It’s February, and Valentine’s Day is around the corner. We have a tradition here on Disability Rap of doing a show focused on love and relationships at this time of year. We’re continuing that tradition on this show with a roundtable of guests to talk about disability and polyamory.

Why do a show about polyamory on Disability Rap? Well, there is actually more overlap than you might think, unless of course you are disabled and polyamorous! Last month, we did a show on neurodivergence, and there’s actually quite a bit of overlap between the neurodivergent and polyamorous communities. We’ll get into that in the show. And then in polyamory, there’s this acknowledgement that no one partner should be expected to meet all of someone’s romantic and/or sexual needs, and as people with disabilities, many of us are used to getting our needs met by multiple people. So the extension to the romantic arena isn’t that hard for some people with disabilities.

For more on all of this, we’re joined by a roundtable of guests. Alyssa Gonzalez is a biology Ph.D., public speaker, and writer. She writes about biology, history, sociology and her experiences as an autistic ex-Catholic Hispanic transgender immigrant to Canada on her blog at The Perfumed Void. She also writes speculative fiction that explores social isolation, autism, gender, and trauma. Alyssa’s first book, Nonmonogamy and Neurodiversity, was included in the More Than Two Essentials series, a collection of books by Canadian authors on specific topics related to polyamory and nonmonogamy.

Dr. Elisabeth “Eli” Sheff has studied sex and gender minority families for over 30 years, with a particular research interest in children of polyamorous families. She has written four books on polyamory, including The Polyamorists Next Door: Inside Multiple-Partner Relationships and Families and When Someone You Love is Polyamorous: Understanding Poly People and Relationships. Eli has appeared on CNN, NPR, and National Geographic, and has been interviewed by Vouge, BuzzFeed, and The New York Times.

Leanne Yau is a British award-winning polyamory educator, writer, speaker, certified sex and relationships educator, and trainee psychosexual therapist whose work is all about non-monogamy and sex positivity. She produces educational and entertaining multimedia content about creating healthy and sustainable non-monogamous relationships, drawing from her lived experiences as a polyamorous, bisexual, neurodivergent, and Asian agender femme who has been openly non-monogamous since 2016.

Katie Tastrom is a disability justice activist and writer who has worked as a lawyer, social worker, and sex worker. Her work has appeared in the anthologies Burn It Down: Feminist Manifestos for the Revolution, and Nourishing Resistance: Stories of Food, Protest, and Mutual Aid, as well as all over the internet, including Truthout, Rewire, and Rooted in Rights. She’s the author of A People’s Guide to Abolition and Disability Justice. Her 2018 article, Here Are 7 Reasons Why Polyamory Is More Difficult When You’re Disabled, appeared in Everyday Feminism.

Neurodivergence is the recognition that not all brains work the same way. It’s a broad spectrum of brain behavior that’s outside of what’s considered standard or “normal.” Today on the show, we explore neurodivergence with two guests who recognized their neurodivergence as adults. They share how this revelation has changed their understanding of their upbringing, their relationships, their work, and their daily lives.

Amanda Kennon is an American Sign Language Interpreter who lives in the Philadelphia suburbs. She, who has a neurodivergent child, was inspired to embark on her own journey of self-discovery about how neurodivergence has impacted her personally and in her professional life. She is currently working on research on neurodiversity in the interpreting profession along with her friend and colleague Dr. Laura Polhemus. Their ongoing research includes the experiences of neurodivergent interpreters and consumers. Amanda and her colleague Laura presented at the 2023 Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf Conference, April 2024 Registry for the Deaf Neurodiversity Webinar Series, and 2024 Conference for Interpreters Trainers.

John Leimgruber grew up in the mid-west in the 1980’s. He turned his developing interest in computers into a master’s degree in electrical and computer engineering. He now lives in Philadelphia where he enjoys exploring his interests including computer gaming, mysticisms, polyamory, and psychology. While not professionally diagnosed, John identifies with late diagnosed Autism.

On this episode, comedian Mean Dave shares how comedy led him to discover his addiction recovery is protected by the ADA, and how he’s bringing disability awareness to 12-step programs, helping people understand meetings as the “ramp” that gets recovering addicts up to the “curb” of a manageable life.

Mean Dave, who is a fixture in comedy clubs around the San Francisco Bay Area. He is in his tenth year of addiction recovery. In October, Mean Dave MC’d the Comedians with Disabilities Act when FREED brought that comedy troupe to Grass Valley for a fundraiser at The Center for the Arts. Mean Dave has also opened for Josh Blue, Jay Mohr, Judy Tenuta, and Big Jay Oakerson, and has toured many universities across the United States.