Episode Summary
Iain from All Inclusive CIC shares his views on managing the challenges of his disability whilst running a business
Transcript
Esi:
Hello everyone, and welcome again to another edition of part of me. Thank you very much for joining us. Part of me is a podcast from celebrating disability talking to disabled people about their experiences of managing their disability in the workplace. Today, we have our fifth person that we’re talking to, so I will just talk to him and get him to introduce himself. Hello. Can you start by telling us who you are after you
Iain/Debbie
Hi. This is Iain , Managing Director of all inclusive.
Esi:
Hello, Iain, and I can tell there’s another person talking as well. Can I just ask that person to introduce themselves as well?
Iain/Debbie
Hi, I’m Debbie. I’m Iain’s PA,
Esi:
okay, great. Thank you very much, Iain and Debbie. Hello to you both. Thank you very much for joining us. Iain, could you just explain to me who you are and what you do? You said you were managing director of all inclusive. So can you just explain a bit more about all inclusive?
Iain/Debbie
Oh, sure all inclusive is the Disability Issues consultants, though, we have services that range from training to commercial staff do disabled individuals. Audit Quality consultancy, general disability consultancy,
Esi:
Okay, great. I mean, that’s quite a range of things there. Can you just maybe expand on a couple of them, a couple of your most popular services? Perhaps.
Iain/Debbie:
popular today with the VCP awareness workshop the target audience seems to anybody from care agencies to council. or individual parents who have children with CP,
Esi:
okay,could you tell us what CP is?
Iain/Debbie:
is BP is basically brain damage to cerebellum,
Esi:
Okay
Iain/Debbie:
Is not easy to stay with the speech impairment
Esi:
Well you said it very well. And CP actually stands for cerebral palsy, doesn’t it?
Iain/Debbie:
It does indeed. And Iain should stop shortening things,
Esi:
But we all do that. I shorten things all the time. That’s fine, but just to explain to our listeners who might not have heard of CP before, that it does mean cerebral palsy. Now, Iain knew that sounds really, really interesting, and at the end of this interview, I think it would be really good if you would, if you wouldn’t mind giving us your details so that I can add it to the the write up of the podcast, so that if anyone wanted to get in touch with you about your cerebral palsy training or your CV training, then they can do so. Would you mind telling us a little bit about your disability and what it means to you in The workplace?
Iain/Debbie:
Iain disability as established in cerebral palsy,
Esi:
Okay
Iain/Debbie:
it makes him rather unique in the way that he walks the
Esi:
Can you elaborate?
Iain/Debbie
He wobbles
Esi:
Okay, great. Is that the technical term
Iain/Debbie:
Very, technical, but everyone knows what a wobble is.
Esi:
Fair enough. Fair enough. Absolutely no. I think it’s interesting cerebral palsy, because I have cerebral palsy as well, and my disability affects me differently to you. I mean, I’ve known you for a couple or a few years now, we’ve worked together in the past. I don’t have a speech impairment. You have a speech impairment, but I can’t walk and stand up for as long as you can, so I use an electric wheelchair. I also have other friends and other colleagues who are to say, have cerebral palsy, and it affects them in completely different ways. So there’s such a wide spectrum of cerebral palsy, isn’t there? And I think it’s quite important to note, because it’s all you know, it’s like that saying about autism, meet one person with autism. You’ve met one person with autism, the same for cerebral palsy. So it’s not a one size fits all. So as an employer, we can’t expect to put in a real world, really, we kind of expect to put in a reasonable adjustment or support needs, and expected to fit everybody. We have to work to everybody’s individual requirements. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So can you we talked about how your disability affects you, generally. Do you mind explaining how your cerebral palsy affects you in the workplace and what kind of things adjustments you put in place in order to manage your disability in the workplace?
Iain/Debbie:
I Okay, so Iain has worked sine he has been 18 with his own team in various roles And the limitation has been up until 16 years ago. His speech too obviously, as you can hear, Iain uses Debbie as an interpreter. So Iain is the call center would be almost impossible. you need to pick careers that fit your disability, or at least, that’s how Iain feels.
