How to Turn Your Disability to Ability and Soar Above Circumstances

When Jenna Udenberg was fifteen, she had a suicide plan due to tough medical issues and severe physical pain from her arthritis. She lived in bed. But she pulled herself from those very dark, tough times to become an inspiration to many who suffer from disabilities.

Jenna Udenberg is a former music educator of 19 years. She has used a manual wheelchair since the age of eight due to Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis. Jenna is a 2017 Blandin Foundation Community Leader, a 2020 Bush Fellow, and a 2025 Shannon Leadership Institute Fellow.

Writing for the Lake County Press in her column, "Local View from 4 foot 2, inspires vulnerability and the sharing of lived experiences from a seated perspective.

In her interview, Jenna shared how she went from feeling hopeless to inspiring anyone who may be struggling with life-changing circumstances beyond their control.  

Why is disability not a bad word?

● Going beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act code matters, as we are not a checklist.

● Why are accessibility and inclusion important?

● How did you overcome daily challenges?

BUY JENNA'S BOOK HERE

Life is always beautiful, no matter what it looks like, because of the tapestry of relationships and people.

Make it colorful and unique.

Within My Spokes is a collection of Jenna Udenberg’s life stories and the relationships that create her tapestry. From her childhood diagnosis of Juvenile Arthritis at age seven, Jenna fought through long journeys of medical battles, broken systems, discrimination, and ignorance. Jenna is a 2020 Bush Fellow and a disability advocate, activist, and accessibility educator. Readers have laughed and cried as they dug deeper into her shared life stories. This is a coming-of-age book about finding oneself, one’s purpose, and worth, sometimes through the most unlikely of relationships and circumstances.

Within these stories, you will be taken on a journey of:

• Persevering and thriving through life’s unexpected adventures
• Timely friendships create safe, inclusive, and healthy spaces
• Healing (physical, spiritual, emotional) through the hurt of one’s past
• Faith

Though our stories may be different, you may relate to experiences in this book of pain, growth, and freedom that could help you on your journey.

Jenna Udenberg grew up on the beautiful North Shore of Lake Superior. She is a disability advocate and accessibility educator. Jenna’s newspaper column, Local View from 4’ 2”, can be found in the Lake County Press. She loves working with others, including her non-profit, Above & Beyond With U.

CONNECT WITH JENNA HERE

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Severe Disability and Paralyzed from the Neck Down - Did NOT Stop Ken

Paralyzed from the neck down while playing college football in 1970, Ken Kunken was led to believe the best he could hope for was a career selling magazine subscriptions over the phone. But he battled back from the depths of depression and despair to become an award-winning assistant district attorney.

Some men see things as they are and say, "Why?" Ken dreamed of things that never were and said, "Why not?"

But the Ken Kunken story is more than overcoming adversity. There's more -- much more.

After a lengthy hospitalization, Ken returned to Cornell, where he completed his undergraduate degree in engineering. Ken earned a Master of Arts degree at Cornell in education, as well as a Master of Education degree at Columbia University in psychology. 

Ken became a nationally certified rehabilitation counselor. He worked for more than two years at Abilities, Inc., where he provided vocational and placement counseling to severely disabled individuals. 

Was that enough?  Not for Ken! He enrolled in Hofstra University's School of Law and worked for more than 40 years as a Nassau County assistant district attorney, where he became a Deputy Bureau Chief. 

It’s also a love story that leads Ken to become the biological father of triplets, which was thought to be impossible. Ken's true-life story inspires and motivates others to fight for their dreams against overwhelming odds.

Ken never ever gave up hope. He believed he could lead a useful, productive, and happy life despite his physical disability.

Please share his incredible interview: 

BUY KEN'S BOOK - CLICK HERE

“I Dream of Things That Never Were” describes Ken Kunken’s journey from the lowest point in his life after a serious football injury to the pinnacle of happiness and success.

CONNECT WITH KEN HERE

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If You Have Been Broken, Do You Know How To Move Forward?

Kate Wallinga spent her professional life in the fields of mental health

and criminal justice, before breaking her back and being put on

permanent disability in 2014. She has worked in the fields of

correctional psych, forensic psych, and crisis assessment.

Kate studied criminal justice and mental health counseling and worked

in the New Hampshire State Prison system, locked psychiatric facilities,

and several emergency rooms.

In 2010, Kate had a near-death experience, which led to her being

housebound for a year. In 2014, Kate broke her back and had to

leave her career. In 2019, Kate's father died by suicide. She has

battled health issues including epilepsy and deafness. But, as she

will share today, although broken, Kate moved forward and she

will show you how to as well - no matter what you have gone

through.

After accepting the necessity of leaving her preferred career, Kate

spent a few years moping, then started listening to podcasts. She loves

true crime genre and soon realized this is what she wanted to do - to

connect with and share other people's stories.

In her interview, she shares her incredible story and how she became a

story-teller, a story-collector, and a.....herder of cats.

Podcasting seemed the logical next step after Kate worked in the fields of

forensic and correctional psychology, and crisis assessment.

Ignorance Was Bliss is a show about how we become who we are and 

making just about anything sound normal - from PTSD to podcasting to 

serial murder. It is about people's stories.

This podcast is about how we become who we are - about making 

just about anything sound normal. Over time, the focus of the show 

has widened to include the normal, the average, the ordinary, that 

all of us can understand...but we continue to think of ourselves as 

somehow messed up, weird, wrong. 

We're not.

You're not.

Honest.

Connect with Kate Here

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