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Page published on 5th February 2024
Page last modified on 5th February 2024

 

To mark International Day of Persons with Disabilities, on 11th December 2023 IP Ability were joined by two speakers from the Law Society Disabled Solicitors Network committee to talk about the societal stigma associated with the terms ‘disabled’ and ‘disability’.

Hannah Clifford is a solicitor at Irwin Mitchell in the serious injury department, which means that day to day she often deals with clients who have suffered catastrophic injuries and have “disabilities” themselves. Hannah has rheumatoid arthritis. 

Ryan Kelly is a solicitor for Pinnacle, and is registered blind. While he does have some sight and may meet people in the day or walk along the street unaided, he often notices people’s reactions when it turns to dusk or he enters a bar and pulls out a white stick. 

There are commonly two ways of viewing the term disability. The social model of disability considers people are disabled by barriers in society. In other words, a person is not intrinsically disabled as such, but they are disabled because they experience difficulties, whether that be a physical barrier like steps or the lack of accessible websites. There is also the medical model, where a medical condition is what has disabled that person, so you’d talk about a person with a disability, e.g. a person with cancer. Some people prefer the social model where they are a disabled person, so the disability has been done to them by the lack of accommodations, and some people prefer the medical model where they are a person who also experiences a disability. It is down to personal preference but can be a very emotive topic. 

How do you feel about language as it is applied to you? 

For Hannah, language is particular to the individual. Having tried seeking medical help for years, when she finally received the diagnosis at age 15, she was very embarrassed, and because she didn’t want to stand out, she didn’t want to talk about it and didn’t prefer any language. Over time things have changed, and in particular hearing other people and how they talked about their own disabilities has helped her come to terms with her own disability. She now prefers to say she has a disability, not that she is a disabled person, but she is aware it is very personal, and people’s preferences can change over time. 

Ryan agreed that disability is personal to each individual and so language must be too. Traditionally where people spoke of disability they envisioned a wheelchair or a cane but over time he realised that any condition that can be debilitating could be considered a disability by that person. In terms of language he feels ‘disability’ does have negative connotations as the prefix ‘dis’ is negative, as in disinclined, or disinterested. However, other terms such as impairment or condition could also be problematic for some people. The term ‘blind’ suggests to most people that he has no sight, but in fact it is more a scale where beyond a certain point he is classed as ‘registered blind’ but still has some sight. Language is constantly evolving too. Rather than blind or visually impaired, young people receiving a diagnosis today may prefer ‘fully sight impaired.’

For Ryan, having a diagnosis resulted in people treating him differently. He was no longer ‘Ryan who plays football in the street’, but ‘Ryan with a disability’. Once that label was applied to him, teachers made him sit at the front of the class, not at the back with his mates, and when he visited friends’ houses, their parents took precautions that they wouldn’t take when others visited. He still notices this shift in people’s reactions when they realise he has a disability – he will walk down the street in the day and just be Ryan, but when he enters a bar he will use a white stick as it is dark, and he sees people’s reactions change. Because of this he struggles with the fact he is disabled and feels there are negative connotations with that word. He prefers ‘visually impaired’ to ‘blind’. 

It is important to recognise the changeable nature of disabilities. They may not be immediately apparent, and they may vary from day to day and in different environments. However, someone may present at any time, they are still the same person with the same condition. With the changeable nature of disabilities, and language evolving, it is best not to make assumptions, but if you need information Hannah and Ryan suggested some ways to approach conversations. 

 

How should people approach those conversations?

  • Remember not all people with disabilities know everything about every disability, and they may not know everything about their own condition. They can only speak for themselves and their experience. 
  • It’s OK to be unsure because every individual is different and their attitude can change over time or depending on circumstances. 
  • Enter conversations with a tone of curiosity and consideration. You may need to know what accommodations would help someone in a meeting, and it is best to ask if someone would like help rather than assuming they need it.
  • It is important to “Read the room” and be sensitive to what else is going on; any of us may be having a bad day, or be busy, or have some personal upset to deal with and not feel up to answering questions, or only up to answering the bare necessities. As good allies to any group we should not push past any individual’s comfort zone. 

Hannah gave an example of an approach she recently took: 

“I’m really sorry, I don’t know much about your condition. I’d be very grateful if you feel comfortable to help educate me. I need to learn a lot and I don’t want to say or do anything that would upset you without realising. If you do feel comfortable, I would appreciate hearing how it affects you on a day to day basis, any assistance you need, and anything I can do to support you.”

 

If someone has caused offence, how can they respond? 

Once again both Hannah and Ryan emphasised that people’s response can be driven by a variety of factors. They may be experiencing a flare up of symptoms, they may be struggling mentally or emotionally, or be in a different stage of acceptance and respond more negatively to an attempt to help or start a conversation. However, this can be true of anyone, and is not restricted to disability. Essentially, we all need to be more kind and compassionate all the time. 

 

Is there anything we can do as individuals or as society to tackle the stigma around the term disabled? 

It is so important to have these conversations. Whilst we cannot break the stigma overnight, each conversation helps. The more we talk, the more people will feel comfortable having these conversations. 

Representation is also really important as with gender, sexuality and race. We need to raise awareness that there are people with disabilities out there. Paralympians are great, but where are the disabled lawyers, actors, politicians, police officers and judges? An estimated 24% of the UK population have a disability and yet only 5 out of the 650 MPs are openly disabled. Whilst representation has moved on a lot, there is still a long way to go. 

The links kindly shared during the webinar by Chris Seel (Diversity and Inclusion Adviser at the Law Society) were:

Chris also pointed out that anyone can join the Law Society’s Disabled Solicitors Network; you don’t have to identify as disabled or be a solicitor.

Finally, if you would like to see the whole webinar, a recording is available here. 

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