David Stanley, Government’s Disability and Access Ambassador for Arts and Culture, founded and the Music Man Project to connect the learning-disabled community across the globe through original music. Government’s Disability and Access Ambassadors are senior business leaders that encourage improvements in accessibility and quality of services and facilities in their sectors.
The Christmas single marks the first of many collaborative projects between the Music Man Project and the Band of HisMajesty's (HM) Royal Marines, with all proceeds going to help the Music Man Project to support learning-disabled people across the UK.
"The title of the song says it all. Music is magic. The single celebrates the power of music to bring people together and transform lives, no matter their background."
Creating unity is the main aim of our collaboration with The Royal Marines Band Service, and the fact that the single has been released by Sony is another sign that disabled musicians are being heard like never before.
"We couldn’t be prouder of this unique collaboration with The Music Man Project. Each performer radiates warmth, energy, and positivity. They are also incredibly talented musicians. Rehearsing and recording this single was a wonderful experience. Everyone at the Royal Marines Band Service looks forward to creating magic this Christmas with The Music Man Project."
Lieutenant Colonel Jason Burcham, Commanding Officer Royal Marines Band Service/Principal Director of Music Royal Marines
The Music Man Project and The Royal Marines will perform the single at The Massed Bands of The Royal Marines Christmas Spectacular at the Portsmouth Guildhall, as well as appearing on TV and radio leading up to the official release date on 16 December. Music is Magic is available for pre-order, and will be available on all major digital music stores and streaming services.
More on the Music Man Project…
The Music Man Project is a global beacon of accessible arts and culture, where musicians with learning disabilities become role models in their communities and capable of entertaining audiences in their thousands at the world’s most prestigious performance venues. The musicians herald a step-change from consumers of culture to talented creative artists, who show what they can do rather than what they need. Regional Music Man Projects are established across the UK, and have travelled to South Africa, India, Nepal, the Philippines and the USA to inspire communities world-wide to start similar projects which provide original music, resources and performance opportunities for free.
As well as The Royal Albert Hall, Music Man students have performed twice at the London Palladium, broken a Guinness World Record, performed to members of the Royal Family, opened a National Lottery TV advert and regularly feature on TV and radio. They also received a standing ovation and four yes votes from celebrity judges on Britain’s Got Talent.
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Question (Q): How did you become an artist?
Christopher Samuel (CS): I stumbled into art. After spending a long time in hospital in my twenties, I was unsure where I fit in in the world. Eventually, I enrolled on an art and design course. Secretly I’ve always enjoyed art, but felt that it wasn’t for me, or for people like me. It did not feel accessible.
During the course, I did everything I could to avoid drawing; I thought I would be disappointed, because of how my condition affects my hands. It wasn’t until my lecturer told me I had to create an ‘alternative self-portrait’ that I tried.
This was the same week that I got my first electric wheelchair which had a big square armrest. I picked up a biro pen, I used the armrest to support both hands holding the pen and I drew myself.
It was a life-changing moment. The drawing looked like me. In that moment, my whole perception of art and my sense of worth and purpose changed, something I’d been searching for, for years.
Q: What are the main themes of your art?
CS: I make work about disability and identity politics, often echoing my own lived experience. I work in lots of different mediums – from illustrations and installation, to print and video – in a way where I can take agency over the disabled or marginalised experience.
I use redaction a lot in my work – the idea of revealing and concealing things by removing or blocking out certain information, to suggest a different narrative. I also use humour and poetic subversiveness to make work that is accessible to everyone.
Q: How does your disability inform how you create art?
CS: When I first started to make art, I had a serious internal conflict about not being pigeon-holed as a ‘disabled artist who makes work about disability.’ Like lots of disabled people of my generation and culture, I was brought up to think ‘disabled people shouldn’t complain.’ And for a long time, I didn’t want to be identified as disabled. But I think it is important to make work about my real experiences and the politics around that because this is my lived experience. And the lived experiences of other disabled people too.
Q: Do you have a piece of work that you feel is significant or important to you as an artist?
CS: Three pieces of work stand out to me as really important because they tackle issues that have affected disabled people for most of our history and continue to be contentious – care, access, agency and inclusion.
