0:09

Welcome to to True Tales by Disability

0:11

Advocates, authentic voices

0:13

of people thriving with disabilities.

0:16

Where individuals use the art of storytelling

0:19

to change the world. The

0:21

True Tales by Disability Advocates podcast

0:24

is produced by Art Spark, Texas Speaking

0:26

Advocates Program. Keep listening

0:29

to hear how life's challenges can spark

0:31

a desire to speak out and advocate

0:33

for themselves and others.

0:40

Welcome to "The Next Generation Showcase,"

0:42

a Season Two special bonus

0:45

episode of True Tales by Disability

0:47

Advocates. The podcast

0:49

where Advocates harness the power of storytelling

0:52

to bring community to their peers and

0:54

hope to develop empathy and others.

0:57

A team of Disability Advocates

0:59

creates True Tales to give disabled

1:01

storytellers the opportunity to

1:03

share their personal stories and lived

1:06

experiences in their authentic

1:08

voices. We offer our

1:10

unique and often underrepresented

1:13

perspective to the growing community

1:15

of podcast listeners worldwide.

1:18

Did you know that according to the CDC,

1:20

one in four Americans are disabled?

1:23

That's about 61 million adults with

1:25

61 million experiences

1:27

and points of view about what it means

1:30

to live in a world not designed for you. Recognizing

1:33

that everyone's life is enriched by the

1:35

inclusion of multiple voices, Art

1:38

Spark Texas has been training Disability

1:40

Advocates as storytellers for over 20

1:42

years. The stories

1:45

featured in this episode are

1:47

written by fledgling storytellers

1:50

aged between 18 to 21

1:52

years old, living in and around

1:54

Austin. They all completed

1:56

our latest training, funded in part

1:59

by a GTOPs grant, the Grant for

2:01

Technology Opportunities Program.

2:04

The focus of GOPTS is to increase

2:06

the use of digital and communication

2:08

technology devices, increase

2:10

knowledge and skills of digital and communications

2:13

technologies, and increase access

2:15

to and usage of the internet.

2:18

If you are a regular listener, you'll

2:20

notice a change from our

2:23

regular story slash interview

2:25

format. For the first time,

2:27

this episode includes more than

2:29

two stories, just stories, no interviews.

2:32

You'll get to hear seven short stories

2:34

with topics ranging from Self-acceptance

2:37

to Crunchy Barbecue Crickets,

2:39

as well as Family, Belonging, Speaking

2:42

up and Passions for Zombie Movies

2:44

and Exercise. We had

2:46

so much fun working with these young

2:48

folks and we are honored to share

2:51

with you the work of these talented

2:53

storytellers. So, I'm

2:56

proud to welcome you to the Next

2:58

Generation Showcase, starring

3:00

Adrian, Maddison, Miranda,

3:03

Julio, Chloe, Abie,

3:05

and Dezi Enjoy!

3:16

My name is Adrian Hernandez,

3:19

and this is my story "It, it's

3:21

Important to Speak Up". It's important

3:23

to speak up when something is not

3:25

right. Uh, we can speak up

3:27

for our environment by picking up

3:29

trash. I always speak

3:31

up when I see someone abusing or

3:34

hurting an animal. I, I

3:36

always speak up when I see some, someone

3:38

being a bully. When I saw a guy

3:40

hitting my friend over the head with a paper

3:42

towel roll, uh, it was, it

3:44

was so mean and random. It really

3:47

made me, it made me really mad

3:49

and angry. When I'm, when I'm

3:51

angry, I usually use

3:54

calming techniques like, like going for

3:56

a walk or, or, or calming

3:58

breaths, but but

4:00

this, but this wasn't the time to calm

4:02

down. This was time to take action.

4:05

I spoke up from my friend. I told the bully,

4:07

"Dude do not bully her. She did not do

4:09

anything to you. And what

4:11

you are doing is not cool." I,

4:14

I speak up from, I speak up when I

4:16

feel upset or stressed about something.

4:19

Uh, it's pretty rare that my, that

4:21

my feelings get hurt, but it does happen

4:24

and, and when it does, I try

4:26

to speak up. I advocate

4:28

for, for myself when I, when I need something.

4:31

I, I spoke up for myself

4:33

when I needed help on an, on

4:35

an assignment in school. I speak

4:38

up for myself when I'm not sure what to do.

