About Accessibility Unleashed

My friend came up with the name “Accessibility Unleashed” when I told her I wanted to start a website about my struggles navigating accessibility with a service dog, especially in the travel space.

I’ve been screaming about the need for accessibility on the web for years at my marketing company and in my first travel blog.

I was tired of my audiences telling me “that’s great, but it’s not really what I came here for.”

So I wanted to create a space where accessibility was the primary focus.

The goal of this website is simple: educate and inspire people of all abilities to live their best life. And to share cute photos of my dog 🐶

What We’re About

This is a judgement free zone. Whether you have a formal diagnosis, a Tiktok diagnosis, or just a hunch, you are welcome here.

If you have a service dog already, maybe want one, or have even made the mistake of registering a pet as a service animal because you didn’t know better at the time, you are welcome here.

If you have never been on a trip, travel yearly, or live a digital nomad life but want to figure out how to actually take care of yourself while you do it, you are welcome here.

Things We Don’t Welcome

The things that AREN’T welcome here are any sort of hate speech, intolerance, bullying, threats, plagiarism, aggression, homophobia, sexism, fatphobia, xenophobia, or really any other form of negativity against another individual for something about themselves that they cannot control. If any of that’s your vibe, please leave the chat cause this is not the space for you.

Accessibility Unleashed is about making the world – both at home and abroad – more inclusive for everyone.

Because everyone deserves to live a life they’re ecstatic about.

I have a lot to share with y’all so here’s a quick guide to this page:

Meet Nina | My Disabilities | Tiktok Changed My Life | Service Dog Journey | Meet Theo

My Disabilities

It wasn’t easy to get those diagnoses, and required more self advocating than I am at all comfortable with. So I like to share them.

I like to call myself the “ultimate factory defect”. Kinda like that curly fry that gets into the bag of straight french fries.

It’s a fun little surprise no one expects, but they don’t tend to be ungrateful for.

I got my first diagnosis of an anxiety disorder during a first year university psychology class where I got 95/100 on a practice questionnaire about it and my professor emailed me after class to suggest I speak to a doctor ASAP.

Since then, I’ve been on a journey of self discovery and self diagnoses, both of which have led me to multiple doctor’s offices to add to my disability stamp collection.

Tiktok Changed My Life

I realized a lot through Tiktok.

I learned about ADHD and autism presenting differently in women.

I cried when I found out not everyone is in pain every day.

I stopped hating myself for being “lazy”.

Finding out that I was on the autism spectrum with, as my therapist calls it, “critical ADHD” changed everything for me.

When I finally realized I should tell my doctor about my pain levels, they were shocked I was getting through the day functionally, or that I’d been able to build my marketing business when I could barely get out of bed.

These diagnoses didn’t stop me from living my life. But they stopped me from slamming myself through a brick wall every day like the Kool-Aid man and then limping through my days as though I hadn’t just slammed myself through bricks.

Tiktok didn’t heal me or anything, but it gave me the tools to understand myself better.

It’s why I believe it’s so important to be as transparent as possible about my journey, my diagnoses, and my continued struggles.

If I can help even one person treat themselves more kindly, I’ve done my job.

My Service Dog Journey

I got Theo, my first service dog, in July 2021 for anxiety. I planned to owner train him.

By the end of 2022, I had 5 new diagnoses for mental and physical disabilities, a trainer who actually knew what they were doing, and had gone on my first flight with my certified SD.

Theo is an incredibly smart golden retriever who is highly treat motivated, but also gets bored far too easily. When he was bored, he’d find new tasks to do.

Some were helpful, like alerting to migraines or blood sugar issues I didn’t realize I had.

Others were … less helpful, like learning to open doors as a puppy so he was impossible to contain.

Our trainers at Watch My 6 Service Dogs in Petawawa were godsends who turned my smart alek puppy into an amazing psychiatric and mobility service dog.

Theo passed his public access test and got certified in September 2022, at just 18 months old. Which is much sooner than most, but we needed it for flying.

We continue to go to trainers for tune ups each year, and I work with him daily for at least 10 minutes to re-up his tasks, and work on new ones.

Theo unlocked my ability to travel again, after years feeling stuck at home. We’ve gone on flights, trains, ferries, and road trips across multiple countries.

I’m sharing all my service dog (and dog – he travels out of vest, too) travel tips with y’all. Cause it was a NIGHTMARE to figure out it all on my own.