Foreign I'm Darian Slayton Fleming and thank you for joining me on GET what YOU need and feel good about it. Do you find it difficult to ask for what you need? Do you frequently feel misunderstood? Do you have a problem or cause that you would like to learn to manage more effectively? What makes it so hard for us to tell each other how we feel and how do we speak up for ourselves so we get what we need and feel good about it? How do we do this respectfully so that we honor the needs and feelings of others? Together, we'll explore tips, strategies, and resources that, when used mindfully and consistently, will improve our results and enrich our relationships.

Hello and welcome back to GET what YOU NEED and FEEL GOOD about It. I am Darian Slayton Fleming, your hostess today. I am really excited to bring a new guest onto the show. His name is Franklin Oeta and he founded an organization called Oregon Wheelchair Hiking. Welcome Franklin. It's really great to have you here.

It's great to be here. I'm excited to be able to be on your podcast, that's for sure.

I do want to share an announcement before we talk with Franklin. I want to announce that I have just published a little booklet called My AI and the subtitle is Affirmations and Intentions and it is a little booklet containing 31 suggested affirmations and 31 suggested intentions and information about to write and use your own affirmations and intentions. It is available on Amazon and I tried to get it in as large a print as possible and that is in print paperback on Amazon and if you want it in braille you can write to me at OfficeMbrace Happiness. So without further ado, I want to share a little bit about Franklin with our listeners. Franklin Ochida is a native Oregonian. He's Japanese American and a quadriplegic wheelchair user and Franklin lives in Portland, Oregon. Franklin is a retired businessman, a devout advocate for accessibility, and he leads Oregon Wheelchair Hiking, a community of hundreds of members. Franklin serves on the TriMet Committee for Accessible Transportation, which is TriMet is the Portland, Oregon fixed route bus and light rail system and Franklin serves on multiple disability advisory councils. Franklin is passionate about outdoor inclusion and visibility for wheelchair users. I actually met Franklin Ochida by accident or maybe by design in April of this year when I was co facilitating a pedestrian safety event in Portland, Oregon. So, so glad to have you here, Franklin.

I'm happy to be here.

Let's get right into our questions. First of all, what prompted you to start Oregon Wheelchair Hiking?

Well, it basically started with four guys decided to get together and go out on basically bike trails. These four or five guys decided that that's what they were going to do. I was one of the group. The guy that actually started the website was Ryan Keene. He started a website because he was emailing everybody and asking them if they wanted to come. And after us four guys started doing this kind of thing, we say, hey, we could invite everybody. And it was like, I think we did that like four times in about three months or something like that. We started to go back and I started to do it every week. I guess that's how I should put it. The idea was to have a consistent day that we all got together and we did something together. I could start with my. My experience was I never knew anybody with a disability when I was growing up or a visible disability as growing up and then finally beginning becoming disabled, I did not want to get out. It was like I was in my head. I couldn't think I could could do it. I went to an expo one time and then it was a disability expo. And I was invited to come down to Oregon Spinal Cord Injury Connection, which was a little group called WillConnect at the time where a bunch of people with disabilities got together and they just talked. That inspired me to get to know a lot of people with disabilities. Basic calling has been getting out and getting people with disabilities together. And that's what Oregon wheelchair hiking has really become. And it's been a once a week outing.

So really you're a grassroots organization. Starting from seeing a desire and a need and growing from that. Just forming community together.

That is really what it's all about. And we're very cross disability. I try to invite anybody with a disability or even not a disability. Anybody that wants to come with us is totally welcome. There is wheelchair in the group, but that is more like telling people that the course is going to be wheelchair or accessible. And that was an easier way to actually say that. But anybody is invited. And we actually really like to have other people come. I've learned about all kinds of other disabilities and that's really been my. My key thing to even go to your white cane event was actually to learn more about different disabilities, about different needs of different disabilities. And I've met some great people by doing that.