4:40

When I need advice, I, I can

4:42

turn to my older sister. Uh,

4:45

it's, it's important to speak up when

4:47

some, when something is not right. It's

4:49

important to speak up if you can.

5:02

My name is Maddison Marrufo

5:04

and this is my story

5:07

"The Start of Finding my Truth."

5:09

I remember when I liked to

5:12

hang out with my friends, Ella

5:14

and Megan. I,

5:16

I would go to their house

5:19

on the other side of Austin and

5:22

we'd watched TV

5:24

and played games.

5:27

Usually I loved hanging out

5:29

with them because I felt safe,

5:32

and they gave me new

5:34

experiences. But

5:36

back then there were hard things

5:39

in my life, and that

5:41

day I was feeling kind of lost

5:43

and alone. Megan

5:46

and Ella noticed I was acting

5:48

weird and that I wasn't being myself.

5:51

Megan asked me, Are

5:54

you okay?" And I

5:56

said, "I do not know how I

5:58

feel." I was really embarrassed

6:00

to tell them how I really felt,

6:03

because we were supposed to have

6:05

fun and also I

6:07

thought that they

6:09

wouldn't understand. Then

6:12

Ella said, "Hey Madison,

6:15

do you wanna know a secret?" My

6:17

heart started pounding. I felt

6:19

really honored, because

6:22

they wanted to include me. And

6:25

I felt like well, I belonged

6:28

and I smiled and I said, "Yes,

6:31

please." Then

6:33

she said, "There's a place we like to

6:35

go to, to share our secrets.

6:39

Wanna come to our secret place?"

6:41

I felt so safe, so

6:44

welcomed I said, "Sure,

6:47

where is it?" Together we

6:49

went outside. It was a beautiful,

6:52

warm day, not too hot.

6:55

The garden was very magical and

6:57

floral and pretty, and

6:59

as soon as I stepped outside,

7:02

I felt so relaxed and

7:05

so welcomed. I love

7:08

being outside in nature

7:10

because it makes me feel so

7:12

much better. And I love

7:15

the sound of the wind and

7:17

the smell of the flowers

7:20

Ella and Megan led me through their yard

7:22

and to the corner, there

7:25

was a wooden table and chairs.

7:28

They told me that

7:30

they like to have tea parties and

7:33

be together. We sat there

7:35

for quite a while, then

7:37

Megan said, "Please tell us

7:39

what's going on Madison." I

7:42

was still very afraid to tell

7:44

them I was so scared to be

7:46

honest, but so

7:48

I just went for it and did it

7:50

anyway. I wanted

7:52

to be honest, so

7:55

I said, "Well,

7:57

I mean, I'm feeling a bit

7:59

lost right now and

8:02

alone and scared." And

8:05

Ella said, You are not

8:07

alone." And Megan said,

8:09

"You have us."

8:12

That was when I started to remember

8:15

the truth that I was

8:17

never lost. I was

8:20

never alone. Cause no matter

8:22

what's happening, I

8:25

have friends that love me

8:27

for who I am and

8:29

my friends love me for

8:31

me no matter what.

8:34

I just need to remember to have faith.

8:37

And I realized that they had

8:39

faith in me as

8:41

well. I started

8:44

to learn that who I

8:46

am is enough

8:49

and I started to

8:52

find my truth and

8:54

my self acceptance. I

8:57

don't feel like I need to

8:59

hide myself. I do not

9:01

need to pretend to be someone else.

9:04

I know that

9:06

I'm a part of this world and

9:09

that I can't hide

9:12

my voice forever. My voice

9:14

matters. I can't

9:17

hide who I am

9:19

anymore!

9:39

um, My name

9:41

is Miranda and

9:44

the title of my story is "Travel

9:46

With Family". I

9:49

love being with my family.

