It’s the first full week of September and time to dust off those backpacks and head back to the classroom! The start of the school year means big adjustments for everyone, from children going to classes for the very first time all the way to parents who have to adjust their schedules accordingly as well. This week Shawn welcomes Keisha, Randi, and Ella, all of whom are headed back to school this week, to discuss what it’s like to be headed to in-person classes again. They talk about everything from Guide Dog etiquette and the challenges of navigating COVID-19 measures as a student who is blind or partially sighted to the adjustments of schedules and pressures of a new year of post-secondary education after years of being out of school. It’s a full course load of subjects in this episode that you won’t want to skip!

With the Paralympics still in full swing, we wanted to keep talking about sports, so this week Shawn and co-host Jinnie welcome Brian Cowie, the President of BC Blind Sports and Recreation Association to the show. They discuss all the different sports the BC Blind Sports offers, the importance of adapted sports, and even Brian’s own athletic career. 

The Tokyo 2020 Paralympics start August 24, so this week we are talking with two Paralympians who just happen to be our own Shawn Marsolais and her Tandem Cycling pilot, Lisa. Join Nika as she takes over hosting duties to interview Shawn and Lisa and find out about their experiences at the 2004 Athens Paralympics as competitors in Tandem Cycling. They discuss everything from the relationship and bond that forms between pilot and athlete as well as what their training regiment was like, what it was like competing at an elite level and even what the Canadian Paralympic Team swag was like! 

This week we’re talking about friends -- and no, we don’t mean that TV show with Jennifer Aniston. That discussion over at the Central Perk will have to wait because this episode is a full house (no, not THAT full house) as Shawn welcomes Ishita and her friend Jaslene as well as John and his friend Michael to the show to discuss the dynamics of friendship when one friend is sighted and the other is blind or partially sighted. It’s an open and frank conversation that is also filled with laughter and wonderful stories of the power of friendship that you and your BFFs won’t want to miss!

What kind of hobbies do you think people who are blind or partially sighted might be interested in and take part in on a regular basis? The answers might surprise you as Shawn welcomes a panel of co-hosts including Clement, Ishita, John and Nika to discuss some of the many hobbies that they enjoy, which include watching anime, sports, video gaming, and much more! 

This week Shawn and co-host Jinnie are excited to welcome Anu Pala, certified life coach and trainer, to the podcast in order to talk all about skincare and make-up. They discuss some of the challenges of using makeup when you are blind or partially sighted as well as sharing starter tips and the importance of self image and confidence that comes with self-care.

This week we’re making things up as we go, flying by the seat of our pants and talking all about the challenging and very fun art of improv! Shawn and co-hosts Leena and Ishita welcome Dougie, a Blind Beginnings volunteer, actor, and improv comedian to the podcast. They discuss how he got into acting and improv, what it’s like performing and teaching over Zoom during COVID, and what some of the challenges he faced breaking into both.

This week Shawn and co-host Kolby are very excited to welcome Steph Kirkland, the Executive Director of VocalEye to the podcast. VocalEye is the first live descriptive arts service for the blind in Canada and they discuss how the process works, the challenges of live description and what it means to be providing greater access to the live theater and the Arts for the Blind community.

This week Shawn is joined by co-hosts Jinnie, Nika, and John to discuss the topic of gender. They discuss everything from how to navigate the issue of gender in social settings when you are blind or partially sighted to how gender roles are formed, how they have started to change over the years and how disability can impact those roles. It’s an open and honest discussion about a fascinating and very important topic that you won’t want to miss!

It’s hard to believe it’s been a year already! This week Shawn is joined by Nika, Kolby, Ishita and Rob to look back at the entire year’s worth of episodes and discuss some of their favorites! Come join us and see which episodes were favorites to record, the most impactful to listen to, and even the most nerve-wracking to be a part of! It’s a celebration of the Limitless Podcast and a peek behind the scenes you don’t want to miss!  

Being able to advocate about your needs can be challenging for anybody, but especially draining for those in the blind or partially sighted community. This week Shawn is joined by co-hosts Nika, Kolby, and Clement to discuss some of their own experiences self-advocating, some of the challenges faced, as well as the importance of knowing when and how to speak up about your needs.

June is Deafblind Awareness Month and to kick it off, Shawn and co-host Kolby welcome Dr. Linda Mamer to talk about deafblindness. Dr. Mamer is a Deafblind Consultant for the Provincial Outreach Program for Deafblindness and she gives us an overview of the many aspects and gradients of deafblindness as well as helping understand the different deafblind communication and teaching methods. We also learn all about ‘yarn bombing’ and how this tactile art is being used to help raise awareness for deafblindness all over the world during the month of June. 

This week Shawn and co-host Ishita welcome back Jugaad, one of our youth from last week’s Culture and Disability episode, to discuss his passion for his favorite sport, Cricket!  While Cricket may not have much of a presence here in Canada, it’s huge in other countries around the world and if you were ever curious about how it’s played, it’s cultural impact in India, and even how it is adapted for players who are blind or partially sighted, you don’t want to miss this episode! 

May 21 is World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, and in the spirit of embracing and sharing about different cultures, Shawn welcomes Nika, Jinnie, Jugaad, Clement, and Ishita as co-hosts to discuss their own lived experiences navigating disability from within other cultures.  

This past week saw us celebrate Mother’s Day, so we wanted to do something special to honor Moms in this episode of the podcast. As a Mom herself, Shawn takes the week off as host, turns the show over to Ishita and Jill, and takes a seat in the guest chair. Shawn and special guest Lovette describe their experiences of becoming Moms through the lens of being blind, some of the hurdles they faced, adaptations they needed to make, and the joys that motherhood brings. 

Mental Health Awareness Week is May 3 - 9, 2021 and this year it’s more important than ever to take some time and reflect on the importance of mental health. Over 40% of Canadians have reported that their mental health has deteriorated since the pandemic began, and the feelings of uncertainty, stress, and anxiety felt can be overwhelming. This week Shawn welcomes Nika back to the podcast to talk about the importance of promoting mental health and overcoming the stigma that some people still feel about discussing it openly, sharing personal stories about various struggles as well as offering some strategies on coping and maintaining good mental health.

On a Sunday afternoon in October of 2015, Blind Beginnings youth, volunteers, and parents gathered together in the Metrotown Mall in Burnaby, British Columbia. What came next was the result of over a year of careful planning and a LOT of practice. This week, in honor of International Dance Day on April 29th, Shawn, Randi, Nika, and Jinnie revisit the Blind Beginnings Flash Mob and take us through how the idea came to be, what kind of planning was involved to pull it off, and the lasting impact it had on its participants.