KHS teen's podcast advocates for disabled, illuminates injustice

A Kewanee teen has launched her own podcast and is not only tackling weighty issues about living life with a disability, but also giving her listeners hot takes on pop culture.

At just 17 years old, Petra Petty has strong opinions and is passionate about a variety of topics. Her newest endeavor gives her an outlet to not only express her feelings, but to advocate for issues she sees as important.

“She was born old,” said Leta Kelly, Petty’s grandmother, whose house on Prospect Street is a favorite hangout for Petty and her poodle-mix, Bella.

From the start, Petty has been a fighter. Born with Cerebral Palsy, she suffered a stroke while in utero, the consequence of a drug-addicted mother, Petty believes. She was adopted just before turning 5 years old by Becky and Eric Petty of Kewanee, and has spent a majority of her life in a wheelchair. Her disability has shaped her views.

“It’s taught me patience. I look at the world differently. I am a little bit more open-minded and empathetic,” she said.

That empathy, in part, was nurtured and encouraged by the influential people in her life, among them her favorite teacher, Marc Nelson.

“He has always inspired me to be an advocate,” she said.

Nelson is the elementary art teacher at Central School and Petty said his classes often focused on issues such as the plight of the Syrian people under Bashar al-Assad’s regime. The focus on world events is meant to inspire students' creative side, but by the time she reached 10, Petty admits that Nelson had created a full-fledged advocate.

Other influences in her life include her family and friends, and Abbey Curran.

Curran was also born with Cerebral Palsy. A Kewanee native, Curran attended Kewanee High School and began competing in pageants in her teens. In 2008, she won the title of Miss Iowa and went on to represent the state in the national Miss USA pageant. Curran was the first contestant with a disability to compete for the title and her passion for pageants inspired her to found her own pageant, Miss You Can Do It, for special needs girls and young women.

Petty recalled meeting Curran at the local Walmart when she was younger. After a second chance meeting, Curran encouraged Petty to enter her pageant. From ages 5 to 15, Petty competed in the pageant, and in 2013, she was named “Little Miss You Can Do it.”

While other kids grew up watching Sesame Street and educational programming, Petty spent time with her grandmother and crime shows like “Forensic Files” were usually playing on the television. To this day, Petty is a fan of true crime stories and podcasts. Among her many favorite podcasts are True Crime Weekly and the Mile Higher podcasts, which hosts the families of victims of murder and crime, and tells stories from families, with topics on injustice.

“I hate injustice,'' said Petty. “If I see something I don’t agree with, it will eat at me until I address it.”

Pushing change

Petty has in fact made it her personal mission to address issues about which she feels strongly. At just 10, her outspoken nature led her to advocate for a change of locations of a school art show. One of her drawings was on display, but the art show was set to be held in Central’s Brockman gym. The gymnasium, which has four sets of stairs leading down onto the gym floor, would have made it impossible for disabled people, including herself, to attend.

After briefly discussing the matter with her teacher, Petty said she left class and immediately took the issue up with the principal.

“I was impatient,” she said.

The art show location was quickly changed to Central’s newer and handicap-accessible gym.

Petty has not shied away from publicly criticizing what she sees as inaccessibility for disabled students of the three-story Central School facility. In fact, she has experienced the hardship first hand, she said. While attending school there, she estimates she lost around four hours of classroom time each week using the stair lift, which was slow and would often break down. Petty has spoken out about what she sees as the school district’s lack of action on the issue.

The school district isn’t the only target of Petty’s criticism when it comes to handicap accessibility. Years ago, Petty took up the issue with the former park director of the park district’s lack of playground equipment designed especially for children in wheelchairs. When no action was taken by the park district, Petty persisted until the park district, working with the Kewanee Elks Club, installed a wheelchair swing at Northeast Park. But she’s not done. The surface underneath the swing is less than ideal and she has recently reached out to the current director, Andrew Dwyer, about changing the surface underneath the swing.

“Wood chips are difficult for people in wheelchairs,” she said.

And don’t get her started on the city sidewalks. Petty said the cracks in the local sidewalks makes it a hardship for disabled people to get around the city, especially in a wheelchair. She’s yet to take that issue up with any city officials though, because the scope of the problem seems overwhelming.

“It’s a big problem, because it's every sidewalk,” she said.

Video generation

Disability accessibility is just one area where Petty has felt compelled to act. Yet other issues, such as female reproductive rights, gun regulation and the crisis in the country’s foster system are equally important to her. With so many thoughts and so much to say on subjects, it seemed only natural that Petty would seek out a platform to speak candidly about them. A podcast seemed like a good fit.

“I wanted a place where I could be comfortable saying the way I felt about certain topics,” she said.

When Petty was nine years old, she waded into online video platforms, launching a YouTube channel where she did make-up tutorials and music video reactions. She now refers to her first foray as “embarrassing.”

“It kind of took a direction I didn’t want,” she said.

Her latest project, a podcast aptly named “Roll With It,” drops weekly on Sunday and can be found on Spotify and Amazon Music. She’s already about five episodes in and has covered issues like relationships and mental illness. Her hope is to openly discuss, as well as advocate for issues as it relates to the disabled.

“Society’s reaction to the disabled is rough,” she said. “We have to adapt to the world, not the world adapting to us. While it’s difficult, it can be overcome.”

Her plans for future episodes include reeling in some guests, and she already has a few in mind. Her most recent episode focuses on experiences with religious people regarding disabilities. And because she’s a teen, Petty also takes time to discuss pop culture and performers such as Selena Gomez, Hailey Barber, and one of her favorites, Sabrina Carpenter.

As far as her future plans, one thing is pretty-well settled. Petty has her heart set on attending the University of Illinois. Once there, the goal is to study both psychology and political science. And because Petty considers herself a political junkie with a desire to change the world for the better, she won’t rule out running for political office one day.

“It’s a way to get things done. Obviously there are different ways of getting something done, but at its core, it’s politics,” said Petty.

This article originally appeared on Star Courier: KHS teen's podcast advocates for disabled, illuminates injustice