Another quick post today. In recent months I've been having conversations with quite a few people who are starting their journey being allies for disability. The conversations usually have a similar starting point:
Them: I'm scared of saying the wrong thing.
Me: Dont choose to say nothing, that silence is deafening for people with disabilities
In reality, there are so many different perspectives on disability which are rooted in peoples experiences, that it is impossible to say something which is accepted by everyone. People with disabilities and health conditions have their own preferences for how things are expressed, and their individual views on what needs to be changed first to make things better.
It is only in the last couple of weeks that I've realised that allies also have this challenge, and they have the additional journey of talking about a topic which doesnt affect them directly. I think that they have a challenge being comfortable talking about disability. Without first hand experiences, they have to work out how to express views, which aspects they bring to the fore conversations, and how they articulate the experiences of others. Three avenues are:
- Knowing someone with a disability or health condition can really help an ally, as they are able to learn by discussion and observation with that person.
- Being aware of what is going on in the wider world, and an awareness of how disability is being covered in the news is useful. Talking about these topics makes disability part of normal conversation.
- It should be straightforward to call out discriminatory or ableist behaviour/language, and that is another way of expressing frequently experienced societal barriers. (examples - call people out when they talk about "the blind leading the blind", "falling on deaf ears", and "lame ideas").