The Welcome Inn (2019) was my first big commission where I redesigned a hotel room at Art Bed and Breakfast Blackpool to create a sleep-in installation that people can spend a night in. I designed the room to be inaccessible to able-bodied people, to allow them to experience a space that is not designed for them, and to challenge the culture of ‘one size fits all’ architecture.
The Cared For Network (2021) is a digital artwork that takes the form of a carer’s logbook – a document which records what daily care is given by a carer to a cared for person, for the care company to track – and subverts it to reflect the cared for person's experience instead. It explores the power dynamics at play in a prescribed care relationship.
The Archive of an Unseen (2022) is an interactive sculptural installation on display at the Wellcome Collection. It is a custom-built Microform reader, which visitors can explore the contents of. Inside, it tells the story of me growing up as a black, disabled, working class boy in the 1980s and 1990s in London. It aims to address some of the imbalances of representation that currently exist in medical and social archives.
Q: What are you most proud of in your artistic career?
CS: I think it might be my mum seeing me at my first exhibition, shortly after I’d graduated. It opened the same night, and in the same gallery, as an exhibition by Yinka Shonibare, who is someone who I definitely look up to as an artist.
I’d just finished university, and I’d just successfully won the right to live independently – and not in a care home – which that body of work (Housing Crisis, 2018) was about. My mum had watched me trying to get through university and then fighting when I was made homeless. I think this was the moment where I could see my mum’s pride in me, that her son had achieved the things that many said he couldn’t.
Q: What motivates you to make art?
CS: The ability to have a voice. For a long time, I was not in control of lots of aspects of my life, and did not feel I had a voice (or was heard).
I also love the process of research – investigating, interrogating and understanding why and how my experience is the way it is, and how other people perceive me or the disabled community.
Q: What do you think the role of art in society should be?
CS: Art can allow people to think about things in a different way, or to invoke thoughts and ideas which can have a positive influence.
I don’t expect everyone to have the same experience of my art, but that is the beautiful thing about it – it gives a space for others to engage with ideas and experiences in their own way.
Q: In your opinion, what can the arts and culture sector do to better support artists that identify as disabled?
CS: Working as a disabled artist can be a bit of a minefield – juggling benefits, working hours and practices, access support, managing your own health, travel… Some organisations are leading the field in considering access, equal opportunities and representation, while others seem to be playing catch-up.
I work with a team of people that assist me with producing work and running my practice, day to day. My practice increasingly involves working collaboratively, especially as my projects get more ambitious. As someone who can’t work for long hours, it has been a challenge to work out how to navigate the sector to allow me to successfully make work and build a career, while also managing my condition.
The most important thing I think is to ask questions – and not to be afraid to ask ‘what do you need to make this work for you?’
Christopher Samuel’s The Archive of the Unseen can be seen at the Wellcome Collection from 12 December. Find out more about his practice on his website and follow him on Instagram.
The Government Art Collection is a national Collection of over 14,700 works, displayed in UK Government buildings in nearly every capital city.
]]>Currently throughout the UK there are over 2 million people living with sight loss and this number is only expected to rise.
Even more significant, is that one in every five people will start to live with sight loss in their lifetime.
Since libraries are vital community hubs which thousands of disabled and vulnerable people use, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport want to make sure we can reach as many blind and partially sighted people as possible through an effective and mutually beneficial partnership with the public library service.
There is a huge plethora of resources, partnerships and expertise that the Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) can offer including:
To carry out this important work the RNIB have recruited a new Library Engagement Manager, whose main role is to liaise with all the public libraries in the UK, so that they have the tools and resources to be able to provide the best possible customer service, support and advice for blind and partially sighted patrons. The RNIB is extremely excited to be setting up this partnership form of working with libraries and is working in partnership with Libraries Connected and their Vision and Print Impaired People’s Promise.
Read all about Share the Vision and their new resources at the Reading Sight website.
An example of a wonderful collaboration with libraries has been our tech hubs which are run by RNIB volunteers in a community space to help breach the digital divide specifically for blind and partially sighted people. The video below is an example of a Tech Hub run by a volunteer in the café area at the RNIB office in Edinburgh.
