Talking About Disability And Inclusion
Talking about issues relating to discrimination a chronic illness and disability can be challenging, even for those of us within the community, or for those who are seeking to support us.
We have collected a selection of articles, documents and blog posts that we think are a useful introduction to considering these issues.
Introduction to Disability and Inclusion
This is a great introduction to discussing disability with colleagues, and discusses barriers with language and concerns about unintentionally causing offence.
The Social Model of Disability invites us to consider that most of the barriers that disabled people face are created not by their impairments, but by having to live in a society that is not designed for their needs.
Confused about the technical language of illness and disability? This handy document from Disability Rights UK will help you get to grips with the common terminology used to discuss these issues.
Ableism is a form of discrimination, just like racism or sexism. It is characterised by a belief that disabled people are, by default, inferior to non-disabled people. Many of us hold this belief unconsciously on some level, but this article helps to explain how to start to avoid falling into these traps.
This blog, written by one of our team, takes a look at the specific barriers that veterinary staff who live with chronic illness or disability face in their professional lives.
Disability Microagressions
Microaggressions are small choices of language or other actions that might not sound like overt discrimination, but can still (often unintentionally) have a significant effect on your friends who are living with chronic illness or disability.
Anyone can end up hurting people through poor choices - even those of us who are ourselves living with ill-health.
This page gives a great overview of microaggressions, how they can be harmful, and how you can recognise and avoid them.
This author draws on her own experiences to give some compelling examples of microaggressions, and why they can be personally hurtful.
Written by one of our team, this blog discusses a few specific microaggressions, and why they might be hurtful to your friends or colleagues who are living with chronic illness.