Direct support work is essential—but it is rarely discussed honestly. When DSP services are represented, the conversation often centers on institutions, intellectual disabilities, or situations in which guardians, providers, and other third parties speak on someone’s behalf. Those experiences matter, but they are not the whole story. The Support Files brings another perspective to the conversation. Anna is a self-directed disability advocate with cerebral palsy who does not have an intellectual disability and manages her own support services. Drawing on her experience advocating at the state level, Anna and her DSP, Ari, offer an honest look inside the disability and direct-support worlds—from both sides of the relationship. Together, they break down the laws, policies, funding decisions, staffing shortages, and systemic barriers affecting people with disabilities and the professionals who support them. They also explore what self-direction, independence, community living, employment, and meaningful support actually look like in everyday life. These conversations do more than identify problems. Anna and Ari explain complicated issues in accessible language, share real-life experiences, and offer practical ideas for creating change. The Support Files is an advocacy platform dedicated to educating the public, informing lawmakers, challenging harmful assumptions, and amplifying communities that have been systematically neglected, underestimated, and excluded from decisions that directly affect their lives.Anna is a self-directed disability advocate, writer, content creator, and power-wheelchair user with cerebral palsy. She has experience advocating at the state level and has spent years working to improve disability services, community inclusion, and the way people with disabilities are represented. As someone who hires, trains, schedules, and manages her own DSP staff, Anna brings firsthand knowledge of the staffing crisis and the barriers people with physical disabilities encounter while trying to live independently. Her perspective challenges the assumption that receiving support means surrendering independence, autonomy, or the right to speak for yourself. Ari is a Direct Support Professional with a lifelong connection to the disability community. They have supported people with complex medical needs, intellectual disabilities, autism, physical disabilities, and people without intellectual disabilities. Ari’s life and work have been directly affected by regulations and policy decisions imposed on the disability community—often without meaningful input from the people most affected. Witnessing how these systems intensify the challenges already faced by disabled people and their support staff has strengthened Ari’s commitment to advocacy. Ari has worked in nursing facilities, Individualized Supported Living homes, and private in-home care. These experiences have allowed them to see how disability services operate across very different settings, as well as how staffing shortages, limited resources, inadequate education, and restrictive policies affect both disabled people and DSPs. Currently studying criminal justice and forensic psychology, Ari strives to become a voice for people who are too often overlooked, neglected, or ignored. They bring a valuable frontline perspective to conversations about staffing, advocacy, accountability, dignity, and meaningful systemic change. By combining Anna’s experience as a self-directed disabled person and advocate with Ari’s experience as a DSP across multiple care environments, The Support Files creates space for honest conversations that are too often missing from disability policy and public discussion. These are the stories behind the staffing crisis. These are the perspectives policymakers need to hear. These are the voices too often shut out, neglected, and forgotten. These are The Support Files.
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Contact path
Public web form
Booking probability
36%
Guest openness
Selective
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Signup to Generate a PitchDirect support work is essential, but it is rarely discussed honestly. When DSP services are represented, the conversation often centers on institutions, intellectual disabilities, or situations in which guardians, providers, and other third parties speak on someone’s behalf. Those experiences matter, but they are not the whole story. The Support Files brings another perspective to the conversation.
Recent episodes include "Intruder Drills & Disabilities: What Happens When You Can't Run or Hide? | The Support Files" (26 October 2026, 23 minutes), "Does Your Staff Know Your Rights? | The Support Files" (22 October 2026, 37 minutes), and "Hiring Your DSP: Guidelines That Actually Matter | The Support Files" (9 October 2026, 31 minutes).
The Support Files publishes roughly weekly, with episodes averaging 27 minutes.
Booking probability for The Support Files is 36%, and the host is rated Selective on guests. The Support Files requires a Pod Score of 80 or higher. The Support Files's contact route on record: public web form.
The strongest fits for The Support Files are Family & Social Services. The Support Files has a health audience.
The Support Files is a health podcast.
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Episode #6
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! What happens during an intruder drill when you physically CAN’T run, hide, or get on the floor? Welcome back to...
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Knowing how to support someone includes understanding their rights. In this episode, Anna and Ari talk about...
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Hiring a Direct Support Professional (DSP) is about so much more than finding someone to fill a shift. It’s about...
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Do I live alone? Do I actually get to choose my own DSPs? And how did I get disability services in the first...
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! What does it take to hire your first direct support professional? In this episode of The Support Files , Anna...
The Support Files
Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode! Welcome to The Support Files: Independence from Both Sides! In this introductory episode, meet Anna, a...
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