Beyond Boundaries

Beyond Beautiful: Disability, Liberation, Love

Season 2, Episode 3 - Beyond Boundaries

🎧 Listen to the Episode

🧭 Episode Summary

In this episode, Mandi sit down with Jasmine “Jazzy” Ramos—an advocate, community builder, and social work student whose work is rooted in the belief that liberation begins with sincere belonging. Together, we explore how boundaries show up in disabled lives—socially, emotionally, and systemically—and how community, love, and pride can be acts of resistance in a world that often denies us all three. Jasmine shares how storytelling, advocacy, and intentional connection create spaces where disabled people are seen, valued, and deeply connected.

⚠️ Content Notes

This episode includes conversations about disability, chronic and progressive conditions, access barriers, identity, community care, and emotional experiences related to belonging and love. Listeners may also hear reflections on ableism and systemic exclusion. Please engage in ways that support your needs.

🎙 Guest

Jasmine "Jazzy" Ramos is an advocate, community builder, and social work student who believes liberation begins with sincere belonging. Living with a genetic progressive condition called spinal muscular atrophy, she is driven to create spaces where people feel seen, valued, and connected. Through her storytelling, advocacy efforts, and volunteer work, Jasmine views disability not as something to overcome, but something to honor and celebrate with pride. She reminds us that love, especially within disability communities, can be profoundly healing and a powerful form of resistance.

💬 Key Themes

• Disability as Identity

• Belonging & Community Care

• Belonging & Community Care

• Love as a Healing & Radical Force 

📜 Full Transcript

Mandi: Welcome to Beyond Disability Liberation Love

I'm Mandi, your Queer Christian Disabled host.

Before we get into today's episode, I'm really excited to announce that transcripts are now available for every season 2 episode. I am working on getting transcripts for all of the season 1 episodes and will be sure to let you know when those are available.

In order to make sure that you capture all the conversations that we're having, I encourage you to go to mandiboxbeauty.com where you can find the transcripts for each episode in season 2.

Today we are going to be talking about a topic that can be challenging for both disabled and non disabled people.

But there's a lot of extra nuance when we're talking about boundaries for people with disabilities.

I'm excited to share the interview that I had with Jasmine "Jazzy" Ramos, an advocate, community builder, and social work student who believes liberation begins with sincere belonging.

Jazzy lives with a genetic progressive condition called Spinal Muscular Atrophy.

She is driven to create spaces where people feel seen, valued, and connected.

Through her storytelling, advocacy efforts, and volunteer work, Jazzy views disability not as something to overcome, but something to honor and celebrate with pride.

She reminds us that love, especially within disability communities, can be profoundly healing and a powerful form of resistance.

Let's jump right in and meet Jazzy.

Mandi: Hey, Jazzy. I'm so glad to have you on today's episode. How are you doing?

Jazzy: I'm doing great. Thank you so much. How are you?

Mandi: I am really good and really excited about our conversation today.

It's deep, but I think it's really important.

So for listeners who don't know who you are, I did a little intro of you, but I'd love to give you an opportunity to introduce yourself in whatever way you are most comfortable with.

Jazzy: Okay, well, yeah, thank you so much again for having me on here.

So my name is Jasmine, but most people call me Jazzy, and I actually prefer that.

So feel free to call me Jazzy and my pronouns are, I like to go by she/her.

But I am a Queer, Christian, Hispanic and African American individual.

And I also identify as being someone who is an advocate.

I'm someone who looks out for the people I love and care about.

And I'm also a student, so I'm studying to be a social worker.

So that's kind of my introduction.

You know, I sent a you much better introduction, but that's how I usually introduce myself.

Mandi: I love that and I love that you shared so many different parts of your identity.

So thank you so much for that.

Really appreciate you being so transparent with all of the different parts of who you are.

So I'm going to jump right in with kind of a deep question already.

So how does your belief that liberation begins with sincere belonging shape your advocacy and community work?