9:52

We go on family

9:54

trips to different places

9:58

every year. Once

10:00

we took a trip to

10:03

Kansas City for an

10:05

Easter feast and to

10:08

visit my uncle

10:10

and cousins. The

10:12

weather was pretty

10:14

cool up there, but not

10:17

terrible cold. I

10:20

walked into the house and I

10:22

could smell a baked ham and

10:24

candied sweet potatoes. That's my

10:27

dad's favorite, he used

10:29

to like to eat that

10:31

when he was little. My

10:33

uncle and aunt, my Grandma

10:36

and Grandfather, two

10:38

siblings and my two cousins

10:41

were there. It

10:43

was chaotic at

10:45

the house because my

10:48

cousins were young and

10:50

playing around My

10:53

uncle and aunt want to

10:55

get a therapy dog for

10:58

one of my cousins,

11:01

to help him with his

11:03

"Special Needs". After

11:06

we had Easter lunch,

11:09

we hunted for eggs inside

11:12

and out of the house. To

11:15

see, my uncle made me

11:17

feel happy, but

11:19

his dog had passed

11:21

away that year, and

11:24

that made him sad. Another

11:28

time when we went

11:30

on a trip to Waco, Texas

11:33

we were staying during

11:35

the day, and come back

11:37

before it got dark.

11:40

I was able to

11:42

see my other uncle's

11:45

dog and his cat. Our

11:48

dog Nugget,

11:50

the pug was, unfortunately

11:53

not there because we

11:55

didn't bring him on the trip.

11:58

The first thing that I

12:01

did when I got to Waco

12:03

was go out to eat

12:05

for my cousin's birthday, at

12:07

their favorite burger restaurant.

12:10

After dinner, we went

12:12

to the house, I

12:15

went outside and

12:17

played with the beautiful

12:19

big dogs, Jack and Charlie.

12:22

Charlie is brownish red,

12:24

Jack is black. Then

12:27

we watched movies

12:29

with my cousins at home. It

12:32

was about a horse

12:35

called Spirit. My

12:37

cousin forced us

12:39

to watch it three times

12:41

on repeat. I

12:44

love animals. I love

12:46

taking road trips and

12:48

I love being around my

12:51

family. I am so

12:53

lucky to have so many

12:56

family members to visit

12:58

in so many different places,

13:01

with so many different animals.

13:21

My name is Julio Solismilam.

13:24

The name my story is

13:27

"Zombie Movies and Me." I

13:30

am a human. I feel

13:33

happy. I want

13:35

a job for a goal. I

13:38

offer friendship. At

13:40

work I am important.

13:44

At work I feel happy

13:46

when I am cleaning.

13:50

I want to keep working

13:52

at Galaxy Movie Theater

13:54

because I love Zombie

13:57

movies. Since

13:59

I was a baby, I

14:01

liked Zombies. Zombie

14:04

movies are some of

14:06

my favorite movies. Zombie

14:09

movies do not scare me at

14:11

all, they actually

14:14

make me excited. I

14:16

started watching Disney Zombie

14:19

movies when I was around

14:21

15. This

14:23

series of zombie movies

14:26

is my favorite. I

14:28

loved it right away.

14:31

I knew I was

14:34

going to like them

14:36

as much as I

14:38

like Disney. I

14:40

like to watch these movies

14:43

both by myself

14:45

and with my family.

14:48

I usually watch

14:50

them in the living

14:52

room or in my bedroom

14:56

On July 15th, 2022

14:59

I saw "Zombie 3" on

15:01

Disney plus at home.

15:04

The characters are Zeb

15:06

and Addison. These

15:09

characters make me feel happy

15:11

because I have seen them

15:14

in Zombies One and Two.

15:16

In Zombies Three Addison

15:19

leaves Seabrook, her hometown,

15:22

and that part made

15:25

me sad. A song called

15:27

"Some Day" starts playing and

15:30

Addison starts to cry because

15:32

she miss her friends.

15:34

It makes me feel sad because

15:37

I feel her emotions. I

15:39

have missed my friends before,

15:42

and I know how

15:44

that feels. My

15:46

dream is to be

15:49

a character in one

15:52

of these Zombie movies.

15:55

I would want to be

15:57

one of the wolf characters

16:00

in the wolf pack. They

16:02

act like a wolf and howl

16:05

at the moon. They

16:07

are good guys. They help

16:10

find the Moonstone before

16:13

it is destroyed. I

16:15

like to help others

16:18

too. I found

16:20

out that I liked

16:22

to draw after I

16:25

had seen my first Zombie

16:27

movie. I have

16:29

made drawings of all

16:32

the Zombie movies. I

16:35

drew them with my colored

16:37

pencils. The characters

16:40

in my drawing are Adison,

16:43

Ali and Alison. Alison

16:45

is an alien, she has

16:48

blue hair like in the

16:50

movie. I am

16:53

Julio. I am a

16:55

human who loves Zombie

16:57

movies. I miss

16:59

my friends sometimes. I

17:02

like to help people. I

17:04

offer to be kind

17:06

to others in my life. I

17:09

am happy. I am doing

17:11

good.

