Seeing the World from Four Foot Two- Identity, Access, and Advocacy with Jenna Udenberg

Most people move through the world without thinking about how they move through the world. The door opens. The bathroom fits. The seat is reachable. For Jenna Udenberg, none of that has ever been a given.  And after nearly four decades navigating life from a wheelchair, she has stopped waiting for the world to catch up — and started educating it.

Jenna is an educator, author, and founder of Above and Beyond with You, a nonprofit dedicated to accessibility education in its fullest sense. Her memoir, Within My Spokes, traces a life shaped by juvenile arthritis, identity crises, the pandemic's invisible toll on disabled workers, and the hard-won freedom that comes from building a community instead of just surviving one. In this conversation, we talk about what the ADA actually means (and doesn't), the difference between compliance and genuine inclusion, the emotional exhaustion of constantly educating others, and the small but radical act of asking someone how they want to be described.

This one is for anyone who has never had to think about whether they can get through the door — and for everyone who has.

Show Notes with Chapters

00:00 Cold open — the ramp and the button aren't enough: accessibility beyond the front door

01:06 James introduces Jenna: educator, author, wheelchair user, founder of Above and Beyond with You

02:04 The view from four foot two: Jenna's perspective on perspective

03:23 Diagnosed at seven, in a wheelchair by eight — and the ginger snap she lost before all of it

03:46 The Firefly attachment, paved trails, and finding the biking community during the pandemic

04:46 The bikers looked her in the eye — why that was a profound and unusual experience

08:06 Why James wanted this conversation: the invisible design of everyday life

09:02 Self-advocacy from childhood — and the parents who made Jenna the decision-maker about her own body