Brooke is joined by the amazing Jason, a disabled artist, who shares his journey of acquiring a disability and how it transformed his life. Jason discusses his experiences growing up in a working-class family, becoming disabled at a young age, and the challenges he faced in the care system. Despite the difficulties, Jason's resilience and sense of humour shine through as he navigates the art world and advocates for disability rights. The conversation delves into the importance of kindness, humour, and activism in the face of adversity. KEY TAKEAWAYS Jason uses art as a form of activism, creating pieces that convey powerful messages about disability rights and societal issues. You cannot overemphasise the importance of humour and kindness in navigating difficult situations and advocating for change. Jason highlights ongoing challenges with accessibility, including inaccessible venues and the need for reasonable adjustments. Jason draws inspiration from artists like Philip Guston and Frida Kahlo, using art as a medium to express personal experiences and societal commentary. BEST MOMENTS "I became disabled as well in 1980, which was apparent. I was told as well that it was the best year to become disabled because it was the international year of disability." "There's so much to be said from creating art, particularly from pain points in our life. And I think that it's really laudable for you to almost put that on display, because even though it might not look exactly how it was, you know, it's not like it's realism." "I always say, when I became disabled, it was a transformative experience. So very working class background, like I said, not much money, but I was introduced to education in a big way."  VALUABLE RESOURCES https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/disabled-and-proud/id1621152878 HOST BIO Disabled and Proud is the show that brings listeners a different perspective on disability. Each week this podcast highlights an awesome disabled guest speaking about their own disability; why they are proud to be disabled and why they are proud to be themselves.  The conversations in this show will look at what challenges these amazing people face socially, mentally, physically and life in general. This show is raw, open, honest, funny, welcoming and educational.  Disabled & Proud does exactly what it says on the tin! And whilst we are creating this space for disabled people to be unashamedly themselves, without the need to conform to society, this is also not about toxic positivity. This show will be shining a big, bright light on disability without it being “Paralympic or pity”.  As you will hear disability is WHOLE, COMPLETE & PERFECT and whilst the topic of disability can be quite heavy - and we definitely don't shy away from the bad days - this podcast is also about having fun too! Our aim is to play a part in reclaiming the word disability - turning it from inadequacy to perfection!INSTAGRAM! https://www.instagram.com/disabledandproudpodcast/?hl=en: https://www.instagram.com/disabledandproudpodcast/?hl=en