A different perspective on…
DISABILITY EQUALITY
a practical handbook
Published by Laura Chapman at Smashwords
Copyright Laura Chapman 2011
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
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06 The medical model of disability
07 The social model of disability
08 Accommodation and compliance
10 Questions of purpose and leadership implications
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“On the shoulders of giants”: this book would not have been possible without the leadership of Richard Rieser and Micheline Mason. It is their vision and their hard work that has facilitated a shared perspective and has helped so many of us to move from enlightenment, to empowerment and emancipation. “If you think you are leading and turn around to see no one following, then you are just taking a walk”. Disabled people are a powerful crowd, we walk together, and the ideas that follow are shared - not purely mine. I have tried to speak on our behalf, a humbling and difficult exercise. A walk in the park it was not, so I am always thankful to feel we I have shared the experience. Thanks to Alison John, Tara Flood, Michelle Daley, Jaspal Dhani, Chris O’Mahony, and Natalie Meadows for friendship and kinship. As always it is the kindness and gentleness found in times together that gives me the strength to face the daily fight. Living with the daily challenge is tiring, and movement forward would not be possible without those willing to hold your hand - the allies who enable peace and acceptance when times are hard. Thanks goes to Ian Chapman, Jill Mundy, Wendy Stark, Julia Hayes, Andrea Layzell, Sharon Scoffings, Julie Hykin and Carrie James. Thank you Julia Hayes, to whom I am indebted once more for turning a senseless muddle of words into clear orchestrated phrases. Thank you again to Mark Longbottom for your speed, art and colour, you made plain words look attractive and beautiful. Thank you to our clients who kept us busy, happy and fed. Finally, profound appreciation to the mentor, he who keeps possibility alive and the north star shining – thank you John West-Burnham.
Mole – March 2011
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Introduction
At the heart of new legislation is an imperative to understand the distinctive nature of disabled people’s oppression. Only then can we tackle the discrimination they face. Disability equality will therefore be important to those faced with the job of challenging inequality within our services. This book presents clear ideas and simple steps that will help you ensure that disabled children, adolescents and adult clients are fully respected and included in the life of your organisation.
This book will help you:
• Gain a greater understanding of the character of disability
You’ll be able to better identify the issues facing disabled people as a protected group under the Equalities Act 2011
• Re-evaluate your ideas, practice, provision and participation
Your service needs to comply, but we hope you can go further and drive forward the empowerment and ethical commitment that meets everyone’s needs. For years, many organisations have tried to implement the theory of disability equality. However, many of you have told us that applying the theory to daily practice is a major challenge. This book aims to make change both possible and practical.
• Deepen your understanding
By broadening your insight into dealing with the discrimination disabled children and adults face, you’ll discover more creative ways to tackle it.
• Embrace change
Positive development is not only essential, it’s an exciting challenge. When you understand the stereotypes and how they unconsciously affect word and behaviour, you will be able to break the prejudice that obstructs and damages many disabled people. With knowledge comes enlightenment and the power to make change happen.
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To help you on your journey, each chapter has been divided into contrasting sections. Ideas and action have been distinguished to echo the cycle of reflective practice. In the first sections, ideas represent a synthesis of current thinking (a challenge to the head). These have been taken from many sources: academic texts, popular authors and current research. In the corresponding sections, questions and scenarios are put forward to challenge you and prompt your own enquiry into current practice. These sections may contain figures and tables to give you a sense of change - motion - or emotion (a challenge to the heart). The scenarios presented that have been inspired by our work with teams in many organisations. The scenarios are fictional, you would not expect to find any single organisation with such clearly defined problems (a challenge to the hand). They should give you an idea of how easily or poorly ideas are sometimes put into practice depending on organisational culture. It is hoped that ideas will stretch even the most knowledgeable reader, while it is written clearly and directly enough so that all feel welcome to join in.
