Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Episode Transcript

Transcript edited by Let’s Talk! Podcast Collective

Introduction to Let’s Talk! at Portland Community College

Asher: Thank you for tuning in to Let’s Talk!, Portland Community College’s broadcast about disability awareness. Let’s Talk is a space for students from Portland Community College experiencing disabilities to discuss perspectives, ideas, and worldviews in an inclusive and accessible environment. We broadcast biweekly on our home website, pcc.edu/dca, and bimonthly right here on KBOO 90.7 FM. Today is the first Friday of the month, so we’re coming to you live from KBOO Studio. As the reminder, the views and opinions expressed during this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Portland Community College, PCC Foundation, or KBOO FM. My name is Asher, and with me today are Miguel, Michelle, along with our special guest Jen Armbruster, executive director of Adaptive Sports Northwest. Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us today. 

Jen: Glad to be here. 

Michelle: Hello. 

Miguel: Good morning. 

Asher: Hi. 

Meet Jen Armbruster: Executive Director of Adaptive Sports Northwest

Asher: Well, uh, Jen, can you tell us a little bit about who you are and what you do? 

Jen: Sure. Um, I’m the executive director of Adaptive Sports Northwest, which is a nonprofit based out of Portland, Oregon, um, serving around the region. Uh, but we do basically recreational competitive opportunities in about 10 different ongoing sports and recreational activities ranging from wheelchair basketball to goal ball, archery, pickleball, track and field swimming, um, wheelchair rugby, you name it. We kind of have it, and that’s what we do. And we just provide opportunities, equipment, um, programming time, practice space, and coaches and volunteers to help run the programs throughout the year.

Asher: So, cool. 

Jen: That sounds fun. 

Michelle: Yeah. 

Adaptive Sports Northwest: Mission and Activities

Asher: Um, what is Adaptive Sports Northwest as an organization and what is its mission? 

Jen: Sure. So our mission is really to serve youth through adults, uh, with physical or visual disabilities, um, and meeting ’em where they’re at. So it might be folks that are wanting to try a sport for the first time, folks that wanna be competitive, even to the Paralympic athlete. Um, so we just are able to offer kind of a, a chance for folks to maybe try some things. As you know, affordability for adaptive equipment can be pretty costly. Mm-hmm. So we have over a hundred pieces of adaptive equipment ranging from hand cycles to sports chairs, tandem bikes, um, the goal ball goals, things like that. Um, that again, if you know a kid maybe trying basketball for the first time, maybe needs a new pair of shoes, that’s a lot different than a, a sports, you know, chair to play wheelchair basketball, that’s gonna cost three or five thousand dollars, right? 

Asher: Yeah, I know it’s expensive. 

Jen: So we, we, yeah, so we’re just providing opportunities for folks to, to, to, to enjoy sport and recreational activities. Um, but like I said, we have a lot of the equipment, we have the practice facilities, things like that for folks to be able to try that and, and recreate. And our biggest thing is really to build community. Um, I get folks that, you know, from a mentoring standpoint too, um, a lot of our adults help with the younger activities and different things. So it’s just providing that opportunity. We also go into schools, um, and provide a school networking program as well for folks to be able to, you know, maybe a kid with a disability in, in their PE class, right? So we are able to provide those options and those equipment for folks to be able to use that, utilize that sports chair, you know, for their basketball unit or their pickleball unit. Um, and we’re always there as well, just to help kind of guide, um, you know, and just think outta the box a little bit on how to make adaptations accessible for kids. 

Asher: That’s very cool. 

Jen: That is really cool. 

Asher: Yeah. I feel like I’m gonna be asking, or we’re also gonna be asking a lot of questions as far as like, terminology for these different equipments. 

Jen: Sure. 

Asher: ’cause, 

Jen: yep. 

Asher: Uh, I’ve never heard of any of these things before. . 

Jen: All good. 

Michelle: Yeah, same. 

Jen: Absolutely. 

Asher: Um, yeah. How did you end up joining them, like? Yeah. 

Jen: So I moved to the Portland area in 2010. Um, took a job at Portland State University as their inclusive rec, person enjoy starting the, at the campus rec, you know, at Portland State University, we’re the first time to hire kind of full-time staff to run that program, get that, you know, kind of in, in line with things. So everything from our rec center to offering actual wheelchair, as a college. So that was kind of what brought me to the, the Portland area. Um, I knew the executive director at the time, Tricia Sewer, through her husband, who was the assistant wheelchair rugby coach for the USA team. Um, I was a Paralympic athlete myself, and so our paths had crossed. So when I moved to Portland, I went, “Hey, you should have a goal ball program.” And they said, okay. Um, they were known mostly for their wheelchair sports, um, kind of going in. So we, you know, my background was kind of on the, the blind, visually impaired side, as well as just other ambulatory sports and wheelchair sports coming from Lake Shore Foundation in Birmingham. So I kinda made my way out here. Um, we were Oregon Disability Sports at the time. and so that’s kind of how I got my start with them. I was a volunteer. Um, I coached, I was an athlete, served on the board for a few years, became the executive director in September of 2022. 

Asher: That is quite the journey.

Jen: Yeah. It’s a little bit of a journey. Yeah. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: So, 

Jen’s Journey to the Paralympics

Asher: With that, like we heard that you, you were in the Paralympics. 

Jen: Yeah. 

Asher: Can you tell us a little bit about your journey in that? 

Jen: Sure. So, I was a kid growing up, um, sighted. So, basketball was what I was supposed to kind of go to college on. That was supposed to be my career path, and things. And I lost my vision. I went legally blind at 14 and went totally blind at 17. But at 14 I was legally blind, I was left with peripheral vision outta my left eye. 

Michelle: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: And was still playing competitive basketball and it was right before my freshman year in high school, so still playing competitive basketball. Someone wrote a, a story about me playing competitive basketball, being legally blind, Armbruster is a fairly unique name. And back when phone books existed and someone looked up Armbruster, I was living in Colorado Springs at the time, called me up, said, do you wanna try this sport called goalball? It had ball in it, so me and my family were like, what the heck? Let’s do it! And so went down. Um, I didn’t go to the school for the blind, um, in Colorado, but that’s who had reached out to me and said, do you wanna try the sport? So went down there with my dad on a Saturday afternoon and got introduced to the sport at that point. My father and my mom are both avid coaching, and in different sports. And so he picked up a rule book. Um, we formed a Colorado team that summer and kinda the rest was history. The US coach happened to be at Nationals in 1990 and scouted me, and I was fortunate enough to make the, the 92 team in Barcelona for my first games. 

Miguel: Wow.

Michelle: That is so cool. 

Jen: Yeah. And then I retired after the 2016 game, so it was seven, seven time Paralympian. 

Michelle: That’s so cool. And you said goalball? 

Understanding Goalball

Jen: Goalball. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Michelle: Goalball. 