One of cricket’s best kept secrets is the opportunity that exists for people living with disability to get involved in the sport. The game’s latest participation figures show a staggering 70,000 plus disabled people play the game through a variety of formats. The number continues to grow, as do the opportunities.
Cricket is an inclusive sport by its nature. It’s a sport that many people play and follow and have a life-long passion for.
Whether you are a player, coach, club, County Board or looking to start or get back into cricket, there are inclusive options for all.
A strong working relationship between the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB)and the Lords Taverners is in place which helps every county cricket board develop community-based cricket provision for disabled people through their Super1’s initiative.
There is an ever-growing list of adapted ways to play the game which are being played across the country to ensure the reach of cricket is maximised and meets everyone's needs.
One adapted way to play is tabletop cricket, where people’s fine and gross motor skills are challenged in a competitive way.
Table Cricket is an adapted version of cricket, played on a table tennis table with different scoring zones around the table and the bowler using a ramp to deliver the ball.
It is specially designed to give disabled people the chance to play and compete in the sport we all love. It is played through all county boards and competitions that culminate in a national final, held at the home of cricket, Lords Cricket Ground.
The ECB last year launched their Disability Champions Club scheme. The scheme encourages mainstream cricket clubs to sign up to become a champion club and develop disability cricket as part of their core club offer. Over 2,100 cricket clubs across the UK have already signed up!
For those disabled players who wish to advance their careers in cricket, county-level disability cricket is available through the Super9’s Softball competitions, the D40 Hardball competitions, and for people who are blind or visually impaired.
In 2022, a new disability cricket league was launched called the Disability Premier League.
This competition will see the best disabled players compete against one another at a star-studded event over three weekends late in the summer. The two top teams will get the chance to compete in a final at the county ground in Bristol, preceding a women’s international game.
At the top of the tree, there are four England disability teams, all of whom compete in international series both home and abroad. Teams containing physical disability, learning disability, hearing and visual impairments play regularly with domestic fixtures and foreign tours.
The squads with learning, visual and hearing impairments are headed to Australia in June 2022 to compete against their counterparts in the first ever multi-squad tour. The England Learning Disability team, which has lost just one match since 2009, last played in 2019 when they defeated Australia 8 to none. England also hold the Blind Ashes and won on their last trip to Australia in 2016, so fingers crossed for the teams this year!
In the last few years, we have witnessed an increasing focus on disability issues at the international level. Working in the disability policy space for many years, and now heading up the UK’s Disability Unit International, Futures and Complex Issues team, I’ve had the privilege of seeing focus on disability inclusion between State Parties grow at the international level.
The latest evidence of this has come in the form of the G7 (Group of Seven) Inclusion Summit that took place in Berlin in September 2022, which I had the honour of attending. The German government - who currently hold the G7 presidency - chose to use their presidency as an opportunity to organise the first ever G7 Global Inclusion summit.
Events like the annual Conference of State Parties to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities have facilitated the sharing of knowledge and practices for some years now. However, increasing numbers of conferences are being organised by State Parties together with disabled people’s organisations.
In 2018, the UK government, International Disability Alliance (IDA) and Kenyian government set a precedent with the Global Disability Summit. This summit set the bar for action on international collaboration to drive forward disability inclusion, with a follow-up summit held in 2022 by the Norwegian and Ghanian governments, and a third due in 2025 hosted by Germany and Jordan.
These events are supporting a growing appetite among global leaders to address disability issues in a way that we have not seen before. Keynote speeches at the opening evening reception - from German Disability Commissioner Jürgen Dusel and Canadian Minister for Employment, Workforce Development and Disability Inclusion Carla Qualtrough - were passionately made. Commissioner Dusel and Minister Qualtrough set a clear call to action: that we - as G7 representatives - work together to drive forward Disability Inclusion, both domestically and abroad.
With expectations set high, the summit opened formally on Friday the 2nd September 2022 with further impassioned speeches from the IDA, Commissioner Dusel, and German Minister for Labour and Social Affairs Dr. Rolf Schmachtenberg.
