Latest / Podcasts By Donna Jodhan / Remarkable World Commentary Episode #114: Left Out or Left Behind

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Remarkable World Commentary Episode #114: Left Out or Left Behind · Podcasts By Donna Jodhan

• 0:12
  Podcast Commentator: Greetings. Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP,
• 0:17
  Podcast Commentator: and MBA invites you to listen to her bi-weekly podcast,
• 0:22
  Podcast Commentator: Remarkable World Commentary. Here, Donna shares some of her innermost thoughts,
• 0:27
  Podcast Commentator: insights, perspectives, and more with her listeners.
• 0:31
  Podcast Commentator: Donna focuses on topics that directly affect the future of kids,
• 0:35
  Podcast Commentator: especially kids with disabilities. Donna is a blind advocate,
• 0:40
  Podcast Commentator: author, sight loss coach, dinner mystery producer, writer,
• 0:45
  Podcast Commentator: entrepreneur, law graduate, and podcast commentator.
• 0:50
  Podcast Commentator: She has decades of lived experiences, knowledge, skills,
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  Podcast Commentator: and expertise in access technology and information.
• 0:58
  Podcast Commentator: As someone who has been internationally recognized for her work and roles,
• 1:02
  Podcast Commentator: she just wants to make things better than possible.
• 1:07
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Hello there. I'm Donna J. Jodhan,
• 1:12
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: and welcome to my first Remarkable World Commentary podcast for
• 1:18
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: October.
• 1:20
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Goodness, October is here, and October is steaming along.
• 1:24
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And I wanna thank all those who have taken the time to either write to me at
• 1:30
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: donnajodhan@gmail.com.
• 1:34
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: That is
• 1:38
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: D-O-N-N-A-J-O-D-H-A-N, my first and last name,
• 1:44
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: @gmail.com,
• 1:47
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: or who have taken the time to respond to my podcast by listening to it,
• 1:52
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: by reading the
• 1:54
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: show notes. Thank you, everybody.
• 1:58
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So it is the first week in October, and for my topic,
• 2:03
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I have chosen a very controversial one, or I should say it's a question.
• 2:10
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: It is all about left out or left behind.
• 2:16
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Which is it?
• 2:17
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And there are so many instances that I could refer to
• 2:22
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: that talks about left out or left behind,
• 2:25
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: and I want to give you some examples of what I mean,
• 2:29
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: okay?
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: When
• 2:35
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: online forms
• 2:37
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: are not accessible
• 2:40
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: to persons with disabilities,
• 2:43
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: is this
• 2:45
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: reason to say that we are being left out
• 2:50
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: or that we are being left behind?
• 2:53
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: We have too many online forms that are not accessible.
• 2:59
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: From the banks in the banking industry, and one of the main culprits
• 3:04
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: are those educational institutions
• 3:08
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: and those universities. Universities may be a bit better in this instance,
• 3:13
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: but the institutions and organizations that are offering courses
• 3:19
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: and certifications to those persons with a disability,
• 3:24
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: and for me as a person who is vision impaired,
• 3:29
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: these forms are not accessible. So it means that we cannot take certifications.
• 3:35
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: We cannot take advantage of banking services.
• 3:39
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: We cannot take advantage of special offers from stores and other
• 3:46
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: types of organizations who offer these incentives.
• 3:52
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I'm going to call out the Apex
• 3:56
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: persons or organization. When I first got to know them,
• 4:01
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: they were with Novacoast.
• 4:04
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Now they're with somebody else,
• 4:05
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: but I'm still gonna call them out because their online forms for signing up and for
• 4:10
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: doing other activities with them were totally inaccessible,
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: and they offered little to no help as to how to do it.
• 4:19
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So I had to pay somebody to do it.
• 4:23
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: In the case of another company called InnoSearch,
• 4:29
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: they tried. They really tried, but
• 4:33
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: they failed.
• 4:35
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And in the case of the Pearson VUE
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: organization, here is another well-known international
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: organization/agency/whatever you want to call them,
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: did not make the online exams or online certification exam that
• 4:57
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I took accessible in any way and did not seem interested
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: in wanting to do it in any way.
• 5:07
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So are we being left out or left behind?
• 5:11
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I'll let you be the judge, okay?
• 5:16
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Another example is ServiceOntario.
• 5:22
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So quite a few months ago, I decided that I needed to
• 5:27
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: renew my business registration.
• 5:30
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Guess what?
• 5:32
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Couldn't do it because the online form was totally,
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: totally inaccessible. There were no workarounds such as a face-to-face
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: engagement with the ServiceOntario office.
• 5:47
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And the first agent that I dealt with had the nerve to tell me,
• 5:53
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: "Find someone to help you."
• 5:56
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Find someone to help you. Is that her response to
• 6:02
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: being left out or left behind, and did she care?
• 6:05
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: No, she didn't care.
• 6:07
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: The second agent was a little bit
• 6:11
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: more responsive. And the third agent, I have to tell you,
• 6:16
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: was absolutely magnificent.
• 6:19
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: She did everything to help me out,
• 6:22
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: and this meant that despite the fact that I was left out or left behind,
• 6:28
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: there was a resolution, okay?
• 6:33
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Now,
• 6:35
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: what about those elevators at medical buildings?
• 6:40
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: There are too many of them that do not have braille labels on their
• 6:46
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: buttons.
• 6:48
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: The elevator does not speak as it goes from floor to floor.
