I particularly love facilitating Disability Equality Training. It’s become a source of pride, honour and huge enjoyment. In an effort to celebrate #purplelightup I thought I would list a few joys of the job:
- I love that people enjoy thinking about words. Not political correctness, good or bad words, but the thinking that provides a diversity of ways to articulate the position of disabled people in the world.
- I love that when asked to list stereotypes people initially find it difficult, but move on fast to pages full of examples. This just proves to me how many negative ideas there actually in our culture - the toxic soup in which we steep.
- I love that when asked people can very quickly tell how they’d feel, and how they’d act if they felt those stereotypes related to them. The room invariably fills with an unpleasant feeling, making us all uncomfortable, and sadly for which we have only ourselves to blame.
- I love that at that point I can exclame -with a certain amount of glee: "see we’ve created dis/ableism!!!! Did anyone mention impairment in the last 40 minutes?!?” <boom>
- I love that when asked, and admittedly with a little resistance, people can typically make a list of things they can do to address the cultural and societal injustice they’ve identified in the session.
- I love that people often come to Disability Equality Training thinking they’ve nothing to gain when they leave overwhelmed by the amount they have too take away.
- I love that disability equality gives disabled people a voice, which added to an individual perspective, enables enfranchisement, power and strength of shared interest and a vision.
I am blessed to spend days at work revealing information others can use as a authoritative knowledge base. It’s taken years, but the blend of personal experience, academic evidence and professional wisdom ensures a kind but robust approach to disability equality !
Thank you to all participants. Without you I’d look a turnip sat with a PowerPoint on my own! 🤣
