Last week I was excited to be contacted by BBC’s Look North. They were going to be doing a piece to mark the 25th anniversary of the Disability Discrimination Act and were interested in hearing my views about the positive impact, or lack of thereof, that it has had on disabled people’s lives.
The DDA was actually superseded by the Equality Act in 2010, but both have sought to tackle discrimination and improve attitudes towards disability. Whilst this is vitally important, I don’t believe acts like this go far enough, in that they tend to address the problem rather than the cause.
For me, it is voice of disabled people that matters and this still isn’t taken into enough consideration because disabled people continue to be perceived as ‘other’. There is still a lot of awkwardness and embarrassment around disabled people and although most people don’t want to discriminate, their unconscious perceptions and biases often still impact negatively on their behaviour.
However, I also believe that there is an increasingly strong movement of people wishing to explore and challenge their perceptions and attitudes. This is something I am keen to promote through my work and I felt that it was important to put this message across rather than allow the interview to have a purely negative spin.
I was conscious that I didn’t take up anybody’s time unnecessarily but I did request a Zoom call with the producer who I’d briefly met previously, in order to explain more about who I am and about my work. I tend to find that when people meet me in person and we are able to build a rapport, conversations and communication become much easier. People are able to see beyond my disability and their perception of me changes. We had a fantastic conversation and by the end of the call I felt much more confident and comfortable to tell my story on camera.
During the interview I was given the opportunity to talk about my PhD research and my work within the private and public sectors and the wider community. I explained that whilst my aim is to challenge and change perceptions of disability, I’m also interested in digging deeper to explore why and how discrimination comes about. Through this blog and other forums I want to create a safe and supportive space for people to have open conversations about disability and explore issues which they may find uncomfortable.
Overall the interview went very well. I felt that the reporter really engaged with what I had to say about my life and work and was keen to capture the reality of living with cerebral palsy and my commitment to enjoying an independent and active life. I’m apprehensive about seeing myself on television but I really hope that the coverage will be interesting, inspiring and another step towards positive and lasting change in the perceptions of disability.
I am due to appear on Look North later today, Friday 6th November – and I will post a link to the interview here once it is available. Do tune in if you can and let me know what you think.
See the BBC Look North interview here
What do you know about the DDA and the Equality Act? Do you feel that they have had a positive impact on disabled people’s lives?
What support do you think would help you and your friends, family and colleagues in exploring and challenging perceptions and attitudes towards disability?
Have you been interviewed for television? What was your experience?
Photo by Rich Smithon Unsplash
