[ Music ] ^M00:00:44 >> The basic premise here is that we believe that there is an emerging global network of changemakers and an emerging global network of maker spaces. And if you put them together you and me and we can collectively change the world. ^M00:01:00 [ Music ] ^F00:01:10 ^M00:01:17 >> This program was made possible from the support of VSA Texas and Amerigroup. ^M00:01:23 [ Music ] ^M00:01:38 >> Rise up Amerigroup. >> The following program may contain strong language and brief nudity, but don't get your hopes up after all, this is Pubic Access TV. >> I'm Gene. >> And I'm Dave. >> And we're. >> The Gene and Dave Show. >> Well Dave, another great year at SXSW, it was a little bit wet this year, but we had a good time. >> But it was fun man, it was great, everybody was right out in there in it and, you know, going from place to place getting soaked. It made for another memorable SXSW and what fun it was you know. In years past we haven't been able to find a drink of water anywhere you go and now it was raining, so there was everywhere. >> Everywhere. Well let's start off with our first stop. >> Oh, it's got to be, the first place has got to be the word of SXSW. The word this year was barbecue right? >> Barbecue yeah, yeah now they had a barbecue movie showing there. So, we had to see it. >> Yeah. >> But you always like to do a bit of research, do your background research before you go to a movie. So, we brought our friend and videographer Brian Miller with us. We ate barbecue at the County Line Style Switch, Blacks in Lockhart, Rudy's here in town, Terry Blacks on Barton Springs Road, then of course the next day we had to go back to Terry's. Went to Fogo de Chao just to try a different kind of barbecue there. And then more barbecue -- oh, and then we go to the movie and they're handing out free barbecue from Black's before the movie and then after the movie and then after the movie. And I don't know about you I had a good time, it was a good movie, but my favorite is Terry Black's, I've got to say that is my go-to barbecue place. >> Yeah, that's because they showed up with cameras and they invited you in. >> They invited us in, it was a good time yeah. But they talk about -- well it starts, the film starts in South Africa and they have something called a braii and I've been in South Africa at a braii and I can tell you it's pretty good and it's Afrikaans for barbecue. And the whole movie is about fire brings people together, so they have a barbecue, people join in, join around and it's just a big gathering. And what a great way to start off the conference talking about bringing the community together. >> Uh-huh around fire. >> Yeah, so we had to see that, it had nothing to do with disability, but. >> Well you've still got to eat right. >> You still got to eat. >> Everybody's got to eat. >> You got to eat, so we enjoyed that. And again, hats off to Terry's Barbecue, Terry Black's on Barton Springs Road. >> We have some footage of you going into Terry's, right? >> We do and talking to one of the gentlemen there, talking to Mike and he explained to us how much briskets they go through. Show us -- well here let me just show you. >> Let's check in with Mike. >> Mike, thanks for having us here at Terry Black's Barbecue on Barton Springs Road right across the street from Palmer Event Center. We were over there filming for SXSW and the wonderful aroma of the barbecue just drew us over here. Tell us about your shop here what you've got going? >> Awesome, well I'm glad you guys are here. So, what we've got behind us is three thousand gallon decommissioned propane tanks, we've turned these into barbecue pits, they're offset smokers. So, it's all indirect heat, so you've got your firebox here to my right, you've got all your wood sources and like I said, that's going to be all the heat. That's a post oak wood that we age between 6 and 12 months it just depends on what time of the year and how much water and sap is in the wood. Yeah, it's a really low and slow process, so we start our briskets every morning at 7:30 and they'll go late into the night. Last night it started coming off between 11:30 and 1:30 a.m., so they take a long time. >> What else can you show us around here Mike? >> I can show you guys the pits if you all want to take a look at that? >> Yes, let's take a look. >> Come on in. [Inaudible] show you what they look like. >> Oh, nice. >> Yeah, so you've got briskets over here. I'll show you this pit right over here. ^M00:06:37 ^M00:06:41 You have briskets over here. ^M00:06:43 ^M00:06:48 And I won't bore you, but we've got more briskets over there. So, we do a lot of meat here. >> Is most of your smoking meat brisket? >> We mostly serve brisket, we've also got pork ribs, beef ribs, turkey, sausage. We do that early in the morning we get. >> Man, that is a lot of meat. >> It is, it is, it is. >> Every day. >> And those beef ribs, I mean huge it's like Fred Flintstone, it looks like something he would eat. But it was good stuff and it was right across from the Palmer Event Center which was good because the Palmer is where we went to our first event. >> Yeah. >> Create. They have I guess an exhibit they call Create it's SXSW where they have all kind of makers there, designers, engineers, a lot