The three areas of priority were:
Keynote speakers from Germany and Australia explored lessons for those providing health care for disabled people, learning from their governments responses to COVID-19. Dr. Leander Palleit, Head of the German CRPD independent monitoring mechanism (similar to the UK’s Equalities and Human Rights Commission, highlighted that the pandemic had really demonstrated how different rights can come into conflict in times of crisis. For example, right to life versus right to assembly. His take home message - resonating with the drive towards mainstreaming disability inclusion - was the importance of building inclusive structures in ‘normal’ times if we are to have hope of inclusive practices in times of crisis.
Taking us forward to issues of increasing importance in the years to come, session two explored disability inclusion in the context of AI and digitalisation. This is an area of great interest for the UK as we progress work both domestically and on the global stage in this area, for example through our funding and support of the Global Disability Innovation hub.
Professor Aimee van Wynsberghe provided a fascinating overview of the latest thinking in Ethics around AI. Highlighting the current gap in consideration of disability, she illustrated clearly the tangible issues that are likely to arise for disabled people if disability inclusion is not integrated into thinking. For example, she spoke of machine learning for automated cars not knowing how to interpret coming across people in wheelchairs. Because the AI did not know how to interpret wheelchairs or the people sitting in them, the system in one simulation initially chose to keep driving rather than stopping!
She certainly left delegates with a challenge to think about how we can support the mainstreaming of disability inclusive and sustainable approaches to AI and digitalisation.
This discussion led on well to the final topic of the day; climate action and the importance of ensuring that disabled people are included in planning and wider policy considerations. This is an issue that features heavily in the UK government’s international Disability inclusion and rights strategy (2022).
Keynotes were given by Professor Schmidt of Bristol University and Professor Sébastien Jodoin of McGill University. Having provided an overview of the reasons why many disabled people might be at risk of disproportionately negative impacts resulting from climate change, both highlighted the need for policies addressing climate change to consider the impact on disabled people if we are to ensure disability inclusive societies in the future. For example, restrictions in cities for cars need to factor in accessibility issues disabled people who can’t use public transport.
The summit ended with a discussion of the Chair’s summary, a document which all G7 delegates signed up to. This document sets out a joint commitment to driving forward action on Disability Inclusion on global - as well as domestic issues.
Making sure this commitment is followed through, the UK is actively following up with speakers and other delegates on a range of issues, sharing our learning and learning from others. The Disability Unit together with colleagues across government continue to work to ensure disability inclusion across departments to build a more inclusive society for all.
Photos provided by: Behindertenbeauftragter and Anna Spindelndreier, Germany representative. Disability Commissioner Germany and Anna Spindelndreier.
]]>There are already a range of benefits and financial support available if you’re disabled or have a health condition. If you’re not sure what you’re entitled to, or whether you’re claiming the right benefits, you can check here:
If you live in England or Wales:
https://www.gov.uk/browse/benefits/disability
If you live in Scotland:
https://www.mygov.scot/browse/benefits/disability-benefits
If you live in Northern Ireland:
https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/information-and-services/benefits-and-financial-support/disability
There are a series of government interventions available for those who need the most help with rising costs, which includes disabled people. These include:
From 20 September, 6 million people who were paid certain disability benefits on 25 May, or are subsequently found to be entitled to payment for that day, will receive an automatic one-off £150 payment. There is no requirement for you to apply for this payment as it will be made automatically.
This Disability Cost of Living Payment is paid to individuals, so multiple disabled people within the same household will each receive this payment.
This £150 disability payment is on top of the £1,200 most low income benefit claimants will also receive and alongside wider support targeted at disabled people, including help with transport and prescription costs.
Most of these payments have now been made.
Disabled people who receive specific means-tested benefits can receive a total of £650 in two automatic Cost of Living payments.
This will be made automatically in two payments, one at £326 in summer and at £324 in the autumn. If you already receive the eligible benefits you do not need to do anything, the payment will be made automatically.
To get the first payment you must have:
To get the second payment you must have:
The full eligibility criteria can be found here.
The second payment will be paid from 8th November 2022.
