Crutches and Casts [Season 11, Episode 3]Crutches and Casts [Season 11, Episode 3]
AA Grapevine's Podcast
Scott S. shares his journey from early drinking and treatment to finding peace in AA and taking on accessibilities service for Area 51. Short additional stories from other members highlight step work, spiritual growth and the importance of making meetings welcoming and accessible to all.
27:37•20 Jul 2026
Crutches, Casts and Access Needs: Scott’s Journey in AA
Episode Overview
- Hearing AA members share about themselves can break through denial more effectively than being told what to do.
- Frequent meeting attendance in early sobriety can provide comfort and a sense of belonging.
- Fourth and fifth step work can reveal personal responsibility for resentments and reduce feelings of victimhood.
- Accessibility barriers often stem from decisions about venues, not from people’s disabilities, and can be reduced with simple changes.
- AA service positions, even when taken on without feeling ‘qualified’, can deepen sobriety and broaden perspective.
“If your access needs match the majority, they're designed into the building, into the event, and so you don't even know you have them.”
Curious about how others navigate their sobriety journey? This episode of AA Grapevine's Half Hour Variety Hour centres on Scott S. from Asheville, North Carolina, whose drinking began at just 11 and soon became, as he puts it, "the foundation for everything else I did." His story moves from years lost in a party-town college and multiple "crutches and casts" to the unexpected peace he found when he finally said, "Okay, God take it," in treatment.
Scott explains how rehab counsellors kept telling him what *he* needed to do, which he could argue with all day, while AA members simply talked about themselves.
That "dirty trick" of identification was key: "I couldn't help but identify." From there, he shares how early sobriety meant going to two or three meetings a day because they were the only places he felt comfortable, and how sponsorship and a searching fourth and fifth step helped him see that he was "indeed the only one responsible" for his resentments. The episode also focuses strongly on accessibility within AA.
As Area 51 (North Carolina) accessibilities coordinator, Scott describes living with paraplegia after spinal cord surgery and finding meetings he literally couldn't get into. He challenges the idea that barriers lie in people’s disabilities, arguing instead that "everybody has access needs" and that obstacles often come from choices about meeting locations and old buildings. Simple things like chairs with arms or keeping accessible doors unlocked can make a huge difference.
Alongside Scott’s story, short shares from Mandy, Chris and Darlene highlight pivotal moments with the third and ninth steps, fear, honesty, and spiritual renewal. The tone stays light with plenty of humour, but the message is serious: AA can offer relief, connection and practical solutions—if members are willing to show up, look honestly at themselves, and think about how to welcome others. How might your own group make it easier for the next alcoholic to walk through the door?
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