Diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis as a child, author and 2020 Bush Fellow Jenna Udenberg turned lifelong challenges into a mission: make accessibility the norm, not the exception. She shares how “Within My Spokes” captures resilience, why “committed over compliant” changes everything, and how her nonprofit Above & Beyond With U helps businesses and communities design with disabled people from the start. Expect practical truths on housing, travel, education, and what true inclusion really requires. 

Sponsored by Real Life Prosthetics (https://www.reallifeprosthetics.com/)  

Guest Bio:  

Jenna Udenberg is an accessibility advocate, author of Within My Spokes: A Tapestry of Pain, Growth and Freedom, founder of the nonprofit Above & Beyond With U, and a 2020 Bush Fellow. A wheelchair user and bugler for veteran funerals, she consults with communities and organizations to go “above and beyond code,” centering lived experience to create spaces where everyone belongs. 

Main Topics: 

·         Juvenile rheumatoid → idiopathic arthritis: what changed and why it matters. 

·         Growing up disabled pre-ADA: school, IEP/504 gaps, and systemic ignorance. 

·         “Committed vs. compliant” accessibility; housing and new-build failures. 

·         Travel barriers (airlines breaking wheelchairs) and policy change needs. 

·         Bush Fellowship: investing in leadership, learning from disability history hubs. 

·         Adaptive movement, diabetes management, and aquatic training. 

·         Above & Beyond With U: funding, rural access, and promoting accessible events. 

·         The book Within My Spokes: writing trauma with care; audiobook in progress.  

Resources mentioned: 

·         Above & Beyond With U (nonprofit): aboveandbeyondwithu.org (https://www.aboveandbeyondwithu.org/) (said verbally as “dot org”) — donations and book sales support the org. 

·         Book: Within My Spokes: A Tapestry of Pain, Growth and Freedom — by Jenna Udenberg. 

·         Bush Foundation & Bush Fellowship (MN/ND/SD & tribal nations). 

·         Disability history & docs: Ed Roberts; Judith Heumann;

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