Jazzy: When I look at like how other spaces, like they try to say if you call a place, a restaurant and you're like, are you wheelchair accessible?

And they're like, oh yeah, we're wheelchair accessible.

And then you show up and they're not really wheelchair accessible because there's, like, a step to get into the place or they needed those steps. Like the place is just really narrow, really hard to navigate with a wheelchair.

Well, that is not to me, that's not like sincere belonging and like so when I look at sincere belonging in my advocacy and community work, I focus on, I look at places like, how can this, if I'm building a space, belonging and accessibility is my top priority.

So I'm like, okay, this is how much I need, right? As a person with a disability.

But I need to consider everybody else that I'm looking to serve as well.

So when I advocate, I, I advocate for things that consider belonging and accessibility from the beginning and not just some makeshift like, oh, we'll just make up something and make it seem like we really want you here.

But we didn't think about that.

Mandi: I appreciate so much of what you just shared and I think it speaks volumes.

So what I'm really getting is kind of this multi layered advocacy where you're advocating for yourself as an individual, which I think is really focused on this idea of disability rights. Right? Like I have the right to be here. What are you doing to ensure that I am able to access this space or this event, this activity?

But what I really appreciate is the way that you just highlighted what disability justice is all about, which is this idea that it's not just about your individual right to show up in a space, but how are these places accessible in general?

Even if it meets more needs, you being able to identify that it may not meet the needs of other people, including friends and people you care about and love and advocating for the community at large, I think that's so important.

And I have definitely done some challenges where I have gone to my non disabled friends and I've said, hey, I challenge you to not go to like certain places that don't have accessible restrooms for a month or don't go to a place where my wheelchair could not fit into the space for a month and see how many places that you normally would go to you would have to avoid in a one month period.

I really Love that idea of what you're saying. That it's important. Important that we're not just looking at our own individual needs, but that we are really taking into account.

Are you accessible and is it more than just an afterthought? Are you just throwing a piece of wood on the ground and saying this is a ramp? Or were you actually trying to welcome me and my community from the beginning by actually building a ramp?

So I love all of that so much.

Jazzy: Yes. Thank you.

Mandi: Yeah. So how do you define self care as a disabled person?

Jazzy: I love this question.

And I really have to think about this, you know,

because for so long I sucked at self care.

Just because of my physical limitations.

There's only but so much I can do for myself without like having to rely on other people around me and then making them feel like they have to do stuff for me or inconvenience or whatever.

So I really have to take the time to figure out what does self care look like for me and my circumstances?

And one thing I love about being your friend, Mandi, and you always help me see things in a different way. Like you helped me realize that like self care doesn't have to fall into the typical self care ableist standards of like oh bubble baths and all this stuff right? Because realistically that's something that I can't easily do.

So for the past few years I started to learn like, okay, well, self care for me was really tending to my mental health. I was really struggling and I was like, it doesn't make sense to keep struggling when I have, can get support right?

From professionals.

So I, self care for me, having like my weekly counseling sessions with my therapist,

my weekly meetings with my life coach.

And then outside of that, once in a while, when I have the extra money, I like to get myself medical massages because I have so much pain and I take so much medication to help manage the pain. So sometimes when I have the money, I'll book a massage and I'll send that money to have a nice relaxing massage, which also helps my mental health.

And then some other things I'll do for self-care is like, I'll choose to watch a documentary versus work on something. You know, that's what I have to kind of tell myself. Hey, you deserve a free. You deserve to binge watch your favorite show without guilt.

Right?

So I do a lot of things for self care.

I also like to do puzzles, digital puzzles online.

And when I feel overwhelmed or when I feel stressed out, I'll just do a puzzle or I'll read.

So those are my things that I do for self care.

Mandi: Thanks so much for sharing, like some of the specific things that you do, but also just really highlighting the point that we do not have to practice self care in ableist ways.

