WXXI Move to Include

Ice Warriors: U.S. Sled Hockey On-Demand

Follow the U.S. sled hockey team as they prepare for the Winter Paralympic Games in Sochi, Russia. For more than 5 months, ICE WARRIORS followed the U.S. sled hockey team on their road to the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. These remarkable competitors—experienced athletes and rookie players, high school students and military veterans wounded in action—shared one goal: to make history with a repeat gold medal win.

Over the course of ten days in March 2014 in Sochi, Russia, the Paralympics will bring together the world’s top athletes with physical disabilities to represent their countries and compete in the world’s toughest games. Second only to the Olympics themselves, the Paralympic Games are a major international multi-sport event that redefine what makes a champion. These extraordinary individuals battle in the same stadiums for the gold, silver, and bronze medals, and in the presence of the same flaming torch as the Olympic athletes.

Watch On-Demand

Ice Warriors is part of Move to Include™ , a partnership between WXXI and the Golisano Foundation designed to promote inclusion for people with intellectual and physical disabilities. Special programming includes prime-time specials, children’s programs, and news stories.

Ice Warriors is also a part of the VETERANS CONNECTION, an initiative to draw awareness to the issues faced by of veterans.

The Life Autistic On-Demand

Iowans with autism illustrate the nuances of The Life Autistic in this two-hour broadcast documentary. Host Tyler Leech, a member of Iowa’s community of people with autism, guides us through all twelve stories from the original Iowa PBS web series.

Also: Explore the challenges and successes of individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder, and meet people on the spectrum from the very young to the elderly living The Life Autistic. From the Life Autistic Collection

Positive All the Way On-Demand

Learn the inspiring story of the Paralympic movement’s recent revolution, profiling its extraordinary founder, Sir Philip Craven.

This film explores the power of adaptive sport to ignite the human spirit and simultaneously weaves a tapestry of how Sir Philip Craven the former president of the International Paralympic Committee, guided the world’s largest adaptive sports organization to become a global leader for social change. Positive All the Way tells the inspiring story of the Paralympic movement’s recent revolution, profiling its extraordinary founder, Sir Philip Craven, who was paralyzed at age 16 but was determined to make an impact in the way the world sees these courageous athletes.

As the film explores the power of adaptive sport to ignite the human spirit, it simultaneously weaves a tapestry of one man’s journey to bring inclusion and opportunity to the world. Reflecting on his tenure as President of the International Paralympic Committee, Sir Philip Craven recounts his life experiences and battles, including the fall which left him paralyzed at the age of 16. It was these obstacles, paired with his values, that shaped the leader and the Paralympic movement he so clearly loves.

Protactile: A Language of Touch On-Demand

Join author and disability rights advocate Rebecca Alexander as she meets the founders and educators of Protactile, a language based solely on touch. Historically, DeafBlind people have been limited to using interpreters to communicate. With Protactile, one-on-one and group conversations are not only possible, but they also allow for deeper and more meaningful connection. From American Masters.

One Way or Another On-Demand:

In this 100th episode, tellers share how dealing with challenges showed them strengths they never knew they had. Brandon bridges the gap between their deaf grandma and a police officer using ASL; an allergic reaction turns Sara’s vacation upside down; and Jeff takes on Mt. Kilimanjaro for cancer research. Three storytellers, three interpretations of ONE WAY OR ANOTHER, hosted by Theresa Okokon. Stories from the Stage: One Way or Another

The Golisano Foundation Awards WXXI a Five-Year Grant

The Golisano Foundation has awarded WXXI Public Media a five-year grant totaling $1.65M in support of the continuation and expansion of the Move to Include initiative.

In 2014 WXXI and the Foundation joined forces to launch Move to Include (MTI), an initiative that uses the power of public media to inform and transform attitudes and behavior about intellectual, physical, and developmental disabilities.