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While getting the welcome right is important, creating a deliberate invitation is fundamental2. One in 10 people are disabled, so it’s likely that many people using or working in your organisation are affected by some kind of impairment. However, only one in four disabled people are wheelchair users and since many impairments are hidden, you may be unaware that colleagues and service users are indeed disabled29. There are a number of reasons for this: if impairments are generally unseen (such as epilepsy or depression) there would be no reason to share the information, so it is not in the public domain. Not all impairments are stigmatised or perceived as problematic16. For example, some people with visual impairments wear glasses but are not categorised as disabled. But where disabled people have been perceived and treated differently, or excluded from mainstream organisations, a social divide develops. Social exclusion and stigma means that many of us have not had the experience of a meaningful relationship with a disabled person and we may fear the unknown. For some people, interacting with disabled people may seem like a totally new experience. Unfortunately, disability is generally viewed as a problem and disabled people face a social oppression. In other words, their daily experience is often more challenging than their non-disabled peers. In order to restore fairness and return those who have been marginalised back to the daily lives of our communities and organisations, action is essential. This means deliberately inviting people back into the places where they may previously have felt uncomfortable or alienated. It demands that any discrimination must be addressed, allowing them a natural and ordinary experience. Many disabled people can still recall the pain of rejection, or the difficulty of having to ‘fit in’18. The law says that harm is done when professionals fail to take the necessary steps to ensure that disabled people can access and participate fully in an organisation’s activity. The first step in getting this right is to take time to audit and plan our particular organisation’s priorities. Then, once we expect diversity to come through door and are ready with a multitude of strategies to suit all types of individuals, we need to make sure people feel comfortable: giving them what they need is not the same as inviting them to join. As we will see later, for someone used to being excluded the offer needs to be positive and made with integrity. Asking disabled people to join in needs to involve a commitment to change those elements which may cause distress. Therefore a positive invite comes with a promise to listen! Belonging is everything here! Simply being in the room together is not enough. For people to feel they belong they need to feel part of the activity and the dialogue. Furthermore, participation includes a sense of power, something which must be handed deliberately to those who have previously been denied it. It is as important for us to feel listened to as it is to actually get what we need: compromise is fine as long as the decision is shared.
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Challenge: Proactive invitation
Consult people within your locality:
• Are there organisations that support disabled people who could help you with your audit?
• Are there families within your service with disabled family members willing to help?
• Are there disabled professionals with the correct expertise willing to share advice?
Scenario 1 Workers in Organisation A are willing, competent and qualified. However they assume that disability does not concern them: they have never met anyone with a significant disability and think disabled people all need wheelchairs and lots of specialist help. As a result, they are insular although in general their practice is outstanding
Scenario 2 Organisation B have been involved with a reasonable numbers of disabled children and adults over the years. They audit their organisational priorities every 18 months. They also make an effort to talk to new mums, local action groups and national organisations to keep abreast of developments and new legislation.
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02 Ideas: Acknowledging difference
Equality is not about being treated the same, but rather being valued for who we are. It may be that some accommodations required by disabled people will not suit everyone. After all, some requirements are complex and accommodations may suit only the few. However, this does not mean that we cannot do more to be fair: a spirit of flexibility is pivotal. Some changes may help everyone (e.g. large print, ramps and flexi-time). But if an accessible parking space or Braille is essential for one particular person’s participation it is only fair to make the change to enable that individual to experience what is for others ordinary and everyday, their basic needs must be met. How they are met may differ. Ensuring parity of experience is not dependent on having the same ‘portion size’ but a fair portion size. It follows that this book is not about giving everyone the same thing. Equality means that everyone in all communities can enjoy fair opportunity. By contrast, inequality is the lack of fairness imposed by the different opportunities offered or withheld on the basis of individual characteristics. Inequality currently prevails, and to restore fairness we need equity – specific action which accommodates, or removes barriers. Equity also demands longer-term strategies that will empower and enable contribution for all. An equal share of all outcomes are the aim, therefore in the short term positive action will be essential to accommodate even the smallest number of people while wider fairness is tackled.