Why do we have disability pride? The answer goes down to finding our identity and feeling good about ourselves. It also serves to promote the need for diversity and encourage others to embrace it.
Time for a personal reflection on it. Finding yourself is a lot harder when you are someone who doesn’t fit with normal social expectations. I have seen firsthand how it is to feel helpless and struggled to do things that others find easy. It took away my sense of self, belief in my skills and ability to be resilient. Being disabled can also leave people feeling burdened, and alone.
As humans progress, I believe we will one day change society so we can be included better. This will lead to more willingness to hire disabled workers, and more role models that show disability in positive light.
Right now, disabled are often viewed in media with certain stereotypes. These include superheroes and villains, vulnerable people who can’t manage, or miraculous healers. None of these are positive images that show a good picture of disabled lives.
So, think about the disabled people around you, and who they want to be.
We can’t talk about access, without looking at the things that prevent it, blocks and barriers.
Ask any disabled person, I expect you will find that they have come against blocks/barriers in their life.
Some places try to improve this and will consult with learning disabled on how things can be done better. I see a few companies putting in positive employment schemes to help disabled workers join or advance. That’s brilliant help.
Let’s talk about how we manage through barriers without the help there.
It’s important that we speak out and explain the issues that we have. After all, if we can’t explain the problem or barrier, how can others help us through it?
I challenge you to think about the blocks and barriers in front of you. Write them down, list the areas and explain how you would like others to help you through.
Many people in the world can achieve some things they want to, but not all. And sometimes that is down to lack of access. Google defines access as “the means or opportunity to enter or approach a place” but that is simplistic. To me, access also refers to permission to use a resource or take in information.
In short there are different types of access, and different needs. Sometimes it’s about being getting into a place, as the definition suggests.
As a person with learning disabilities, and neurodiverse status this is how I see access. With access, I can reach the same goals and outcomes, as everyone else.
Wouldn’t it be perfect if everyone got the same education, jobs, housing, and community. (Spoiler alert -if that sounds like a fantasy it is one but society could change one day. For now, the pursuit of access is a reality.)
What happens when you don’t have access? You can’t get to the same places or do the things that others can. This is the reality of life without access. To highlight this point let me tell you my own story of getting work as a disabled person.
After I graduated university, it took 6 years to get a job. To get there meant having to be put in a disabled box in the end. As someone who would much rather fit in it felt soul destroying. I had to concede it was the only way. This disabled box though was a specialist employment agency that got me my first proper job.
Between university and getting a job I did temp work for a bit through an agency. One of the most devastating experiences was when the agency sent me to do an admin for a company. I thought I was getting everything right but half an hour later I was sent home. Can you imagine what that feels like?
So now you perhaps get a bigger picture on why access is important. Let’s move on to accessible content.
If I asked others what their favourite thing about me was, I’d get different responses, and I am probably one of my worst critics.
Actually, I have two favourite thing s about myself – my energy for performing, and my creativity & imagination.
These are the things that have always stood out.
Without my writing stories from a young age my headmaster at junior school would never have seen my gift. He was so pleased that I got the school honour award. At the time I had just joined school late, after being put in a special needs class for a while. And I wasn’t like the other boys, didn’t have their energy. Discovering this gift meant I was recognised.
My writing and creativity won several other awards and recognitions during my childhood. Probably my proudest one was a large Blue Peter badge (which I sold ten years ago for £25 on Ebay).
With performing, I was able to show others what I could do. This still meant the other kids made life heck but also some of the teachers saw my gift.
So those are two of my favourite things about myself.
Beth writes 