Losing your hearing is hard enough. Losing your hearing two weeks into new motherhood forces you to rebuild everything at once. We sit down with Tiffany Storrs, an actor, best-selling author, and award-winning advocate for hidden disabilities, to talk about what happens after sudden hearing loss, what people get wrong about deafness, and how she learned to live between two soundscapes with cochlear implants and the support she needs to stay safe and connected.

We dig into Tiffany’s book “Adaptability,” her true story of transforming pain into purpose, and the practical reframe that keeps her moving: stop getting stuck on “why me” and start asking “what next.” She breaks down her “next 200 feet” approach to accepting a new disability, trying communication options like hearing aids, cochlear implants, and ASL, and refusing to confuse overwhelm with incapability. Her perspective is honest and specific, built on lived experience rather than feel-good slogans.

Then we go straight at the systems that still shut deaf people out: the lack of deaf speakers at conferences, the “too expensive” excuse, and the exhausting moment when someone says “you don’t look deaf” or decides you’re “not disabled enough.” Tiffany also shares what accessibility in the entertainment industry should actually mean, why inclusive casting can’t be tokenism, and how productions can build accommodations in from day one so disabled artists can focus on great work, not constant negotiation.

If you care about disability advocacy, deaf representation, hidden disabilities, workplace accessibility, and inclusive media, this conversation will give you language, insight, and a sharper lens. Subscribe, share this with someone who needs it, and leave a review to help more listeners find Access Chat.

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A conference can be “accessible” on paper and still feel stressful, chaotic, and exclusionary in the moments that matter most: when a speaker is nervous, the backstage team is overloaded, and the schedule starts slipping minute by minute. We dig into the missing layer of event accessibility that rarely gets discussed, the tools and practices that support speakers and production crews so the audience actually gets the full experience they came for.

We sit down with Eyal Simko, founder of CueTime, to talk about building the world’s first confidence monitor with a built-in stage timer and why that design choice changes everything. We get specific about stage communication: separating speaker notes from timing cues, avoiding intrusive overlays, and replacing aggressive flashing timers with calmer “glow” signals that keep presenters focused. We also connect this to neurodiversity and cognitive load, including how clear visual cues like progress bars can help speakers with ADHD, dyslexia, or anyone dealing with high stress under bright lights.

Then we go backstage, where accessibility also means workplace inclusion. Eyal explains how preloading cues and show structure into a system can reduce handoff anxiety, help newer technicians step in with confidence, and prevent “time creep” that steals Q and A and shortchanges later speakers. If you care about inclusive conferences, event production, speaker coaching, assistive technology, and better live event management, this conversation is packed with practical takeaways.

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A treaty negotiated by 193 countries, approved on our guest’s birthday, and powerful enough to flip the global story of disability from “medical problem” to “human rights obligation” is not supposed to have a personal plot twist, but this one does. Ambassador Luis Gallegos joins us to unpack the CRPD’s legacy, the diplomacy behind it, and the lesson that still drives everything: the people most affected must lead the room.

We also dig into the political reality. Luis explains the early US opposition, the unexpected influence of a conversation with Barbara Bush, and what it meant to witness President Obama sign the Convention. From there, we pivot to what may be the fastest-moving lever of inclusion: accessible technology. We talk G3ICT, why Article 9 made ICT accessibility unavoidable, and how AI, robotics, and inclusive design could expand independence and participation if we build them responsibly.

Then the conversation widens to the next global rights frontier: aging. Luis describes how the pandemic exposed what “living with dignity” really means, especially for people who died without it, and why ageism is not a side issue when the world is getting older. We explore the demographic shift, the urgency for the global south, and the push for a UN convention on the human rights of older persons, anchored in one clear principle: dignity across the lifespan, including the possibility of dying with dignity.

Subscribe for more conversations on accessibility, disability rights, inclusive technology, and aging, and if this sparked something for you, share it and leave a review. What would dignity-first policy look like where you live?

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