Representation Station: Disabled YouTubers to Follow
Continuing with our Representation Station series, today we bring you 3 YouTube channels by disabled creators in the social media sphere.
Roll with Cole and Charisma
Cole and Charisma met in 2017 when Cole was part of a rehabilitation physical therapy program and Charisma was an assistant working there. What began as a casual meeting has since turned into a marriage, starting a business, and launching an extremely successful career on YouTube. Since the start of their relationship, Cole and Charisma have fielded a lot of questions, both from family and friends as well as strangers, about what it was like to be an interabled couple and what it’s like navigating the world with a disability. So, they started recording their life and creating videos to shed light on those topics. Content like this isn’t often spoken about publicly, so when they started making videos they quickly gained traction. After a few short years they have almost seven hundred thousand YouTube subscribers as well as tens of thousands more followers on other social media platforms. Their video content ranges from travel vlogs, adaptive product reviews, chronicling the purchase and renovation of a house to make it accessible, getting a service dog, stigma surrounding interabled couples, and showing behind-the-scenes moments of what real life with a disability looks like. Both Cole and Charisma are bubbly, positive, comedic people who love having a good time. Their videos are guaranteed to make you laugh and show you perspectives not seen in mainstream media.
Squirmy and Grubs
Shane Burcaw and Hannah Aylward, also known as Squirmy and Grubs, are two of the most well known YouTube stars in the online disability space. Their Youtube videos range from comedic satire pieces, to travel vlogs highlighting the inaccessibility of the world, to answering questions about interabled dating and marriage. Their real, raw, and vulnerable videos have gained the attention of nearly one million YouTube subscribers who have watched their videos for a total of 100 million views. Hannah and Shane have spoken at major universities, done talks at business headquarters, consulted on tv shows, authored books, and have appeared on major talk shows. Along with their laughable banter and click bait video titles, they address topics of ableism, accessibility, and relationships in a respectful and informative manner.
All Access Life
Dan started working as Brad’s full time aide in 2010 when Brad began his freshman year of high school. What started out as a job for Dan has since blossomed into a thriving Youtube channel, lasting friendship, and growing non profit! Over their years of working together they both have seen the amazing effects technology has had on Brad’s life. Being nonspeaking, Brad relies on assistive technology (AT) to communicate along with non verbal gestures and signs. Both Brad and Dan spent countless days researching what products would help meet Brad’s communication needs to allow him to engage and participate with the world around him the way he wished to. This research led the two men to create a website that shows the latest trends in adaptive products and assistive technology and later turned into a non profit called All Access Life. Their goal is to build a community interested in inclusion and accessibility, and to highlight products, tools, and software that allow for disabled individuals to have maximum enjoyment of life. On their YouTube channel you can watch their adaptive product reviews, video gaming streams, and vlogs, and you’re sure to have lots of laughs!
For more in our Representation Station series, check out our posts on children’s and adult tv shows, adaptive clothing for children and toys that represent disability.
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