And I think when we think about self care, we think of these things that are in a positive light, typically like the bubble baths or going into the jacuzzi or going for a run.

And the truth is those are really great for some people, including some people with disabilities.

But we have to also broaden the way that we think about self care, especially as people who have different physical needs, different mental needs.

So I really appreciate you sharing some of those practical things that you do,

like watching a documentary and even the fact that you included therapy. I think therapy is still something that is often stigmatized and people don't view that as a self care practice.

But taking care of our mental health really is practicing self care and wellness. So I really appreciate you sharing those things that you're doing.

And kind of along the same line, I'm wondering why you believe that self care is more than a luxury for disabled people?

Why is self care a necessity?

Jazzy: So I feel like self care is, for disabled folks, is definitely a necessity because our lives are not our own. I always tell my friends, you know, so much of our identity is wrapped up in people around us, people that take care of us. Whether that's caregivers, nurses, parents, partners.

We don't realize it, but our identity becomes so wrapped up in them.

And it's like we're kind of like puppets in a way because these people are so prominent in our lives and we need them that we forget sometimes it's okay to say as a disabled person, hey, I need some time alone,

I need some privacy.

So I think if we don't practice self care, we definitely experience burnout and we definitely experience a lot more frustration, a lot more compassion fatigue.

Because how can we have compassion for others and we don't even have compassion for ourselves, right? And so we start getting frustrated, getting angry, and taking that out on people around us that are trying to help us because we're not taking care of our needs and without voicing those needs properly.

And I also think self care is essential to really take a step back and realize, okay,

you know, somebody who gets stuck in routines for so many years, and it's like, is this routine actually really working? Or am I just doing this out of habit?

Is it bringing me pleasure or am I just doing it for the convenience of others? You know,

it allows you to kind of look at yourself and evaluate things and then you can be a better person all around, not just for yourself, but again for those that are around and trying to help you live your life as best as possible.

Mandi: Yeah, I think what you actually started off saying is really powerful and is something that is not discussed very often. I think especially in non disabled communities, we hear a lot about the caregiver perspective and the caregiver burnout and how a caregiver's life is so impacted by the person that they're caring for.

But I think we don't really talk enough about the reverse of that. How the person with a disability is also so deeply entwined with the caregiver and how we have to make mental and emotional space on a regular basis for those who are helping us, for those who are taking care of us.

And I think that's true for both people with physical disabilities as well as, you know, visual disabilities, hearing and mental, emotional. I think it really is across the board where we do often have to consider what is that person's schedule?

Right. And I need to plan my activities and my life, life around that person.

I remember for myself even growing up when my sister, who's only three years older than me,

was a teenager and was able to have a later curfew and go places and do things more independently, I found myself really having to consider, well, I need to be home at a certain time to make sure that my caregiver can help me, you know, get dressed and help get me ready for bed. And even as an adult now I even have to try and plan my work schedule and my fun activities around when can I use the bathroom and when is someone going to be available for me and if that person's not going to be available at 10 o' clock at night,

then that means I need to be, you know, somewhere where I have access at 10 o' clock at night. And it can be very limiting.

I really appreciate you talking about that perspective and the importance of kind of setting some boundaries for yourself and empowering people with disabilities to say it is okay to sometimes need space or it is okay to set some boundaries where you aren't really putting your whole schedule or your whole world on someone else or basing it on someone else.

And we're going to dig into that a little bit more.

And some of what we're talking about does lead to feelings of guilt, I think, for a lot of people with disabilities.

So I'm curious to know, how do you feel that guilt and productivity culture and even internalized ableism Interfere with rest and care?

Jazzy: I definitely feel like, you know, productivity culture all those things.

It's something I still struggle with internally when I'm like I need some rest.

I don't have to do something every second of the day, but I still feel guilty, like,

I should be doing something with my time. I don't really have an excuse. I'm in front of my computer all day. So why can't I just do this thing?

