Hosted by The German Federation of the Blind and Partially Sighted (DBSV) and VIEWS International, the International Low-Vision Song Contest (ILSC) is a music contest for blind and visually impaired musicians. The contest provides a global platform for musicians to share their art and talent, to inspire and entertain. Organizations representing their respective countries submit a song to compete in the contest, and the winner is determined through online voting.

CNIB’s submission, a song called Common Ground, was composed and performed by Jade Ondrik, Music Specialist at CNIB Lake Joe, and Measha Brueggergosman-Lee, CNIB Brand Ambassador. 

The lyrics to Common Ground are derived from a poem of the same name written by Chief R. Stacey LaForme, Chief of the Mississaugas of the New Credit First Nation. The poem was used with permission from Chief R. Stacey LaForme.

CNIBs ILSC 2023 Submission – Common Ground

In the latest episode of The Lens: Living Diverse podcast, Ben sits down with Elaine Harrison, an advocate, volunteer, and member of the community. Elaine delves into the various facets of her identity, including her Korean ethnicity and her experiences as a mother. Listen to Elaine’s powerful journey, where she explores her passion for inclusive advocacy and embraces the concepts of self-discovery, self-determination, and claiming self-fulfillment. 

Content to Check Out:
Born A Crime – book by Trevor Noah

The Lens: Living Diverse – Seeking and Claiming One’s Identities

CNIB Lake Joe On The Go! – Accessibility at Lake Joe

In the latest episode of the Lens: Living Diverse, Ben kicks it with the super talented Ramya Amuthan, co-host of AMI’s “The Kelly and Ramya Show.” Ramya talks about her intersecting identities as a Sri Lankan-born woman with sight loss and shares her journey working in media as a racialized woman. Ramya and Ben also have thoughtful discussions about appropriately pronouncing names that are ethnically diverse, the importance of representation and mentorship in the media, and the impact of community mobilization to bring about change. Ramya leans into the role of interviewee as Ben guides her through their conversation. We hope you enjoy the laughs, profound discussion, and vast knowledge of someone who undoubtedly has an influential voice within the sight loss community.

Content to Check Out: 
AMI Audiobook Review: https://www.ami.ca/Audiobook-review
Kelly and Ramya: https://www.ami.ca/category/2456/recent_episodes
Ramya Instagram: @allramz

The Lens: Living Diverse – A Voice to Be Seen & Heard

In Episode 21 of The Lens: Living Diverse, Ben and Vivi chat with Assistive Technology Trainer Alex Barnes. Alex shares his experience living as a bi-racial individual with multiple disabilities who immigrated from the United Kingdom to Canada. Hear Alex talk about the importance of incorporating diversity and inclusion into the ways we engage with technology, whether through speech synthesizers, developers, coding or the availability and affordability of assistive technology. Listen to Alex’s strategies for changing the landscape of the tech scene, making it more diverse and inclusive for all.

The Lens: Living Diverse – The Tech Scene

The Lens: Living Diverse welcomes Stephanie Pilon, CNIB program lead and passionate advocate for social justice, as our special guest. We’ll discuss diversity inclusion, and disability justice. Plus, hear from Steph about her intersecting identities and lived experience as a person with sight loss who is part of the 2SLGBTQ community.

The Lens: Living Diverse – What’s on the Horizon with Disability Justice

The Lens: Living Diverse, welcomes Azhar Karim, Founder of DEEN: Disability Empowerment Equality Network. DEEN is a Canadian charity founded by Muslims with Disabilities that operates a number of programs and services for people with disabilities in Mississauga, Ottawa and Scarborough. Azhar discusses his Muslim faith, the importance of technology and language learning, and how it has evolved over the years for people with disabilities. Discover how one network can cultivate a vision for empowerment and equality.

The Lens: Living Diverse – A Vision for Disability Empowerment and Equality

In the fall, we interviewed four students who entered the 2023 CNIB Braille Creative Writing Contest and also attended the Writing With Feeling Retreat at CNIB Lake Joe. Hear from Aiza, Ali, Donna-Lynn and Fajer about their experiences.

CNIB Braille Creative Writing Contest (2023)

The Lens: Living Diverse welcomes Adam Brown, a talented voice actor and social media influencer. In their conversation, Adam openly discusses his journey as a young Black man living with Retinitis Pigmentosa, highlighting his passion for music production, advocacy efforts, and his experiences in the voice acting field. Together, they explore the significance of diversity and representation in animation, focusing on portraying Black characters and individuals with disabilities. Adam also touches on the importance of using social media to raise awareness about sight loss and advancements in medical treatments like Luxturna. As a bonus – Adam treats listeners to his character voices and impressions! 

You can find Adam on: 
YouTube at AdanTFM  
TikTok at Adam.TFM
Instagram at Adam.TFM

The Lens: Living Diverse – A Voice of Change

In this week’s episode of The Lens: Living Diverse, Ben welcomes the hilarious and talented Jason Osborne. Jason opens up about his experiences living with Stargardt disease, his upbringing in a Guyanese family, and his passion for stand-up comedy. Hear how he seamlessly incorporates his low vision and Blackness into his comedy sets, delivering both humour and thoughtful commentary. He also shares valuable advice for aspiring comedians and treats us to a few of his classic jokes. Tune in for an episode that’s sure to leave you laughing and enlightened.

You can find Jason on
Instagram at Jason.osborne1
Facebook at Jason G. Osborne

The Lens: Living Diverse – Leading With Laughter

The CNIB Podcast Network is a collection of audio programming designed to give a voice to people across the CNIB community as they share their personal stories of life with sight loss. Listen to the episodes on any of the platforms listed below. If you enjoy what you hear, subscribe!

The Lens: Living Diverse – A Voice of Change

CNIB

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