of folks this year with the 3-D printers. The 3-D printers aren't really new, but they advance so much every year and their price keeps coming down, so you can make unique items in your home that otherwise you would have to send off to somewhere and they would charge you a boat load of money. >> Yeah, I remember going back to one of our, you know, SXSW I don't know two or three years ago where they first had those printers and they were using them in Makers Faires to design equipment for people with disabilities. Remember we saw them they made the teapot? >> Yeah. >> For the gentleman that didn't have any arms. >> Right, right. >> He wasn't able to pour his own tea and they made a prototype of the 3-D printer and they've come a long way since then, they're so affordable now anybody could have one and make your own teapot at home. >> Yeah and there were stories about one gentleman made a prosthetic limb for his son and then he put the design on the web, so anyone else who has a child that needs a prosthetic limb or even an older adolescent they could scale up to design. But they download the design, load it into the 3-D printer they could make a prosthetic. >> Yeah, just like downloading a recipe for baking a cake right, you download the program, you download the schematics for it, you plug it in, tell the printer to print it, boom you're done. >> And that's when, so when Dave and I are at SXSW every exhibit like the 3-D printers they don't talk about it being used for prosthetics or whatever. >> Right for people with disabilities. >> But you and I recognize -- yeah, we recognize people with disability could really use these. So, you need something special made if you look up SXSW under Create you'll find some people's names there and you can contact them if you need something special. >> Some of them are even local to Austin. >> Yeah, yeah. >> Which is great. >> Yes, indeed. ^M00:10:00 They had the one event in the Palmer Event Center changemakers and maker spaces. >> The basic premise here is that we believe that there's an emerging global network of changemakers and an emerging global network of makerspaces and if you put them together you and me and we can collectively change the world. >> Just by gathering all these people that like to make things using their collective knowledge and experience, give them a few goals of things to make and it's done. >> Make stuff and change the world, right? >> Yeah, yeah. >> This guy had that passion and that desire to make something. >> And some of the things they make may not be useful for a whole huge audience, but for the people that need it. >> Right. >> What a game changer, it changes their world. So, we saw Jonathan Shull there from e-NABLE. They've got some open source 3-D prosthetics for children. There was a global volunteer, Helpful Lines volunteers. There's a gentleman named Zamir from TOM Global and they put on the 72-hour event in different countries where they get designers and makers together and people with disabilities and the designers have 72 hours to make something that the people with disabilities say they need. And the one that you were talking about the teapot that the guy with no arms wanted to use. >> Yeah. >> So, there's a. >> That was several years ago, but they're -- hey you were here first on the Gene and Dave Show. >> That's right. >> But now they're picking up momentum and there's Makers Faires all over the place. >> And speaking of Maker Faires there's going to be one here in Austin in May. >> All right. >> At the Palmer Event Center Saturday and Sunday, I believe it's the 13th and 14th, so check it out, put that on your calendar. But these makerspaces are a natural hub for activities that emerge as a global network for humanitarian work, as well as social and commercial entrepreneurism. It's to do good by making, so Dave you're a talented guy I would like to see you there making something. >> I'd love to go make something, I've at least got ideas I can give to people about making stuff, so yeah. >> Yeah. >> And sometimes it's simple things like I just want something to be able to open my blinds or, you know, things like that. It just you never know. >> Now also when we were at Create we saw your friend from a galaxy far, far away. >> Oh, yeah R2-D2. >> R2D2, interviewed first on the Gene and Dave Show. >> There was a couple R2-D2s there this time. >> Yeah. >> I think they cloned R2-D2. Yeah, there was two R2-D2s and he's got part of BB8 finished, still working on BB8 I guess there's a balancing issue there. And I saw the torso of C-3PO as well. So, let's check out and see what R2-D2 has to say this year. >> Hello R2 and welcome to SXSW 2017, how are you today? Good deal, good to know you're all oiled and ready to go. R2, we never found out where are you from? From Central Texas Droids, all right. Oh, no kidding you've even got a branch here in Austin, Texas, we'll have to look that up Central Texas Droids good deal. R2, what do you think of the parking and the access around SXSW? I feel for you R2. Well R2, the most important question we have is what's your favorite TV show? The Gene and Dave Show of course. Thank you R2, appreciate it, we'll see you later. Here at Create at the Palmer Event Center at SXSW 2017. ^M00:15:15 ^M00:15:23 