[THEME SONG BEGINS]

>>RACHEL: Good morning, it's time for Chompers, your morning and night toothbrushing show. 

Today our friend Jasmine is here with a special interview. Jasmine, take it away.

>>JASMINE: Thanks!

Start brushing on the top of your mouth on one side, and brush the inside, outside and chewing side of each tooth

>>KIDS: 3, 2, 1 brush!

[THEME SONG ENDS]

>>JASMINE: It’s Everybody Week, and today we've got a very special guest, Haben Girma.

[MUSIC BEGINS]

>>JASMINE: So Haben, can I please get you to introduce yourself? 

[TYPING SOUNDS]

>>HABEN: My name is Haben Girma. I'm a disability rights advocate. Advocates like me work to remove barriers for people with disabilities. I am a disabled person myself. I'm deafblind. I have limited vision and hearing.

>>JASMINE: So it’s hard for you to see and hear.

[TYPING SOUNDS]

>>HABEN: Exactly. 

>>JASMINE: Switch your brushing to the other side of the top of your mouth…

[SWITCH BELL]

>>JASMINE: -and but don’t brush too hard 

>>JASMINE:  Could you tell us what a “barrier” is? 

[TYPING SOUNDS]

>>HABEN: A barrier is something that gets in my way when I want to do something. For example, I can read through Braille by running my fingers over dots to feel letters. But if I want to read a book? But it's only available in print, not in braille, then that prevents me from reading the book. That's a barrier. 

>>JASMINE: Switch your brushing to the bottom of your mouth…

[SWITCH BELL]

>>JASMINE: -and make little circles around each tooth. Gotcha, so Braille is a tool that helps you interact with the world.

[TYPING SOUNDS]

>>HABEN: Exactly. I also used Braille to communicate with people. When people talked to me they type on a keyboard and their words show up in braille. So right now for this interview I have a friend who's typing your questions on a keyboard and I'm reading the responses in Braille and then responding back by voice.

>>JASMINE: Switch your brushing to the other side of the bottom of your mouth…

[SWITCH BELL]

>>JASMINE: -and brush your front teeth too. Can you tell me about your morning routine? What's the first thing you do in the morning?  

[TYPING SOUNDS]

>>HABEN: The first thing I do in the morning is I check on my guide dog. His name is Milo. Milo is a smart, brilliant, really talented dog. He and I walk around barriers. So if we're walking down the sidewalk and there's a garbage can in the middle of the sidewalk Milo will go around it. So Milo and I go around barriers together.

[MUSIC ENDS]

[THEME SONG BEGINS]

>>JASMINE:That’s all the time we have for this morning, but come back tonight to hear more from Haben and Milo. Until then,

>>KIDS: 3-2-1 Spit! 

[THEME SONG ENDS]

>>RACHEL: Chompers is a production of Gimlet Media.