Jubilee Dueck-Thiessen is the Executive Director of the Manitoba Down Syndrome Society. She started with MDSS as a student, spent years at L'Arche Winnipeg leading community programs and a major accessibility-focused art exhibit, and has now returned to MDSS to lead the organization.

In this episode, she makes a case for seeing disability not through a medical lens, asking what's wrong and how to fix it, but through a social one: asking what barriers society has built, and how we start tearing them down.

From reframing Down syndrome diagnoses as something to celebrate rather than apologize for, to questioning whether our standards of independence and productivity were ever designed for everyone, Jubilee brings a perspective on disability rights and inclusive community that's worth sitting with.

Connect With Manitoba Down Syndrome Society:

Website: https://manitobadownsyndromesociety.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ManitobaDownSyndromeSociety/

Instagram: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mbdownsyndrome
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mbdownsyndrome

Connect With Us

Facebook: facebook.com/accessiblefuture

Instagram: instagram.com/accessiblefuture

Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/accessible-future/

Email: accessiblefuturepod@gmail.com

Chapters:

00:00 — Introduction

01:21 — Meet Jubilee Dueck-Thiessen

03:21 — From university volunteer to Executive Director

05:19 — What MDSS does and who it serves

07:24 — The accessible future: barriers we need to remove

07:38 — Medical model vs. social model of disability

10:26 — Why the productivity mindset hurts everyone

11:19 — What to say when a family gets a Down syndrome diagnosis

12:40 — The Eden Project: an accessible art exhibit at L'Arche

17:11 — Barriers to accessing nature

18:57 — Mutual care: moving from one-way to community support

21:00 — The L'Arche model and how it shaped Jubilee's work

22:29 — The cliff: what happens when young adults leave the school system

23:45 — Why disability organizations are being asked to do more with less

26:08 — How government and agencies can better align

26:43 — Burnout in the nonprofit sector and leading as a neurodivergent person

30:12 — Wrap up

In todays episode of Accessible Future, host Simon Jones sits down with three members of L'Arche Winnipeg, Grace, Mira, and Jordan, to talk about what barrier free living actually looks like when it goes beyond ramps and wheelchair access. L'Arche is built on the idea that people with and without intellectual disabilities can live together, share a home, and grow from one another. Not as a program, but as a way of life.

The conversation gets into the family model, the Community Circle day program, interdependence over independence, and why accessible relationships matter just as much as accessible spaces to the disability community. Plus the Walk with L'Arche is coming up May 3rd, and they'll tell you everything you need to know.

“An accessible future isn’t just about accessible spaces. It’s about accessible relationships.”

- Mira, L’Arche Winnipeg

Guest Links

• Website: https://www.larchewinnipeg.org

• Walk with L’Arche: https://www.larchewinnipeg.org/get-involved/the-walk/register-for-the-walk-with-larche/

• Jordan 411 Sports Show: https://www.youtube.com/@jordan411sports2

Connect With Us

• Facebook: facebook.com/accessiblefuture

• Instagram: instagram.com/accessiblefuture

• Linkedin: linkedin.com/company/accessible-future/

• Email: accessiblefuturepod@gmail.com

Chapters

0:00 Intro

1:23 Meet the Guests: Jordan, Grace & Mira

4:19 What Does an Accessible Future Look Like?

7:29 The Community Circle Program

11:23 Life at L’Arche: Jordan’s Perspective

12:29 The Family Model & Mutual Relationships

17:15 Living In, Grace’s Year Inside L’Arche

19:21 Interdependence vs Independence

23:23 What Does Belonging Really Mean?

25:00 The Walk with L’Arche — May 3rd

31:15 Final Reflections: What Would You Pass On?

35:18 Outro

What does a wheelchair fencer, criminal defence lawyer, datascientist, and accessibility auditor have in common? They're all Peter Tonge, and he's here to challenge how organizations think about disability inclusion.

In this episode, host Simon Jones sits down with Peter Tongeof Peter Tonge Consulting to explore what accessibility really means beyond the building code. Peter has been a wheelchair user since age four, worked as a data scientist at Statistics Canada, and earned his law degree at the University of Manitoba — all of which informs his uniquely practical approach to accessibility advocacy.

They cover why airlines damage wheelchairs on 25% of flightsyet somehow manage to transport racehorses safely, the real difference between legal compliance and cultural inclusion, how to make your website accessible for screen reader users, and what it actually takes to shift an organization's accessibility culture from checkbox to genuine commitment.

"An accessible future means assuming we're coming —not treating disability as an afterthought."

Guest Links

• Peter Tonge Consulting: petertongeconsulting.com
• Talking Rotary Podcast: talkingrotary.buzzsprout.com

Connect With Us

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/1HWP4o1yXo/?mibextid=wwXIfr
• Instagram: instagram.com/accessiblefuture⁠

• Email: accessiblefuturepod@gmail.com

Chapters:

00:00 Cold Open - Wheelchair Damage at 30,000 Feet

00:30 Welcome & Introduction to Peter Tonge

02:45 Wheelchair Rugby, Fencing & Sailing — Life Outside of Work

07:02 Growing Up as a Wheelchair User Since Age 4

10:09 From Statistics Canada to Law School

12:29 What Does an Accessible Future Look Like?

14:16 Airlines Transport Racehorses Safely — But Not My Wheelchair

20:48 Inside Peter Tonge Consulting

25:04 Gaps vs. Barriers — A Critical Distinction

35:22 Simon's Takeaways & Preview of the next Episode