Same to you, thank you. >> Always my favorite. >> Yeah, I love R2 and hats off to Central Texas Droids they're always there at the Create event at SXSW and encouraging people to make their own robots. I don't know what robots are going to do for us in the future, I just need one to open a can of beer for me, maybe make me a sandwich. >> I'm still holding out for the robot attendant who can do my whole morning drill that's going to be awesome. >> That would be nice. Be there bright and early in the morning. >> Right, he'll just turn on and be ready to lift me up out of bed and throw me in the shower and help me get dressed. That's the robot I'm waiting for. >> You and me both. >> All right. Sorry to all my attendants out there. >> Nothing personal. All right, there was -- you never know what you're going to see there, we saw inclusive design in an exclusive industry. In this particular presentation, the people were talking about there's no clothes really designed for people with disabilities. Well I suppose there are, you can find some but. >> I've had to make my own, I mean there's no designers that made stuff that, you know, I could get on given my shape of sitting all day, you know, you don't really think about it, but just the way that pants are usually made, you know, they're not made to be sat in all day. You know, so the designers will take the concepts of sitting all day and they'll put more cloth on the backside, so that they're shaped that way, you know, they're shaped the default shape I guess in the sitting position. Which really helps with, you know, sores across the waist and pressure sores on the bottom just by doing something simple like that like adding more fabric to the back. It's a simple thing to think about and do, but you know, normal clothes makers don't do that. >> So, it makes them more comfortable and it's healthier for you, you have more room to breathe. >> Yeah. >> In my case, all my long sleeve shirts are too long. I have to have those shortened. But Maria over at Jam Designs she's done my hat, shirts, vest, pants, everything so I suppose we could use more people in the design world for people with disabilities. And stuff that's nice, nice to look at not just your stuff you'd throw on. >> Right. >> There was a lot at the convention you can see us wandering around here. I didn't know what some of these things were like this thing it looked like clothes stuck on the wall. But I don't know what was up with that. But you were talking about water earlier. We were over at J.P. Morgan and they had water. >> Yeah, I mean this SXSW there was water everywhere. Last year we did an event that we couldn't find, well it wouldn't have been it was the true fact. It was easier to find free beer than it was water, you know, sometimes you just need a drink of water so. >> Yeah, beer or vodka, wine, but. >> But this time they actually had water bottles set up throughout SXSW, so that was nice. >> Yeah. >> But of course, this year it was raining so. >> Yeah, water everywhere >> You could have just opened up there was water everywhere, that's right. >> Now one of the vendors we came across during the tradeshow. As I was saying, every time Dave and I go there we look at something and say how could this be used by used by someone with a disability. Well they had these home testing by Everlywell and what they do is you go to their webpage, you tell them what kind of testing kits you want, they mail them out to you, you can test yourself for a food sensitivity or thyroid, women's health, a number of different choices as you can see on the table there. ^M00:20:06 So, you know, get a blood sample and send it back to them or fill out forms whatever. But for people with disabilities that have a hard time with transportation. >> Right. >> Going to and from the doctor and sometimes even just getting out of bed, particularly when you're not feeling well is a bit of a problem, so I thought this was pretty cool and I may just try this at some time. >> The DIY health kit right? >> Yeah, yeah. >> Do-it-yourself health, find out what's wrong with you without having to leave your house, now that's convenience. >> It is yeah. And then wandering around of course, we ran into our friends at Knowbility. >> Oh, yeah. >> Knowbility helped us get set up with a webpage, they got us hooked up with Trademark Media. But their whole thing is making the web accessible for everyone. They teach that, they have competitions, focus on, they have an Access, which I believe you and I will be presenting at this year. >> We will be, we'll be teaching a class on closed captioning. >> Yeah. >> So, if you want to learn how to do close captions on video just give us a holler. >> And I'll also be teaching another class called Everyone is Disabled. >> Oh, really. >> Sometimes. >> I did not even know that. >> Yeah, I'm doing it with one of the people that I work with at Health and Human Services in the State of Texas on accessibility and he recently was injured while riding his bike, he broke his hip around Christmastime and he got his hip replaced, so he found out really quick that his house was not accessible and he had a hard time getting around and just getting around in general was really hard for him by using a walker and then, you