Asher: Can you explain like what goalball is? 

Michelle: Yeah. What is goalball? 

Asher: What is it? 

Jen: Of course. Um, so goal ball’s played on 9 by 18 meter court. The goals go the length of the back line, so nine meter goal. Um, it’s about 1.3 meters high. The balls about the same circumference as a men’s basketball, but it’s about three pounds of dead weight. So 1.25 kilos to be exact. 

Asher: Whoa. 

Jen: Balls have bells in it. All of our markings have string underneath, thin string, so we can fill it with our feet or our hands. Basically the ball doesn’t have air pressure the way the basketball is. You can skip it, you can bounce it, but it’s, basically it’s gotta make contact before what we call the six meter line or the high ball line, which is the equivalent of where the spike line would be for volleyball for those either visual.

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Um, it’s gotta make contact at least once before or on that line and once before the other teams. So it’s three on three. Defense is basketball, kind of a basketball goalie. You’re gonna use your body to defend it. And then your throwing motion is more of a, a side arm or underhand, depending on your style or if you wanna spin, but that’s yes, was delivered the low on the ground, fast speed at, uh, the levels at the international levels we’re throwing around 30, 35 miles an hour. 

Michelle: Wow. 

Jen: On the women’s side, about 40, 45 on the guy side. 

Asher: Wow. 

Jen: So less than a second reaction time. And hopefully if one of y’all is doing your job right, somebody’s getting hit. Um, so you’re hitting the floor, the ball’s hitting you. Um, so reverse dodge ball, right. With a much heavier ball. So yeah. 

Asher: Oh… 

Jen: So high speed back and forth. There’s a shot clock involved as well. So you have 10 seconds from first defensive contact to gather, get any passes off and get your shot off and pass half court within 10 seconds.

Asher: So what’s, how does the score work with that if you get hit? 

Jen: it’s great. It’s awesome 

Michelle: 20 points? 

Jen: If get hit. That’s if you did your job. 

Michelle: So that’s a lot of points? 

Jen: Um, so yeah, so it’s like soccer. So you’re, the object is to, to get to the other team’s goal, right? 

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: So you play on your end three on three. 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Um, and so you’re rolling it down to the other end, throwing it on the other side. And so if you miss it and it crosses that goal line into the net, then it’s gonna be a goal for the other team. So. 

Asher: Oh, wow. 

Michelle: Wow. 

Asher: That’s interesting. 

Jen: Yeah, it’s fun. There’s penalty shots if you get a penalty shot. Or if you get a penalty, you have to defend the whole court by yourself. 

Asher: It’s a penalty shot.

Jen: Yeah. So you have to, yeah. So you have to defend the whole court by yourself. So, 

Asher: Oh! 

Jen: Nine meters, almost 30 feet right? That’s a lot to, lot, lot to cover. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: Um, in less than a second, so. 

Asher: Oh my goodness. 

Miguel: Did you ever have to defend the whole court by yourself? 

Jen: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Penalties happen all the time. ‘Cause again, it’s penalties if you, you know, you don’t get the ball down in time on that high ball. It’s a penalty if it doesn’t make second contact before the other teams. It’s a long ball. So high ball’s probably the one you see the most by far. You know, ’cause you’re going up there to get your full approach and might get an extra inch or two there.

Advocacy and Community Building

Asher: How does, um, adaptive Sports Northwest advocate and/or support people with disabilities? And I know you talked a little bit about it. 

Jen: Yeah. like I said, I, I, I think we’re here for the community right. As a whole. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: Um, and I talked a little bit about the school systems for sure with advocating there, but also within like, local gyms and rec centers, you know, our partnerships with, you know, Portland Parks and Rec and Lake Oswego and different ones. Just trying to spread, you know, awareness in general. And then obviously the advocacy part comes in there too, especially around kids, right. And making sure that they have access to physical education and that they’re not just being thrown on the sidelines to keep score, you know, and some of those other things that you sometimes see.

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: So it’s educational around there, making sure we go to conferences that we’re, you know, in, into the, you know, the VA system, into the different hospitals around town, trying to just always educate. 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Um, especially around sports and recreation. ’cause I think it’s a lot, a lot easier sometimes for folks, and not that they want to maybe not make it inclusive, but they don’t know how, so they’re scared. So we try to advocate and try to educate, and just be a resource to folks to go, to go. It’s really not that scary. Um, and you know, the other big barrier is cost, right? 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: Um, and things. So trying to advocate that way too, as well and, and utilizing our system. I get so upset if we have equipment not being used right. I was like, so might as well, like, hey, why not get it in kids, get it into the schools, you know, have people check it out so they can, you know, recreate with their family. We just finished you our cycling, um, program this, this summer out at PIR. 

Asher: Oh 

Jen: But hey, we have all these bikes, so, you know, check ’em out. Do the equipment loan program, you know, and continue that, that advocacy and keep and keep going. So that’s our big thing. And like I said, I think the more we’re in rec centers, the more we’re, we’re out there, we’re always educating the public and our approach is inclusive, right? So you don’t have to have a disability, just come and check it out. We have sports chairs, so if you wanna play wheelchair basketball, I don’t care if you have a disability or not, let’s play it. You know, you wanna play goalball? Awesome. Here’s a blindfold, let’s do it. 

Michelle: Yeah. 

Jen: Um, and stuff 

Asher: I would be a bit intimidated by that. 

Jen: So it’s, um, so I think that’s, you know, that’s part of my thing. I, I, I think is, it’s, it’s hard, you know, being a member of the disability community, like we are always fighting for access, I think. 

Miguel: Yes, absolutely. 

Jen: Um, all the time. And so I would think it would be hypocritical for us to be like, Hey, here’s a sport, here’s recreational, but you can’t participate, right? So we encourage families, friends, community members come and check it out right? Come and play it. It’s just a sport. We just do it in a different way. And so we have, you know, our, our, our cycling program this summer, we have over 351 riders this summer, which is awesome, you know, or over eight weeks and stuff. And we got folks on tandems, we got people on hand cycles for the first time getting on trikes and just experiencing that and, you know, and we encourage folks to bring their own bikes too, right? So families are riding together and things. So it was, it was just, it’s an awesome program and like I said, any of our, our sports programs practices, we welcome everyone to come try it out, um, or volunteer with us, come try out the sport. Just get involved with us and, and build that community. Um, some of our things, like I said, when you go to competitions, you know, for, for wheelchair basketball competition, you might have to qualify in for that.

So you might not be able to compete at the national level, but you can always come to our practices and be involved in our community. 

Asher: Oh, for sure. That’s really cool. 

Jen: Yeah. 

Asher: Once again, you’re listening to Let’s Talk Portland Community Colleges broadcast about disability culture. 

