Disabled by Society

It's been one year since I started 'Bailey's Bulletin' 313 of you are subscribed My articles have been read 1,670 times The Bulletin has had 15,765 impressions! That sounds like a successful year to me! In this article I reflect on this year's successes in both the big 'shiny' wins but also the small wins that mean the world. Please celebrate with me in reading my reflections of 2024. Mentions and thanks to: UK Youth for Nature Patchwork Hub Beth Kume-Holland SIC Alice Hargreaves Disabled by Society Celia Chartres-Aris (née Hensman) Jamie Shields Scope BT Group Praveen Kolluguri MBA Abigail Welsh Rob Hewitt #BaileysBulletin #Anniversary #LinkedInArticle #Disability #DisabilityInclusion #Neurodivergence #Accessibility #Inclusion

With Christmas around the corner and New Year not far behind, I thought I would look back at 2024.   I launched Unlearning Ableism with my amazing bestie Celia. Which started as a podcast/ live series and grew to be so much more.   After five years, I said goodbye to AMS to pursue self-employment. Even though I was bricking it, I showed myself that sometimes you have to take a chance on yourself. I overcame my fear of flying. I didn’t have a choice. I felt like a globe-trotter with all my in-person work this year.   I spoke at conferences locally, globally, in person and virtually!   I lost my furbaby, Woody. It was woof, sorry, rough, but I’ve learnt that time is a healer.   I was named on the Shaws Trust Disability Power 100, placing second in my category for Grassroots Disability Advocate.   I continued to create content, reaching 7,229,775 impressions on LinkedIn. Absolutely mind-blowing.   I got to work with new and returning clients. Clients such as BASE (British Association for Supported Employment) SENIA International Red Hat Center for Disability Inclusion Scope The University of Manchester, The Labour Relations Agency Signable King's College London GitLab West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Equality and Human Rights Commission, The Diversity Standards Collective Spectrum.Life Belron® BT Group... sorry if I missed anyone.   I co-founded a business with my best friend Celia, Disabled by Society. We won three awards at the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative (RIDI)! Still gasping at this! I cried. I laughed. I stressed. I panicked. I felt imposter syndrome. I was burnt out. I smiled. I tried new things. I learnt as I went along, but most of all, I kept going. 2024 has been a year of changes for me, and I couldn’t have done it without my partner, aka my eyes, my friends, my family, my co-founder Celia, my rock David and the support of my network and all those who I get to speak with, vent with, work with share with and network with! Thank you for coming on this ride with me! Happy Holidays you beautiful beautiful people! Image Description: An off-black/ purplish background with blue clocks and timers dominating the space. Text reads, “A Look Back at 2024”. Below is a photo of Jamie holding up a magnifier, only you can’t see his face, just his eye and eyebrow through the lends eyebrow. Now I am not saying they need plucking, but they kind of do. #FridayFeeling #DisabledBySociety #DisabilityInclusion #Unwrapped

What a year it has been! What started as Unlearning Ableism, the collaboration of two self-employed people, became a live series/podcast sponsored by Evenbreak. We grew our LinkedIn page to 16k+ people with 1,651,054 post impressions in the last year. We rebranded and launched as a business trading as Disabled by Society. We built not one but two websites! We supported clients such as the University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire (UHCW) NHS Trust, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, BT Group, Day & Zimmermann, King's College London, Red Hat, The Labour Relations Agency, GitLab, Scope, to name a few! (sorry if we missed anyone) We won not one, but three awards at the Recruitment Industry Disability Initiative (RIDI) Awards. We travelled to so many places around the UK! London, Belfast, Manchester, Birmingham, Coventry, Gibraltar, Southampton. 2024 has been one heck of a ride. It’s been filled with laughter, panic, joy, more panic, and so much learning. So much growth and so many new beginnings. To all our family, friends, connections, clients, followers, our podcast guests, our sponsor, and our community, we are so incredibly thankful to each and every one of you. Sending so much love, support, and gratitude to everyone this holiday season. Thank you for being part of our journey! We can't wait to see you in 2025! All our love from Disabled by Society.💜 Image Description: A Disabled by Society graphic. An off-black/ purplish background with snowflakes. A Christmas border runs along the top of the graphic, it has stockings, candy canes and holly. Below text reads, “Happy Holidays & A Very Happy New Year!”. Below is a photo of Jamie and Celia serving bestie co-founder energy! Celia is getting a horsey back from Jamie, meaning she is riding on his back as they both laugh their bottoms off! #FridayFeeling #Holidays #Thankful #DisabledBySociety #DisabilityInclusion