know, graduating from the walker to the cane. So, he had a whole new appreciation for people with disabilities and, you know, and found out that he could do some things to his house to make it more accommodating for him as he grows older or as, you know, the inevitable happens. >> Yeah. >> So, we're going to do a whole course on that thinking about, you know, things that are used for people with disabilities. >> I'd like to see that, that sounds super. So, if you want to sign up for AccessU, >> Just look on the bottom of the screen. >> Knowbility.org, it's in there somewhere. >> Or go to www.theGeneandDaveshow.com and it will be in our show notes a direct link. >> So, wandering around the floor again, we ran into our old friend Brittany. You remember Brittany from last year Dave? >> Absolutely. >> From Able Thrive. Her father got a spinal cord injury and as result, you know, she learned a lot of things about adapting things to help her father and she put up a webpage Able Thrive so people with spinal cord injuries can send in their videos showing how they do certain things and she hopes that other people that go to this webpage who need help doing those things to learn from that. >> Yeah, it's such a valuable thing to have, you know, this day and age with the internet and YouTube videos and just videos in general, you know, oftentimes I think man, how do I do that. You know, how do I change the oil in a 1965 Mustang? Well if you type that in on YouTube, you know, you'll go find it. So, a lot of times when you have a spinal cord injury, especially when it's new to you and you're trying to figure out how to do things you want to know how somebody else does it you know and this is a perfect place to go rather than just, you know, typing it into YouTube this is a place that's specifically designed to show, you know, how you do something or how somebody else does something that may benefit you. And if you have something that you do that's routine, you know, I encourage you to film it and put it up there, it's really simple to do. Just upload it like you would, you know, to YouTube or make a link to one of your YouTube videos that you already have and share that with other people so that, you know, what you do might be able to help them. >> And, you know, particularly Dave, I mean I don't know how many injuries there are every year, but every year there's people that end up with the broken necks or broken backs and end up in rehabilitation. And the occupational therapist they share as much as they can, but they're still in the rehab setting, they're not in a person's home setting. They don't know all the secrets. >> Sure. >> So, it takes a community to help contribute to that, so we were glad to see Brittany there and that Able Thrive is going strong. >> It's also good to see the equipment that people use if you're looking for certain things, you know, go to Able Thrive and see what somebody else is using to turn the pages on their book or type on their computer. >> Exactly. So, Brittany also had a presentation, "Don't dis my Ability" and she talked about universal inclusion. And this is the first presentation that I believe you and I went to where we saw someone in a wheelchair there. >> Yeah, I was excited about the presentation right, I mean I thought this was a really good presentation on disability and made me think about other things. But the thing that made me so excited about the presentation is there was a lift. >> There was a lift. >> There was a lift. >> It's the first year they had the lifts. >> There was a lift to get this guy on stage, you know, and we've seen other where people in chairs just didn't get on stage or they had to be picked up and hoisted and thrown into a chair. >> Well you remember last year at South by 2016, they had to lift Zach. >> Here's a clip of that of them lifting Zach out of his wheelchair and throwing him in the big, he called it a big grandpa chair, when he got in there. >> And he sank down into it you could hardly see him. >> Yeah, you could just kind of his head barely peaking up over the table so. They did really good this year by bringing that lift out, although I heard that they didn't have the lift ready and when he got there he had requested it. So, they went in the back and found it. I don't know who keeps a lift on wheels laying around, but obviously, they do so credit to the staff of SXSW for coming up with that thing and bringing it right out and getting him on the stage. And he's an attorney, this gentleman that was speaking is an attorney and one of the things I thought was so remarkable about his speech is when he first went in he talked with his boss and asked him what kind of reasonable accommodations do you need. This is always a hard subject for me too, you know, I mean you don't want to say well I need this and this and this and start listing off a whole bunch of things. >> Right, you're afraid they won't hire you. >> Right and even if they've already hired you and still you don't want to be, you know, the bad seed, you don't want to be that guy. So, he said well, you know, I really don't need anything, I may need my desk raised a little bit so that I can reach my computer, you know, and the boss said well that's fine. But, you know, what about