Access &: Disability Pride Month and Disability as an Intersectional Experience (9th July 2024)
Your fortnightly newsletter bringing you the why and how of accessibility in business.
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Access & Actions is your how- Tasks, activities, conversation starters, stats to take to leadership and things you can implement the very same day.
The Untapped Advantage
Standing out…
We’re in the swing of Disability Pride Month, and the best thing you can do is learn from as many people and perspectives as possible.
What it means to be disabled is different for each person.
Disability is an intersectional experience, which can combine with factors like race, gender, and socio-economic background, creating unique challenges. By promoting disability pride and understanding, we pave the way for a more just and equitable society for everyone.
Learning from multiple people is the only way to build a rich understanding of the diversity of disability experiences, so you can better support everyone.
Here’s who you should start following this month:
Imani Barbarin, is the Founder of Crutches and Spice, a Comms Advisor, disability blogger, content creator, public speaker, model and actress. Follow Imani on Instagram and check out this post where she’s speaking at The Othering and Belonging Conference 2024.
Lee Chambers, Founder of Male Allies UK and Essentialise Workplace Wellbeing, is a British psychologist, male ally and speaker. Follow Lee on LinkedIn and check out his talk at Leicester Digital Live, Searching for Meaning in a Social World.
Tiffany A. Yu is CEO & Founder of Diversability, Founder of the Awesome Foundation Disability Chapter, a speaker, content creator, social impact entrepreneur, diversity and inclusion community builder and inclusion and empowerment advocate. If you’re looking for a podcast to learn more this Disability Pride Month, Tiffany & Yu focuses on “wellness, impact, identity, and leadership with friends who are using their voices and platforms to cultivate compassion, creativity and change.”
The Heart Of It
Getting to the point…
"So not only did I become disabled, I also lost a parent and experienced childhood trauma. I think that so much of my healing process has been really experiencing the full embodiment of who I can be and who I am. So this month is about people with disabilities like me falling in love with themselves." Tiffany Yu, USA Today
Why does Disability Pride Month matter in the workplace?
Disability is a global force: 1.3 billion people, or roughly 16%, of the world's population experience significant disability (World Health Organization). That's a massive pool of talent and perspective waiting to be fully integrated.
Breaking barriers: Disability Pride Month is an opportunity to celebrate disabled people and all they bring to the table while celebrating the tireless efforts of activists who fought for landmark legislation like the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in the US. This act continues to dismantle barriers and pave the way for equal opportunities.
Untapped talent: In the last quarter of 2023, the Disability Employment Gap in the UK (the difference in the employment rate of disabled people and people who are not disabled) was 27.9 percentage points which has remained at a similar level since 2019.
The Inner(vation) Circle
Hear from the voices shaping tomorrow, today.
What does Disability Pride Month mean to you?
I sat down with a cup of tea to reflect on what Disability Pride means to me. It’s a strange month when you’re disabled with a chronic illness that often stops you from doing the things you would love to do. There is a grief that also comes with knowing what your life would be like without it, while also knowing that you love who you are. I would not be me if I had not faced the challenges of my disability. Disability Pride month for me is about recognising the lives that have been needlessly lost due to disability discrimination, honouring those who put their bodies on the line for the advancement of disabled rights across the world, and the continued fight so the next generation of disabled people don’t have to struggle as hard to be seen and heard.
What do you wish companies knew when booking a speaker for Disability Pride Month?
This month is a spotlight within the community, so even if you don’t see other companies recognising this month publicly, the community absolutely takes notice- and there are a lot of us! If you’re booking a speaker for in person, please also make sure that things like travel, a taxi (even if you could walk from the station to the office, others can’t!) and a hotel room for the night, even if they live an hour away, should be offered and budgeted into the cost. We often have to pay out of pocket for these costs, which makes the fee for speaking redundant.
Paying your speakers is just a non-negotiable at this point.
What’s the best example you’ve seen of a company taking Disability Pride seriously?
Not a single company stands out to me. It’s a huge shame, but also should really shot the potential for this month in terms of engaging with an audience who exist in a vacuum. Ir would not be hard at all to stand out this month by making an effort.
Up To Date?
This month’s top need-to-know news.
Labour has won the general election, their manifesto for disability employment promised to work on a local level to create plans to support more disabled people into work. Promisingly they have also made a commitment to tackle to backlog of Access To Work claims, and reform the Work Capability Assessment. You can read more about Labours manifesto for disability and employment on my LinkedIn post here.
If you happen to be in New York on 14th July, 12-4pm, the annual Disability Pride Month Hip Hop Jam is on in Central Park, hosted by the 4 Wheel City Foundation, as part of Disability Unite Festival. This event advocates for disability rights and social change through music, amplifying the voices and narratives of disabled artists within hip-hop culture.
For those unable to attend in-person, in New York, Disability Unite Festival will be live-streamed on their website, bringing people together from communities from around the world! Register your attendance as a virtual participant here.
See you soon for Access & Actions!
Rachael x
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