Start your disability inclusive culture as you mean to go on
Many organisations want to build a disability inclusive culture but are unsure where to begin. Some practical starting points include:
• Understanding why disability inclusion matters.
• Engaging disabled people and wider stakeholders.
• Removing systems and behaviours that create exclusion.
• Assessing workplace practices to identify quick wins.
While there are no quick fixes to culture change, these areas can help organisations begin turning disability inclusion into everyday working practice.
Did you know, depending on where you look, it can take between 2 and 7 years to change a culture? Predominantly because when a culture is already embedded, it takes a while for people to change behaviours, thought patterns and processes. Those inbuilt, systemic, learned behaviours can be hard to break. However, whilst there are definitely no “quick fixes”, there are “quick wins” to make the journey a little less arduous.
Many organisations I work with through Celebrating Disability know that they want to be inclusive of disabled people and they want to develop the culture of inclusion for all, they’re just not sure where to start.
Where to start with a disability inclusive culture
Understanding why is the key fundamental to unlocking the how and the what. Because it’s how we drive forward as human beings to achieve anything. I know for a fact that I don’t do anything without a reason. When the reason is meaningful to me, it is sustainable and enjoyable to complete the tasks associated.
I used to run drama workshops for adults with learning disabilities. I really enjoyed the time I spent doing this. Once I understood we are all driven to do anything in life by a reason, I learned to support participants to understand what that reason was for them. For me, a person who is able to holistically think of the situation and the pros and cons of that situation, it was easy for me to think about why I was there and what I was getting out of it. But for the people I was working with, this was not as simple. Through a series of questions and answers and activities, we were able to work it out together. After we did this, everybody enjoyed themselves and participated because they knew why they were there. More importantly, everyone wanted to be there.
For individuals to understand their why is slightly different to organisations understanding their why. The former relies on one person making a decision. The latter relies on a community making a decision. This, understandably, has its own complications. Let’s explore some of the areas to consider.
Getting to grips with the fundamentals of your disability inclusive culture
There’s no point in doing anything unless you know why it needs to be done. As we have just explored. So, here are a few starter questions you may want to consider:
• Why is it important to be inclusive?
• Why do disabled people need to feel included?
• What are the ways that people don’t feel included?
• How are disabled people not included?
• What would need to happen for disabled people to feel included?
• What does this mean when disabled people don’t feel included?
Answering these questions will help you have a starting point.
Ensure everyone can engage
It’s not up to a small group of people to have all the answers. The more people involved in the conversation, the more representative the outcome will be of your community. The more stakeholders who can engage in the process, the more likely you are to find a holistic solution that works for you, your organisation, and others interacting with your organisation, i.e. customers.
Accessibility is a key ingredient to successfully ensuring your disabled employees can access any stakeholder event in an inclusive and independent way.
Remove systems that oppress
A person can only engage if they feel safe and welcomed to do so. For disability, a very simple visual representation of this is the following:
If a building has step free access meaning that a wheelchair user can enter but once inside the building, the staff and the other guests ignore that disabled person, then oppression has not been removed.
It is our responsibility as leaders and colleagues to support a disabled person to feel valued and included. How is your organisation supporting the celebration of difference and opinion?
Conduct an internal self-assessment
One way to assess your organisation is to compare it with the definitions of discrimination. Disability discrimination often occurs insidiously, in ways we do not recognise until they are pointed out. However, it is there.
The 6 Types of Disability Discrimination outlines the ways in which disabled people can be discriminated against in society. Use this document to identify where your organisation can achieve quick wins.