all the other amenities we have for the employees? We have a gym, what kinds of things do you need in the gym to be able to use it to do your workout? >> Whoa. >> I was like wow, that is amazing, you know, I didn't think about that and of course, he didn't either. >> What a [inaudible] employer. >> [Inaudible] wanted to make sure that he had everything accommodated that he was giving to all of his other employees, so hat's off of that guy. >> Absolutely. >> Of course it's a law firm and they had plenty of money to do it. But definitely, you know, think about all the other aspects to, you know, the facilities that you offer all your other employees. Even the break room can they get to the refrigerator, is there space in the refrigerator they can reach, is the microwave reachable for breaks, things like that. >> Or raising a desk. >> Right. >> Using a trackball instead of a mouse, so there's lots of simple things to make the workplace accessible. But yeah and they talked about he was a key person on some sort of a program at his university to make things accessible, but after graduation and getting to work it sounds like he still had more to learn so. >> Yeah. >> I guess it's a process we're all learning about reasonable accommodations. So, after "Don't dis my Ability," I found this great item for you Dave. I was wandering around and this woman named Manda caught my eye and she brought me over. ^M00:29:58 She has an Uplift Desk and this desk raises or lowers by pressing a button, so you press a button on the side it raises. So, when you and I are at the Gene and Dave Show international headquarters. >> Right. >> And we have one desk we want to take turns using or maybe you want it at one height I want it at another. Go and just press a button it raises or lowers. And you can program the desk too, so let's say I always like it at a particular height. >> You like it low, so you'll have the Gene mode. >> I like the Gene mode, so I just press the button for that and it automatically goes to that preset height. >> Right. >> And at first I thought well if there's only one person using the desk why not just set the desk on, you know, some blocks or whatever or shorten the legs. But then I got to thinking well there's different activities you might want to do on the table. Maybe eating you want it at one height, maybe writing or reading you want it at another, so I thought this desk was pretty cool. >> Yeah, this is another one of those items that you change to fit your needs Gene. I think the desks were originally invented for people that wanted to stand up, that's the big trend in the office these days are standing up for part of your work day so that you're not actually sitting down all day. So, the desks will raise up to the standing position or, you know, lower to the seated position off and on throughout the day. But yeah, another invention that, you know, was made for a whole different purpose that really works great for people that use wheelchairs or have different types of mobility issues. >> Exactly, yeah. So, thank you Manda for bringing me over there. Now here's another case of just like how we helped SXSW Eco when we made them aware of the access needs. I went in to this one room the Case Foundation setup and they had this booth in there, there's a table I don't know it's maybe 3 feet across. You stand on that and the camera goes 360 degrees around you, makes a cool little video. Well I went in there and I said where's the ramp and they said oh we don't have one. So, I said oh okay thanks and I left. >> No ramp. Whatever will we do. >> So, I left and a little while. >> You went to go find your attorney. >> I had to go find my attorney. And going down the hall and I hear this voice sir, sir and this woman Emily comes chasing after me. Now, you know, I'm accustomed to women chasing after me, but this time. >> Nothing new for you right? >> But this time she says, you were just over at the Case Foundation and you couldn't get on because we don't have a ramp, but please come back let's see if we can get you on there. And I said well I don't know what do you mean get me on there and she says the guys could lift you onto the platform. And I said, you know, with me and the chair it's like 500, 600 pounds. >> Yeah, the batteries alone are a hundred pounds on these things. >> Yeah. >> Right. >> But she insisted I come back with her. So, I went back to. >> And that part you're not used to. >> Right, right. So, I went back to the Case Foundation setup and they had something called Get in the Arena in this booth and they said, we can get you on, we can lift you on there. So, our videographer Brian grabbed a hold of one spot on the chair and they had four other guys around the chair lifted me up onto the platform so they could make this miniature movie here. >> They weren't even grunting when they picked you up right there. >> Oh yeah, they were grunting believe me, they were grunting. But it's a nice little movie. But the big thing is I got to say the people at the Case Foundation they all had such a positive attitude. Their thought was oh we have an issue let's take care of it, let's find a way we can solve this. They never said, oh well we don't have a ramp so I guess we can't do it. They said we will find a