Discovering Disabilities in Dearborn: Recent Episodes
Disabilities Research Education and Advocacy Movement (DREAM)
Join us for weekly episodes as we redefine and discover what it means to have a disability, focusing on our hometown community in Dearborn, Michigan. Listen to our guests share their stories about living with a disability - celebrate their success, achievements, and understand their hardships. We hope to offer a platform for people with disabilities to share their stories and get various types of perspectives about disabilities in Dearborn and the larger Arab American culture in the hopes that we can raise awareness about disabilities among Arab Americans.
We had the pleasure of sitting down with Hind Omar, an aspiring lawyer and strong advocate for people with disabilities. Hind is legally blind and has grown up with various experiences navigating her disability, from receiving too many accommodations to having to prove herself and worth so she can be considered an equal. We learn more about her accommodation experiences, being an advocate for yourself, and how to better treat people with disabilities.
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Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
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In our next episode we talked with Aimee and Christina from Services to Enhance Potential, also known as STEP. STEP is a non-profit organizations with various programs and initiatives to serve the disabilities community in the larger Southeast Michigan area and focus on helping people with disabilities gain employment and achieve satisfaction with their work. Aimee and Christina oversee a number of programs within STEP and have helped countless individuals during their time with the organization, watch or listen to the episode to learn more about all the work they do and the resources available.
For more information, to get involved with, or any questions about STEP, you can contact Aimee at aszabo@stepcentral.org.
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Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
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To kick off the rest of Season 2, we had the chance to talk with Ali Alabbas. Ali owns a media production company, Insight Media Productions and is a member of the non-profit organization, Talk To Muslims, which focuses on providing support to the local Muslim community and empowering individuals to develop their skills and passions.Along with all of this, he is a loving father to a son with autism and just last year, he and his wife decided to take a life-changing step and go to Panama to get his son stem cell therapy to help treat the symptoms of his autism. Tune in to our mid-season premiere to learn more about this emerging therapy and how Ali has navigated his life as a father, from wanting a sense of normalcy for his son, finding community resources, and accepting his son for who he is, no matter what others might have to say.Background music:Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/Promoted by https://bit.ly/2Z816AaCreative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
For the mid-season finale, we sat down with Dearborn Mayor Abdullah Hammoud to discuss what work is being done at the city-level for individuals with disabilities and what we can expect to see in the coming years. Mayor Hammoud comes from a public health background and has worked extensively to advocate for Dearborn and ensure everyone has the resources and accommodations they need to succeed. Listen in to hear our conversation on upcoming changes in the city and the work being done to provide individuals with disabilities more accommodations.
Background music:
Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
Promoted by https://bit.ly/2Z816Aa
Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
Amanda Ibrahim Bannoura, a proud mother and passionate writer. Amanda was diagnosed with a learning disability in first grade and because of the lack of awareness and visibility, immediately felt different from her classmates. Listen to Amanda's story to learn more about learning disabilities and better understand the experiences associated with them and how she was able to overcome all this to have a successful career. And tune in for a short excerpt from a book she's working on!
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Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
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Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
In this episode we are joined by Danny Anouti, pharmacist and founder of Panacea Compounding Pharmacy, a pharmacy dedicated to a holistic approach at medicine that creates custom prescriptions to suit each patient's needs. We discuss Danny's Multiple Sclerosis diagnosis at age 15, the effect it had on his life from walking to ultimately founding his own pharmacy to fill the gap he found in patient treatment for autoimmune disorders, like MS.
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Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
Promoted by https://bit.ly/2Z816Aa
Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
Join us for our conversation with Sallah Mohamed, as we discuss how he became a paraplegic doing something he enjoyed and the change that has had on his life - from strengthening his relationships and allowing him to start focusing on the most important things in his life.
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Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
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Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
In this episode we are joined by Ibrahim Hamed and his mother, Yasmeen. Ibrahim was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and autism early on in his life. In this episode Yasmeen talks about Ibrahim's journey growing up with disabilities. We get to know Ibrahim on a more personal level.
Background music:
Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
Promoted by https://bit.ly/2Z816Aa
Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
For our Season 1 finale we had the pleasure of speaking with Sarah Nassar, a law student at the University of Detroit Mercy and long-time advocate for people with disabilities. Sarah was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at a young age, which has shaped her life and experiences and become a huge advocate for disabilities from working towards better accommodations and inclusivity and one day hoping to enact change through law.