And I don't know. I think that's just a societal standard. Especially in America where you're taught that you don't just sit around and do nothing. Right. Like you must be doing something, anything to make yourself a useful citizen.

And so I did just have that ingrained in me so much. Also when it comes to the care side of things with the guilt, I've dealt with a lot of guilt from family members which is really hard to deal with when it's coming from like someone who cares for you and they're like making you...

They'll say oh you're selfish for needing things or wanting to do things. And I'm like I'm sorry if I was selfish but at the end of the day I still have my needs that need to be met.

So I think I struggle a lot with the guilt aspect of like needing someone's help and needing constant care like again because that's been done to me.

So even though it's kind of like been talked about, that's still at the back of my mind a lot when you know, someone is not really understanding my care or I need something new and they're like... They think I'm just asking for it just to make their life difficult.

And so yeah that that's difficult to deal with for sure.

Mandi: I really, really resonate so much with what you just shared kind of on both,

both fronts of what you just shared. So just around the productivity stuff that you were talking about, I also feel a lot of guilt or pressure, internalized pressure.

I find that like when I have a caregiver in my home, even when I don't have to get up for work, for example, like on a Sunday morning, I feel this pressure like I need to be up and doing stuff, especially as a mom. On top of that, like I think the world views views me as someone who's you know, like sitting in my chair or just in front of a computer and that that doesn't take a lot of effort. I'm not doing manual physical labor. I'm not you know, moving things or moving my body around as much. So I think people sometimes don't understand how like emotionally and mentally draining work can be, or engaging with people, or just constantly even thinking about my needs and how my needs blend with other people's needs and constantly being aware of other people's needs.

So I definitely feel like sometimes, you know, even when I have a caregiver in my own home, I'm like, oh, I need to be up. Like, if I'm still in bed, it looks bad on me.

Like, I don't have an excuse to be tired. And that is so much internalized ableism. And I really value you bringing that up.

And also the second part of what you were talking about with the sense of guilt, even sometimes shame, I think that comes up and how blurred the caregiver line starts to become when it's not a professional role, right? When it's not someone paid to care for you, but it's a family member or a loved one or a partner or even a close friend, those lines start to get blurred. And I think sometimes there's this expectation that the way that we do something one time is the way that it should just be done.

So when we start asking for to be be changed or we're like, no, you know, today I want to put my left sock on before my right sock, right? It's like, well, why do you want to do that? Why are you making things so difficult?

And it's kind of things that people don't even think about, but it can truly build a lot of resentment. And I understand this from personal experience where,

you know, I'm like, I don't want the blanket taken off this way. I want the blanket taken off that way. And these are things that people don't consciously think of, but because we have to voice these things it comes off as being needy or being selfish or being, like, intentionally inconveniencing somebody.

And it's like, no, it's just these are the things you don't even think about. You don't have to ask someone to wash your hair a certain way, and you don't have to ask someone to,

like, move your. Your body a certain way. And so when we ask for those things, it can come with a lot of both external pressures and perceptions and a lot of internal,

internalized ableism as well, of just how we view ourselves. So I think the things you're talking about are probably not talked about very often, but are really experiences that I think a lot of people probably have.

And so we've kind of touched on this a little bit. But I really want to dig into the idea of boundary setting, especially for people with disabilities and when it comes to relying on other people for care.

So from your perspective, how does relying on others for care complicate boundary setting?

Jazzy: This is something I struggled with for years, and I still struggle with. I'm trying to get better at it with the help of therapy, but it's still very difficult.

Relying on others for care is so complicated when it comes to boundary setting, because it's like the minute I try to set a specific boundary.

And it can just be an emotional boundary, right? Like, hey, I don't like how you treat me,

how you talk to me. It really hurts my feelings, you know, I would appreciate it if you don't talk to me this way anymore,

then like,

I have a lot of people in my life that are really confrontational and they don't know how to just take some epic value and be like, okay, I'm sorry, I respect that.