Everyone’s Experience Of The Holiday Season Is Different. For Some, It Can Be: Lonely Overwhelming Joyful Difficult Fun Isolating Stressful Relaxing Just another day Image Description: A Disabled by Society graphic. Set on an off-black/ purplish background snowflakes run along the top of the page with our logo centred. The title reads, “Everyone’s Experience Of The Holiday Season Is Different. For Some, It Can Be:” Below are nine statements with accompanying stick people clipart placed in a rectangular squarish shape, they read: 1. Lonely – a person appearing sad as others run behind them. 2. Overwhelming – a person out shopping wearing a Christmas hat and face mask. 3. Joyful – a mum, dad and child spending time together. 4. Difficult – two people appear very upset as they cry. 5. Fun – two people dancing one is a wheelchair user. 6. Isolating – a person with their knees to their chest. 7. Stressful – a person shrugging and appearing confused. 8. Relaxing – a same-sex couple sat together on a sofa. 9. Just another day – a blind person with their guide dog and cane. #DisabledBySociety #DisabilityInclusion #Holidays #DiversityAndInclusion

Reading is what? Fundamental!   Today we are sharing some incredible page turners to help you bring in the holidays!   Books To Curl Up To This Holiday Season:   The Anti-Ableist Manifesto - Tiffany A. Yu, MSc. Bodily Belonging - Julie Harris. The ‘My… Has…’ series - Alex Winstanley. Autistic & Black - Kala Allen Omeiza. The Upper Hand - Chris Ruden. Demystifying Disability - Emily Ladau. Haben - Haben Girma. Disability Is Human - Dr. Stephanie Cawthon. No Horn Unicorn - Dr Shani Dhanda.   Image Description: A Disabled by Society graphic. Set on an off black/ purplish background snowflakes run along the top of the page and centered is the Disabled by Society logo. The title reads “Books To Curl Up To This Holiday Season”. Below are nine book covers with text reading the author and name of the book. They are: 1. The Anti-Ableist Manifesto - Tiffany Yu. 2. Bodily Belonging - Julie Harris. 3. The ‘My… Has…’ series - Alex Winstanley. 4. Autistic & Black - Kala Allen Omeiza.5. The Upper Hand - Chris Ruden. 6. Demystifying Disability - Emily Ladau. 7. Haben - Haben Girma. 8. Disability Is Human - Dr Stephanie Cawthon. 9. No Horn Unicorn - Dr Shani Dhanda.   #TuesdayThoughts #DisabledBySociety #DisabilityInclusion #DisabilityInclusion

We are still buzzing!

I’m probably going to open a can of worms but, yolo. Whenever I stumble upon something inaccessible, I will try to point this out in one or two ways:  1. I leave a friendly comment. 2. I send the person a private message. What I don’t do is use it as an opportunity to sass the person, become rude, or act all smug. This kind of behaviour, to me, feels self-serving and won’t inspire people to make change. But yet I see it daily. No one should be shamed for inaccessibility. We cannot know what we are not taught, and we all know accessibility is not taught enough. If someone gets it wrong, they get it wrong. People make mistakes. What we don’t need to be doing is shaming someone for getting it wrong. Image Description: A Disabled by Society quote graphic. A thick pink border outlines the page with a purplish/ blackish text box. Inside the text box, there's a blue speech mark, a quote and the Disabled by Society Logo. The quote reads, "No one should be shamed for not knowing how to make something accessible.” #TuesdayThoughts #DisabledBySociety #DisabilityInclusion #Accessibility