way. So, visit the Case Foundation the people are really forward thinking and donate some money to them and here's what the group looks like, a bunch of happy people there. So, we're here at SXSW and I came into a room set up by the Case Foundation. They have something in here called Get in the Arena and that's where they gave you a 360-degree video of a person. Well I came in and they had a little bit of a platform in there and there's no ramp to it, so I looked at them and I said where's your ramp and they said well we don't have one, so I said okay thanks and I left. Well I'm going down the hall and Emily tracks me down says sir, sir let's talk about this program we have at the Case Foundation. And so, Emily suggested to get a bunch of folks to lift me up and put me on platform. Well with me in this chair it's got to weigh close to 500 or 600 pounds. But Emily immediately made the point to try to recruit me in this program. >> Well, I mean it's really important to have inclusion and making sure that everybody in terms of just Get in the Arena the Case Foundation is all about helping people turn interest into action for social good. And so, that includes everybody and we're really excited that you came into the lounge to begin with, we're excited that you wanted to participate and so it's up to us to help make that happen. And so, we're really just glad to figure out a way to make that work and we're glad you're here. >> Super, tell us a little bit more about the Case Foundation. >> For sure. This foundation was started by Jean and Sue Case and it's all about investing in people and ideas that can change the world. It's our 20th anniversary, so in honor of that we're celebrating with this theme of Get in the Arena and helping people to turn interest into action for social good. And so, everything that's created here at SXSW are experiences, so people can sort of discover and realize what it is that their passion [inaudible] and find different avenues to turn that interest into action. >> These people really went out of their way to get me involved so that says something about their spirit. We love the people at the Case Foundation. >> Oh, thank you, thank you so much. >> Thank you so much, I really appreciate it. >> I'm really glad you stopped by. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> So, our hats off to Case Foundation. Now that they know what we need, you know, we're changing the world a little bit at a time. >> That's right, we'll see if they have a ramp next year. >> Oh, we also went to the SXSW community service awards formerly called the Dewey Awards, but the. >> Yeah, they changed the name this year. >> And they started off with a speech by using technology for community services. Dorothy Winburne, Dewey Winburne's wife, you know, Dewey was one of the people instrumental in starting SXSW. And Dorothy started talking about her husband and the vision for SXSW. But we saw old friends there, we saw Sharon from Knowbility. >> Right. >> Sharon Rush, Kathy Keller of course. >> Oh and there's Glenda. >> Glenda yeah, Glenda helped us with our information technology show, she's a friend of the show. George Cummings, a scuba diver buddy of mine. Of course, Erin a fellow writer helped me with some of my writing. But the community service awards recognize people from all over the world that use technology to provide community service. So, we always enjoy going there and the people that attend this that are in the audience are of the same mindset, you know, they just want to help people use technology any way they can to do that, so we enjoy that. >> Absolutely and congratulations to all the winners and thank you all for all that you've done to help. >> Dave, mention me Dave. >> Yeah, didn't you win one of those awards at one point Gene? >> Oh, why yes, I did Dave, thanks, thank you so much for noticing that I'm too humble. >> Sure. >> I'm trying to look humble anyway. But yeah, I did a few years back. >> So, once you win one can you win another? >> I wonder. >> I wonder. >> I'm going to have to do something good again, I don't know if I could do that. >> Well you keep chasing down girls with the Case Foundation and we'll see. >> We'll see. Yeah, there was another presentation, " Disasters in Diversity," talking about disability in media. ^M00:40:00 All the folks on the panel had some sort of disability and they were talking about whether it's movies or books how disabled people are always portrayed in a certain way either, you know, the villains. >> Right. >> Evil with the scar on the face or like Captain Hook. >> Right, [inaudible] the Hook. >> Yeah and. >> Pirates always have a patch, they can only see one eye. >> Yeah. >> Have a fake leg, something like that right, all the evil people have a disability of some sort. >> Or it was the other way that the person [inaudible] overcome their disability and become a superhero. >> All the [inaudible]. >> Yeah and they didn't like, well I guess the thing is they didn't like to see these repeated modes over and over again, they wanted to see something new. I don't know. Yeah, I would like to see someone with a disability just incorporated into the movie somewhere without even having to tell this background story how they became disabled. >> Right. >> They're