Annual Events and Tournaments

Asher: I was a little bit curious, like you have, you’ve been mentioning that there’s like a lot of different events that, uh, Adaptive Northwest does. Is there anything that happens like every year or like is there any special events that happens with you guys? 

Jen: Yeah, so we host a lot of tournaments. Um, so we just got done with like our Junior Cascade Classic, which is a goalball tournament. So we had youth from around the country coming in and we do that over the school for the blinds over in Washington. And then we have our wheelchair basketball tournament coming up in December. Sometimes it’s in November, but it’s usually sometime in the winter. Um, we have our big goalball tournament that’ll always be in February, um, as well for the adults. And we host usually a, wheelchair, um, rugby tournament of some sort too. We help with the Portland Pounders. Um, they host that. And then we also host a, you know, a track and field, competition, uh, and hopefully soon maybe our own swimming competition as well. So we host a lot of those things. Um, we have our annual get in the game fundraiser that happens every year as well. That always happens in May. Um, and things like that. So there’s always ways for people to get involved again, rather that’s, it’s volunteering, it’s coming out to scorekeep, it’s, you know, doing anything like that. And then we have our, like I said, regular practices, right. For all those different sports teams or activities, so. 

Asher: Oh yeah for sure.

Jen: Yeah. 

Asher: You guys got anything? Michelle? Miguel, 

Miguel: Do you wanna walk through listeners how they could, you know, like, go to the event? Or how does that work? 

Jen: Yeah. 

Getting Involved with Adaptive Sports Northwest

Jen: So, I mean, the best way to get involved is if you check out our website, Adaptive Sports with an S, nw.org. It has, you know, how you get involved, whether that’s as an athlete, as a volunteer, as a donor. Um, it has a list of all of our calendar events and things. And ours are drop in as far as our practices and stuff like that. So all we ask, you know, if you, if you do drop in, you’re gonna have to, you know, sign a waiver, um, and things like that. And if you want to, you can just do a membership prior to, and membership is for the entire calendar year. So you do that one time and it always has a waiver in it, which is nice. And then you just come and drop in. Rather, it’s our, it’s archery. Or you wanna check out wheelchair basketball or you wanna check out goalball, our cycling program.

Miguel: So 

Jen: fun. 

Asher: Ooh, I love archery. I haven’t played in such a long time. 

Miguel: I’ve never done archery, Jen, so it would be super fun to try. 

Jen: Oh, the Sunday. 

Michelle: Oh, Sunday. 

Asher: Where is it at? 

Jen: Um, Archers of field down in Tualatin 

Asher: Oh oh 

Jen: Yep. So 

Asher: That’s very cool. 

Michelle: And what time? 

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: Uh, 4 to 5:30 I believe.

Miguel: I, I could, I can imagine Michelle doing goalball. That’d be so much fun. 

Michelle: It sounds really fun. 

Asher: Put on a blindfolding, 

Miguel: Get Michelle to feel 

Jen: Yeah. If you guys like the speed stuff, power soccer. Yeah. We have recreation power soccer as well as competitive power soccer. So that’s always a fun one. They have, you know, power chairs and strike force chairs for folks to try as well. So again, you don’t have to have, you know, you don’t have to be an everyday power chair user, to play the sport. 

Michelle: That’s cool. Can you explain what power chairs are? 

Asher: Yeah 

Jen: Sure, so, um, they’re electric, you know, power wheelchairs. but for the sport of power soccer, they have a guard on, on them on the front that’s a strike plate. Uh, the ball’s a little bit bigger than a traditional soccer ball played on an indoor court, and so they use the, you know, using the strike plate to, to make contact with the ball, to quote, kick it. It’s four on four. It’s fine. It’s fast paced. Um, yeah, our, our renegades are our competitive side. Um, but we have recreational as well, um, for folks just wanting to try the sport and again, just building that community. 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Um, it’s one of our newer sports. It came into our pro, our kind of our profile the last six or seven years. But there was a need, right. ‘Cause a lot of our, our wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, some of those are our manual sports chairs. Um, but we didn’t have, you know, a sport really for, for power chair users. And so this was a kind of a, it’s a fun, great team sport, for folks to, to play, so. 

Asher: Wow.

Michelle: Yeah. I feel like that sounds pretty interesting. 

Jen: It is. 

Michelle: Yeah. 

Jen: Yeah. We’ll host a power soccer tournament as well in the spring. 

Michelle: Cool. 

Asher: Very cool. 

Miguel: Where do you guys do your track and fuel events? 

Jen: We do our practices in a couple different locations. Um, mostly at East Portland Community Center, And, uh, what is that? Floyd Light Middle School. They have that track that’s right behind there. So we do practices usually out there. And then we also have used, some different tracks on the, on the west side as well. Um, just kind of depending on what’s open mm-hmm. At that time. But Eastport Lake Community Center / Floyd Light has been our primary track. Um 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: And then we’ve, um, held our track meet out Centennial as well. Centennial High School, so. 

Asher: That’s very cool. You mentioned like different schools and colleges and organizations. 

Partnerships and Collaborations

Asher: What are some of them that you partner that, adapt the Sports Northwest, uh, uh, partners with?

Jen: Yeah. So, like I said, with the Parks and Rec department, so, you know, east Portland Community Center, we, we host some of our, our practices and activities over there. We’re meeting with Mount Scott here shortly. 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: As they go to reopen theirs. Um, lake Oswego. Um, rec center, um, Hillsborough Parks and Rec out, out on the we, way west side. Um, so we partner with them, but then also our community partners, right. Oregon Spinal Cord Injury Connect, um, Shriners, Dorn Beckers, Rio. Um, so a lot of those as well as the VAs, um, both here in, you know, across the river in Vancouver. And then we also partner even regionally, right? With, you know, um, Seattle Adaptive Sports outta Seattle and Rainier Adaptive Sports. Just trying to make sure we can just be right. We’re always stronger together. 

Asher: Oh yeah 

Miguel: For sure. 

Jen: In silos. So we also, you know, partner up with Northwest Association Blind Athletes for some of our things. Like we had our cycling series, they were doing their, you know, they were doing their, um, the triathlon and things like that. So I was like, Hey, we have the track, you know, let your folks know, come out on Monday nights, right? 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: Um, we have the tandems, we have those kind of things, so, um. So we try to partner with them, you know, that goal ball as well. We partner with them. Um, so yeah, so it’s just finding those community partners and making those connections. Um, amputee soccer. It’s not one of our sports, but we absolutely, you know, try to, to partner with them. Portland Tennis Education Center, lot of places within the community. Um, ’cause again, we always say we can’t be everything to everyone, right? 

Asher: Oh yeah. 

Jen: So we have a huge try it series as well that we try to do. So we did, you know, para and we’ve with Movement gym and we’ve done, adaptive tennis, adaptive pickleball and adaptive table tennis with um, Portland Tennis and Education Center. 

Miguel: That sounds like so much fun. 