Esi:
You. I think, I think that’s a really good point there. I mean, I think that, you know, it’s quite difficult for some people sometimes, because if, if, for example, somebody who hasn’t come across disability, they can, you know, there’s so much stigma, so much to boo and so much fear around disability that they’re going to say the wrong thing and get into trouble. That is, I think it’s really refreshing that a disabled person actually says, you know, there are limitations to my disability, and there are certain things that actually, you know, I know that I won’t be able to do. And then that’s not prejudice to say that. But you know, it’s really interesting, because with it is quite tricky, because with access to work and all the reasonable adjustments that we’ll talk about in a minute, there are the the the range of things that disabled people can’t achieve is getting smaller and smaller. Sorry, wider wider. So the things that disabled people can do is getting more vast because of all the things that people put in place to help disabled people, but that you still have to have kind of that realization that that a disability at some point is going to stop you from doing something. So thank you for raising that. I think it’s quite refreshing to hear it from somebody. Think of it. Some people’s mind at ease.
Iain/Debbie:
That;s okay.
Esi:
BrillIaint. Thank you. So let’s move on. So we talked a little bit about the challenges that you have worked to overcome, and you said that you have Debbie who interprets what you’re saying so that people can understand you. Are there any other barriers that you face as a disabled person running your own consultancy that you face when perhaps you’re working with clients.
Iain/Debbie:
Iain hates the word barriers. It’s not barriers, please. Good, because barriers are permanent.
Esi:
I get that. I get that. No, I never thought of it like that before, but you’re absolutely right. Are there any what was it? What word would you prefer to use?
Iain/Debbie:
Just China challenges,
Esi:
Okay, are there any other challenges that you face due to your impairment that you have to overcome when working with clients, the
Iain/Debbie:
Obvious physical Challenges like stairs and uneven floors and escalators, etc, etc. You, people still feel that you’ve got to have a building that’s accessible to everyone.People, you. Iain thinks that you’ve got to think creatively about the building that you’re in. So if you’re in an old building with stairs,make the ground floor accessible for customers. Change the way that you work so that you can have employees work remotely.
Esi:
Okay, brillIaint. So, I mean, there are lots of things that you can implement to overcome these challenges. I think you know what? You raised a few of your really important points, and I want to come back to a few, you know, I think that people think that, okay, you know, I’ve got a ramp, or I’ve got a list, so therefore we are accessible. But actually it’s not quite the case, because I knew that when we talked in the past, you were saying that sometimes you find ramps a bit difficult depending on the steepness and the gradients of the rent. I was actually talking to somebody a few weeks ago, and they were saying that, you know, they’re a business who had just gone into their fifth year, and they were moving into another premises, and they were, they said they it was really important to them to find an accessible office. Or, yeah, they used the word accessible office, but they found this really nice office as they like, but the office was upstairs, so they thought it was okay because the meeting rooms were downstairs. And I think that that’s a really interesting point, because I think sometimes people think, Oh, well, as long as the customers can come, because obviously we’re not going to have. Well, I do think it’s that they think, obviously we’re not going to have, but I think they don’t think about the disabled employees that might come to work. So as a client of that business, yeah, you could get to the BC room, but as a potential employee, you’re not going to be able to and although there are flexible working and agile working and remote working, it’s also important to think about whether you’re all your employees can access everything on the same level, and they can be included in everything. So when you think about kind of office parties that might not always be in another building, think about whether that person will be included in that in the right way. But you’re right. There are other things that people can think about, about moving kind of a meeting to more accessible venue, having remote working spaces so people can work from a different site, having, I suppose, the office parties, you tell where my thought patterns going. The office parties is another building that is more accessible.