Check if you’re eligible for Cost of Living Payments
In September the Government announced the Energy Price Guarantee, meaning a typical household will pay no more than £2500 a year on their energy bill for the next two years. This will save the average household £1000 a year on energy prices, compared to the forecast price rise before the Energy Price Guarantee was introduced.
This comes on top of other universal support including the £400 for all households to help with energy bills, and an extra £150 for properties in Council Tax bands A to D in England. You do not need to do anything, this payment will be made automatically based on your Council Tax band.
The Household Support Fund has also been expanded to help people with food and energy bills. This is planned to run from October 2022 to March 2023. Please visit your local authority to find out more information.
Many of the main utility companies and regulators are offering extra support to their customers, particularly those with more complex needs.
Depending on your circumstances you may be eligible for extra help with energy bills or services, such as debt repayment plans, payment breaks, emergency credit for prepayment metered customers, priority support and schemes like the Winter Fuel Payment or Warm Home Discount rebate.
You can also get extra help through the Priority Services Register, which is a free support service offered by energy suppliers and network operators to help people in vulnerable situations. To check eligibility and register contact your energy supplier or network operator.
Energy suppliers are also providing tips on how to save on energy, so have a look at the website of your energy provider to see if anything is helpful to you.
To make sure you are getting all the support on offer and to read more about the government’s cost of living support please go to the Help for Households webpage to find out more.
]]>Harry is an Autsome Advocate. The advocates are a great bunch of neurodiverse children and young people based in North East Essex who give their views on health, education and social issues which affect their daily lives of autistic children and young people. They meet once a month, for often vibrant and straight-talking discussions to help make products and services better for all.
Autsome Advocates was made possible by generous funding from North East Essex Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) as Autism Anglia North East Essex Advocacy Service felt it was important to have stakeholder views and influence.
My name is Harry and I'm 22 years old. I have autism and other conditions. I have attended a special needs school from the age of 11 and while I was there I discovered football. I'd never had anyone to play with before as I'd never been included in football clubs at school. It was a challenge to get into the right school, I spent much of my time feeling excluded socially and from society, so I'm very passionate about inclusion.
I went on to play for Ipswich Town Football Clubs disability team and trialled for the England learning disability team. I started coaching football a few years ago with the multi-schools council and love it.
I love to see other autistic children being part of a team and being given the opportunities to play football that I finally found.
I had an idea that was inspired by my autistic sister and her fear of needles.
She recently managed to attend an Autism Anglia and CCG autism friendly vaccination session in order to have her COVID-19 vaccine. She had been frightened for months even thinking about it but she managed for the first time in years to have a vaccine because of the relaxed and supportive staff and atmosphere. This made me think about other vaccines for autistic children, and in particular, the Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine which my sister is due this year.
Harry's sister Lily at the vaccination centre.
I worked with CCG and Essex County Council to see if they could provide similar sessions.
I'm so pleased that the CCG have decided to take this idea forward and provide more autistic friendly vaccine sessions, not just for HPV but also other vaccinations going forward. These autistic friendly sessions included making someone with autism feel safe and understood is so important, working at the autistic person's pace and supporting them through. Also, the use of sensory items helps people feel calmer in an environment that doesn't have bright lights or lots of people.
We spoke to two organisations who have benefited from working with the Autsome Advocates.
Wendy Burt, Co-ordinator at Essex Family Carers Network, recently attended a meeting with Essex County Council Commissioners and the advocates.
She said: “We really wanted to show that thinking differently and asking young autistic people what good should look like is a much better way at looking at what work needs to be done to make sure autistic people have great opportunities to have good lives.
The insight from the Autsome Advocates really helped to show that this can work. Talking about how vital it was that any awareness training should include an autistic person talking about what it’s like to be autistic and why everyone is listened to and their views matter.
It was wonderful to see the confidence these young people had feeling able to speak up in a meeting. I really hope we can make sure that their voices continue to be there every step of the way for any future work.”
Elizabeth Moloney, who leads the Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System’s Vaccination Programmes and is Deputy Director of Strategic Change at Suffolk and North East Essex CCGs, said:
“I’m delighted we’ve been able to respond to the need for autism-friendly vaccination sessions in quieter settings, away from the general hustle and bustle of larger sites which can be very frightening for people with neurodevelopmental conditions.