This five-year grant will enable WXXI to continue and strengthen the core MTI content and productions including WXXI-produced documentaries, primetime and children’s TV programming, social media, and special events. It will also support the Inclusion Desk, a multi-platform reporting effort by WXXI News dedicated to consistently reporting on disability issues and stories of inclusion. The grant will also enable WXXI to hire a dedicated project manager to oversee productions, monitor the brand, and work to increase audience reach. WXXI’s investment over the next five years totals $1.1M.

In 2020 The Corporation for Public Broadcasting recognized the importance of Move to Include and awarded WXXI a grant to expand efforts to five additional public media stations, which include WFYI (Indianapolis), OPB (Oregon), WGCU (Southwest Florida), WCNY (Syracuse), and Iowa PBS. Now with the support of the Golisano Foundation, WXXI has a goal to partner with 40 new PBS stations nationwide to implement MTI in their communities.

“We are grateful to the Golisano Foundation for its generous support that will enable us to focus more effort on expanding MTI content and outreach,” said WXXI President Norm Silverstein. “Move to Include is an important part of our mission to ensure that a diverse set of voices is heard on our air, online, and in digital and community spaces.”

“We are pleased to partner with WXXI and continue our support for Move to Include, which has become a catalyst for inclusive programming in New York and several other states. With the proposed expansion to even more stations across the country, we look forward to an exciting new era of inclusive programming and public education that will increase engagement and impact on issues, experiences, and perspectives of the disability community,” said Ann Costello, Executive Director, Golisano Foundation.

WXXI has been providing focused coverage of disabilities for the past 19 years, first partnering in 2003 with the Al Sigl Community of Agencies to produce Dialogue on Disability, a one-week initiative weaving programming and news coverage focused on disabilities. In 2014 with the support of businessman and philanthropist Tom Golisano and the Golisano Foundation, the Move to Include initiative was formed, enabling WXXI to develop year-round programming promoting inclusion that now reaches more than one million people. WXXI has continued to expand production, increase the number of special events, and widen its reach online and on social with the support of $1.475M to date from the Golisano Foundation.

Concrete Gridiron On-Demand:

Follow the Buffalo team as they navigate their inaugural season and discover a lifelong purpose in adaptative sports. In 2021, a wheelchair football league launched nationwide. Discover the first wheelchair football league in Buffalo, NY that is a part of the national league, which is made up of athletes living with disabilities.

A Good Life • On-Demand

Life is full of joys and challenges for us all — but the experiences of individuals living with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities (I/DD) is something that not everyone understands or appreciates.

A Good Life, a WXXI production, takes an intimate look into the lives of six adults living with I/DD and their families. The film shares the challenges and opportunities they face, while leading national experts and historians in the field offer insight.

The film’s producers were able to imbed themselves with these adults and their families, filming moments from their everyday lives. A Good Life provides the unique opportunity to share their stories from a first-person perspective. Viewers will see each family dealing with aging in a unique way that is specific to the time period and constructs they were born into.

The film also offers professional perspective and historical context from local and national experts including Dan Meyers, Al Sigl Community President Emeritus; Jeiri Flores, an advocacy specialist with the Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities; Professor Tamar Heller of the Insitute on Disability and Human Development; Dr. Allison Carey, Disability Activism Sociologist, Professor, and Author; Nicole VanGorder of Upstate Special Needs Planning; Professor Jorge Matos of City University of New York Center for the Humanities; and Dr. Stephen Sulkes of Strong Center for Developmental Disabilities.

Photo: Roomates Amy and Katie
Credit: WXXI

Produced by WXXI. A Good Life was produced in conjunction with Move to Include, a partnership between WXXI and the Golisano Foundation designed to build a more inclusive community by inspiring and motivating people to embrace different abilities and include all people in every aspect of community life. Move to Include grew out of WXXI and Al Sigl Community of Agencies initiative, Dialogue on Disability, which is an annual week-long programming event that encourages community dialogue about the lives and abilities of people with disabilities.

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