17:31

My name is Chloe Rodriguez, and

17:34

this is my story "Belonging". A

17:37

long time ago, I went to

17:39

my middle school Fancy

17:41

Dress Halloween Dance. I

17:44

was just going to

17:47

go as myself, but

17:49

my mom said, "No way,

17:52

we are going to find

17:55

you a great costume!"

17:58

And in the end I

18:00

went as Chucky's Bride. I

18:03

went with my friends Zoe, Hector,

18:06

Gloria, Ariana, Juan

18:08

and Matthew. We were waiting

18:11

outside to get in,

18:13

but there was a tinsey problem,

18:16

we needed ID and tickets

18:19

to get in, and I realized

18:22

I didn't have either.

18:25

Then we figured out

18:28

that my mom had my

18:30

ID and she could pay

18:33

for the tickets. The

18:36

dance was held in

18:38

the cafeteria. It's

18:40

a big room that is

18:43

usually full of

18:45

rounds of tables, but

18:48

they move them off to

18:50

the side and

18:53

made room for us to

18:55

dance in

18:57

the middle. They had

18:59

a DJ and brought in

19:01

party lights. It looks really

19:04

cool. I noticed there

19:06

were some people being,

19:09

you know, party poopers, hanging

19:11

out on the sides, but

19:14

my friends and I

19:16

were there to have

19:18

fun. The DJ was

19:21

playing really cool music, so

19:24

we went onto

19:26

the dance floor and started

19:29

dancing and having fun. We

19:32

were dancing and

19:34

laughing and having fun, in

19:37

that moment I felt like

19:39

I belong and I felt happy.

19:42

I am so gra... grateful

19:46

to have friends like that

19:48

in my life. I'm so

19:50

grateful to have a place where

19:52

I feel like I belong.

20:10

My name's Abigair... My

20:12

name's Abie Tiburcio and

20:15

this is my story

20:17

"Music Baking". I

20:20

love to bake. I

20:23

like listening to

20:25

music when I

20:28

bake. I like Cumbia

20:30

music, that is

20:33

Happy. Bake and

20:35

listening to music make

20:39

for feel exciting,

20:41

proud, and happy.

20:44

Let me tell you the

20:47

time when I

20:49

need to bake a cake

20:52

for my friend Clifton.

20:55

I wanted to bake

20:58

him a pink

21:00

cake because pink

21:03

is Clifton's favorite

21:05

color. So

21:07

some people may

21:09

think that it's so weird for

21:11

a boy to like the

21:14

color pink, but

21:17

I think it's cool,

21:19

like that shirt

21:22

that says, "Real men

21:25

wear pink". My

21:27

family were there

21:29

while I bake. I

21:32

put on Kids Pop,

21:35

"Cumbia a la gente” and

21:38

we dance. Pop

21:40

Cumbia is fun

21:42

to bake with and

21:45

listening to music make

21:48

bake happy. Clifton

21:52

love his cake

21:54

and I was very

21:57

proud for the

21:59

the very colorful, colorful

22:03

birthday cake I

22:05

bake for him. My

22:08

family listen to Cumbia

22:11

music. My family

22:14

love, eat cake and dance.

22:26

My name is Dezi

22:28

Villasana and

22:31

this is my story, "To

22:34

Eat, Jump Rope and

22:36

Family Time." Two

22:39

things of my favorite things

22:41

are food and

22:43

exercise. The

22:45

strangest thing

22:48

I ever eaten was

22:50

a dead barbecue

22:52

cricket for a snack. It

22:54

was very crunchy, but not

22:56

that bad. In fact, it

22:59

was really good, kind of tasty.