Our conversation focuses on the progression of muscular dystrophy, law and disability, accommodations and discrimination in education, travel, advocating for change, and more.
Make sure to follow us on Instagram @dreamdearborn to stay updated on our initiatives during this break and to find out when Season 2 will be released!
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Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
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Mohamad Harb, a graduate student, with a Bachelor's degree in psychology joins us today to talk about his hearing disability. Throughout his childhood Mohamad developed hearing loss and gradually lost his hearing in both of his ears. This has shaped many of his experiences in life and we talk about his school accommodations, the deaf and hearing community, the prevalence of hearing disabilities, and his professional art career. Check out his art page on Instagram @hammoudiharbart.
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Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
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Today we had a conversation with Corporal Brent King from the Dearborn Police Department, a well-known advocate for people with disabilities especially in the Dearborn community. We met him through a Blue Hands United Event for autism, representing the Dearborn Police Department. Cpl. King has worked on starting many initiatives within the Police Department to help accommodate and better understand the needs of those with disabilities and is hoping to expand these programs to other departments and groups.
We focused our conversation on what the Police Department can do for people with disabilities, their current initiatives to help them, as well as any future and potential initiatives to better help them, how they are treated by police offers, and what resources are available to people with disabilities by the department.
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Background music:
Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
Promoted by https://bit.ly/2Z816Aa
Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
We had the pleasure of speaking with Mariam Alaouie, co-founder of Blue Hands United and Autism Behavioral Specialist at a local school district. Blue Hands United is a nonprofit organization that was created to help support families affected by autism, something dear to Mariam as a mom of 3 sons - 2 of whom have autism.
Our conservation focused on the founding of Blue Hands United and the work they do in the community, raising kids with autism, parent involvement, community resources, and more.
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Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
Promoted by https://bit.ly/2Z816Aa
Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
We're joined by Jamila Sareini, a third year medical student, and Hassan Ayoub, an elcectrical engineer, in our latest episode to discuss parenting a newborn with a disability. Their son, Haidar, is now a year old and was born with Down Syndrome, which has caused many changes to their lives and has changed their perspective on things. Our conversation focuses on community resources, advocating for children with disabilities, medical care, and the communitiy's view on parents of children with disabilities.
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Background music:
Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
Promoted by https://bit.ly/2Z816Aa
Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
In this episode we talk with Wahbeh Nuseibeh, owner of @elegance_florals on Instagram, a current student at Wayne State University working toward his Bachelor's degree in special education, and a student teacher at Henry Ford Elementary.
We discuss Wahbeh's disability, Spina Bifida, and his experiences growing up with it, education accommodations, adaptive technologies, traveling with a wheelchair, how disabilities are viewed in the Middle East, and advocacy.
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Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
Promoted by https://bit.ly/2Z816Aa
Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
Tune in to hear the rest of the conversation with Sayed Qazwini. We end our conversation with a discussion on the accommodations mosques should offer, attitudes and mentalities towards disabilities, and more.
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Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
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Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
Dearborn, Michigan is home to one of the largest Muslim populations in America. In this two-part episode, we speak with special guest, Sayed Mohammad Baqer Qazwini, to get a nuanced view of the Islamic perspective on disabilities. Sayed Qazwini graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Art in Sociology and is currently a scholar at the Islamic Institute of America, as well as an instructor and founder of the Al-Hujjah Islamic Seminary.
Throughout the episode, we discuss how various Islamic laws apply to disabilities, accommodations mosques should offer, attitudes and mentalities towards disabilities, and attending the Islamic Pilgrimage with a disability.
Background music:
Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
Promoted by https://bit.ly/2Z816Aa
Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
In our first episode of the show, we talk with Abe Obeid, better known as Halal Food Junkie, a foodie in the metro Detroit area. Growing up with his twin brother Acky, who has a cognitive disability, has shaped many of Abe's life experiences, including the way he runs his social media pages and his passion for giving back to the community.
Our conversation centers around the story of Abe and Acky; their home environment, deep bond growing up, struggles with mental health, suicide, marriage, and much more.
Background music:
Jazz Music by Bensound https://www.bensound.com/
Promoted by https://bit.ly/2Z816Aa
Creative Commons — CC BY 4.0 https://goo.gl/9ezBZw
We're excited to share the trailer of our upcoming podcast! Tune in to learn more about our team, goals, and mission.
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- IlyaSound on Adobe Stock
- ♪ Marshmellow (Prod. by Lukrembo) Link : https://youtu.be/y7KYdqVND4o