The Wrap by Michigan Medicine Headlines · Michigan Medicine Podcast Network

The Wrap - Starting the conversation about disability

·37 min·2 clips

Dan Ellman opens the show with Jeremy Fowles and points listeners back to earlier episodes of The Wrap, including last week's episode on Mental Health Awareness Month. They introduce an upcoming disability awareness event at Washtenaw Community College. Dr. Michelle Mead joins the conversation from Michigan Medicine. The event is titled "Let's Start the Conversation, Exploring Health and Resilience in Southeast Michigan's Disability Community." Mead explains that the aim is to celebrate the disability community while making space for connection and practical learning. She describes the event as a place where people can meet one another and learn what resources are out there. The hope is to build something that can grow each year, starting with a solid first step. The discussion then turns to Mead's own background and what first shaped her understanding of disability. She talks about close college friends with significant disabilities. One lived with severe juvenile rheumatoid arthritis. Another was a double amputee. Those relationships helped her see how much the environment can support or limit daily life. She recalls a conversation with a friend named Linda about not being able to find an accessible scale before surgery. That example leads into a broader problem in health care access. Mead says two-thirds of clinics and health systems do not have access to that kind of equipment. She calls that unacceptable for a health care system that is supposed to care for people with disabilities. Mead also reflects on working in Richmond and seeing how race, age, gender, and body type can shape the way people are treated in health care. She says providers often bring their own perceptions into the interaction. Those assumptions can narrow how they think about a patient and what they plan for that person. She shares a friend's experience of waking up after surgery to hear staff talking about sending her back to a nursing home rather than planning fully around her needs. The conversation makes clear that disability access is not only about ramps and equipment. It is also about respect, planning, and whether systems are willing to treat people as full participants in their own care. The episode closes by bringing the focus back to Michigan Medicine's broader mission of serving patients and families across Michigan and beyond.

As heard by us

A plainspoken conversation about disability, access, and what health systems still get wrong.

The piece gives a clear, plainspoken look at disability awareness through health care access, community ties, and the practical work of making systems easier to use. Dr.

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Why you'd press play

You want a plainspoken preview of a disability awareness event in southeast Michigan.

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