Jen: We’re getting ready to do a, a thing for, uh, adaptive fencing. Both on the blind VI side and 

Asher: Adaptive fencing! 

Michelle: I’d be down for that.

Jen: Yeah, we’re doing adaptive golf try it thing coming up. so we’ve, we do a lot of different things through our try it series as well, ’cause again, we unfortunately, we’re a very small nonprofit, right? 

Asher: Oh yeah. 

Jen: So we already run 10 programs, which is a lot more than, you know, from ongoing. Right? Like. 

Asher: Oh yeah. 

Jen: So any, any given week, we have three to five things going on, if not more between practices.

Miguel: You go to multiple things, right, Jen? 

Jen: Yes. 

Miguel: Okay. Okay. So it’s not just like you go to this away and you can’t go to the next one. Okay. 

Jen: You listen at the time. Yeah, no. And so, yeah, so it’s, so we’re busy. 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: Um, for a 10, but the Try it series, we try to do one every other month. and we’re just setting those up. They’ll start, you know, in January again, but like I said, we’ll do golf. I, I know we have golf on the agenda. Fencing. Climbing. I’m not sure what adaptive pinball is, but we’re about to learn about it 

Asher: Pinball? 

Jen: So yeah. 

Asher: Retro pinball! 

Jen: So yeah. 

Michelle: That would be interesting.

Jen: So we’re meeting somebody with adaptive pinball. Um, so that’ll probably be one of our Tri it events coming up too, so yeah. So it’s just making those connections with the community, right. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: Um, because I think, again, people want it. 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: And they wanna be able to understand it, and they’re like, hey, I have this, how do I make it work for everyone? And things, so that’s where we, like I said, we could kind of come in and go, cool. They, they’re like, we want this, this, this, and this. This is my place. How can I, how can I make that adaptive? How can I make it inclusive? How do we get folks? Um, we do a lot with a, a safe scuba. 

Asher: Oh 

Jen: As well, so we do a Try it event, um, outta scuba as well each year. Um, so that’ll be another one that’s on our, our list next year. 

Asher: Wait, scuba as in scuba diving? 

Jen: Uhhuh, uh, scuba. 

Asher: Yo, I wanna do scuba diving. 

Jen: There you go. Yeah. So yeah, we do that usually, usually it’s in August, so, I mean, we don’t have the, the dates for sure, but that’s usually when we do it. 

Asher: Love to do scuba diving, but I feel like it, we’ll be just too cold right now.

Jen: Yeah, yeah. 

Asher: Yeah. No, this is perfect for you. Like, Miguel, you do dragon boating too with, um, NW. Um, 

Michelle: Yeah, NWABA. 

Asher: NWABA. Oh my goodness. Yeah. NWABA. Yeah. Uh. have, have you heard of, um, Adaptive Sports in Northwest before Miguel, or? 

Miguel: Yeah, I have. I met Jen in the past.

Asher: Oh. 

Miguel: Um, but, you know, I need, I need to get more involved. 

Asher: I did not make that connection. Okay. That’s very cool. 

Miguel: What is something, Jen, that you want to, like, what’s a sport that you want, you’re like, man, we should really have this. Like, do you think we should have like a, I don’t know, like a beat baseball team Portland or like a bowling team that.

Asher: Bowling team?

Jen: Well, so it’s interesting you talked about, so I was gonna say baseball, not necessarily beat baseball for sure. Maybe that one too, but. 

Michelle: Yeah. 

Jen: Um. The Miracle League. So we’re working with Easterseals too. They’re trying to get a Miracle League field. 

Michelle: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Um, here, you know, and so that would be kind of cool. It’s one of the ones when we do a, a survey and stuff like that, baseball, softball has been a, a popular one. That’s why we do pickleball now. It all came from a survey, so everybody pickleball nuts, right? Everybody’s all about the pickleball. 

Asher: Oh yeah. Oh gosh.

Michelle: That’s great. 

Jen: And so that’s what we added, uh, about a year and a half ago, two years ago, um, with the new grant. So, um, so that’s, that was our newest sport that we added. You asked about kayaking before, we kind of kicked that off of our repertoire and put in pickleball, um, and stuff. ’cause again, we work with a lot of folks in the area, right. So adventures got limits and leap and, and those type things to, they already have Adaptive, um, things and, and they do it well on the outdoors. So 

Asher: yes. 

Jen: Um, that’s where we, what we do with advocacy. So I think part of that too is also with the referral piece, right? 

Asher: Yeah. 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: On what makes sense, what are you into? Awesome. And let’s connect you to where that makes the most sense, if that’s what you’re into. Like I said before, we had, you know, we’re, we’re doing a Try it thing with the fencing thing, but even before that, or with Portland Tennis Education Center, we knew wheelchair tennis was happening already over there. So we used those resources to kinda go, oh, you’re into that. Awesome. Here’s who you need to contact.

Asher: Oh, yeah, for sure. 

Jen: And just trying to get people in the right spots. So, you know, if people are kayaking, we’re like, “Hey, Adventures without limits is right here in town.” That’s who, who kind of handles more of the outdoor stuff, or you’re in the Bend area, awesome. Oregon Adaptive Sports is down there, right?

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: And if you want snow skiing and those things, so, so, yeah. So it’s just using those different resources and letting folks know, you know, what else is out there. And so again, I’m all about the partnerships and community building versus trying to be in a silo and, yeah. It’s not a competition, right?

Asher: No. 

Jen: We’re always, we’re always gonna be better at collaborating, so. 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Asher: Yeah. yeah. I think we, um, we did interview, um, Adventures Without Limits recently. 

Jen: Yeah. 

Asher: Which was really fun. 

Jen: Awesome. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: Yeah. 

Encouraging Participation and Overcoming Barriers

Asher: I was gonna say, just like with trying out new things, I feel like the first thing, at least for me, and I speak for myself, is that it’s so difficult to figure out what to start with because I wanna go out and I want to be more active but, at the same time, I’m like, oh, I wanna do it with people. But at the same time, 

Miguel: Yeah 

Asher: the, like, I don’t, I don’t know how to feel about doing it with strangers, but I also wanna like, meet new people. Like, 

Michelle: Yeah. 

Jen: Yeah. 

Asher: Is there, like, I don’t know, is there like a way to encourage people who are also just going through like difficulties like that who are wanting to go out and do new things, but are just afraid of reaching out.