Yes. And I'm so happy to have met you because I am really looking for community myself. My world got really small during COVID and I work at home. So it's always nice to meet people that I share something in Common with. And I am thinking of doing some of your hikes because I have decided if a wheelchair can go there, a walker can go there. And so I, I get a little anxious about going on walks or hikes when I don't know what the trail is like. And I have the added disability of vision loss. So it's kind of scary. I never want to find a steep, too steep of a hill or something. So I'm going to give it a try because I figure if you can go there, I can go there.

I love that attitude. And that's, that's what we actually talk about a lot that, you know, we make it so accessible for everybody. And that's exactly what we want to do. It brings the community together as well as I want to, you know, get us out of silos. The whole idea of people and disabilities being their own little silos is very detrimental to our advocacy on getting things done, getting things that are more accessible for everybody.

And we're kind of answering this next question, but you may want to add to it. What is the mission of Oregon wheelchair hiking?

The mission is community and building a community together of people with disabilities or non apparent disabilities or even no disabilities. A nice little community of people that like to get out and experience nature. Oregon has such beautiful trails and beautiful areas and the fresh air and the sounds of birds and stuff like that, I think were very enjoyable for a lot of people. So I really, hopefully I can do that for people.

Yes. And as I'm learning, there are just a lot of mental health benefits to getting out in nature. And we'll probably talk about that before the end of this episode. So, so tell us a little bit about the structure or the format of your activities.

Okay. The structure is every Monday we start it from 12 to 3. You can come anytime during that time or, or, or leave anytime that you want to. But the idea is 12 to 3. We kind of start together at one place and then we, we head out down the trail. And I have a, a two to three mile route that would be fully accessible. And that's kind of the whole idea of making it accessible for everybody. Usually the first 20 to 45 minutes we talk and converse and then we start to go on a little hike. And that's kind of the whole idea as well as we find places that need to be fixed and we can talk to government agencies and stuff like that, or even park maintenance and stuff like that that needs to be fix. And I like to record all that kind of stuff and have that ready for them, there's a lot of times where they don't even see the different situations like a fence can lead off to the side instead of actually being, being a guide. And that becomes a real problem. And they don't even realize what they're doing when they do it because they. It's really a lived experience.

Right. That's so cool that you also then become part of solutions for making things better in terms of accessibility on the trails. Tell us a little more because I know that you meet once a month off the trail.

Yeah, off the trail we have a little get together the first Sunday and that's from one to four. And that's, that's been at. At a local restaurant. Right now we're at Primal Burger. But we don't have to always be at Primal Burger at 49th and Woodstock. That seems to be a real neat place. They have a little meeting room in the back. And the idea is again for community, we don't have a big agenda all the time. Sometimes we bring in guest speakers, sometimes we just talk. And I found that a lot of people just like to have a place to go and talk to and become friends. And there's been all kinds of things. There have been people that have dated from there. There's people that have just been friends and, and also other groups that have, have come up out of this. And I, I fully support any other group that wants to do this as well as I'm, I'm here to help anybody that wants to start their own little group in, in different places. Like we have some in down in Eugene. And then we've had a couple groups from Texas and then one from Minnesota that actually have talked to me about how I, I do my group and, and you know, you. I'm. I'm happy when they had a woman's group too that was women. Women on Wheels. That just made me happy that they were doing those kind of things. So. But anything like that, anybody, Anybody I can help? I'd be glad to.

Is that Women on wheels in Oregon and is it still in operation?

It's Washington actually. But yeah, okay. But yeah, and they're still work. They're still. They don't do it on a consistent basis, but they do. They are doing it so well.

This is good information because I, even though it wasn't on the list of questions I wanted to ask you because we have listeners from all over the country, maybe even all over the world. I don't always see who is subscribed, but if somebody is in Another state and wants to find out if there's something already happening in the their state or how to get some started with. Could they reach out to you?

I would be happy to help anybody to start another group or to start a, you know, a wheelchair hiking group in their area or accessible. Accessible hiking group. I think that would be the best way to do it. And the idea is to be cross disability, I think is very important. So we could take anybody. It doesn't even have to be wheelchairs. That was one thing. We just actually said that in the beginning because there was us in wheelchairs. But we. We invite anybody that could come along. People with walkers have come. People with cane users have come. You know, we've got a. Quite a. A variety and we, we invite everybody to come.