So then they'll come back at me and be like,

well, remember, I'm the one doing this and that for you, and I don't have to do that for you. So,

you know, if you want to really be technical, you hurt my feelings too. And it's always like a tit-for-tat type of deal. And it's really frustrating so, you know, setting boundaries has been really complicated, even when it comes to, like, having certain caregivers.

You know, when I was younger, my mom was the one deciding who was going to work for me, and who wasn't, right?

But now that I'm older, I feel like I should have more of a say so in who's going to take care of me and who's not. And there's been times when I'm like, I don't feel comfortable having this person and she's gone above my head and still allowed them to, like,

have the job anyway.

So there's just been a lot of days where I've said...I try to set boundaries, like I don't want this,

And then people do it anyway. So I'm trying to find a new method,

to set boundaries and make them understand, like, this is my boundary and like, I need you to accept it and not go over my head and do something completely opposite.

So it's really complicated. And I think, I mean, I have made some progress, like, I've spoken to my mom on calm settings and I help her to really understand like, mom I'm not trying to be bossy or anything, but I need you to understand that I am an adult now and I have to make adult decisions. And, you know, you might not always agree with them, but I need you to respect them and stop going beyond me to still make other people feel good and do exactly what I ask you not to.

Mandi: Yes. I think that is really something that I also learned kind of later in life is that idea that's so deeply embedded into disability justice, which is interdependence.

And it's this idea that as a person who does rely on others for some of my most intimate care needs, my independence doesn't necessarily come from doing things by myself, although that is sometimes true.

But a lot of times my independence comes from having the autonomy or the freedom to choose who does what for me.

And so that is very powerful. When you're talking so transparency,

so transparently about how sometimes, you know, your mom may want to make someone else comfortable and so will say, oh, yeah, they can do a good job. And you have directly said, hey, this is not the person that I want this for me.

And I think that's really, really powerful. And I have also experienced that a lot too,

where I will have a friendship with someone.

But there are certain boundaries in that friendship that look different from maybe other friendships that I have. And I've had people ask me, well, you have this good friend. Why don't you want them to take off your coat?

And I'm like, no, that's not the nature of that friendship yet.

I'm not comfortable with that person enough yet for that particular boundary to be crossed. And I share this with friends all the time. I say, when I am actually very comfortable with you, you will know, like, when I ask you to please feed me, I'm not asking you to do a chore.

I'm actually inviting you into very, almost sacred space in my life. If I'm asking you to help me, you know, put on a coat. I'm inviting you to like my safe space. And that is a privilege. And I don't think that many people view it that way because they view it as, well, it's one directional, the other way, it's the non disabled person helping you. And I'm like, no, no, no. I mean, that may be true, and that is likely true, but the other side of that is I'm inviting you now into a space that I don't allow just anyone or everyone to be a part of. And I think that is kind of the difference in how we can view things through a disability justice lens is that we have to stop seeing people with disabilities as charity or the things that we do as charity. And the saviorism of, well, I'm the non disabled person doing for you. You have to start viewing as more of a mutual relationship where you're realizing, oh, this person with a disability is inviting me into this personal space or this personal act with them.

So thank you for naming that.

And you started to talk a little bit about kind of some of the fears around losing support or losing care if you assert yourself. So I'm wondering what advice you might have for disabled people to assert boundaries when there is that fear of losing support or care.

Jazzy: I don't have too much experience because I haven't figured this out for myself.

But what I would say is, like, when it comes to...especially if you have caregivers and you know, then that's a different story then when it's like family, you know. So if you have caregivers and they're just really not respecting your boundaries and you're constantly trying to talk to them and they're just not getting it. You can just push them to the curb and be like, I'm sorry, this is not going to work. I don't think I'm a good fit for you. You know, it's a lot easier when you have family where you could easily, probably not so easily you know what I mean, but still find someone else to step in and, and probably do a better job.

Now, when it comes to family members, it is a little more complicated, right?