just there interacting. >> And there have been a few examples of that that I've seen. Just a few off the top of my head I remember ER the television show ER one of the doctors used crutches to get around and the disability wasn't focused on at all, she was there and in crutches. I believe it's CSI, you know, one of the techno-nerds uses a wheelchair to get around. So, you know, there are a few examples like that and they're gaining momentum. >> Yeah. >> Obviously, enough to have a panel at SXSW right. >> Right, right. >> So, what did you learn from this panel Gene? >> Well I learned what they were saying to was if there's going to be a person with a disability represented on a TV show or a movie they should hire a disabled actor and I said that's just not realistic. When you and I put our show together if we want someone with a disability to come, I mean it's difficult for you and I to make arrangements for transportation and whatnot. But the more people you involve with more needs it just gets difficult. And I mean, I told them you don't hire a doctor to play the part of a doctor, so why do I have to hire someone with a disability to play the part of someone with a disability. And the one guy on the panel said, well for every able-bodied doctor you hire you take a job away from someone with a disability. I don't think that's true. >> I don't know as an actor with a disability I am available, I can be found at the Gene and Dave Show dot com if you want to hire me for your movie I'm there for you. >> And you were in the movie. >> I've been in a few movies. >> At SXSW. >> That did not focus on my disability I was just a character in the movie, so I appreciate. >> It was Mangle Horn was the last one you were in. >> Yeah, Mangle Horn and also Joe. >> Joe. >> That I was in that didn't focus on me necessarily being in, you know, in the wheelchair, so hats off to David Gordon Green, the director of both of those films who invited me in and had me be in both of his films. >> You know, this is talent right here folks hire Dave. But, you know, they talked about, they mentioned a movie too Me Before You, it's about some guy who became a quad and he just -- well I don't want to ruin the movie for everyone out there, but I thought it was a beautiful love story. They all thought, none of them seem to care for the movie, so their opinions are wrong and my is right so. >> I don't know I'll disagree with you too. >> Even my cohost won't cut me any slack. >> Nah, I'm not going to cut you any slack. >> So, anyway they talked about stereotypes and it was interesting. Gene Rodgers, I have a TV show here in Austin. First of all, there are plenty of reasons we don't hire people with disabilities in shows or movies [inaudible]. A lot of it has to do with logistics, but still I could understand the point that I know a lot of people in the disability community were against "Me before you". >> I think people need to see it, I think they should see it before they voice their opinion. I think the concern [inaudible] 35 films since 1915 where folks with disabilities kill themselves, 35 films. Now you can pick any other identity group that you want right, you're not seeing those same kinds of numbers. A question to my mind is what type of stories get told what is normalized and what doesn't get told. The film, you know, a decade earlier was Million Dollar Baby. In the novella the boxer lived, in the movie the boxer died right. And so, I think the question is not so much that you got one character dying, it's that you got disabled characters dying over and over again and that's the narrative that you hear, you don't see anything else. And I think that's [inaudible]. ^M00:46:29 [ Inaudible Speaker ] ^M00:48:12 >> [Inaudible] the other presentations, Heal Thyself. I thought from the title Health Thyself, you know, it would be about using this herbal medicine. >> Right, they're going to take something. >> Meditation. >> I'm going to drink something and all of a sudden be able to walk. >> Yeah. >> I was there I wanted to heal myself. >> Right, right. >> Heal. >> Yeah. >> So, but it's not quite what it was about. >> No, they talked about let's say you've got a certain condition maybe you could film it or take pictures of it, send it to your doctor, the doctor could diagnose it and then recommend a certain therapy for you or whatever. >> It's still a very good concept. >> Yeah. >> It makes life a lot easier for people as we talked about earlier in the show, if you can't get out of bed or, you know, when you are sick the last thing you want to do is try and get in your wheelchair, arrange transportation, and go across town to get to your doctor. >> Absolutely, you're absolutely right. But then I posed this question. When I asked my doctor's office if I could send them a picture they say, oh no we can't accept that because of HIPPA regulations. How do you get around that? You know whenever you talk about the HIPPA laws the privacy of a patient's information they don't want it going out on the internet and. >> Yeah, that's the hurdle they're going to have to get across for sure. >> So, but maybe one of these days because it would save so much hassle, but I'm sure there's liability issues. >> Well I'm sure they'll get around it, I mean