|
 Walk
the Talk Radio: Monica Moshenko and DisAbility News and Views
Orbit Magazine, Rob Ingraham, June 2005
For more articles like this
visit
https://www.bridges4kids.org.
Wanted:
50-year-old single mom with little money and no media
experience—holding a full-time day job while raising an autistic
child—to launch weekly radio talk show for the disabled
community. Major media outlets largely indifferent, but people
with disabilities likely to tune in. Exhausting hours with no
assistants; blind faith and fierce determination a plus.
This imaginary classified ad is one that Monica Moshenko might
have unwittingly answered last year after the owner of a small,
family-owned country radio station in Lancaster, New York agreed
to rent her an hour every Sunday evening for a talk show
focusing on people with disabilities.
Lou Schriver, owner of WXRL—1300 AM, had never considered a talk
show; WXRL’s staple fare is country western music during the
week with religious programming and specialty shows such as
“Polkamotion” on
Sundays. But Schriver liked Moshenko’s spirit and appreciated
what she was trying to do. He agreed to sell her the 5 pm to 6
pm slot––between “The German Show with Herman Endres” and
“Stephanie’s Polka Show”––for something she called “DisAbility
News and Views.” Moshenko went live in June 2004 and has been on
the air every Sunday since.
Moshenko’s unlikely journey began in 2000, when her 6-year-old
son, Alexander, was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, a form
of autism. Moshenko explained that, on the autism spectrum,
Asperger’s is considered the “highest functioning,” meaning
that, to most observers, Alex appears normal. Only through
regular contact does Alex’s disability become
apparent––difficulty forming friendships, inability to
understand social cues, clumsy movements, one-sided
conversations, and a hyper-sensitivity to sound and touch.
“It took a long time before Alex was diagnosed,” Moshenko said
and she began an exhaustive regimen of research to learn more.
“Not only did I want to learn as much as I could about
Asperger’s Syndrome and how it affected my son specifically. I
also needed to know what my son’s rights were under federal law
and New York State law. I began a quest to seek out as much
information as I could through training and workshops, along
with having knowledgeable and experienced advocates working with
me as I learned the laws.”
Once the support and educational services that her son needed
had been secured, Moshenko says, “I wanted to help others who
had struggled like me. There are just too many.” She began a
small consulting agency called
Power
Advocates to help promote awareness of special education
laws for parents and, in 2002, she helped organize the first
“Inaugural Walk for Autism” in nearby Buffalo, which drew over
3,000 people and raised nearly $100,000 for the National
Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR). The following year she did
it again and raised over $90,000.
From her research and her determined activism on behalf of her
son, Moshenko discovered in herself a profound personal sympathy
for all individuals with disabilities, not just autism. At the
same time, she discovered a new direction in life. “Alex was the
catalyst for everything I’ve been able to accomplish,” she said.
“He keeps me grounded about what’s important. I see life
differently. I have more purpose.”
In early 2004, Moshenko decided that a live call-in talk show
could reach far more people with disabilities and there was,
potentially, a huge demand for such a program. “In this country,
there are talk shows about money, politics, sports,
entertainment, you name it,” she said. “The only subject not
being talked about is disability. And eighty-five percent of the
population will acquire a disability at some point in their
lives. People don’t realize how important this is. It’s going to
happen to most of us sooner or later.” And, as the saying goes,
Moshenko fully intended to not just “talk the talk,” but “walk
the walk” as well.
With two months leave from her job at the University of Buffalo
to recover from a minor neurological disorder, Moshenko began
researching the business of radio and sending out proposals for
a special talk show devoted solely to the issues of people with
disabilities. “I wrote to every major network in the country,
trying to explain the seriousness of the problem and how people
were so uninformed about disability.” But, as it turned out,
none of the majors wanted anything to do with it. “They weren’t
interested.
They said they
didn’t have any time slots available or they couldn’t see the
demand for a talk show devoted to issues of the disabled.” But
Moshenko was undeterred. “It took perseverance, knocking on
every door, and never giving up,” she says. Finally she crossed
paths with Lou Schriver at WXRL, and with a small inheritance
that she received when her mother passed away, Moshenko bought
the air time she needed to get DisAbility News and Views off the
ground.
The station reaches northern Pennsylvania, western New York, and
southern Ontario, Canada—with a potential audience of about five
million listeners, she said. Each show is broadcast live.
Moshenko conducts telephone interviews with her featured guests,
all experts in some aspect of disability, and then fields
questions and comments from listeners. The
programs are taped and archived on a Web site where they can
be downloaded at no charge by anyone with access to a computer.
Recent guests have included Gary Meyerson, a nationally known
attorney specializing in helping families get the appropriate
special education for children with disabilities; Rob Davies,
CEO of Disability Access 4 Me, an Internet-based information
exchange; Max Donatelli, Executive Director of Parent Network of
Western New York; Stanley D. Klein, PhD, Director of
DisABILITIESBOOKS, Inc.; S’Wayne a noted rap and gospel music
personality who also has a disability; Jim Steinke, founder of
HOPE, Inc., which offers an equipment lending program for
children with disabilities; and Joseph Valenzano, publisher of
Exceptional Parent magazine.
“The personal stories are what’s important,” she said. “I learn
about someone new each week; it’s an honor for me to talk with
them. It doesn’t matter what the disability is, everyone has a
story, an interesting human interest story about how they cope.”
But it’s a one-person operation. Moshenko does it all: books
guests, conducts interviews, schedules shows, handles marketing
and advertising, recruits sponsors, raises money, and attends to
every detail. She estimates that she spends between 60 and 70
hours per week preparing and marketing the show––which is in
addition to her regular fulltime job at the University of
Buffalo. A selfconfessed “Internet junkie,” Moshenko is
continually developing media lists, contact names and addresses,
searching for marketing opportunities, and coming up with
creative ways to get the word out.
Money, too, is a constant worry. Her small inheritance is long
spent. “Now the money’s gone and I’m paying air time fees out of
my own pocket,” she said. “We had our gas turned off at home for
two months last summer because I used the money to pay the radio
station instead of the gas bill.” The program currently has
seven corporate sponsors and Moshenko says that with a few more
she could cover her costs for air time.
“The easy part is getting guests. People want to be on the show.
They want to get their message out. The hard part is getting
sponsors, convincing companies in the disability community what
a deal I’m offering. My rates are very low; this is the most
cost-effective medium available, but it’s like pulling teeth.”
She adds, “I don’t make anything on this. It’s not about the
money. It’s about making a difference. I just want to get the
message out there.”
“Disability News and Views” was also recently syndicated on the
Global Talk Radio network, a dominant force in the internet talk
radio industry available 24 hours per day. Moshenko says that,
despite the headaches, listener response has been gratifying.
“The show fills an amazing void out there. I get constant
feedback from listeners telling me how grateful they are that
I’m doing the show and how important it is to them.”
Moshenko’s dream is to someday have the program syndicated
across the country. Until then, she intends to “write to
everyone and keep knocking on doors. This is real human
interest, important human interest. People need to understand
people with disabilities.”
For Moshenko,
the experience has changed her whole approach to life. “It’s a
blessing for me to be doing this,” she says. And the patience,
tolerance, and good humor that she sees again and again in
people with disabilities has put her own occasional troubles
into clear perspective. “They don’t complain, they’re grateful
for everything they get. I just pray: ‘Help me be more like
them.’”
back to the top ~
back to Breaking News
~ back to
What's New
|