In fact, I attended your Sunday gathering in May and was pleasantly surprised to meet Claire, who has a vision impairment. So I didn't feel quite so out of place place because I. I use a walker and I have the visual disability and I'm hoping I can make this work. So how do these activities enrich the lives of people with disabilities?

I think the idea of. Of getting people out and getting. And if I can do it, you can. You can do it kind of idea, you know, that's. I think that's very important. I mean, that seems to be one of the things that, you know. And it's one thing I learned that, you know, I. In my mind, I couldn't. I didn't let myself get out. I just kept thinking of all the word things that could happen. My batteries could run out, I could get stuck, I could fall out of my chair. And there's all these other things that you kind of think about and you talk yourself out of it. But if it's consistent. I think consistency seems to be very important for me. It's consistent. I know it's going to happen every Monday. I can schedule my regular life around that and as well as everybody else. And we have people that come every Monday and then we have people that come in and out and. And that's great too. I mean, everybody has their own little thing going on. But if they'll know that it's always there on a Monday, if they have that Monday free. And that's really what we try to try to do.

And the announcements about what's happening on Mondays are on your Facebook page.

That is correct. And I also have a few people that don't have Facebook and I. I text that to them too. So that becomes really fun. And we are Working on a website, but it still hasn't been finished yet. But.

So Franklin's contact information will be in the show notes and also the Facebook page will be shown in the show notes. But could you just share your contact information in case someone wants to write it down while they're listening?

Sure. You could easily use. My name is a really easy one, which is Franklin and it's Ochida. It's Ouch. O U C H I D A so that's an easy way to remember my last name. And that'[email protected].

all right. So are your events open to all? I think we've talked about that, but why don't we expound on that? If you want to.

They are welcome. Everyone is welcome. As long as you want to come along, we're happy to have you. So any disability, without a disability, with a non apparent disability, everyone is right. I think we need to build a coalition of people that can understand other people's disabilities. And I think that that's really important. You know, I. Like I said I never knew anybody with a disability before. So I've learned so much about it and I think, and I really now I think in the terms of what's accessible for everybody. And that's. I think that's very important in today's world. Universal design is what I really talk about a lot and we preach about a lot that in the transportation era that has been one of the transportation. My transportation experience of accuracy has been a universal design.

So we have talked about this a little bit. But how can people find out about accessible trails?

There is a. There is a, a group that I'm also associated with which is Access recreation. They have 36 trails on there and we're building more and more all the time of different trails. And it doesn't tell you if it's accessible or not. It tells you basically what to expect. And I think that is important because people with disabilities have such a different range of abilities that if you can. Some people are super, super athletes. Right. And they can do some incredible trails. So it can tell you that it's pretty steep here or this kind of thing. I gear my Monday hikes at an easier pace than much. It's not going to be super athletes that want to come on, on our trails. But, but there are they out there. And if you can expect what you, what you can do is check with recreation, access Recreation to actually figure that out. I mean it'll actually tell you what, what, what, what to expect. And I think that's the most important thing. And actually that's what keeps most people from going out, is they don't know what to expect.

Right? Yes. I'm curious, Franklin. This was not on the list of questions, but people might want to know a little bit more about you. I know I do, because I saw in your bio that you're a retired businessman. What did you do?

I. I had quite a few different businesses. I was. To start off, I wanted to be a photographer. I was really an artist and went to school for that. But life got in the way, and then I started to work for Safeway as a meat cutter and worked for them for 20 years. I was a jeweler for a few years. I had a collectible antique business as well as a collectible diecast business. Then I branched off to becoming an appliance repairman, which was one of my most satisfying jobs, is because I could be a hero a few times a day. Fixing someone's washer and dishwasher. They were very. They thought you have. As a superhero and you could do that kind of stuff.

Did you learn how to repair computers?

I do some computer repair, but that's. That's more of a software problem a lot of times. Not a hard one.

Oh, yes.