“Vaccination remains our best defence, not only against COVID-19, but against other viruses and, in the case of the HPV jab, even cancer.”
“It’s vital we ensure that access to vaccines is open to all, whatever their needs may be, and we look forward to welcoming more people into these special sessions so they can get the protection they need.”
“It is great to support Harry and the Autsome Advocates like this.”
The Disability Unit is always interested to hear about work underway across to the regions to make their local area accessible for all. Please get in touch if you are interested in sharing your story or experience.
]]>As Minister for Disability, Health and Work, I have a particular interest in the economic empowerment and entrepreneurship sub-theme of the event. Having recently received the Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures that the UK had met its target of 1 million more disabled people in work, I was excited to showcase the great work sitting behind these statistics.
In both the General Debate and Roundtable statements, I focused on disability employment - highlighting the need for wider societal change, coordinated cross-government action and continued engagement with disabled people - to meet our ambitious targets for disabled people to start, stay and succeed in work. The UK Government also hosted a side event on increasing disability employment. Alongside myself on the panel was Mike Adams, CEO of Purple, and Jennifer Heigham from the Joint Health and Work Unit. Mike provided a compelling way of thinking about disability employment, centred on making the business case for employers to take on disabled staff, to reflect disabled people in the consumer base. Mike also shared his ambitions of taking his Purple Pound campaign international, launching an American branch later this year.
Jennifer and I outlined a number of UK Government initiatives, aware that these would be quite innovative for some members of the global audience. Indeed, we were really pleased to answer questions demonstrating just this, providing more detail to support other delegates’ work in this space. Questions ranged from asking about how the UK is upskilling disabled people, to issues around people’s confidence in disclosing disability in the workplace.
COSP15 served as an opportunity for learning and sharing best practice. I attended a number of bilateral meetings with other delegations. Disability employment remained a strong theme throughout these conversations, and it was both inspiring and affirming to see that other countries are eager to learn from the UK. I also met with Rosemary Kayess, Chair of UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, who noted the added value the UK could bring to the Committee’s Working Group on employment. Through this and other actions we will continue our commitment to improve employment prospects for disabled people.
I, and my counterparts across government, strongly believe that reliable paid work is one of the best routes out of poverty. This belief is reflected domestically and internationally. That is why the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office’s (FCDO) ‘Disability Inclusion and Rights Strategy’ - published earlier this year and launched at the Global Disability Summit 2022 - includes an explicit commitment to continuing to develop our work on inclusive employment.
FCDO’s Innovation to Inclusion, Inclusion Works, and Disability Inclusive Development programmes have all sought ways to make it easier for disabled people to get paid jobs in developing countries. A UK delegate representative from the FCDO joined non-governmental organisations and disability movement partners in speaking at a COSP15 side event on this topic. He reflected on the fact that article 27 of the CRPD is clear - disabled people have a right not only to work, but to be able to access the job market on an equal basis with others.
COSP15 provided me with a real opportunity to reflect on how we are continually working to improve employment outcomes for disabled people at home and overseas.
We have made great progress, but there is always more to do. I now look to the future to consider how best to maintain and drive momentum in both government and wider society, to create a society that is fully inclusive of disabled people.
I mentioned at the start of this blog that one million more people in the UK are in employment compared to five years ago, far exceeding our goal to meet this milestone by 2027. This was our manifesto commitment originally set in 2017 to break down barriers for disabled people and those with health conditions and to build more diverse and inclusive workforces.
Delighted with this statistic, I also know that we can’t stop there. Our goal to continue reducing the disability employment gap remains. We will now be considering what a new ambition should be, to continue to galvanise action across and outside of Government and build on existing initiatives.
Initiatives like the Disability Confident Scheme, which works with employers to create more accessible and diverse workforces by championing inclusive recruitment practices. Thousands of organisations across the UK - including Sainsbury’s, Hilton and Ford - are signed up to the scheme aimed at boosting the number of disabled people in work, reaching 11 million paid workers.
