Category: Attitudes around disability

A few years ago, if I had asked employers about their approach to diversity, most would have said it wasn’t relevant to them. Business is about making profit, delivering products or services and getting the best people for the job. They weren’t interested in inclusion or having a diverse workforce – they just wanted to get the job done.

Thankfully, things have changed. A bit. Now, when I talk to employers about diversity I don’t always receive blank looks. Some will even show genuine enthusiasm, telling me about their programmes to attract BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic) candidates, and their plans to get more women into board room positions. If I’m really lucky, they will tell me about stuff they are doing around LGBTQ+. This is great – diversity is finally on the agenda!

When I respond with equal enthusiasm, and ask what they are doing around disability, the tone changes. Quite often, the answer is – nothing. The reasons vary, but can include:

“We’re focusing on gender this year”

“Most of our roles are very physical”

“We’d love to, but we just don’t have the budget right now”

“We need to get everything in place first”

“It’s not a priority right now”

and even, on one memorable occasion would you believe, “We employed a disabled person once. Didn’t work out”

There seems to be a belief that you can pick and mix which bits of inclusion you like. Except that’s not really inclusion, is it? You can’t be ‘a little bit inclusive’, any more than you can be ‘a little bit’ pregnant. You either are inclusive, or you aren’t. If you are saying “we’ll be inclusive to this group, but not that group” – that’s not inclusion.

This tongue-in-cheek video would be funny, if it weren’t so true to life!

I’ve been to a number of events which were marketed as being about “diversity” or “inclusion” or even “diversity and inclusion”. And the content has purely been about race and gender. No other characteristics got so much as a mention. I’m not saying that race and gender aren’t important. They are – they are crucial. But let’s not pretend that this is about diversity or inclusion unless we, well, include everyone. And let’s not forget that people from ethnic minorities, women, gay people can be disabled too. Or can become disabled. Most (83%) disabled people acquire their condition while of working age. It’s the one protected characteristic that can happen to anyone, at any time.

So is your organisation avoiding disability inclusion using one of the excuses above? Do you sound like the people in the video?

Because if so, however good your race and gender programmes might be, you aren’t being inclusive unless you include disabled people too.

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To find jobs on Evenbreak go here – http://www.evenbreak.co.uk/jobs

I had a really interesting conversation with some disabled friends recently about inclusive language. The timing was interesting, as it was shortly after hearing of the sad death of Mike Oliver, who was instrumental in promoting a new way of thinking about disability in the 1980s, called the social model of disability. Up to this point, the narrative was a much more medical model – the thinking was that disabled people were somehow ‘broken’, the solution being to try and ‘fix’ us, and make us more ‘normal’. The social model turned this on its head, by acknowledging that what disables people isn’t our differences, but the fact that barriers in society exclude us. As a crude example, the problem isn’t the wheelchair, it’s the steps. If everywhere had flat access, wheelchair users wouldn’t be disabled from getting around in the same way as everyone else. Their impairment doesn’t disable them, the stairs do. Many people on the autism spectrum have much to offer the workplace, but they are often disabled from gaining jobs because the interview process doesn’t work for them. There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with the autistic person, and with more appropriate assessment methods, they wouldn’t be disabled when finding work. For many disabled people, this definition can be life-changing. To realise that there is nothing wrong with you, it’s the barriers you face.

“The Social Model of Disability literally saved my life; after I understood what it was about, it was my lifeline – it freed me up to be who I am”

“It puts the onus back on society to remove the barriers”

“It’s empowering; I can direct my energies into improving my quality of life.”    (source)

I think we were all agreed that the social model is the best model we currently have to understand disability. My personal view is that the medical model has its place – I’d love the scientists to find ways of managing pain without side effects, for example – but for those of us who aren’t scientists, the focus should be on removing the barriers (physical and attitudinal) which disable, erm, disabled people.

So what does all this have to do with language? Well, the medical model uses the term “people with disabilities” – in other words, the disability belongs to the person. The social model uses “disabled people”, as in people disabled by the barriers society put in their way. So far, so good. In disability activism, social model language is always used. At Evenbreak, social model language is always used (we exist to reduce or remove the barriers disabled people face when finding work, and thriving in the workplace). Far from believing that disabled people are a problem for organisations, we know that disabled people can be a positive asset.

The challenge is that some disabled people still use medical model language (popular in USA, but also by some in the UK).  They say they are a person first, and are not defined by their disability. Few could argue with that. But it still suggests that the disability, the problem, is owned by the individual – that society has no role to play.

In terms of inclusion, I absolutely believe that everyone has the right to define themselves how they choose. If someone chooses to use the medical model, who am I to criticise? And by only using “disabled people”, do we exclude people who choose to describe themselves as “a person with a disability”?

The real issue, my friends and I concluded, when it comes down to it, isn’t about models. It’s more about the words ‘disability’ and ‘disabled’. The prefix of ‘dis’ strongly implies ‘less than’, ‘problem’ or ‘broken’. Whilst the medical model uses those terms to describe the individual, and the social model uses those words to describe barriers in society, both are negative. We all agreed we certainly don’t feel that we are less than others, and struggle to use a negative term to describe us. We all also agreed that we dislike the (mostly American) ‘differently-abled’ (which still describes the individual, not the barriers).

So until someone much more clever than us comes up with a word to replace disabled and disability, the issue is to share awareness of the social model, so we focus on reducing barriers, not blaming disabled people. And, of course, it’s all about context. In other contexts, I’m not a disabled woman, I’m Jane, or Alex and Philippa’s Mum, or Talia’s grandmother. I’m a white woman, not a woman who is white. A gay man is a gay man, not a man who is gay. And in some contexts I’m a disabled woman – disabled by the barriers I face.

