Creating a better service for everyone On a personal note, there are so many occasions (about 4 or 5 a day) where I think “a disabled person was obviously not consulted when this was designed”. It’s so frustrating. It’s not only me who thinks this, just listen to the podcast. When I ask my interviewees what their biggest barrier to… Continue Reading Using the experiences of disabled people to create a better service for everyone
Not Another Wheelchair User!
The Situation As a wheelchair user and a non-driver, I rely heavily on the train service to maintain relative independence. I consciously chose to live in an area that was not only on a train line but central to stations that would connect me to a large part of the country. Over the years, I have found that the service… Continue Reading Not Another Wheelchair User!
The Value of Inclusion
My journey to equality Over the years, my personal opinions of disability have changed and developed as I, along with my experiences have done the same. As a teenager, I believed and adhered to the medical model of disability; believing that disability was the problem of mine and mine alone. As a result, I had to be grateful when the… Continue Reading The Value of Inclusion
Is the Best Person Getting The Role?
At networking meetings, events and workshops, people ask me about how to make a recruitment process accessible. The dos and don’ts and the application process. I think sometimes these processes can sound a lot more complicated than they actually are. The word “Disability” can prohibit people from thinking outside the box. But a disabled applicant is an applicant like any other.… Continue Reading Is the Best Person Getting The Role?
A Graduation on Crutches
My Daughter’s Graduation I attended my daughter’s graduation at a Midlands University in July this year and was impressed by the ceremony and the speakers etc but was completely unprepared for the feelings of sadness and frustration generated by the attitudes of staff and lack of useful facilities for my daughter, who found herself temporarily disabled and on crutches after… Continue Reading A Graduation on Crutches
Flexible Working – Thinking Outside The Box
The Business Case Many employers and managers miss out on having a diverse and experienced workforce because they don’t understand the potential benefits that come from hiring a part-time employee or one with a flexible working pattern. These are just a few of the comments that can be heard when people are talking about part-time employees and workers. Many… Continue Reading Flexible Working – Thinking Outside The Box
Disability Inequality in the Workplace
Background Over the years I have consulted on, written and implemented policies that support personalisation and disability equality. I have, alongside colleagues with like minded ideals, delivered training, written workbooks and created documents that support change to build a positive workforce that actively encourages and supports disabled people. And yet, disability inequality in the workplace is still rife. Since starting… Continue Reading Disability Inequality in the Workplace
So Brave
There’s no getting away from the language used to describe disabled people. Before you read any further, have a think about the language that springs to your mind when thinking about disability. What did you come up with? There are the words to describe the person: disabled, person with disability, wheelchair user, wheelchair bound, mentally ill. There are words to… Continue Reading So Brave
So what’s Celebrating Disability all about?
A couple of events recently have got me thinking; A speaker confessed to a room that when uploading his profile on dating sites that he wrote about his bipolar first to get the “sympathy vote”. The second event that disturbed my peaceful mind happened just the other day in a department shop when I approached a sales assistant in my… Continue Reading So what’s Celebrating Disability all about?