Wouldn’t it be wonderful to see the media and stories shift their narrative about disabled people? Disabled people have dreams, aspirations, and feelings just like anyone else. For example, the coverage of Strictly Come Dancing participants with disabilities seems to fall into two camps: amazement or outright rudeness.
Low expectations – the bias and dangers of this:
In the former, the reaction reflects the low expectations people often have of disabled individuals, which in itself is damaging. Maddison Tevlin’s video, “Assume That I Can”, powerfully highlights the dangers of negative assumptions.
When people react with surprise, as they did with comedian Chris McCausland for dancing so well, it implies that they expect a poor performance. It’s worth celebrating his hidden talent, but comments that he should win simply because he is blind help no one. They reinforce harmful stereotypes, suggesting that he’s somehow “getting by” or is exceptionally different, much like the exceptionalism often expected of Paralympic athletes.
Other disabled participants of this show like Rosie Ayling-Ellis dance well, as does Tasha Ghouri. These talented individuals dance well because of their rhythm, memory, creativity, work ethic, and dedication. In addition, they have been supported by partners, who communicate in ways that work for them. Communication is two-way and essential for effective team work.
Inclusion and effective communication:
Dianne Buswell, a professional dancer has been an excellent teacher sharing her passion and skills in a way that works for Chris McCausland. Dianne will have tried different methods of sharing her expertise and experience of dancing, which has contributed to their successful dance performances. Together they have found what works best for working on new dance moves.
Everyone, whether disabled or not, learns better when they are responsive to learning styles and effective communication. Their performance shows that inclusion is possible when we are responsive to each other’s aspirations and actively listen to the person’s needs and talents.
Negative media coverage and society’s response to disabled people’s talents:
Tasha Ghouri, another participant who has learnt to dance so well, has spoken about the negative comments she’s received regarding her accent (from being profoundly deaf), which illustrates the constant negativity many disabled people face. Learning spoken language with limited or no sound is incredibly challenging. If someone has an accent from speaking a foreign language, it’s widely accepted, so why make a big deal about a deaf accent? If one uses both sign and spoken language, this should be respected just like someone who is bilingual. Not mocked or doubted as has been the experience of far too many people.
The inappropriate comments show that we still have a long way to go to achieve respect for disabled people’s dreams, aspirations, and skills.
Society’s negative recognition of disabled people’s skills and talents was further confirmed this weekend in the way Paralympic athletes and Olympic athletes were treated so differently. The former were not invited from the Buckingham Palace award ceremony to an after dinner celebration. The organisers, Fortnum & Mason only apologised for this omission after a complaint was raised publicly.
This omission was not only cruel to the athletes, who have worked so hard to achieve their success but also harmful for businesses by losing existing and potential customers (see the value of the Purple Pound).
Inclusion means inviting all the disabled athletes and non disabled athletes to celebrate their sporting achievements together. Celebrating together would have helped create a sense of belonging.
How we can change negative perceptions?
To help change the narrative and perception that disabled people are ‘less than’, and to avoid the costly mistakes shared above, I encourage more of you to attend training, talks, and workshops led by disabled people.
We create a safe space where stereotypes and language can be challenged, helping people shift their perceptions of disabled people for the better. Many disabled employees choose not to disclose their disability due to stigma and fears of being perceived as less capable.
Let’s celebrate and nurture how many disabled people are inventive and creative because they have needed to be so in a world not designed for them. This adaptability is why employing disabled people makes business sense, making businesses more successful and profitable.
Around 20% of the population is disabled, and this could be any of us at any time. Hearing loss, for example, is common with age—46% of people experience a change of hearing by age 50, and around 71% by age 70. In the UK there are 18 million out of a population of 67 million who experience hearing loss of some degree.
Training for your business
Join us for training to help your workforce explore disability, including deaf awareness, in a supportive environment. I’ll support you to create a workplace where everyone can be their full selves, and where you and your business can recognise and avoid costly mistakes. We explore psychological safety, inclusive language and much more.
DM me or book through the website.
Inclusion webinar coming up on the 26th November details are here: https://ynygrowthhub.com/events/inclusion-webinar The webinar will be followed up with workshops across North Yorkshire (dates and venues to be announced)
Deaf Awareness is next available for individual bookings on the 5th December online-
DM/whats app me or book through the website. https://living4moments.com/contact/
Visual description: Title in white font on blue canva: Media coverage about disabled people. Very biased and discriminatory. Canva shares images of different sensory loss and people dancing in reference to strictly come dancing media coverage. There is a circle in white with the text Inclusion & belonging.
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