Host: Hello this is Ability Anyware Radio, a disability advocacy podcast. We're streaming live from the Accessible Community, Culture, Technology Fair at the New York Public Library. And we're visiting the Independence Science booth.

Image of student in an apron holding a piece of equipment to test liquid in a beaker homepage of Independence Science website.
Host: Hi, how are you?
Jasa: I'm well Tanya! How are you doing this afternoon?
Host: I'm great. What's your name?
Jasa: My name is Jasa Dhara and I'm here with Independence Science. Would you like to know a little bit more about us?
Host: Yes, please.
Jasa: Awesome! So our mission is to make Science Technology, Engineering, and Math or STEM accessible to blind and visually impaired learners. Now what you may not know is that these learners are a highly underrepresented minority population in STEM and are often discouraged from doing labs.
We want people who are blind and visually impaired to be fully integrated into the STEM workforce because of their lifelong problem solving skills set which is an asset to the STEM fields.
Our founder is Doctor Cary Supalo who is a blind chemist. And he realized the need for the intervention of talking lab equipment when he faced barriers in his own graduate studies in chemistry.
We at Independence Science are committed to promoting hands on science learning experiences for students with visual impairments through our premier product which is the Sci Voice Talking Lab Quest. This is a handheld scientific data logger for independent data collection and analysis in a hands on way. There are over 70 different sensors for the fields of biology, chemistry, earth science, and space sciences. And they all talk. We are here to meet all of your science access needs.
Host: That's great. Thank you.
Jasa: Oh, you're welcome Tanya. Thank you for visit with us.
Host: Absolutely, have a great day!
Jasa: You too