The Sunflower Conversations
Welcome to the Sunflower Conversations, the podcast where we explore the experiences of disabled people with non-visible disabilities through the lens of the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower.
This is a space to hear authentic stories from disabled people navigating life with non-visible disabilities such as chronic illness, mental health conditions, neurodivergence, and more. While most episodes focus on lived experience, we also feature occasional insights from experts in healthcare, accessibility, and inclusion.
Whether you or someone you care about wears the Sunflower, our conversations aim to raise awareness, build understanding, and help create a more inclusive and compassionate world.
Empowering voices. Raising awareness. Challenging assumptions - one conversation at a time.
Episodes
161 episodes
Autism and the Sunflower with William Vanderpuye
William Vanderpuye is a social worker and is autistic. In this conversation, William shares what the Sunflower means to him and the confidence and support it has given him while in education at university and now in employment.William's...
Perimenopause and Menopause with Dr Louise Newson
Dr Louise Newson is a GP & Menopause Specialist and joined us to share her knowledge and expertise. Dr Newson and her team at Newson Health are at the forefront of advocating for women to get the appropriate treatment to support their hormo...
Autism with Maddie White
This podcast was recorded as an Instagram Live.Maddie shared her lived experience of being wrongly diagnosed with mixed anxiety, depression and panic disorder before eventually being diagnosed with autism when at university aged 21. In ...
Perimenopause and Menopause with Fay Durrant
Fay Durrant is a Wellbeing and Menopause coach and joined us to discuss perimenopause and menopause as well as her own lived experience with perimenopause.The conversation allows our hosts, Chantal and Paul, to speak about their experie...
Rett Syndrome with Beth Johnsson
Beth Johnsson joins us to talk about Rett Syndrome. This rare genetic disorder affects brain development, resulting in severe mental and physical disability.It's estimated to affect around 1 in 10,000 girls born yearly and is rarely see...
Mental Health with Sandy Kaur, Sehhat
Sandy Kaur joins the Sunflower Conversations to discuss mental health and suicide prevention in Punjabi and South Asian communities and how her charity Sehhat is tackling the topic.We discuss the barriers to seeking support, including t...
Multiple Sclerosis with Lisa Nice
Lisa Nice has multiple sclerosis (MS). She joins Chantal and Paul to explain how the autoimmune and neurodegenerative condition affects her. We also discuss her employer, Comic Relief's approach to diversity, equity and inclusion.Diagnos...
Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HCM) with Bethany and Hannah Keime
Our guests are sisters Bethany and Hannah Keime, who have a condition called Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), a disease of the heart muscle where the muscle wall of the heart becomes thickened.Bethany and Hannah received a diagnosis i...
ADHD, Processing Disorder and Depression with Ginger Ragaishis
Ginger Ragaishis is Miss Vermont Teen 2023 and is currently a junior in high school. Ginger has ADHD and learning disabilities and uses her lived experience to deliver talks to younger students to give them the confidence to be their authentic ...
Cerebral Palsy with Eva Abley
Eva Abley joined Paul and Chantal at Disability Expo to share her life experience of living with cerebral palsy.Eva is 15 years old and a 2022 Britain’s Got Talent finalist who endeared t...
Fragile X Syndrome with Monique Mitchell and Liz Jewell, Fragile X Australia
Liz Jewell is the Family Support Counsellor at Fragile X Australia, and Monique Mitchell is the mum of two children with Fragile X Syndrome. This conversation teaches us about Fragile X characteristics and the difference between b...
Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD) and ADHD with Solène Anglaret
Solène joined Ruth and Chantal at
Autism with Patrick Fopma
For our first-ever face-to-face Sunflower Conversations recording, Chantal was joined by Patrick Fopma, who is autistic and who describes himself as having Aspergers. In our conversation, we discussed his differences, including how he wanted to...
Bowel and Vaginal Cancer and Acoustic Neuroma with Karen Bucknall
Karen is a beauty pageant queen who joins the conversation to discuss her diagnosis, treatment and recovery.Karen shares intimate details of her health journey in a humorous and endearing way. After coming to terms with her post-surgery...
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Dysautonomia with Miss Chile Ambar Zenteno
Ambar Zenteno, Miss Chile, has dysautonomia and is shining her light on the condition through the beauty pageant Miss World - Beauty with a Purpose platform. Dysautonomia is a term used to describe any disorder of the autonomic (automatic) nerv...
ADHD, Developmental Coordination Disorder, and Sensory processing with Justin Wesolek
Justin has ADHD, Developmental Coordination Disorder, and Sensory processing issues. A graduate at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, in Wisconsin, which has a special focus for students with disabilities.Justin explains how each o...
Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 with Anna Ballreich
Anna Ballreich joins us from the Special Olympics World Games Berlin 2023 to explain the history of the games and what visitors can expect to see and experience.The Special Olympics is from the 17th – 25th June 2023. 7,000 Special Olymp...
Epilepsy with Murray Goulder and Daniel Jennings, Epilepsy Action
Murray Goulder has epilepsy and joins us with Daniel Jennings from charity, Epilepsy Action, to talk about absence seizures, treatment, public misconceptions and access to venues.Murray campaigns for greater awareness of epilepsy using ...
Disability Expo with Jade Godier
Jade Godier joins us to share exciting news about Disability Expo, a free person-focused event for people with lived experience of disability. Showcasing the latest developments on the disability market, relevant services and information, and a...
AbleVu and Meegan Winters
Meegan Winters is the Hidden Disabilities Sunflower program regional partner in the US and co-founder of AbleVu and Able Eyes.Meegan talks about her life experiences and why she decided to create the AbleVu, - which provides a detailed ...
Congenital Anosmia and visual impairment with Claire-Louise Pitman
Claire-Louise has Congenital Anosmia and is severely visually impaired. Since birth, Claire-Louise hasn't had a sense of smell, but only discovered this when she was 11 years old. We talk about how Claire-Louise navigates through life w...
Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS) with Jasmeet Kaur and Helen Eftekhari, PoTS UK
Helen Eftekhari is a specialist nurse in Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (PoTS), and Jasmeet Kaur has lived experience of the health condition.Our conversation discovers what PoTS is and how it affects the body, including the impact it ha...
ME/CFS and Long Covid with Russell Fleming, ME Association
Russell joins us from the ME Association to discuss Myalgic Encephalopathy and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (ME/CFS), including what it is, and how it affects people.ME/CFS is a chronic, complex, multisystem disease that can produce a wide-...
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Lupus with Paul Howard, Lupus UK and Rachel Hall
We discuss the autoimmune disease Lupus, with Paul Howard, the CEO of Lupus UK. And Rachel Hall, who has lived experience of Lupus. Paul talks us through what the disease is and the symptoms to look out for and Rachel shares how Lup...
Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) with Dr Chris Symeon and Dawn Golder, FND Hope UK
“Functional neurological disorder is a really common neurological condition. It happens because of a problem with brain signalling. So, it's involving brain networks rather than specific anatomical damage and it can affect any part of the nervo...