I've had a technology nightmare the past week or two. Would you mind sharing a little bit about how and when you incurred your disability?

I have a strange case in my disability. I was it. Well, it was 15 years ago. I got a flu shot, and I got what they call cidp, which is a autoimmune disease that you can get from basically from flu shots. It's your immune system overreacting to the flu shot or to a shot. And they've included that in the. In the side effects as CIDP or Gabre syndrome. Those are two of the things where your body actually starts attacking your myelin and it strips away your myelin and you. I became totally paralyzed. I couldn't move a muscle. I couldn't roll over in bed, could not push the call button. And I was at OHSU for quite a long time. And then eventually what I do is I get IVIG and fusions every month. And that's helped my immune system not attack myself again. And it's. And I've been able to get stronger as that has to happen. It's been a long haul. It's been 15 years, so. And the first two years, I couldn't get out of bed and I was stuck in four walls, and that was all I could do. So. So beginning out was really important, especially with COVID Like, you know, Covid changed everything and where everybody was. Everybody felt like they were excluded from everything. So that's why we kind of started hanging out and started going out and touching nature. Like we. Like we really. And it's. And it's helped me get much healthier, for sure. I've gotten much healthier by being able to get out sometimes. You know, it's one of those things where you don't really feel like getting out, but once you get out, you feel great. You know, it's like. And that happens. I think that happens to a lot of people. And I've had a lot of people say that, you know, for these groups. And it's just not me. It's the group all together, getting together and doing things. It's really improved a lot of people's lives that come to the groups and do that kind of things. It's. It's surprising how many people think that they can't get out. I mean, I was that way, too. I just thought that I could never do this. And. And now I do it every week, and I do it. And we've done it constantly for. Or we've done it consistently for the last five years.

That is so cool. I'm. I'm so happy to learn about you. And. And there are resources for accessible recreation, and if so, reach out to Franklin if you want to know more. His contact information is also in the show notes. And so that must have been pretty scary, not knowing what was going on after having that flu shot.

Oh, yeah, it was. It's been quite, Quite, quite an adventure. I guess you could say that. But it has changed my life, and it's giving me a calling to actually get other people with disabilities out, to get to know other people with disabilities, to get to know other disabilities and. And that kind of thing, and. Which I would have never done before all this kind of. I would have never known what I know now. And that seems to be most of my life, especially transportation, as well as kind of things. And that all stemmed from trying to get people to the hikes. They're like, I can't get there. Well, take the bus, right? And so. So I've learned more about the bus system than. Than I ever thought I would ever know. I never rode the bus before I was disabled. And with a wheelchair, it's really difficult to use everyday car. You have to have a van or you have to use public transportation. And that's. And I've learned the public transportation system very well, by doing that, so I'm able to be on the CAT committee, which is the committee for accessible transportation, and I've been on there for the last three years, so that's been a real part of what I do.

Well, it's so great to know about this resource and everyone being part of the blindness community. I have a lot of blind guests on my show, and it's always nice to have people represent other parts of the disability community. Franklin, I know that you have a quote that you sent me that we could use to close this episode. Do you want to recite that or do you want me to?

Oh, you go ahead. You have it in front of you there. It's not something I say every day, but it is really important, I think.

Is this your original quote?

Yeah, it was something I said in a. In an interview, and it's been something that's been going on before, but okay.

This is Franklin's original quote. He says you don't often see a group of people with disabilities doing things together. We can do it, too. Franklin, thank you so much for joining us today on get what you need and feel good about it. And I hope you all enjoy this episode and look for ways to get out in nature yourselves. Thank you, everyone, for joining us. I hope you'll come back again in July for another episode of get what you need and feel good about it. Take care.

Thank you for joining me today on get what you need and feel good about it. Remember, when you speak up for yourself assertively, you will get what you need and feel good about it. You will also be showing respect for yourself and for the other people in your life who are important to you. Until next time, try thinking about it. Like Stephanie Lahart says it say what you mean. Mean what you say, but don't say it. Mean.

Yes to. The only way to do this is

with hope, not pain.