In January, NADSP’s Director of Educational Services, John Raffaele along with NADSP President and CEO Joe Macbeth recorded our latest episode with self advocate BJ Stasio. BJ was most recently featured in one of the COVID-19 PSAs.

The objectives covered in this episode include understanding the importance of vaccinations along with the support needs of people with disabilities, and finally the importance  partnership in the role that one has as a direct support professional in the lives of people with disabilities.

In the interview, BJ shared what he has learned from the pandemic and it’s impact on his daily activities. He shared how the isolation was difficult for him and how advocacy plays an important role in the relationship between a direct support professional and a person receiving supports. 

The following highlights are covered during this interview:

• Challenges that BJ has experienced with staffing coverage and supports since March 2020
• BJ’s opinion about vaccinations for direct support professionals
• The impact of BJ’s New York State Senate Testimony 
• The  “Art of Advocacy” initiative
• Suggestions for people with disabilities who are faced with working with unvaccinated direct support professionals

This interview is available to listen to via our podcast, The Point of Interaction, on Anchor, Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Additionally, you can read the full transcript here. In the future we plan to share more of our content via podcasts and hope you will subscribe to our channel.