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: So a lot of, again, I would encourage the, the, the website, um, and then contacting us, right? Rather, that’s through our programs at Adaptive Sports and w.org or calling us, you know, on the phone numbers that are listed. Um, mines, you know, 5032410850. We’re all willing to kind of talk through, whether through email or, or through the phone call, kind of talking about what is it, your interest is what makes sense, and it might be that soft handoff to having that talk with a coach or a volunteer, right? 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: And doing those kind of things too. Like, “Hey, maybe I’m interested in archery.” You know, okay, let me put you in, in contact with Matt, our program guy who runs archery, right? Um, and things like that so you can kind of know what to expect before you get there. And again, we also encourage folks too to just come check it out. We’re not, you don’t have to try wheelchair basketball, but if you wanna come check it out, come check it out. Right? And, and then maybe that’s where you can talk and you can ask those questions and, and not feel obligated, like, oh my gosh, I have to know how to play wheelchair basketball to do that. No. Or, I have to know how to play goalball. Nah, just come to our practices, right? 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: There’s enough folks that are gonna be able to talk with you and, and do more of the one-on-one if you need that, um, either prior to or, you know, at, at a practice or at a program, so. 

Asher: Yeah. Cool. Um, do you have a favorite sport? And I, I bet you have a favorite sport. You play so many different kinds of sports, but what’s your, like, absolute favorite that you like to play? 

Jen: That’s a tough one. Um, ’cause like I said, my go-to’s always basketball, right? I love and always have loved basketball. 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Um, and so my, passion, goalball obviously is way up there as well. Um, it’s been, you know, part of my life for 30 years, but, I don’t know. I, that changes, I think on. And then are you talking, watching or playing? 

Asher: Um. 

Jen: Right, because it’s football season right now, so go Eagles. Right. So, um, so that would be my thing. Um, 

Asher: Watching it would be? 

Jen: Oh yeah, football. 

Asher: Oh, okay. And what, uh, what about playing it?

Jen: Playing it, that’s what I’m saying. It’s tough, right? 

Asher: Yeah. No. 

Jen: Um, and right now, like I, I’m training for Ironman. I still don’t love running or swimming. Um, but I do, I love, I love the. Methodical nature of training for it though. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: And it’s ’cause it’s three different disciplines. It’s fun ’cause it’s not, it’s a different, it’s different workouts all the time, right?

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: Um, and stuff. But I don’t know, like I said, goalball’s still probably up there for, for my favorite to to kind of play and, and play coach and just be involved with for sure, so. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Miguel: When do you have your Ironman? 

Ironman Journey and Training Plans

Asher: Yeah, 

Jen: October 18th. So I had to defer. I was supposed to actually do my Ironman last month. Um, but I had to defer till next year ’cause of medical, so, yeah. So October 18th though, 2026. 

Asher: Cool. 

Miguel: We’ll be cheering you on. 

Jen: There you go. 

Miguel: Cheering you on, you know. 

Jen: Thanks. 

Asher: Yeah! 

Jen: Yeah. And I’ll probably do the, I did the 70.3, um, just over a year ago, and so I’ll probably do that again down in Salem as a warmup so. 

Asher: That’s very cool. 

Jen: That’s a fun one. 

Discussing Ironman Distances

Michelle: And what are the distances for Iron Man? 

Asher: Yeah? 

Jen: For the full Ironman? 

Michelle: Yeah. 

Jen: Uh, 2.4 Mile swim. Then followed by 112 mile bike and then a full marathon. So 26.0 

Michelle: My gosh. Like I love running, but not that much. 

Jen: Yeah. 

Asher: That’s a lot of running. 

Michelle: It is a lot of running. 

Jen: Yeah.

Michelle: Okay. 

Miguel: Maybe one day when I’m in really good shape. 

Michelle: Oh my gosh. At two miles of swimming too. 

Jen: 2.4! Don’t short the point four. 

Michelle: 2.4. 

Asher: Yeah. Once again, you’re listening to Let’s Talk Portland Community College’s broadcast about disability culture. 

Favorite Sports and Personal Experiences

Asher: Um, what’s your favorite sport Michelle? Oh my goodness. I was looking, I was looking at Michelle and I was gonna say Miguel, I’m sorry. 

Michelle: Our names have a, very similar ring to it. 

Asher: You both start with M. 

Michelle: Yes 

Asher: and I. 

Michelle: Yes. And we have that. Yes. That, that melody. 

Asher: What is your favorite sport if you have one? 

Michelle: Oh gosh. Track and field. Hands down.

Asher: Track and field. 

Michelle: Yeah.

Asher: Oh yeah. 

Michelle: I love it. It’s just like the variety of it too. 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Michelle: Yeah. 

Asher: That’s very cool. And have you done a lot of track and field in the past before?

Michelle: Oh yes. 

Miguel: I did too, by the way. 

Michelle: High school. 

Miguel: High school. I did too. I did it in high school. Yeah. 

Michelle: Fun. 

Asher: What’s your favorite, uh, Miguel? And it can’t be dragon boating because we already know that you do dragon boating. 

Miguel: My favorite. Uh, that’s a really hard one. Um, favorite sport.

Asher: We can come back to you. If you want.

Miguel: You know, I would say maybe I really like swimming. I think I would love to be on a swimming team. That would be fun. Yeah. 

Asher: Swimming team. 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Miguel: I think that would be super fun. 

Jen: All right. If the swimming happens on Sunday afternoons? Hey, there you go.

Asher: Wait, do you, do you do dragon boating on the weekends, Miguel? Or? 

Miguel: Um, right now practices have been canceled. I don’t know why people don’t want to go out in the rain. 

Asher: Oh, of course. 

Jen: Beyond the water, but not get hit by water. 

Michelle: Yeah, there, there’s wind right now too, so that can probably be a part of it too. 

Miguel: Yeah that’s probably what it is. But it’s, 

Exploring Unique Sports

Michelle: I feel like they’re like, so one of the interesting sports that I’ve heard about is like, I think it’s like cross country skiing. 

Asher: Ohhhhhh.. 

Michelle: But then like, they have targets, they have to shoot 

Jen: Biathlon. 

Michelle: That’s what it’s called? 

Jen: Yes. 

Michelle: A biathlon. 

Jen: Yes. 

Michelle: Yeah. 

Asher: Fine. 

Jen: It’s cross country skiing. And then you shoot, 

Asher: That’s so, that sounds so extreme. What if you hit something else?

Michelle: I know right? 

Jen: But, okay. Will you stop, it’s a range. 

Asher: Oh, okay. 

Jen: So you get done and then you flip your rifle ’cause they have it. Um, it’s a Paralympic sport as well. 

Michelle: Oh, okay. I thought it was like you’re just kind of skiing around and then they’re like, here’s a flying target. 

Asher: Yeah. No, I was thinking that too.

Jen: You ski into the thing and then you, yeah, and then you shoot standing.

Asher: So you’re not, you’re not skiing and shooting at the same time. 

Jen: No. 

Asher: That would take some skill. 

Jen: That would actually be very 

Asher: Very skilled. 

Jen: Yeah. It’s the whole, I mean, right. The, the challenge of that is right, ’cause you’re getting your cardio up, right?

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Because you’re, it’s miles of cross country skiing, then you have to stop and be able to steady enough to shoot 

Oh, 

While breathing. 

