotespeaker for the Ehlers-Danlos
Society to talk about what we'retalking about today, so
inequities in health andEhlers-Danlos syndrome and
hypermobility spectrum disorder,which they're tied together

(46:32):
around this disease, and I wasable to do that.
You know it's 2023 and twoyears, and so I don't plan on
stopping on having that advocacy.
I'm excited to be in communitywith folks you know in another
space, but it is a bittersweet.
It's a bittersweet thing to bein community with people with
disability and chronic illness.

Speaker 1 (46:51):
Especially when you're the rare advocate or the
first to break some of thoseglass ceilings.
It's yeah, it requires all thatmuch more energy.

Speaker 3 (47:03):
I feel like we've only covered just a little tiny
bit of you and all that you canteach us.
I had told Estella before thispodcast started.
I'm like do you know that sheedits books for those books to
make sure and I don't know whatthe terminology would be like
that you've written that youhaven't said anything about

(47:23):
sensitive.

Speaker 4 (47:23):
Sensitivity editor.
Sensitivity editor yeah.

Speaker 3 (47:29):
I think that's like the coolest thing, right, Like
for all of us.
Like we don't even realizewe're being offensive in the way
we communicate and write.
Some terms change.
Everything is changing all thetime.
You know, I was actuallylistening to the and this is a
side note, maybe you won't eveninclude this, but I was
listening to our like my localDetroit news and I'm like I'm

(47:53):
from Detroit.
Well, yeah, yeah, so I'm fromDetroit.
So I was listening to one ofthe newscasters and she's a
black woman and she's beautifuland she uses African American
all the time in her talk.
But then I'm like, okay, well,that's have what I grew up
saying, but is it one of thosethings that she can say it?

(48:16):
But I can't.
And I should say like, like,even as a person who is educated
like myself in this world ofinclusivity, I'm like not even
sure.
So I was listening to that andI don't like I'm not saying that
we should talk about that, butthat's why I can give you the
quick synopsis they're, they're,they're fine, I I choose to say

(48:37):
that I'm black.

Speaker 4 (48:38):
Black is more inclusive of people who identify
as black.
If someone says they're AfricanAmerican, call them African
American.
I'm not African American, I'mHaitian American, so I don't
identify as African American,right, and so black.
Two years ago, we startedcapitalizing black, and that's
because black is a group ofpeople, it's a community, it's a

(48:58):
culture.
We don't capitalize whitebecause it's not that, but
that's what black is, becausethere's so many points of
intersectionality there.
A lot of it stems from the factthat there's a history of
enslavement in this country too,so lots of people are coming
from lots of different places.
I say that, and I say this inmy book too, that I am the
transatlantic slave trade, so myidentity literally comes from.

(49:19):
You may know it as like theslave triangle when you were in
school or whatever, but it meansthat my identity stems from
Europe.
Thank you, haiti.
And my particular port was NewOrleans, right, and that is.
That is who I am.
That makes up my identity, andso I Grew up as a

(49:40):
first-generation person, myfather's Haitian.
Sometimes I forget that I'm,unfortunately, an American.
I get mad at Americans, but no,that's you, I'm.
American too, but I grew up likea, like an immigrant here in
this country.
That also goes back to myununprivileged.
My father knew from hisprivilege that he had growing
here that I would have more ofan opportunity To grow and to

(50:03):
flourish.
But it also is why I have somany degrees, because in my
particular family and cultureyou have to have a minimum of a
master's degree.
I knew that at nine years old,again tapping back into my
privilege.
So there's nothing wrong withsaying either of them, it's just
realizing.
People identify how they wantto identify and we support how
they want to be identified.

(50:23):
Same for pronouns, right.

Speaker 3 (50:27):
Yeah, I don't mean to cut you up like.
I have a child who became transin their 20 at University of
Michigan, right, so I understandabout like asking people what
they want to be called.
However, as a white woman, whenI describe people, a lot of
times appearance comes into theequation and I feel like we

(50:47):
tiptoe around appearance sayinglike oh, there's Laney.
Like if someone she has longdark hair, she's whatever, and
she's white, light-skinned, likeI sometimes don't know what is
okay.
Like I mean, that's Things arewe changing is beautiful.
She has a big smile.

(51:08):
She has darker skin than me.
Yeah, I know, I mean I.

Speaker 4 (51:14):
I publicly identify as black.
So you know I'm openly black.
I've been openly black for 40years now.
So People can say that I'mblack and there's nothing.
There's nothing wrong with thatright.
But if you look at thedescriptors on Instagram, I
don't say that I'm black.
That's not part of mydescriptors.
Other descriptors will say thatand that's because it comes
through and what I'm talkingabout as black people we us and

(51:37):
how we advocate people, can youknow?
Pick it up.
So there's really no wrong wayof doing it.
It's just.
As someone identifiesdifferently, we correct it for
ourselves and identify them thisway.
I can describe myself right nowas a Person who has curly hair,
that's, you know, on the top oftheir head, with blue frame
glasses, you know, a big smile,as you said, wearing an Oakland

(51:59):
roots gray sweater, sitting infront of a bookshelf.
Right, that's explaining me asthe person.
But someone may say all thosethings and add a Black woman
with a caramel skin tone sitting, you know, and both of those
things are fine.
It's just keep in mind, whenwhite people are described, skin
tone doesn't come up.
So it's that person over therewith a hat.

