- Disability Advocacy Methods: Carol Leish and Call Me Capable - June 15, 2026
- How To Use Capacity Building To Prevent Advocate Burnout - May 4, 2026
- Happy Activism: A Sustainable Way to Create Change Without Burnout - February 9, 2026
Estimated reading time: 7 minutes
Key Takeaways
- Disability advocacy methods are the practical ways people work to reduce stigma, expand access, influence policy, and change public assumptions about disability.
- Carol Leish is a disability advocate who turned personal challenges into systemic activism, focusing on reducing stigma and increasing awareness of capabilities.
- Her advocacy methods include public speaking, journalism, and developing the board game ‘Call Me Capable.’
- Leish emphasizes that people with disabilities possess capabilities, aiming to change public assumptions about disability.
- She has served on multiple advisory committees to promote disability awareness and influence state-level policy changes.
- Leish encourages new activists to find their passion and use their strengths to educate others and create positive change.
Carol Leish and Call Me Capable
I met disability advocate Carol Leish through LinkedIn. She had read my book, Make a Difference with Mental Health Activism, with mental activist Trish Lockard, and was kind enough to tell me how much she liked it. When she shared more about herself, I was blown away by her devotion to disability activism and her longevity in social change.
Carol’s disability activism includes serving on advisory committees, educating through workshops and motivational speaking, and creating an advocacy board game. Her Call Me Capable (TM) game is a wonderful example of creative activism.
She received an M.A. in Education/School Counseling from California State University, San Bernardino, and is a journalist for The Ventura Breeze.
Carol uses the word capable on her website Capable Carol, and of course, in her board game title. This one word encapsulates Carol’s mission: to increase awareness of the capabilities of those with disabilities. It is also an acronym:
CAPABLE: Caring, Attractive, Positive, Able, Bold, Loving, and Enthusiastic.
I asked Carol if I could interview her so others whose cause is helping people with disabilities can learn from her.
Why did you choose your activism cause?
I chose my activism cause of educating people without disabilities that people with disabilities have capabilities, too, because I wanted people to stop making assumptions about me due to my disabilities. Just because I have a slight speech impediment, and a lazy eye, it doesn’t mean my intellect is affected. I also wanted to educate people that having emotional challenges, and seeking out counseling and taking medicine, like I have for my own depression and anxiety, is important in order to get away from the stigma attached to mental health challenges.
How did you decide which methods to use for your activism?
I decided to educate others through creating and codeveloping the Call Me Capable Game™. I realized that awareness that people with disabilities have capabilities, too, is the first step to eradicating prejudices and stereotypes towards those with disabilities. I’m proud to say that the game was published for 15 years, between 2002-2017.
I also started my Motivational Speaking in 1997, which was first called, ‘Call Me Capable,’ and has become, ‘Facing Challenges with Optimism & Humor,’ in order to educate others that I have been/continue to be able to teach others that we are all more similar than different, whether or not we have a disability.
I had a head injury as the result of a car accident when I was 10 months old in 1963, which was long before there were infant car seats. My vision, speech and general coordination have been affected. However, I focus on ways of improvising to various situations, such as when I would tape record lectures in college, and be able to type the answers for essay tests. And, with having lost my mother at the tender age of 14, I also had depression to cope with. After my father’s death in 2014, I also had developed problems with anxiety to cope with.
I got involved in the Ventura County Area Agency on Aging Advisory Council in 2021 in order to have more of an activist’s impact, as the ‘Disability Representative.’ I also got onto the Advisory Committee: Aging & Disability Resource Connection, for the California Department of Aging for a two-year term, between 2024-2026, to have more of an impact at the state level. Fortunately, I have been able to attend the meetings through Zoom. I’m glad that I’ve been able to broaden the impact that I have been able to have since 2021.
Were there areas where you felt unprepared for your work?
No, because I’m always up for a challenge. And, there is almost always a way to improvise to various situations.
How do you stay motivated?
I stay motivated by realizing that educating others that we are all more similar than different whether or not we are disabled, is my mission in life. I can relate to what Helen Keller said: “I am thankful for my handicaps (challenges) for through them, I have found my work (Journalism & Motivational Speaking), my God, and myself.” My journalism for various publications, over many years, has mainly focused on the areas of mental health, and issues related to people with disabilities.
What advice do you have for new activists?
First, find what you’re passionate about. Then, make a summary of how you would like to educate others. Also, enjoy being able to educate and change the perspective of others through your activism. Change through activism improves things for the future. Thus, focus on the words of Mahatma Gandhi: “You must be the change you wish to see in the world.”
What We Can Learn From Carol
There are many ways we can learn from Carol as a person and from her work in disability activism. She is an excellent example of someone who epitomizes the characteristics of my 5-Step Activism Path.
Focus Your Passion
In Step 1 of my 5-Step Activism Path, you focus your passion. Carol’s passion is mental health and disability activism, but this seems to sum up the cause closest to her heart: raising awareness that people with disabilities have capabilities.
Research supports the idea that a personal mission helps you orient your actions, become more effective, and feel more motivated. Carol’s mission has sustained her for decades.
Use Your Gifts
Using your strengths and motivation is Step 2 of the activism path. Although Carol suffers from physical issues incurred from the terrible accident she was in as a child, her strengths shine through. Bright and capable (I wanted to use that word!), Carol received a master’s degree and is a writer, speaker, game creator, and advocate.
Carol has an excellent sense of humor and uses it in her advocacy.
Humor, and having a light hearted perspective is important to me because it allows me to focus on the positive instead of getting angry or bitter. Saw how family members had gotten angry and bitter, and I decided that I didn’t want to be like that. Can relate to the cliche, ‘When life gives you lemons, make lemonade.
Choose A Method that Motivates You
Carol has chosen advocacy as her activism method, and it is obvious how much that motivates her work. Through writing, speaking, and game development, she has highlighted that people with disabilities have capabilities.
Maximize Your Impact
Carol did not speak directly about her impact. Still, she has obviously made a difference for many people through modeling her capabilities, reducing stigma and raising awareness of mental health and disabilities, representing others at the state level, and using her creativity to create a game.
Stay Motivated
Staying motivated is part of activism. Carol’s passion is obvious in her mission, but how did she sustain that through the decades? One key is in her answer to one of my questions:
“… I’m always up for a challenge.”
In an interview on What is Ableism?, she says her work inspires her. Activism can be tough sometimes, but Carol keeps a positive mindset that there is always a way to make a difference.
More About Carol
Continuing to Hustle with Chutzpah by Carol Leish. This article describes how Carol got the advocacy board game Call Me Capable published.
Thankful for My Challenges by Carol Leish. Why advocacy is important to Carol
The Joy of Aging Optimally Carol’s essay is included in the Ventura County Area Agency Live Well 2024 Report.
Importance of the Caregiving Navigator Program in Ventura County. by Carol Leish
Contact Carol at hello@capablecarol.com.
Use Your Gifts to Make a Difference
Carol’s story is a reminder that advocacy does not have to look one specific way. Your experiences and gifts can help you choose an advocacy method that fits your life and supports the change you want to see.
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