• 6:53
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Have we been left out,
• 6:55
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: or have we been left behind,
• 6:58
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: or have we been considered in any sort of way,
• 7:02
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: especially so in a medical building?
• 7:06
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And there are other examples of other types of buildings,
• 7:09
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: but I'm zooming in on the medical buildings for now.
• 7:15
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Or
• 7:17
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: when an office building is being designed with no accessible
• 7:23
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: entrances or exits, what does that tell you?
• 7:27
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Are we being left out? Are we being left behind as persons with disabilities,
• 7:33
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: or even other types of groups? You have seniors,
• 7:36
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: or what about moms with strollers?
• 7:40
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Are we being left out or are we being left behind?
• 7:43
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I want you to tell me, okay?
• 7:47
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Or
• 7:49
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: there is still no specific minister that has been assigned by the
• 7:54
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Canadian government to deal with issues pertaining to accessibility.
• 8:01
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: What does this really mean?
• 8:03
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: For I will tell you, I am a Mark Carney fan,
• 8:09
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: but that doesn't mean I'm not gonna call out his government for still not having
• 8:15
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: assigned a designated minister to deal with accessibility
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: issues.
• 8:22
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Left out or left behind? Or if he has assigned a minister,
• 8:27
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I'd like someone to tell me, and I would apologize.
• 8:30
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I'm not afraid to do that.
• 8:33
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Left out or left behind? What is it?
• 8:38
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Please write to me at donnajodhan, D-O-N-N-A-J-O-D-H-A-N,
• 8:44
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: @gmail.com and let me know your thoughts, okay?
• 8:49
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: All right.
• 8:51
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Here's my story of the month, okay?
• 8:56
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: For someone who used Our Mental Stretch
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: to deal with the situation of no compassion in the workplace.
• 9:06
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: This person had multiple disabilities. They were not just vision impaired,
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: but they were also hard of hearing.
• 9:15
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And unfortunately,
• 9:16
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: management and several fellow employees did not show any compassion in
• 9:22
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: the workplace.
• 9:24
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So this person asked me not to give their name.
• 9:29
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I'd love to, but they told me or asked me not to.
• 9:34
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Told me that they came across Our Mental Stretch with Donna podcast
• 9:40
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: and decided to say, you know, why not?
• 9:44
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Let's use it. Let's see what happens.
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So what they did is they used the mental stretch.
• 9:50
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And what is the mental stretch all about?
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: It is using the different senses to generate
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: responses
• 10:02
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: when the body is called upon, and it helps to refresh,
• 10:06
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: regurgitate,
• 10:09
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: rejuvenate, renew.
• 10:12
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So it works like this. So if, for example,
• 10:16
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: you have something you want to
• 10:20
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: deal with, you can either sit in your chair,
• 10:24
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: or lie in bed,
• 10:26
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: or sit anywhere that is quiet. Next, you choose a sense.
• 10:31
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Probably let's go with the sense of smell for this one.
• 10:35
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: You could use a sense of smell, sense of touch, sense of taste,
• 10:40
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: sense of sight, sense of hearing, okay?
• 10:44
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So we're gonna use a sense of smell.
• 10:47
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: They concentrate on a favorite smell, okay?
• 10:51
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So let's say smell of lavender. I'm choosing one of my favorite smells.
• 10:56
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: They start inhaling
• 11:01
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: a small,
• 11:03
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: not container. What's the word that I'm looking for?
• 11:07
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Vial of
• 11:10
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: lavender, okay?
• 11:12
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Or they pretend that they are smelling lavender.
• 11:18
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: What this does,
• 11:19
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: it starts to send different messages to different parts of the body,
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  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: and soon you find yourself really into it,
• 11:28
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: really stretching the mental capacity.
• 11:32
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So it starts with the body getting involved, okay?
• 11:37
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: You start with your toes, then your feet,
• 11:41
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: your ankles, your legs, your knees, your thighs, your tummy,
• 11:45
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: your back, way up to the
• 11:48
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: head and the brain.
• 11:50
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And the brain soon starts telling these various parts of the body,
• 11:55
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: "Hey, wake up.
• 11:58
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: You have work to do." All right?
• 12:01
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: So you can feel the entire experience starting with
• 12:07
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: toes and going up.
• 12:10
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: All right? Or you can start with the brain. Let's start with the brain.
• 12:13
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: The brain is always the place where you start. You start there,
• 12:17
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: and your sense of smell starts to stimulate the brain.
• 12:22
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And soon the brain is sending messages all throughout your body.
• 12:27
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: This is what my mental stretch is all about.
• 12:31
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And I have an announcement to make in that coming in January,
• 12:35
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: we are going to refresh Your Mental Stretch with Donna,
• 12:40
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: and we're going to have a brand-new way
• 12:45
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: of doing mental stretches. It's exciting.
• 12:49
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: I can't wait to start it.
• 12:51
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: And it's with a very experienced co-host who has
• 12:57
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: written lots of songs,
• 13:00
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: sells them online, is into using music therapy.
• 13:06
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Two more months, and you will hear from us.
• 13:10
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: That's it for me for this week, everybody. Thank you very much for tuning in.
• 13:15
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Have a great day, and we'll see you again very soon.
• 13:20
  Donna J. Jodhan, LLB, ACSP, MBA: Bye for now.
• 13:25
  Podcast Commentator: Donna wants to hear from you and invites you to write to her at
• 13:28
  Podcast Commentator: donnajodhan@gmail.com.
• 13:31
  Podcast Commentator: Until next time.