(52:21):
It's a black person.
It's the black person over therewith a hat, right Uh-huh.
And that is also how whitesprivacy works, right?

Speaker 3 (52:27):
So if we're describing people equally in the
same, we would do that addingcaptions to descriptions,
descriptions that I would say,like if a cell is a Latino woman
but let's say she wasn't, Ifeel like I would say she's, you
know, a caramel dark.
You know I would skinned womanlike, and yeah, anyways, this is

(52:50):
so.
You're so interesting.

Speaker 4 (52:55):
I do.
I do what I can.
I just don't like to be bored,so you know.

Speaker 1 (53:00):
That's for sure.
We're definitely not bored, andI'm sure our listeners are not
bored either.
But you, you did mention youhave a book coming out, is that
correct?

Speaker 4 (53:11):
Yeah, so I'm lucky enough to have a book deal with
a top five publisher has shutand my book comes out February
2024.
I wrote it myself.
I like to put that out therebecause there are ghost writers.
A lot of people don't realizethat that's a whole profitable
industry.
But the book is white,supremacy is all around.

(53:33):
Notes from a black, disabledwoman in a white world.
It's a play on love actually,if anyone knows anything about
love actually.
So if you watch that oh youknow, classic holiday movie of
like a hundred thousand times,yeah, yeah.
So the first, that movie is,like, you know, the airport or
the airport not spoilinganything for anyone who hasn't
seen it, but it's a reminder.
At the airport you can see thatlove is all around.

(53:55):
Like you know, people misssomeone, someone's coming back.
They're happy, they're there,they're happy, they're home,
right.
It's the same thing for whitesupremacy it is all around.
It is all around.
So I talk about my livedexperience, my stories are
shared in the book and so forpeople who look and live like me
structurally, however theyidentify with one or multiple
things that I identify with,they can feel validated, seen,

(54:17):
heard, maybe even get someadvice.
And for white people who havebeen doing the work since the
murder of George Floyd, may 25th2020.
They can apply what they'vebeen learning and read those
stories and see systemic racism,see oppression, see
discrimination, see ableism andthose stories Applying what
they've learned, moving pastallyship and further moving into

(54:38):
to being Um and accomplice.
So that's what the book is allabout.
Um, you can google it.
There's a pre-seller linkthat's out there.
If you want to pick it up, um,I would appreciate it because
you're supporting a black author, a woman author.
I just able to author the tribe.

Speaker 3 (54:56):
Maybe we need to be willing to come back on at some
point because I like, I feellike, like I said, there's so
much and now with the book wecan, when it is out there.
I know that would be.

Speaker 4 (55:09):
Absolutely I'd be happy to come back and I think
it's important to note that Ipushed really hard to have
myself with the cane on thecover, because I wanted people
to see disability, I wantedpeople to see beauty and I
wanted to see how that literallymakes my existence hard.
It's not hard to be a woman.
It's not hard to be black.
It's not hard to be disabled.

(55:29):
Society system structures ofwhite supremacy make it.
It's challenging, they make italmost unbearable some days, um,
and so I wanted to make surethat there was representation
for my disabled community, um,on this book cover and I'm proud
to say it looks pretty great.

Speaker 1 (55:47):
Oh, we can't wait to see it, we can't wait to read it
.
We'll definitely include thelinks in our show notes.
And I think, to kind of wrap upthis conversation, I, we, we
both got so much out of it andit was just a pleasure having
you on Um.
But at the beginning of theconversation you, before we
started recording, you mentionedsomething, salami, about Kind

(56:08):
of celebrating the, the littlewins and celebrating ourselves.
Can you kind of reiterate?

Speaker 4 (56:14):
that?
Yeah, absolutely so.
Um, right now, as we record itsdisability pride month and it's
a big month and source of prideTo to be disabled and does that
mean, again, these systems arenot designed for us, the art,
environments aren't designed forus, uh, people's attitudes,
behaviors, thoughts and beliefsare not designed for us, and so

(56:34):
that's something to reallyhighlight and celebrate in july,
but also every month.
So if you live, uh, withdisability, chronic illness,
disease, I have major depressivedisorder, mental health stuff
going on Um, if you got out ofbed, that's fantastic.
If you brush your teeth, oh mygod, incredible, amazing, right?
So whatever your body is doingfor you that day and whatever

(56:56):
you're still able to accomplish,you should celebrate that.
And so I celebrate Little thingsevery day.
I find little pockets of joyevery day, and for me, that may
look like being able to take abath.
When I bought my home, thefirst thing I bought was a
whirlpool tub, so that'ssomething that gives my body,

(57:16):
you know, relief.
So being able to be in the tubis like, oh my god, like it's
incredible and amazing, if Ihave the time to do that
sometimes, and don't have thetime to do that, meaning my body
doesn't feel like it or I'mtraveling too much.
Whether it's a mini brownie ora capri stun or something you
eat, that thing.

