She Takes to the Radio With a Message of Hope : ‘People Can Adapt,’ Says Blind Talk Show Host, and Her Program Lets Disabled Hear How It’s Done

When it’s time for a commercial break on “The Kathy Vasquez Show” on KPZE-AM radio in Anaheim, the engineer dispenses with the usual hand signals and sends a message only Vasquez can hear, via a special intercom.

The intercom, rigged up by Vasquez’s husband, Jim Strahan, illustrates a point that Vasquez makes regularly on her program: the importance of creative thinking in overcoming obstacles.

Vasquez has been blind since age 2. “People can adapt,” she says, beaming her message weekly to Orange County’s disabled community. Her show has explored a variety of issues confronting the disabled, including sexuality, living independently, accessibility of public transportation and AIDS as a disability.

Tonight’s show, the fifth since her debut Nov. 6, addresses the psychology of disability. The live show airs each Sunday from 7:05 to 8 p.m. and features in-studio guests and telephone callers. Besides the discussion of scheduled topics, the shows present information on services and programs for the disabled.

“I want the disabled to look at this show as a forum, as a source of information and inspiration,” says Vasquez, who is in her mid-20s (she declines to give her exact age). She sees the show as a tool to help unify a community that traditionally has been fragmented, both by physical isolation and by the differing nature of disabilities.

Unity, she says, is necessary if the disabled are to attain a goal of equal opportunity to live, work and socialize. “I’m not politically sophisticated, but I do know this--you have to be unified.”

Brenda Premo, executive director of the Orange County-based Dayle McIntosh Center for the Disabled, says the time is right for Vasquez’s show. In a recent survey of disabled county residents conducted by the center, better dissemination of information on services was listed as the top need. The media, respondents said, are not providing that information.

The Dayle McIntosh Center became the first sponsor of “The Kathy Vasquez Show” and Premo was a guest on the second program. She praises the show for taking a positive and practical approach.

“The show doesn’t just talk about problems,” Premo says. “Kathy will say, ‘Here are some things happening today that are helping to resolve some of these problems.’ ”

Issues facing the disabled “aren’t aired nearly enough” in the media, agrees Diane Coleman, head of the Southern California chapter of ADAPT, which stands for American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation. The national organization applies civil disobedience techniques to the fight for disabled rights, and Coleman has been arrested nine times in the course of demonstrations.

Society, she says, has long viewed disability as a personal tragedy, an isolated incident, when in fact it’s “a very normal part of life.” In fact, Coleman says, the biggest problem is often not the disability itself, but “social attitudes and barriers in the environment.”

Coleman was a guest on Vasquez’s first show and has appeared on “Challenge,” a weekly program on Los Angeles radio station KPFK-FM that also addresses issues facing the disabled community. Radio programs such as these can be effective, she says.

“It sometimes reaches an audience that otherwise will not be reached,” Coleman says. “Historically, we’ve been very isolated.”

Premo agrees. “It can help people realize that they’re not the only one facing a particular disability.” And conversely, she adds, the show demonstrates that people with different disabilities often face similar problems: “For instance, you can have trouble finding housing if you’re blind or if you’re in a wheelchair.”

Premo says she also believes that Vasquez offers inspiration in the form of personal example, as a disabled person who set a goal and pursues it. “She’s just going out there and doing it,” Premo says. “She’s saying, ‘I can be like any other broadcaster.’ ”

Vasquez entered Fullerton College without a major and eventually gravitated to the broadcasting program. She held down a twice-a-week shift on the school’s radio station, KBPK, for about 2 years before graduating in 1987.

“I think I am a good disc jockey,” says Vasquez, who was named broadcaster of the year at the school. But she likes talk radio because of the personal contact and the opportunity to deal with issues. “I get bored just being a disc jockey, to tell you the truth.”

Her own role as talk show host is a new one, and she finds herself learning on the job. “It takes practice,” Vasquez says. But, she adds, “I’m pretty happy with the way things are going.”

The Brea resident is more than just the host of “The Kathy Vasquez Show.” Funding the venture out of her own pocket, she buys her air time from KPZE (at $200 an hour) and is responsible for lining up sponsors and booking guests. “I have to look at this as a business venture,” says Vasquez, who has been preparing the show since June. “Getting the word out is pretty much a constant thing.”

She has a 13-week contract with the radio station. So far she has just one sponsor, the Dayle McIntosh Center, but she is in negotiation with other potential ones. “They want to see how it is going to catch on,” she says.

But Vasquez is confident the show will survive. “I have a good feeling about this,” she says.

“The Kathy Vasquez Show” airs Sundays from 7:05 to 8 p.m. on radio station KPZE (1190 AM). Listeners are encouraged to call in during the show, 772-1190 in area codes 714, 213 and 818.