Julia James, fellow director and co-founder of WAAD shares her thoughts on her involvement with WAAD and working with Lucy.
I first met Lucy in 2018 when we were both trustees of a charity. At that time she was in the process of completing her PhD, a phenomenal achievement for anyone, but particularly for someone with cerebral palsy and the additional challenges that brings.
I started working with Lucy in 2020. Her PhD research had highlighted the importance of the voice of disabled people and she wanted help setting up as a public speaker; sharing insights from her research to explore, challenge and change perceptions of disability.
I was nervous when we first met. I’d had minimal contact with disabled people previously and was unsure of what to do if I couldn’t understand what Lucy was saying.
I quickly realised that it’s fine to be honest with Lucy, in fact it’s necessary. She always catches me out if I pretend to understand when I haven’t! This level of honesty often made me uncomfortable, but it was also very refreshing and helped me enormously in my counselling training where ‘congruence’ is one of the key core conditions.
Another element of our honest conversations was encouraging Lucy to speak more about her personal life and her own lived experience of disability. As an academic and a very independent and private person, it was challenging for Lucy to open up and show the more vulnerable aspects of herself. However she recognised that, whilst her research is hugely important, people are also interested to know her story.
I’ve loved watching Lucy grow in confidence and the incredibly positive impact her journey has on others – inspiring them to open up, be vulnerable and share their own stories.
Another major revelation is Lucy’s attitude to disability. She works with the Affirmative model of disability which celebrates difference and sees disability as something that makes a person unique.
To Lucy, cerebral palsy is as much a part of her as her red hair and her love of dogs. At first my mind was blown by this and I realised that I’d previously considered disability in a negative context – either something to be overcome (medical model) or something to be adapted to (social model).
The importance of open and honest conversations and the Affirmative model of disability have become key pillars in the development of WAAD’s Disruptor programme. It’s been eye opening, humbling and a privilege to see the impact the sessions have on participants.
For many people hearing Lucy speak and taking part in the workshops have been life changing. It’s fantastic when people start to challenge their own perceptions, attitudes and behaviours and are inspired to go and ‘disrupt the narrative’ around disability in their work and home lives.
As Lucy’s profile increases through her public speaking, blogging; consulting and the ground-breaking work of WAAD and the Disruptor programme, it is exciting and an honour to see the ripple effect of her mission to explore, challenge and change perceptions of disability and the positive impact she is having on individuals, organisations and the wider community.