Speaker 3 (57:32):
I love that you say a mini brownie.
You said this yeah, I'm likethinking, I mean you can have
more than a mini brownie peopleif you want like a big brownie.
Eat a big brownie.
Or 20 dark chocolate eggs, likeI did.

Speaker 4 (57:48):
It's currently hard for me to eat, so for a mini
brownie is like a big thing, butyeah, but when it's not a hard
time to eat, it's free.
It's three of the mini brownies, which makes a full-size
brownie.
There's ice cream on top.
Right now it's like a littlemini brownie and a little bit of
like almond milk and that'slike my exciting thing that I'm
able to do.
But it's important to realizethat you are nothing short of

(58:09):
amazing.
So my tagline how I sign emails, I, what's on my t-shirts I
have it's keeping amazing andthat's what you do every single
day, like, whether you know it'sas simple as getting out of bed
or, you know, getting thatappointment.
We are designed to not beamazing because of these systems
and structures.
Yet here we are.
We're talking on this podcast,we're showing up every day, hey,

(58:32):
we're defying the odds fornon-disabled people, or whatever
they think, but we ourselvesare nothing short of amazing for
navigating in pain, discomfort,um, in a world that doesn't
necessarily value us.
So that's why you shouldcelebrate the little wins, find
pockets of joy and keepingamazing.

Speaker 3 (58:49):
Yes, you are amazing and all of you are amazing.
So, lastly, how can people findyou?
We are going to include this inthe show notes, but if they
want to start following you andget your little tidbit, so yeah,
but not where would they go?

Speaker 4 (59:04):
Yeah, so I'm.
All platforms, including drugs,at change today.
So ch A, n, g, e, c, a, d, e, t.
So today, like cadet and findme there.
That's also the same for thewebsite, um.
You can find out more aboutbook on the website.
You can buy a shirt on thewebsite, um.
Or, you know, slide on my dms,it's me.

(59:25):
I will happily tell you you'reamazing or commiserate with you
or Um.
I'm always happy to navigateabout health stuff, um, you know
, if, if that's what someonewants, um, I am available as
long as my body allows me to doit.
Um, and it's also the same for,like, white pharmacy stuff.
You have questions arounddiversity or how you're

(59:46):
navigating that for you or otherpeople, the work you're on, or
how you're advocating foryourself.
I'm always happy to do that.
I have boundaries, so it maytake a while for me to get back
to you, but I will get back toyou.

Speaker 1 (59:59):
Thank you so much.
You are amazing.
And we can't wait to see whatyou do next and um best of luck
in Ireland and Um the rest ofthe year when we look forward to
seeing you back, and it was socool meeting you.

Speaker 3 (01:00:12):
You gave me lots of food for thought, so I'm going
to go do my homework.
I'm gonna have to and then andthen eat my mini brownie and
then maybe another three.

Speaker 4 (01:00:21):
One big one, yeah, whatever I want to do.

Speaker 3 (01:00:24):
I'm celebrating me.

Speaker 4 (01:00:25):
You are yes, absolutely, thank you.
Thank you so much.

Speaker 1 (01:00:30):
Take everyone Thank you.
Hey, embracers, thank you somuch for listening and
supporting the embrace itpodcast brought to you by
launchpad 516 studios Executive,produced by george andriabolos
and hosted by lanie ishpia anddistella we go.
Our music and sound effects arelicensed through epidemic sound
embrace.
It is hosted with bus sprout.
Do you have a disabilityrelated topic you'd love for us?

Speaker 3 (01:00:51):
to feature, or could someone you know be a fabulous
guest on our show?
We would love to hear yourcomments and feature them on our
next podcast, so leave us avoicemail or you can even send
us a text to 631-517-0066.
Make sure to subscribe to thisfeed wherever podcasts are
available and leave us a fivestar review on apple podcast.

Speaker 1 (01:01:11):
While you're at it, follow us at embrace it.
Underscore podcast on instagramand make sure to follow all the
great podcasts produced bylaunchpad 516 studios.
We hope you join us next time,thank you.

Speaker 3 (01:01:28):
We hope you join us next time and continue to
embrace it.

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Embrace It: Episode 49 - Dr. Akilah Cadet, Privilege & Disability

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Embrace It: Episode 49 - Dr. Akilah Cadet, Privilege & Disability