Iain/Debbie:
I think that work and the way that we work through technology anyway,
Esi:
Absolutely no it completely is in a lot more regardless of ability or disability, a lot more companies are going to kind of that remote, agile working situation, which is inclusive for all, which is what we all want. It’s not just about changing something for somebody, but not worrying about other people. It’s about making inclusive for everybody, so everybody can access things on the same level, which makes it better for everyone in the long run. So I completely agree. Do you know of any support that’s available for disabled people and employers in the workplace? So things that can be supportive for disabled employees and their employers?
Iain/Debbie:
The one that springs to mind is access to work. Included, PAs like Debbie,
Esi:
Absolutely
Iain/Debbie:
Absolutely equipment and getting to work
Esi:
Okay, I should at this time, note that excellent pas like Debbie, but also excellent pas like Michelle, my own PA. Um, absolutely. So can you, can you just elaborate on that? What is access to work and what does it do?
Iain/Debbie:
Access to work is a government led scheme that offers disabled people the opportunity to work for is helping them with things that They can’t do.
Esi:
Can you give us some examples?
Iain/Debbie:
I can give personal examples so things like keyboards, staff like Debbie and dictation equipment
Esi:
Okay? I mean, does it also provide anything else? I think a minute ago, you talked about transport and getting to and from work and things like that.
Iain/Debbie:
Iain believes if you’re unable to drive, you can get taken to and from work.
Esi:
Okay, great. mean, that sounds really good. How does it do? You know how people apply for access to work? How does it work?
Iain/Debbie:
Go on their website.
Esi:
Okay, all right, brilliant. What I will also, at the end of this podcast, add a link to access work, because I think it’s really, really important that people understand that access to work is a funding stream for employees and employers to apply for to get grant funding to support somebody in the workplace, and as Iain says, with equipment, with support and with travel, so a person can access the workplace and access to a job in a way that includes them completely in the role. So it’s very useful to know about so we’re going to move on to some advice that you might want to offer other people. So if you could offer any advice to disabled employees in the workplace, what do you think it would be.
Iain/Debbie:
Don’t give up, and don’t be limited by your limitation.
Esi:
I think, I think that’s a really good piece of advice. I mean, you are quite a confident person. I mean, I’ve known you for a few years, and I know that you’re confident. And I think in this interview, it’s coming across that you’re quite confident, and you know what support you need, and you know where about to go and get it. You know when you’re saying don’t get up, to give up. I think sometimes it’s easier to say than do when you don’t have that confidence. So what can Can I just expand on your piece of advice, because I think it’s really useful on how you would advise people that perhaps don’t have all that confidence to go for what they want to go for
Iain/Debbie:
The important to find someone that you can chat through The situation with, whether that be a family member, friend or professionals like us.
Esi:
Okay, great. So having somebody, I think that’s a really important point again, having somebody on your side that you can talk things to pass offer you some advice as to how to go about getting what you need, or how to go about having those conversations, I think is really important. What advice would you give to managers supporting disabled people in the workplace?
Iain/Debbie:
Look at people without labels, so look at abilities and skills.
Esi:
Okay, great. I think that’s really, I think that’s perfect. Otherwise, actually, yeah, brilliant. Is there anything else you would like people to know before we end today?
Iain/Debbie:
Iain what you to know that it’s important to say that getting work is a struggle. What you see in the mirror in the morning is important. Try, Try Again.
Esi:
Know that you’re worth it.
Iain/Debbie:
Of course, everyone’s worth it.
Esi:
BrillIaint. No, I think that’s a really good note to end on. Thank you so much Iain and Debbie. I’ve really enjoyed talking to see you both, and I’m going to publish this podcast, and you’ll be able to listen to it on the website. Thank you very much everybody for listening again to the part of me podcast. Please tune in. We’re going to upload this on the website, on Twitter and on LinkedIn and on Facebook as well. So please let everybody know that it’s around to get them to listen in. If you’re a disabled person and you’re interested in taking part, please get in touch, and we’d love you to be part of our podcast. Equally, if you’re a manager supporting disabled people, or you’re a manager that wants some advice about how to support disabled people in the workplace, please also get in touch, and we’ll be happy to help you. Speak to you soon. Okay, thank you. Bye.