it's the same thing that we deal with credit cards all the time. ^M00:50:01 You know you've got to keep your credit card number encrypted so that you can order something online. So, they'll have to encrypt our pictures of our sores on our butts, so that they're not displayed all over the internet. >> Yeah and it can be done, so it's just getting all the medical community to agree to do it. >> Coming to a computer near you. >> But I guess they make more money if you come into the office, so I don't know. >> We'll see. >> Yeah, we'll see. >> So Gene, you went to the end of disability. Obviously, it wasn't the end right now? >> No, I'm still. >> You're still using your chair? >> I'm still using my chair yeah. >> All right, so what did they talk about? >> Well they talked about implants for the brain to cure paralysis and we've been hearing about these implants for years. In fact, I became disabled in 72 and they were doing experiments then. They put electrodes in my arm, so that was what 45 years ago. All these things they're doing to try to get people healed. They're making more steps in research, but they talk about it as a cure, a new hope and I think that's just wrong. I mean particularly, for the families out there they've got a family member in the hospital and they see things on the news, you know, these implants and a cure for paralysis, it's just more research. So, it's interesting from a researcher's point of view, but to say that it might be a cure I think it's just wrong. But again, that's my opinion. But there was an opinion from another person in the audience, the same person that did inclusive design and here's what she said. >> And I think it's really cool that, you know, I'm here [inaudible] disability. It's wonderful that [inaudible] about diversity. And for the life of me I can't figure out why you seek to end disability to end, to take away our diversity. We are no longer just patients we are a community, we are a culture and I would not eliminate my disability the same way that I would not eliminate my sexuality. I'm going to say to [inaudible] that you can't just look at us as patients and [inaudible] away from the disability community and take away our funding and our [inaudible] for ourselves. [Inaudible] and I wish that you would have thought more [inaudible] about what you were going to call this event because I'm [inaudible]. You don't fix people [inaudible] is one thing, but eliminating a diversity is something else entirely and I don't think that that has [inaudible]. >> [Inaudible] and I appreciate your comments and [inaudible] comments. So, everyday -- well I'm a neurosurgeon, so I see a lot of patients come in [inaudible] with traumatic brain injuries, chronic pain, have been devastated by stroke, they have a lot of issues and they come to us saying, please help us function better. Our goal is here to help people with physical disabilities, cognitive [inaudible] and use technology to help th em. So, our number one goal is to help individuals and patients ask us for help and we're here to help. >> So, you can tell she was a bit upset. >> Yeah, obviously. >> Yeah and it's almost like saying having a disability is wrong, so you shouldn't, you know, you should be cure, you should want to be cured and I don't know. They could have presented it better I suppose, certainly had a different title. >> Well it's definitely a subject that gets people's emotions riled up so obviously, that's what you've got here. >> Then the last presentation we went to was called Brain Wearables and it's a little device like a headphone you wear, but it didn't have a microphone on it, just like a little headset that you wear. And it picked up your brainwaves and it interprets your brainwaves to activate motors or whatever. So, if I was wearing one I could move my wheelchair back. I could think, you know, move chair and the chair would move. So, there's no implants with those and it's -- I wouldn't say a hundred percent safe to use today, but wow they made some tremendous progress in these. And that I can see as something that would be, it's not trying to cure the muscles, it's not trying to get the muscles to move themselves, but to use brainwaves to activate other motors and such and that I can see as a real possibility being hopeful so. >> So, you're convinced that things are going to be hard to move your muscles, but when it comes to reading your mind they appear to get it done? >> I'd fry that computer when it tries to read my mind, you know. But anyway, it's always -- SXSW is always an awesome event go to and. >> It is, just so many great people whether you agree or disagree with them. You know there's a lot of people there that have done a lot of research, a lot of brainpower. You know if they put those things on their heads who knows what they can control. But definitely a lot of people we meet, great place to network. If you have a minute SXSW what are you waiting, on you really should go. >> Yeah, so until the next SXSW. >> Until the next show. >> Until the next show. Folks, be awesome out there, be the most awesome you can and who knows maybe you'll end up on this show too. Until then, I'm Gene. >> And I'm Dave. >> And we're the Gene and Dave Show. >> So long. ^M00:56:48 [ Music ] ^M00:57:08