All We Want For Christmas Is: Accessibility To Be The Standard Equity In All Spaces An Intersectional Lens On Disability Disabled Representation Inclusion Without Compromise Equal & Equitable Opportunities Respect For Access Needs Nothing About Us Without Us A Society That No Longer Disables Image Description: A Disabled by Society graphic. A Christmas banner runs along the top of the page with little candy canes, holly, and Christmas stockings. A Disabled by Society graphic is centred. The title reads, “All We Want For Christmas Is:” Below are nine statements accompanied by an image, they read: 1. Accessibility To Be The Standard – a person inside a circle, the global accessibility symbol. 2. Equity In All Spaces – three different level platforms the first platform, which is lowest has a man, the second platform is a little higher with a woman and the third is highest with a visibly Disabled person. 3. An Intersectional Lens On Disability – a person centred between circles intersecting. 4. Real Disabled Representation – a visibly Disabled person playing tennis. 5. Inclusion Without Compromise – two speech bubbles with a puzzle piece in each. 6. Equal & Equitable Opportunities – scales of justice. 7. Respect For Access Needs – a wheelchair user and a non-Disabled person. 8. Nothing About Us Without Us – a group of Disabled people with one with a visible Disability. 9. A Society That No Longer Disables – a globe icon with people’s heads in front. #MondayMotivation #DisabilityInclusion #DisabledBySociety #Christmas

Me: maybe one day I’ll scroll through my social media feeds and every image I come across will have alt text. Also me: today is not that day. This blind girl can hope right?

Just because I can’t eat, doesn’t mean I dont want to be included. The festive period is around the corner, and it can be one of the most difficult times living with a feeding tube, as even more so than it usual, talk and gatherings of food heighten. So how do we promote inclusion for everyone around the table? 1. Access to facilities and private spaces: always provide access to a private space for somebody to disconnect or connect their tubes, which is clean and private and bathrooms with sanitatary bins. 2. Respectful curiosity and judgement free: never judge, stare, ask intrusive questions to anybody who may not be eating, eating something different, or has different food habits. Any questions should be asked respectfully and with the intent of inclusion not embarrassment. 3. Ask before laying a place at the table: some people like to have a place laid for them even if they are not eating, others do not. Some people will bring their own implements and food so always ask in advance what makes that person feel most comfortable. 4. Shift focus away from food and drink: ensure that games, conversations and activities are not just focused around the food and drink to be inclusive of fun for everyone. Where food is a central part of something, think of providing alternatives such as a table activities. 5. Ask about food and drink in advance: ask someone’s preferences about what they need well in advance to avoid making anyone feel uncomfortable for declining or not being able to join in. Remember most people with feeding tubes can still eat but usually specific or small amounts. 6. Welcome those bringing their own food: feeding tube users often have safe foods which don’t upset their stomachs, or a strict diet they must adhere to, so always welcome people brining their own food with them. 7. Respect allergies and triggers: always ask someone’s dietary requirements in advance, and take strict care with cross-contamination. Also be conscious of certain foods which might be triggering. 8. Reserve space at the end of the table/exit: if set places try and place someone with a tube at the end of the table or near facilities so they feel more able to get and down from the table. 9. Don’t forget our invite to events: just because we might not participate in the same way, doesn’t mean we don’t want to be included! #Disability #Disabled #FeedingTube #Food #Christmas Image description: The image is a black square graphic, across the top in white and bold writing it reads ‘How to: feeding tubes, inclusion at the table’. In the top right hand corner is a picture of Celia and Jamie, Jamie has a cream cake in his hand in front of Celia, she is leaning down with wide eyes to smell it. Underneath are nine yellow, pink and blue coloured boxes with heading text and little descriptive symbols using the headings from the points of this written text above. In the bottom right hand corner is the Disabled By Society logo in pink and white.