Asher: Wow. 

Jen: Right. So it’s all control. 

Asher: That’s very cool. Yeah. 

Jen: Yeah. It’s a Paralympic sport. Winter Paralympic sport. So, um, and it’s both seated, um, ambulatory and VI categories.

Asher: Oh wow. 

Jen: So. 

Asher: Mm-hmm. I think at least a sport for myself. And, I played volleyball when I was in high school. 

Jen: Yeah? 

Asher: I think because it was just the stereotype for my entire class. All the girls played volleyball, all the guys played soccer, and I was just like, all right, whatever. I’ll just play some volleyball.

Jen: Yep. 

Asher: And was not good at it at all. I would injure myself so much trying to save those shots. 

Jen: Do you wanna try sit volleyball? 

Asher: Do what volleyball? 

Jen: We have sit volleyball. 

Asher: Sit volleyball?. 

Jen: That’ll start up in January. 

Asher: What’s sit volleyball? 

Jen: It’s, so it’s played on a smaller court. 

Asher: Okay. 

Jen: But you’re seated. Um, the net’s lower. And basically when you make contact with the ball, the rules are the same except for when you make contact with the ball. Your buttock / hip region has to be in contact with the floor. 

Asher: Oh. 

Jen: While you make contact with the ball. 

Miguel: Oh, wow. That does a strong core with that. 

Michelle: Yeah, I know. 

Asher: How do you? 

Michelle: Can you move around? 

Jen: Yeah, you can move around. 

Asher: On your butt? You just shuffle around? 

Jen: It’s a whole art, but if you come out to sit volleyball, we can show you. 

Michelle: Cool. 

Jen: We can show you techniques. 

Asher: Okay. 

Michelle: Wow. I feel like we need to go and like look at all those sports 

Jen: Yeah. 

Michelle: Sports and then come back for a follow up.

Jen: There you go. 

Asher: Yeah, no, exactly. And be like. 

Miguel: That would take. 

Michelle: Take a little tour 

Jen: Would be 

Michelle: of all the sports there 

Miguel: Yeah. We can do like a mini series of like us trying everything out and be like, okay, what do you guys think of all these? 

Asher: Asher Michelle and Miguel tries Adaptive Sports . 

Miguel: That can be a fight.

Michelle: Yeah. 

Miguel: And, and since Kayla, her boss, loves the snippets of like different audio. 

Michelle: We become like PCC Try Guys. 

Asher: Oh yes. The PCC Try guys 

Michelle: Oh my god. 

Asher: Except it’s Accessibility Tries. 

Michelle: Try guys. 

Miguel: Try guys. 

Asher: Accessibility Tries Guys, TM 

Michelle: We could say something. Yeah 

Miguel: That would be super cool. 

Adaptive Sports Success Stories

Asher: Jen, do you have any success stories as far as like working with Adaptive Sports Northwest? Like if you’ve seen any person that’s come in and it’s like, I’m not sure what to try, and then they tried out something. It was like really loved it. 

Jen: There’s a lot of ’em right? So where do we start? 

Asher: What’s your favorite? Yeah. 

Jen: Maybe I’ll start some more recent one. I think… One of the one is the kids are always gonna be a, a thing for me right. I mean, it’s just so, to watch them, you know, to go, “Hey, can, can I get a, can I have a sports chair for, for my PE class?” 

Michelle: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: And to have them come back and go, go from, so he was doing a focus group for me, and he was so, he’s like, “PE sucks”. That was his thing, right? He’s like, it stinks. I said, and I’m like, okay. You know, 14-year-old kid, you know? And he is like, they just, they don’t know what to do. They just have me go outside and, you know, push in my chair. 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: My everyday chair, but I wanna play. And then, but credit to his adapted Phys Ed class, his school, they’re like, they came to us and went, okay he says, you have these sports chairs. How do we get one? And stuff. So we, we worked with the schools to do that and then I saw him like three months later and he went from the kid, they, they didn’t want him In PE right? His, he’s like, they never wanted me on the team. 

Asher: Mm. 

Jen: They didn’t want whatever. He goes, I’m the coolest kid now in school, in my PE class. Like he’s, ’cause we gave him not one but two sports chairs. So he would be in a sports chair, but then somebody on the other team would be in a sports chair as well. 

Asher: Oh. 

Jen: And there’s a big fight over who gets to be in the cool sports chair. They’re fast, they’re agile, they’re, you know, and stuff like that. So to see this kid that’s like, I hate PE too, this is the coolest thing ever. ’cause he is a sporty guy. Like he loves sports, loves being active and going, I can fully participate. You know, and he went from a middle school that was in a middle school and now he’s in the high school. 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: And his high school stepped up this year too and said the same thing. They’re like, we want it. What do we need to do? Let’s, let’s get it. Um, so I think that’s one of the cooler ones. And then I think one of the other more recent ones too is, you know, new newly injured, spinal cord injury athlete that, had, you know, played standing basketball and we introduced them to wheelchair basketball for the first time, which was cool. Not knowing, watching the sport and having basketball back in their life. But to me, like the bigger stuff to watch through that year was someone traveling for the first time. 

Miguel: Oh wow. 

Asher: Oh wow. 

Jen: Right? Had never been on a plane, sensor injury type thing and watching their growth or the first time they got into, you know, a different vehicle. ‘Cause again, life is not this perfectly adaptive, accessible place, right? 

Asher: No. 

Jen: Um, but traveling with sports and stuff like you, you know, elevators go down, right? 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Things happen and things. And so to watch this individual just, start problem solving that through, not just on her own, but with her teammates that have lived that experience too, right? Like, oh, this is how I transfer to a really big Toyota Tundra, you know? 

Asher: Wow. 

Jen: And things. Or this is what I need, or how do, what assistance do I need? Or what can I do on my own? Or how do I build that up? And things are, hey, this transfer board really works really well for me. Or this is, you know, the first time we were transferring was like, how do I get into a big sprinter van?

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: How do I do that? And things, so just watching those things that happen off the court to me, are as important, if not more important than what happens on the court. You know, same thing for kids, right? Like, we’re a stickler for, for our kids. We don’t make parents go, right? 

Miguel: Oh, you don’t. 

Jen: Oh, absolutely not, right? Because in what other year 12, year 15 travel team, you don’t, your parents don’t have to go right and stuff. So we’re very committed to making sure that it’s. It is on them so they can have that experience of being a kid. 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: Right. Traveling in in a van. Traveling in a bus with their, with their teammates. Having the, the hotel experience, right? 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: But also the experience of guess what? Laundry needs to get done. You need to get it done. You know, you know. Or different things like they’re, all the things that they learn off the court to me are as valuable, if not more valuable than the X’s and O’s are.

Asher: Oh, yeah. 

