Ila, an occupational therapist and co-founder of Zeno Mountain Farm, shares what it takes to build a community in Vermont where people with and without disabilities live, work, and create together. She also dives into the films Zeno makes—not just about disability, but about real stories and people—showing why representation in culture matters. This episode is about the messy, joyful work of inclusion and the friendships that make it real.

I’m Léa Hirschfeld and this is Out of Sync : exploring life through disability, one story at a time.

New episodes drop every Tuesday on all platforms with transcripts on Youtube.

🇫🇷 For French stories: @decales_podcast

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Have you ever had breakfast across from someone wearing a princess costume, spent the afternoon sliding through the woods on a 200-foot slide into a pond, turned dishwashing into a party, or stripped off your clothes to lie in a storm? Welcome to Zeno Mountain Farm, where we put as much energy into having fun as most people put into work. Where having fun is the work. Where everything we do implies seriously thinking through how everyone, with and without disabilities, can participate in the meaningful things of life: eating with friends, jamming on instruments, shaving outside, attending open-air concerts, making plays and movies, and even windsurfing in a wheelchair. What Will Halby and his family started as a small film camp in California has become a year-round community in Vermont, where all bodies and minds are represented on stage and on screen, participating in life to the fullest of their abilities. It is free, secular, and grounded in friendship and common sense: we all have needs that must be met—so let’s take it to another level.

I’m Léa Hirschfeld, and this is Out of Sync: exploring life through disability, one story at a time.

New episodes drop every Tuesday on all platforms.

🇫🇷 for French stories: @decales_podcast

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

This is Krista. Becoming a mother of twins at 35 changed everything, and even more so when one of them suffered a brain injury at birth. She learned to balance grief with problem-solving, to lean on her husband while advocating together, and to trust schools and professionals while finding her own ways to support her children. A neighbor of Zeno Mountain Farm, she discovered a community that expanded her sense of what’s possible. Now, with the twins heading off to college, she reflects on raising children with and without disabilities—and what it has taught her about letting go.

I’m Léa Hirschfeld and this is Out of Sync : exploring life through disability, one story at a time.

Listen to Krista's daughters, Isabelle and Hannah, in episodes 1 &2.

New episodes drop every Tuesday on all platforms – for transcripts, check out our YouTube channel.
🇫🇷 for French stories: @decales_podcast

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Hannah was seventeen when we recorded this. She grew up doing community theater, with her mobility aids as part of her character. Living with cerebral palsy meant learning to step onto a stage even when auditions felt like judgment, and discovering the freedom to be herself—unedited. At Zeno Mountain Farm, she learned to reach out when she needed support, to support others, and to navigate challenges in her own rhythm. Now 20, she can still feel out of sync—but who doesn’t?

I’m Léa Hirschfeld and this is Out of Sync : exploring life through disability, one story at a time.

Listen to her twin Isabelle in the previous episode, and to her mother Krista in the next one.

New episodes drop every Tuesday on all platforms – for transcripts, check out our YouTube channel.
🇫🇷 for French stories: @decales_podcast

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

Isabelle was seventeen when they shared this. They’re the sibling without a disability, learning to navigate feelings of responsibility and powerlessness, gratitude and doubt, and to recognize when their own emotions matter. Thoughtful and honest, Isabelle reflects on identity, independence, love, and the resilience life asks for in a world not built for everyone, as they and their twin Hannah, who has cerebral palsy, prepare to head off to college in different states. Now 20, they’re still figuring it out—but who isn’t?

I’m Léa Hirschfeld, also a sister, and I related to Isabelle so deeply in this episode.

Listen to Isabelle's twin Hannah in episode 2, and their mother Krista in episode 3.

Out of Sync drops every Tuesday on all platforms. Transcripts are on YouTube. Find us on instagram and TikTok.

🇫🇷 For French stories: @decales_podcast

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.

I’m Léa Hirschfeld, sharing how discovering Zeno Mountain Farm and growing up with my brother sparked the journey that became this podcast.

Out of Sync: Exploring life with disability — one story at a time.

Hosted on Ausha. See ausha.co/privacy-policy for more information.