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A Digital Accessibility Deep Dive with Tanner Gers

Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges

Release Date: 09/25/2023

Stuttering AI-Gaming Magic with Erich Reiter show art Stuttering AI-Gaming Magic with Erich Reiter

Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges

Today, we are happy to share a fascinating conversation with speech recognition scientist, speech and language pathologist, and CEO of Say It Labs, Erich Reiter. James chats with Erich about the founding of Say It Labs, a company that develops speech recognition-based ‍video games designed for people with speech disorders. They also talk about how AI integration into these video games is such a huge benefit for both SLPs and those using the games, as well as some of the science behind the causes of stuttering and why it’s important to understand. Join us for this deep dive, info-packed...

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Matching People with Disabilities and Employers with John Robinson show art Matching People with Disabilities and Employers with John Robinson

Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges

Our Ability’s President and CEO, John Robinson, joins Mai Ling on today’s episode to discuss some important issues for National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM). John talks about his advocacy for people with disabilities in the workforce, how Our Ability is attacking the problem of matching job seekers with employers, how ableist language has affected job listings, and why the trend toward remote work is a good sign.

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Deaf Community Engagement and Advocacy with Melissa Elmira Yingst show art Deaf Community Engagement and Advocacy with Melissa Elmira Yingst

Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges

Mai Ling kicks off this episode with an exciting report on her recent trip before introducing today’s guest for Deaf Awareness Month. Melissa Elmira Yingst is a deaf community advocate, media personality, and host of The Melmira Show. Through her interpreter and friend, Mara Bowdidge, she talks with Mai Ling about her work in the deaf community, growing up in a deaf family, building a social media following, and the value of working with an experienced interpreter.

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Dateability: The Dating App for People with Disabilities with Jacqueline & Alexa Child show art Dateability: The Dating App for People with Disabilities with Jacqueline & Alexa Child

Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges

In today’s edition of the show, James sits down with Jacqueline and Alexa Child, the sister co-founder team of Dateability, the only dating app for the chronically ill and disabled communities. Jacqueline and Alexa share their personal experiences that led them to embark on the mission of launching the Dateability app, why it is so important to cater to these communities of users, how they were able to create a product without having technical backgrounds, and some of their user's success stories.

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Reducing Special Educator Burnout with Elizabeth Orme show art Reducing Special Educator Burnout with Elizabeth Orme

Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges

Elizabeth Orme joins the show today to talk with James about her work to support special educators and help them prevent burnout. Elizabeth is the Founder and CEO of Creatively Focused, a company whose aim is to simplify workflow management and administrative tasks for special educators. She talks about some of the frustrations special ed teachers face and how to address them, shares some thoughts on viewing disability through an entrepreneurial lens, as well as how technology can be used to address burnout.

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The Billion-Strong Minority Disability Entrepreneurship with Diego Mariscal show art The Billion-Strong Minority Disability Entrepreneurship with Diego Mariscal

Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges

James speaks with this week’s guest, Diego Mariscal, about his disability advocacy and entrepreneurship. Diego is the Founder, CEO, and Chief Disabled Officer of 2Gether-International (2GI), the leading nonprofit startup accelerator run by and for disabled entrepreneurs. He shares what 2GI is and what they do, some resources for disabled entrepreneurs, and his thoughts on the benefits that people with disabilities have with regard to entrepreneurship.

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ADA Compliance and Accessibility with Peter Fischer show art ADA Compliance and Accessibility with Peter Fischer

Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges

Mai Ling has an insightful conversation with Peter Fischer, the Accessibility Compliance Guru at Arizona State University in today’s episode. As the owner of an Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) consulting firm for almost 20 years, Peter was the perfect choice to help the Xceptional Leaders team to commemorate the anniversary of this important legislation. Peter shares a brief history and overview of what the ADA is, talks about the challenges of retrofitting a university campus for accessibility, and how his own experience with rheumatoid arthritis shaped his work. 

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Adaptive Intimate Apparel with Nicole Cuervo show art Adaptive Intimate Apparel with Nicole Cuervo

Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges

Our guest for today is Nicole Cuervo, the founder & CEO of Springrose, a startup designing adaptive intimate apparel that improves quality of life for women with limited mobility. She speaks with Mai Ling about her journey as an entrepreneur by sharing exactly what adaptive intimate apparel is, why it is needed, and the personal experience in her family that led her to develop her products. Nicole also talks about her approach to the expansion of her product line, how to find your ideal customer, and the importance of considering research and development when setting pricing.

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Revolutionizing Disability Employment with David D'Arcangelo show art Revolutionizing Disability Employment with David D'Arcangelo

Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges

In today’s episode, James sits down with the CEO of Arc Angel Communications, David D'Arcangelo, to talk about his work to bring more people with disabilities into the workforce. As a legally blind person, David knows firsthand the challenges that many people with disabilities face when seeking employment. He talks about his passion for improving the human condition, disability as part of your identity, how to get more people with disabilities into the workforce, and focusing on the ability part of disability. Don’t miss this engaging, insightful conversation!

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Aphasia In Chinese Speakers with Anthony Kong show art Aphasia In Chinese Speakers with Anthony Kong

Xceptional Leaders with Mai Ling Chan & James Berges

In recognition of Aphasia Awareness Month, we knew June would be the perfect time to focus on aphasia. So today Mai Ling chats with Dr. Anthony Kong, an expert on aphasia with an emphasis on aphasia among speakers of Chinese languages. Anthony begins by sharing a bit about what aphasia is and then goes deeper into how the specific elements of Asian languages can cause aphasia to be even more pronounced in speakers of those languages. He also talks about why he felt he needed to focus specifically on aphasia in Chinese speakers as well as some tips on how you can effectively blaze a trail in an...

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More Episodes
Today Mai Ling has a chat with the founder of AccessAbility Officer, Tanner Gers. AccessAbility Officer’s aim is to make work and the web better through the services they offer, including digital accessibility training and certification, as well as staffing and recruiting. Tanner shares with us his journey to founding this organization, starting with how life changed when he became blind, what true ADA-compliant digital/online accessibility means for companies, and how the certification program works and the benefits it provides. Join us for this deep dive into the important topic of online accessibility.