Jen: On the court. Um, and so our, you know, our volunteers and, and our coaches that, that work with youth and, or even with our adults and different things, they know it, they get it. They come from that part of it, on where do you step in, how do you get them to advocate for themselves, and then just watch ’em getting stronger and stronger. Right? I mean, I just got back from a, a wheelchair basketball trip a couple weeks ago with this individual and just watching them transfer to the car, I’m like, wow, you’re getting totally way stronger. And they’re like, oh yeah! You know, where a year ago before it was, what do I do? You know? 

Asher: Oh yeah. 

Jen: Um, and it’s just that to watch them, you know, transfer into a 15 passenger on their own and doing those kind of things as they get stronger, more confident in what they’re doing, or traveling, you know, they travel for the first time with their injury with us on a, on a basketball trip.

Asher: Oh, wow. 

Jen: And then to be able to send them to a camp on their own, like to, to negotiate traveling all by themselves, you know. They were like, it’s not something I thought was in my future. So those to me are the cooler stories, right.

Asher: I love that. 

Jen: And watching that happen. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: So. 

Michelle: That’s very cool. 

Jen: Yeah.

Michelle: Wow. 

Asher: Yeah. sorry, I’m looking through my list. I’m like, what other the questions have I not asked you yet? 

History of Adaptive Sports

Asher: How did Adaptive Sports start? I would say is my question. Yeah. 

Jen: You mean our organization? I assume not the. 

Asher: Yeah. How did. 

Jen: I was like, do you want, like do you want the history of? 

Asher: The whole history? 

Jen: I would say, yeah.

Asher: If you can tell me the whole history, that’ll be great too. 

Jen: I can tell you the history of the Paralympics. 

Asher: Yes. 

Jen: So it started, um, after World War II, right? You had a lot of injured soldiers coming back. And so the Madoff Games, they started that with kind of wheelchair sports, different things. And then 1960 were the first Paralympic Games.

Michelle: Wow. 

Jen: Um, in Rome. That’s where the, where it started really was, was injured military folks coming back. So that’s how the kind of Paralympics started and really about adaptive sports really, was, you know, injured folks coming back from war and going, hey, you know, sports is such a big culture in, in the military and so you had all these soldiers returning with injuries and different things going, oh, I still want to shoot archery, I still wanna play basketball! I still wanna do X, Y, or Z. So that’s kind of where that, you know, you know, the Paralympic Games grew from the Manfield games down in England, back in 19, now I gotta really test my history, 40 something. I think were the first Mansfield games. 

Asher: 1940. Wow. 

Jen: Um, 40 something. I don’t remember the exact, but yeah, 49 maybe? It’s on my test in the class that I teach at Portland State. Actually, it’s an extra credit question. So they had to. 

Asher: You did it. 

Jen: Exactly. It’s an extra credit question, but as far as Adaptive Sports Northwest, um, been around since 1982.

Asher: Wow. 

Jen: I think about three different name changes. Um, again, kind of started from a wheelchair sports, um, perspective and kind of concentrating on, on basketball was, was kind of the, the, the main sport at that time. 

Asher: Mm. 

Jen: It’s grown and grown and grown. Um, like I said, I came and I moved to Portland in 2010. 

Asher: Oh, okay.

Jen: Um, and things, and since then, you know, with being part of the organization, like I said, it was Oregon Disability Sports when I came to it. And then it was, you know, Adaptive Sports Northwest now. 

Asher: Mm. 

Jen: But even since I’ve came in 2010, we’ve probably almost doubled our offerings. 

Asher: Wow. 

Michelle: Wow. 

Jen: Um, because we, you know, we added power soccer, we added goalball, um, track and field, uh, pickleball 

Asher: mm-hmm.

Jen: And sit volleyball. So yeah. So we’ve definitely doubled and kind of before it was kind of wheelchair basketball, rugby, were kind of the two main sports that you, that you kinda saw little bit of folks with, and cycling, were kind of our three main sports, um, when I first got here. And they were kind of dabbling into the other things and different stuff. ‘Cause again, it was even a smaller organization than what we are now. And we’re still, if you add us all up, we’re still under three, part-time. I mean, sorry, three full-time staff if you add everybody up, and things like that. So we do a lot. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: With very little, which is why we, you know, we, we absolutely depend on volunteers, donations, grants and, and those type things. 

Asher: I bet 

Jen: To be able to operate. Um, ‘ cause we, I think I, our impact report’s almost done, we had almost a thousand folks with disabilities that we contacted last year. 1000. Wow. Just under that, you know, between coaches, athletes. and different things that were, that were there. And that’s not kind of like the bigger impact, right?

Asher: Strong, but. 

Jen: When you start talking about the other impact that you have around families and 

Miguel: Yes. 

Jen: And things like that and, and just the, the general public, it’d be a lot higher. But, yeah, 900 plus individuals for sure that we, that we tapped into, you know, between competitions, practices, everything.

Asher: Cool. So. 

Community Impact and Family Involvement

Miguel: And Jen, how do the fa, like, what, what are your experiences like with the family seeing their loved ones, like grow and love of sports or like their love of like, learning new things? Have you seen any changes in that? 

Jen: Oh, absolutely. I mean, like I said, I, I go back to our cycling series, right?

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Like, they’re like, we get a bike as a family 

Asher: mm-hmm. 

Jen: In a safe environment. Right. We have a two mile track 

Michelle: Yeah. 

Jen: That’s paved and nice and we’re not having to worry about anything else. And ‘ cause like I said, maybe your, your kid or your spouse, or your friend or your partner is their first time on an adaptive, right? They maybe they haven’t biked since their injury 

Asher: mm-hmm. 

Jen: Or they’ve just never been exposed to a bike. Maybe they were born with a disability, but they’ve never been able to bike, right? And so to, to watch them go, whoa, there is a bike. Oh, I can do this. And, and how do we, how do we go from there? You know? Right. They said that’s checking one out so they can go on other biking adventures with their families. Or like I said, even playing with their kids, right? Mm-hmm. Like knowing that I, I, we have our youth wheelchair basketball, but we have enough chairs there too. A couple of bigger ones too that, you know, to watch parents get in it or sibling.

Michelle: Yeah. 

Jen: And go. I get to play with, with my brother or my sister. Right. 

Michelle: Sweet. 

Jen: Because that’s, that’s something that they’ve been able to experience before. So that absolutely has been fun to watch. And like I said, that’s what we encourage, right? 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Is those, to have that experience. Right? So not every, I mean, I, I can’t get my kid out of a wheelchair basketball if he’s at a tournament. He loves playing wheelchair basketball. He doesn’t like stand. I could not get him to love basketball. And I love the sport, but he loves wheelchair basketball. Absolutely adores it and loves playing it. And I don’t know, it’s ’cause he’s not quite tall yet, so he is like sweet, everybody’s playing seated. I don’t know. I don’t really know. But he loves and he loves the chairs, he loves the speed of the chairs, the agility of the chairs, um, and things like that. And, and so, but to watch, I mean, that’s the last practice I was at, you know, with, with the, with the youth kids. It was fun to just watch. I think we had two different siblings that jumped into it and I think a dad jumped in and wanted to play too and stuff like that. ’cause he is like, I get to shoot hoops with my kid. 