Over the next three years, the government will invest £1.3 billion in employment support for disabled people and people with health conditions. Our Health and Disability White Paper will help disabled people to live more independently, including with more help to move into work, where work is right for the individual. It will set out our plans to ensure the benefits system better meets the needs of disabled people now and in the future, informed by the huge amounts of feedback we received on the Green Paper. It will also detail plans of where this investment will be spent.
Throughout all this work, what is clear to me is that whether in the UK or overseas, governments cannot achieve the level of change required on their own. They must come together with private and public sector employers and entrepreneurs to approach employment with an open mind, inclusive attitude, and a willingness to understand that disability is not a barrier to success.
So, this is my ask from COSP15, to my officials and businesses across the UK alike: we can work together to ensure that disabled people in the UK are empowered through employment and entrepreneurship. I am excited at the wealth of opportunity we have to continue to help people into work, change lives, and build a society that benefits all.
]]>Developing my career as a visually impaired person has involved striving for equal access to opportunities in life and in the workplace. In many ways my story is pretty ordinary, but I’m all too aware that it isn’t yet ordinary for many people with visual or other impairments to hold senior roles like mine.
As my career has developed I’ve tried to be a positive role model and reminder that there’s really no reason why people with disabilities shouldn’t hold senior or high-profile roles, and in fact, it’s really rather beneficial if we do!
For people with a visible or apparent impairment it can be challenging to just be themselves at work. Just being yourself can often mean risking others silently assuming lots of unhelpful things about your capability, or perhaps thinking your accomplishments are ‘in spite’ of your apparent impairment.
It’s often access to places, information or assistive technology which grabs the headlines in any debate about accessibility. But true accessibility must also mean accessing an equal chance in the minds and imaginations of others. And I don’t just mean an equal chance to fit in or achieve the average. I mean an equal chance to change the world, lead large organisations or anything else you put your mind to.
I was born completely blind in my left eye and partially sighted in the other. When I was about 8 years old the vision in my good eye also got worse leaving me with minimal sight. Although pretty scary and devastating at the time, I was lucky in many ways.
Thanks to a brilliant family and some great teachers my poor eyesight never got in the way of me participating in anything as a child. Before joining the workplace, I was lucky enough to learn to live my life with minimal sight whilst in ‘mainstream’ education, through competitive sport and through university.
Thinking back to the start of my career, I was definitely worried that my visual impairment would prove a barrier in the minds of potential employers.
After my first proper year in the workplace (which I like to call my ‘getting used to not being a student and needing to be awake before lunchtime’ phase), I wasn’t happy. When I reflect back now it was a combination of my own lack of confidence about whether my visual impairment actually was going to limit my career, and my employer being quite nervous to make sure I was receiving the support I needed. I didn’t feel in control of the narrative I and others were telling about me and I’d started to stop ‘just being myself’.
Thanks to some deep self-reflection and a lot of determination, I was able to realise this and start to take much greater ownership for my own destiny. I wanted to make sure that whatever I did go on to achieve in my career I wasn’t going to be left blaming others or wondering what might have been.
Ever since, my focus has been on what I aspire to achieve rather than limiting my aspirations based on the narratives and expectations of others. I passionately believe that whilst there are some tasks I find more challenging than others, there’s no limit to what I can achieve.
During my career I’ve come to really embrace what I call my superpowers as a visually impaired person. For example, I find that, because it is inefficient to rely on written materials or notes, I almost automatically retain lots of technical information in my head and call upon it pretty easily. Likewise, I developed a natural way of communicating verbally because I wasn’t able to rely on reading from scripts or referring to notes. I also find it hard to pick up on body language. Most leadership textbooks would have me believe this is a problem, but I find it means I pay absolute attention to the things people say and, perhaps more importantly, the things they are not saying. This often proves invaluable when coaching or mentoring, supporting my teams or cutting through to the root cause of a problem in a crisis.
I eventually came to appreciate that not everyone is able to work like this and these were real strengths for me.
These days I’m responsible for the leadership and performance of a large organisation with my actions and inactions being of significance to a wide range of colleagues and stakeholders. Some of the skills I rely on today when leading teams, operating in the Boardroom, working with complex technical reports or when speaking to large audiences, are still those I started to develop in the early days of my career.