Whatever language we use, the focus should be removing barriers and creating accessibility and inclusion for all.

What words do you think would be preferable to either ‘disabled person’ or ‘person with a disability’?

Naidex is Europe’s largest disability event for trade, healthcare professionals and end-users. Taking place at Birmingham’s NEC on the 26th & 27th March, Naidex gathers innovation, information, cutting edge suppliers, and the most inspirational speakers from around the world to one venue, over two unforgettable days

It’s an important event in Evenbreak’s calendar, and we’re involved on both days. On the first day, 26th March, our founder, Jane Hatton is delivering this seminar in Theatre 6 at 11.45am:

What makes disabled people such fantastic employees?

Why should employers be excited about employing disabled people? And how should disabled candidates ‘sell’ themselves to employers? We look at employment from the point of view of the employer and the disabled candidate to see how each can help the other. An inclusive workplace benefits everyone.

And on the second day, 27th March, she’s part of a panel discussing employability

Panel – Employability

Is the workplace becoming more inclusive? Are companies doing everything they can to decrease the employment gap between disabled and non-disabled people?

Our panelists will explore the advantages, opportunities and challenge the stereotypes of employing disabled people.

If you haven’t grabbed your FREE TICKET yet, please get them here

To attract disabled candidates and advertise jobs with Evenbreak click here.

To help all your employees become more confident and confident around disability inclusion, click here.

‘Job carving’, which refers to customising duties or creating specialist jobs for disabled people, is a method that’s being used more and more nowadays. As jobs become more flexible due to technology, companies look to job carving to create opportunities for disabled people. And it turns out that it benefits employees and organisations in many different ways.

Job carving differs from the standard way of a top-down approach to management. With top-down management, employees are indirectly involved in redesigning their jobs by providing information to the management. Job carving, on the other hand, allows the employee and the management to design the job together. According to Jennifer Ho of the University of Ottawa, “It is a strategy in which the individual and the employer negotiate the work environment, job duties and responsibilities, and other conditions of the job.” By (re)designing a position from the employee’s perspective, we can begin to think of how the person’s skills can contribute to the company, rather than impose a standard and “fit a circle into a square” approach. This applies to disabled employees as much as to regular employees, because even employees without impairments have personal limitations. Thus, job carving is not simply about inclusivity but rather, a managerial strategy that aims to maximise human resources from the ground up.

Job carving enables highly-skilled workers to focus on tasks that demand specific skills and delegate other tasks to a new role. Using this approach, disabled people can fulfill both high-skilled and low-skilled roles. The idea is to customise a job in such a way that maximises their time and skills.

There is, of course, the general perception that hiring disabled employees can affect efficiency and productivity. The numbers, however, tell that this is far from the truth. A study by Joseph Rowntree has established that employees with learning disabilities generally stay in their organisations longer than professionals that don’t have a disability. Moreover, an article from The Guardian, cited the Charity Awareness Monitor, specified that “77% of the public think more highly of companies that employ disabled people.” Both numbers indicate that organisations can benefit greatly in terms of workforce stability and their public image. This doesn’t even mention the dedication that many disabled employees have, particularly because our current society hinders them from having the same job opportunities as non-disabled people.

By using job carving strategies, you not only recognise the skills of disabled employees. You also accept disabilities as circumstances for potential excellence. In a previous post here on Evenbreak, we mentioned that disabilities can translate to competencies. A deaf employee, for instance, can be well-versed in reading body language. A blind person can have excellent verbal skills and thus excel in customer relations. Many people who live with some of impairment, compensate for this by focusing on another skill. Organisations may find this very valuable in positions that require expertise and focus, because they are assured that a disabled employee will flourish in a task they have confidence in doing. Job carving helps the transition and ensures that the employee fits perfectly into the position.

When in the process of redesigning a role, you need to do more than simply isolate tasks according to immediate organisational needs. Instead, you should look for neglected areas that can be covered by employees who can take on specific roles. This can be done by interacting with employees as well as clients, and one of the best ways to do this today is to leverage social media. Last year, digital marketing firm Ayima used the meta tag #AskAyima as a platform to start conversations online. Via the meta tag, the company was able to answer queries from digital marketers or potential clients on pressing issues that are making headlines in the digital world. Since the majority of the working population use social media, this setup provides a fast and efficient way to exchange information. Similarly, cosmetics brand L’Oreal Paris launched the hashtag #WorthSaying in a campaign that aims to engage with women and encourage them to bring up thoughts that they do not usually express. Strategies such as the aforementioned will enable an organisation to see angles that are not usually imagined from an insider’s perspective. This is particularly crucial for companies wishing to integrate people with disabilities, as most of the management and employees may not have experience with disabilities. Therefore, when ‘carving out’ a job and designing a role for a disabled employee, organisations could ask its clients for feedback or re-imagine its processes from a disabled person’s perspective.

Of course, another effective way to create inclusive opportunities is to seek the help of an employment consultant or a related social enterprise that is focused on this exact task. After all, the most precise way to customise a job is to determine the exact skills of a potential employee and look for specific tasks that fit these skills.

Regardless of the method, it is clear that job carving has lots of benefits for disabled employees and the organisation as a whole. Disabled employees will benefit from customised roles, enabling them to maximise their most valuable skills without their disabilities getting in the way of productivity. On the other hand, organisations can take advantage of a wider source of talent by opening themselves up to a disabled workforce. Aside from more hiring options, companies can also enrich their corporate culture with an inclusive environment. Disability ceases to be an issue when an organisation fosters a culture that pushes its members towards excellence according to their respective potential and limitations.

To attract disabled candidates and advertise jobs with Evenbreak click here.

To help all your employees become more confident and confident around disability inclusion, click here.