Asher: Aw. 

Jen: And stuff. So you know, or we were at a Tri it thing, or it wasn’t even a Try it thing, it was a community thing, um, for when the announcement of the, the fire. 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Well, before the fire was announced, we just knew we were getting A WNBA team. Um, but we were set at the Blazers thing and, it was actually one of our board members. Um, and her partner, son has a disability and Ambulatory Cp, but we had our wheelchair, kind of a pop shot type thing going on with our little, little hoop.

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: And he got in a chair for the first time and he was so much more agile, right? 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: And loved it where he’s played, um, special Olympics basketball standing, but his balance is a little bit questionable, you know, and different things. But he loves wheelchair basketball, right? And so those are the things, and to, to watch his dad go. Oh my gosh. Like, why didn’t we do this years ago? We know about you guys. Like we, but we just had, hadn’t thought or made that connection of doing that. Like we have a lot of folks with, you know, with amateur that might use walkers or different things that aren’t everyday chair users. But again, trying to do a, a sport with their walker or different things might not be it, but now they’ve introduced to a sports chair and they’re like, oh, I don’t have to worry about my balance. I don’t have to worry about this and I can, I can play basketball and I can play pickleball and I can I can play all these different sports that, that I didn’t know I could. and things rather that’s in the PE setting or that’s even with their family, so. 

Asher: Oh yeah. 

Jen: It’s definitely, yeah, it’s a huge impact. Um, and I think I, I always go back to, I think that’s the cooler stuff than, than our X’s and O’s sometimes. 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Michelle: For sure. 

Asher: Yeah. 

Michelle: For sure. 

Jen: From the impact. 

Asher: Yeah. No, definitely. . 

Challenges and Accessibility in Gyms

Miguel: And Jen, what do you think of like, I know for me, I’ve always struggled with like going to gyms because people see my cane and they’re like scared and they don’t want to gimme like a membership. And I’m like, I just want to use the treadmill or use, you know, like the equipment or go to a water aerobics or, you know, like those types of things. Like have you guys partnered with any gyms in the area? Like? 

Jen: We, we have, we have not formally partnered. We have partnered though with plenty of gyms in the area. And a lot of that is from our members, right. Going, Hey, I have this 24 hour fitness, or I have this, whatever I have, whatever gym, whatever X gym 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: And stuff like that. And I have this disability. This is what I’d like, how, how do I make it happen? 

Asher: Mm-hmm. 

Jen: Um, and things. And so I think that’s. Yeah. So we’ve came in again, to, to kind of help places kind of with the educational part of that, or again, trying to get our folks to also advocate for themselves too on what they need and how, education is exhausting though.

Miguel: Yes. 

Asher: Yeah I know. 

Jen: Right. It absolutely gets exhausting. And so, you know, that’s one of our big partners too. East Portland Community Center is one of our, our big partners and things like that. And their gym is accessible. Like it’s, it’s a totally cool place. And a lot of perks, you know, a lot of the rec centers obviously are going to that. Hillsborough, Hidden Creek out in Hillsborough, um, is fully accessible. so I think that’s also, again, just like driving folks to other places is going, Hey, do you know these other resources already exist? 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: Right. So maybe if you don’t wanna go to commercial gym A 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: Like, have you thought about Portland Community Centers?

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: And where do you live at and how do we get you in there? You know, or rather that’s Tualatin hills, or there’s different places that 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: That we, that we can access, and things like that. So we definitely have done that. Or I mean, we’ve even done it for like apartment complexes, right? Like, I have my apartment complex and I want this treadmill and I want it to be accessible, but it’s not what I need to do. I’m like Scotch tape and toothpicks. It’s awesome. 

Miguel: Yeah. 

Jen: Right. And stuff. I’m not asking you to make everything braille and do all that kind of stuff, but I can make an up arrow and a down arrow and a quick start. Really easy. 

Miguel: Yeah. And a stop light. Yeah. 

Jen: Correct. Because that’s what everybody worries about right? Sometimes is how the cost of things, right? Oh, yeah. And things. And I’m like, there’s, I always call it cheap and easy, right? There’s a lot of ways to make it cheap and easy, and a lot of it is around education and just making folks. Again, I think they, they wanna do it, they just don’t know how and they’re scared.

Asher: Yeah. 

Jen: So their go-to is just like, no. 

Asher: Yeah, no, 

Jen: Because they’re scared, so. 

Asher: Yeah. No. 

Miguel: Well, now I know that the East Community Center is accessible I might be checking it out soon. 

Jen: Yes, it’s, yeah, it’s, it’s fun. That’s where my primary training site for my Ironman stuff, but it’s also our office is right across the street, so it’s helpful.

Miguel: Cool. I can start practicing for my triathlon. I gotta beat somebody by 40 minutes next year, so. 

Asher: 40 minutes. 

Miguel: Yes.

Asher: Cool. 

Encouragement and Closing Statements

Asher: Well we’re getting to the end of our time soon, but do we, any of us have any like closing statements? Especially you, Jen, is there anything you wanna tell our audience as far as like encouraging them to either volunteer or come check out the sports events going on at Adaptive? 

Jen: I think that would be my thing is, yeah, check out our website, um, or follow us on Facebook and Instagram.

Asher: Hey. 

Jen: We had our first viral go the other day on Instagram. Over 3 million. 

Miguel: Wow. 

Asher: Three Million? 

Jen: It was. 

Miguel: Congratulations. 

Asher: User likes! 

Jen: We didn’t really know what to do. We’re like, what do we do? and things. So, but yeah, so yeah, I follow us on Instagram. Facebook would be great. And like i said, it’s, you know, check out our website, see how you can get involved, whether that’s, again, wanting to check out as an athlete, you wanna check out as a volunteer, or you just wanna come check out because Adaptive Sports is awesome. Just yeah, check out what we do, and see how you can get involved. 

Asher: Very cool. Well, Miguel, you wanna close us off with our closing statement, our outro. 

Miguel: Thank for listening to Let’s Talk. Portland Community College’s Broadcast is about disability culture. Find more information and resources concerning this episode and others at pcc.edu/dca. You can also find listed resources on today’s episode page hosted on KBOO FM. Search for Let’s Talk. This episode was produced by the Let’s Talk Podcast. Collective is a collaborative effort between students, the accessible education and disability resource department, the PCC Multimedia Department and KBOO. We post newly recorded content biweekly on our home web web page. Again, that’s pcc.edu/dca, and we hope you always tune into our shows here on KBOO every first and third Friday of the month at 11:00 AM.