So I don't know. I think it's better if you have more than one family member that knows how to care for you and knows how to, like, look out for you. Right? So let's say my mom is not wanting to do something because of whatever reason, then you could say, okay, well, that's fine, mom. I'm gonna ask my sister if she'll be willing to, you know, do this or just like having multiple people to depend on, not just one person, so when people get in their weird moods,

you don't have to deal with that, but also having that conversation with your family member of like, hey, this is my boundaries and this is why I'm setting these boundaries, and I would really appreciate it if you really respect it, because if not, I'm going to have to find another alternative. And I'll do what I have to do to find help either way.

Like, I'm not going to be helpless, you know, and that's what I do with my mom all the time. When she starts threatening me, oh, well, I don't have to do this. I don't have to do that. Yeah, you're right. You know, so you know what?

I will find someone else who can do those things for me and respect my boundaries at the same time. You know?

Mandi: This is so important.

I think you're right. You know, when there is more of that professional relationship and you're paying for a caregiver. It's not necessarily easy, but to your point, it is more doable to,

you know, let them go and find someone else. But I do think the challenges do become harder when it's someone that you care about, whether that's a spouse or a sibling or a parent, even a child. And I really love that, not allowing yourself in some ways to kind of be hostage to one person. Right?You really broaden the community that you have so that no one should have just power over someone to say, well, I'm doing this for you, and therefore you have to accept whatever.

Right? That's not right. And I think that being able to say, well, you know what? I, you know, I love you. I, you know, respect your position as my family member or, you know, this person who's important to me, and I also have a larger community and I will be taken care of by someone else or by a few other people.

I think is very powerful and really speaks to the importance of having that community and building community.

But with all of this in mind, I do want to know what you believe the responsibility of caregivers, loved ones and professionals are in respecting autonomy?

Jazzy: Yeah, I love this question so much because I wish this was something people really understood.

So I think, you know, caregivers, loved ones, professionals, they all have a duty to respect,

autonomy regardless of if you're disabled, if you're verbal, nonverbal.

You know, we all have feelings, we all have our own thoughts. And I feel like a lot of times caregivers, or like professionals, they will not really consider us, like, you know, I know with professional and caregivers especially, they will talk to the person that's with us. Whether it's a partner, a parent, family member. They'll talk to them and let them make a decision for the person. And that frustrates me so much because, like, we should have a voice and we should be able to say what we want and what we don't want and have that respected all around. And I feel like a lot of times professionals, they will bypass me.

Let's say they're suggesting something. And I'm like, well, I don't really know I want to do that, you know, well, they'll come to my mom and my mom will be like, well I think it's a good idea and blah blah blah and kind of like overpower me and I have to remind the professional that, okay, I hear what she's saying, but this is my body. And I'm telling you that as a patient, I don't want to do this so you need to respect me because I have patient rights, you know.

So it's very frustrating. So I think if people could just do a better job at like understanding that even though they may help us to live and such, we still have autonomy and whatever our decision is, that decision should stand.

We should not be coerced to change our mind.

We should not be made to feel guilty.

There shouldn't be any hostile feelings, you know, it should just be receptive and it should even be encouraged. I would say, right?

Like if a caregiver comes in and says, hi, you know,would you like me to do this or that you're respecting autonomy because you're not just doing whatever you think the person wants. You're asking them, what would you like me to do?

Same with professionals, you know, a dentist, a doctor, whatever.

Like they're there to help us,not the people around us. So they need to...

Mandi: I...

Oh, sorry. I was just going to say I agree so much and I think something to add to that is also the independence or the autonomy to make mistakes.

I have a lot where people feel a certain sense of entitlement because they care for me or assist me in some way.

To try to tell me how I should do things, when I should do things, why I should do things,

and then to say, you know, oh, well, this didn't turn out the way you wanted it to. I told you you should have done something different.

Jazzy: Yes.