23:03

Oh yeah, I would eat that

23:05

again. I love to

23:07

go out to eat. I,

23:09

I don't really like cooking,

23:12

if I could I

23:14

would always eat out. I

23:17

like to try lots

23:19

of different foods. My

23:22

favorite type of food is

23:25

P. Terry's Bacon

23:27

Cheeseburger and fries. I

23:29

love, I love everything about

23:32

it. I love the

23:34

way it feels when I

23:36

take my first bite and

23:39

the ketchup squishes

23:41

out sideways all over

23:43

my fingers. When

23:46

I was young, I liked to jump

23:48

rope. I was

23:50

given my first jump

23:53

rope for my, sixth

23:55

birthday from my mom. I

23:58

would jump rope outside,

24:01

inside, anywhere.

24:03

When I jump rope

24:06

it makes me feel excited

24:08

and happy. I like

24:11

to think about nothing

24:14

and just focus on

24:17

the exercise. When

24:19

I jump rope I don't

24:21

really get tired, I feel

24:24

like I can jump rope

24:26

all day. I

24:28

really like exercise.

24:31

I like to go for a walk

24:33

with my mom and dad and

24:35

sometimes we

24:39

run and lift

24:41

weights and I do

24:43

pushups, but

24:45

my jump rope is my favorite.

24:48

I really like spending

24:50

time with my parents

24:53

exercising. When

24:55

we exercise together

24:58

I get excited.

25:01

Excercise can

25:04

be hard but it

25:06

feels like I have

25:08

more energy in my

25:10

body. After I finish

25:13

exercising, I slow down,

25:16

go inside, drink some

25:18

water until I

25:20

feel like I can do

25:22

it all over again. The

25:25

best thing about food

25:27

and exercising, is

25:29

that I can hang out

25:32

with my parents. My

25:34

parents are smart,

25:38

loving, wonderful, confident,

25:40

and fun to be

25:42

around. They are

25:45

the most amazing parents

25:48

I ever had in my life. I

25:50

Feel so lucky to have

25:53

my parents that enjoy

25:55

the things I love to do. Yeah!

26:13

You've been listening to The True tales

26:15

by Disability Advocates Podcast.

26:18

"The Next Generation Showcase" was hosted,

26:21

edited and mixed, by Me, MsBoye.

26:23

Jerry Slayton Thank you for

26:25

creating such a great class, taking

26:27

on the role of producer and for help with

26:29

recording and as well as everything

26:32

to do with Digital Media Arts. Jerry

26:35

and I would like to thank Laney, Sam,

26:38

Mike, and Lori for everything

26:40

they did behind the scenes in the classrooms

26:43

to support the students with their stories

26:45

and set up the technology for

26:47

our recording sessions. We

26:49

also want to acknowledge our wonderful

26:52

Art Spark, Texas volunteers,

26:54

Emily and Sulith, for making

26:56

the classes accessible by

26:58

scribing the stories and helping the storytellers

27:02

edit their final drafts. To

27:05

our storytellers, we say thank

27:07

you for your enthusiasm and

27:09

hard work. We hope

27:11

you are as proud of this episode as

27:13

we are and please

27:15

keep writing. We can't wait

27:17

to hear more of your stories. We

27:20

hope you have enjoyed this glimpse into

27:22

the worlds of our storytellers. If

27:24

you heard your life reflected in their stories

27:27

or were touched by the content of this

27:29

episode, we'd love to hear from

27:31

you. Share your stories by posting

27:33

on our True Tales podcast Facebook

27:36

page, and the link will be in the show notes.

27:39

Please share this episode with your family members,

27:41

friends and communities or

27:44

rate our show, and leave us a review

27:46

on your favorite podcast platform. We're

27:49

on 'em all. Thanks

27:52

for listening to The True Tales by Disability

27:54

Advocates Podcast.

27:59

All episodes of the True Tales by Disability

28:01

Advocates are free on Apple podcasts,

28:04

Spotify, and anywhere you get

28:06

your podcasts. The program

28:08

is funded in part by a grant from

28:10

the Texas state independent living council,

28:13

the administration for community living and

28:16

individuals like you to

28:18

learn about The Speaking Advocates Program.

28:20

Sign up for our newsletter at Art

28:22

Spark, Tx.org. That's

28:25

A R T S P A R K

28:27

T X dot O R G.

28:30

The free virtual training is open to people

28:32

of all disabilities, no matter

28:35

where you live.