Paul Arnold at work
But I like to think that my other superpower is my commitment to continuous learning and development, both my own and those around me. It’s common to talk about someone’s ‘ability’ to learn. But I believe it’s someone’s curiosity and desire to unlearn bad habits or to learn new skills which sets them apart from the crowd. I don’t think my ability to learn is anything special, but I think my desire to challenge myself and others to be curious to explore new approaches and ideas is greater than most.
I hope to be just as radically improved again in another 24 years’ time. But that won’t happen if I wait for society to learn to stop limiting its expectations on those of us who might just need to work differently to most. But that’s not about blame.
Society evolves based on what becomes familiar and comfortable, so only by talking openly about what makes us all that bit different and special will progress be made.
Whatever the next phase of my career holds, as I increasingly talk about the part my visual impairment plays in my work, I hope to contribute to the creation of an increasingly safe space for others to do the same. I’d also like to think that I can encourage and enable other senior leaders to really examine what it means to provide absolute equality of access to opportunities.
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I started Diabetes Week with a 5 kilometre jog, had a roast beef dinner in the middle and ended with a lovely evening in the pub with friends. A normal Sunday – except I spent it making sure there were jelly babies in every bag; with tubing into my stomach giving me insulin via a pump that I regularly have to adjust; a glucose sensor attached to my arm; and I had to wake up in the middle of the night to scan and calculate the value of everything I’d eaten and drunk that day.
October 1975 saw a low-key boxing match called the Thrilla in Manila, the birth of Kate Winslet and the dawn of a political dynasty through the wedding of Hillary Rodham and Bill Clinton. Meanwhile, in a small Yorkshire market town, a worried Mr and Mrs Lazarus took their skinny, tired little girl to the family doctor, commencing a 45-year duel against my non-functioning pancreas.
I don’t remember very much about my diagnosis with Type 1 diabetes – just feeling sick climbing the hill up from school and Mum exclaiming that she could count my ribs.
I remember a week in the hospital learning how to inject myself with a glass and steel syringe, having a chemistry set to test my urine, weighing all my food. Through my regular visits to the local hospital, I got to know the staff, ended up making great friends and getting a hospital radio show!
For the first 25 years of diagnosis, I was “treated” for my diabetes. I turned up to hospital 4 times a year to have my wrists slapped, suffered terrible night hypoglycaemia (low blood sugar) and was repeatedly warned of the risks of going blind and getting amputated. The idea of being “trained” in the management of my condition wasn’t offered and never occurred to me and, therefore, I did the minimum necessary. Moving my care to a central London hospital was a revelation. I was introduced to carb-counting and the potential of medical technology, and I learnt that (contrary to my long-held beliefs) the more attention I paid to my diabetes, the more freedom and flexibility I gained. Now, I wouldn’t swap my insulin pump for all the proverbial tea and I love my glucose sensor.
The rise of Type 2 diabetes and largely inaccurate reporting by the mainstream press has led to a growth in stigma. Now, comments such as “but you’re not that fat” are commonplace and there’s an assumption that my lifestyle has caused my condition. I did encounter some teasing when I was young for being different, but it must be very tough these days for child Type 1 diabetics and their parents to have to deal with that growing social stigma. Whilst Type 2 is often related to weight and diet, they are only increased risk factors, not causes themselves.
A little more understanding and a little less judgement wouldn’t go amiss.
One of the difficult aspects to explain to a non-diabetic is the unrelenting nature of our condition. It’s not something we treat twice a day then forget about. It is an intrinsic part of me, affected by stress, hormones, exercise. It’s difficult to imagine not having Type 1 diabetes. I would gain time every day, have more room at home, be less friendly with my local chemist and travel lighter. But, my mental arithmetic ability would decline, I’d have to find something else to be vocal about on Twitter and sales of jelly babies would inevitably suffer.
So, if I say I’m going low in a Zoom meeting, suddenly start swiping my arm with my phone, or grab some jelly babies, you might understand that I’m just managing my hidden disability. The better I get at paying my diabetes the attention it deserves, the better my diabetes treats me – a normal life possibly, but definitely not ordinary.
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