Mandi: And I'm like, I am an adult now and you're not my parent. And even if you are my parent, I am now an adult. And so part of living and part of life is the ability to make and learn from your own mistakes.

And I have experienced sometimes this fear of making mistakes because I feel that there is a greater judgment on me because there are people who are so much more closely connected to me.

I remember honestly, even when I was in the process of getting a divorce, I was so nervous because I have caregivers who are with me, who've been with me for very long periods of time and saw me get married, saw me before I had children, all the way to after I had children. And I just felt this added layer of oh my goodness, now they're going to know that my relationship is not working.

And even things as simple as having an argument, right? It's like, oh, can I have this argument? Are they going to try and call like adult protective services because I'm having an argument?

I mean, it's normal to have a bad day, it's normal to have a disagreement. And as long as you are safe and you're not being, you know, harmed in any way, those are the kinds of things that we need to have the opportunity to have. And even as a parent, I need the opportunity to be able to make mistakes as a parent who's mom, dad, or, you know,

caregiver as an adult, like, didn't make mistakes with them? Everyone did.

Opportunity to make the same kinds of choices and mistakes.

So as we start to wrap up this conversation, what do you want disabled listeners to know about their right to maintain boundaries?

Jazzy: So the first thing I want to say is that again, whether you have a disability that's physical or invisible, we all have the right to boundaries. Just like how able bodied people have rights to boundaries, you know, we are not any different.

And having boundaries and being able to accept those boundaries and kind of be okay with the backlash, you're gonna possibly get takes a lot of self trust and confidence as well.

So I will say at first I was not very confident and I did not have self trust, so I would not have boundaries because I'm like, oh, my God, I don't want to lose people. I don't want to, you know, make them upset, but I just abused me. And I'm like, no, that does not serve me. So I learned from that mistake of being a people pleaser. And I'm like, no, like, I don't care what people do for me. I appreciate what people do for me, but I still deserve to have boundaries, and I have enough self trust to know that, okay, I can set this boundary, I can deal with whatever the backlash is going to be, and I could have a backup plan.

So again, you know, as long as you have your community, you have people you can trust, and,you know, just don't let anyone diminish your rights to have boundaries for yourself, because we all deserve boundaries.

Mandi: I love that so much. Definitely. I love that you're saying boundaries really stem from loving yourself and trusting yourself as kind of the foundation and then building those care communities around yourself so that you can say, here's my boundary. And if there is someone who won't respect that, you have other people in place who you can reach out to who will respect that. I think that's really important. So what I feel like you're leaving our listeners with is love yourself, trust yourself, and build healthy communities.

Jazzy: Yes, absolutely.

Mandi: Thank you so much, Jazzy, for this incredible and important conversation. I really appreciate your sharing your personal stories and your own experience. Experiences. And even at the points where you said, I don't fully have an answer to this, I haven't figured out how to do this for myself, but just your willingness to really think through these things and share from your perspectives.

I know it's really going to help a lot of our listeners who are both disabled to set boundaries and those who are not disabled to have a different understanding of what the disability experience is like from a disability justice lens.

So thank you so much and I look forward to future chats with you.

Jazzy: Thank you so much and thank you for asking me to be on this podcast.

Mandi: Thanks so much.

Mandi: Thank you for tuning in to this important conversation.

To my fellow disabled listeners, I hope Jazzy's share encourages you to be intentional about building your care communities and asserting the boundaries boundaries you need to live your most beautiful life.

For all my listeners doing the hard and rewarding work of caregiving, I hope today's episode inspires you to view your role through a disability justice lens and helps you build more meaningful relationships with those you care for.

Please leave a review if this episode resonated with you and share with a family member, friend or colleague. To continue the conversation, join the Beyond Beautiful Collective group on Facebook linked in the show notes and let me know what boundaries you're setting this week.

And remember, Disability, Liberation, Love are always Beyond Beautiful.

💌 Stay Connected

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