The Way We Roll Simon Minty and Phil Friend

Simon was at the airport recently. He was on his mobility scooter, and his mum was using an airport wheelchair. Looking at the long line in the disabled passport queue, his walkie-talkie sister and cousin decided to move to the non-disabled line. We explore what happened and how it made Simon feel. 
The Business Disability Forum has produced a second adjustments in the workplace piece of research. Both managers and individuals who are Deaf, disabled or neurodivergent responded. Phil picks through the key findings. 
History is littered with new businesses created to serve disabled consumers that weren’t viable. It feels different now. Simon asks, with the growth in service providers, including bespoke clothes makers, the hotel and leisure industry and accessible car and van hire, has the Purple Pound finally landed, and how do you cater to the diversity of disabled people? 
Oh, and Bake Off want to hear from you. 


Links
Business Disability Forum has produced another piece of research on adjustments in the workplace
Blue Badge Awards Leisure Industry
Proximo accessible vehicle hire
Able2Wear clothing 
WAVs. Motability and Callum
UnHidden clothing
Apply for Bake Off UK
Pic Credit
A wheelchair user in the airport https://spintheglobe.net

They say you shouldn’t kick a person when they’re down. It feels right now the UK Government are down. And unfortunately for them, Phil and Simon have found more reasons why they deserve maybe not a kick but a strong toe poke.   

Launched in late September 2023, Ask Don’t Assume is the government’s disability awareness-raising campaign. It asks everyone to avoid making assumptions about disabled people as well as asking non-disabled people to become allies. Many disabled-led organisations and influential people dismissed it. We explore why it feels outdated and inappropriate and ask why, if it was created with disabled people, it doesn’t have more validity.

Another government initiative is the Disability Confident employer scheme. Quoting from the Disability New Service, Phil suggests the results show it’s not working. Simon flips the statistics around and shows it can be argued that it is doing very well. We know statistics can be manipulated, so leaving that aside, is the campaign any good?

Phil gives an update on his recent cancer treatment, and Simon tells of his recent talk at the Royal Television Society on 20 years of disability representation on television.

Ask Don’t Assume 
Disability Confident article 
 Simon’s talk with Steph Lacey at the Royal Television Society

Forbes Online posted an article which showed the 7 things disabled people have to think about, which non-disabled types don’t have to. Simon thinks it’s informative and helpful, like an access rider. Phil bemoans why we still need to tell people the basics. 
There are big concerning issues relating to disability right now. 

Why isn’t the UK Government meeting with the UN about its obligations under the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities? 

How do you justify the possible closures of ticket offices at train stations, which will impact disabled travellers more than most? 
As is our way, it’s personal, too. We make an appointment with Phil’s radiotherapy treatment and head to the athletics stadium where Simon competed at the World Dwarf Games in Cologne. 

LINKS
Forbes 7 Things Disabled People Have To Think About Every Day
Andrew Pulrang @AndrewPulrang
Unlimited What is an Access Rider
World Dwarf Games website
World Dwarf Games instagram
World Dwarf Games Facebook 
Dwarf Sports Association UK
Prostate Cancer NHS info
United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities 
Disability Rights UK Government refuses to attend 
Ministers skip UN meeting on disability rights
BBC Tanni-Grey Thompson says big problems for disabled passengers with ticket office closures 
Photo of Simon competing copyright Anna Spindelndreier

In an exceptional show, our guest is the remarkable human that is Sophie Morgan. Sophie often finds liberation on a motorbike. She pops up frequently on TV, presenting Crufts or the Paralympics as a guest on Loose Women or breakfast TV. This past year she’s been promoting her autobiography Driving Forwards: A Journey of Resilience and Empowerment After Life-Changing Injury. She’s a powerful campaigner for disability and, specifically, better rights on flights for wheelchair users. 
As can happen when you throw three thoughtful and pragmatic disabled people together, Sophie allowed us to have a far-reaching conversation. What drives her, what does she do when the going gets tough and who supports her? She explains that writing her autobiography allowed her to pause and reflect on her identity and how her passions have formed and re-formed over the year. It turns out that having a ‘chip on your shoulder’ can be a helpful motivator. As we approach the 20th anniversary of her becoming a disabled person, she talks through her immediate and future plans. We know this will include being an artist, something she’s returning to as painting allows her to find a calming place.  
Links
Wiki Sophie Morgan
Instagram
Sophie on Twitter
Driving Forwards: A Journey of Resilience and Empowerment After Life-Changing Injury
Can-Am trikes
Sophie’s page on Can-Am
Rights on Flights 
Howdens accessible kitchen

Can you fail upwards? Aarian Mehrabani from FlawBored Theatre says that is what they have done. With his theatre company co-founders Samuel Brewer and Chloe Palmer, they have created a play that pushes the boundaries of disability arts and arts more broadly. 
How has the audience reacted? Do those with a disability react differently to those who aren’t disabled (the answer is sometimes yes)? After creating a show with disability themes, is there a subtle pressure for the next piece of work to move away from the topic? Is that natural, an enhancement or devaluing the subject? And might the term ‘able-anxiety’ be a throw-away joke turning into an accepted word and concept? Sam and Aarian join us to discuss this and more. 
FlawBored is performing ‘It’s a Mother F**king Pleasure’ in Edinburgh this August (link below). Our show has a few spoilers but also might add to your enjoyment. Listeners discretion! 
Links
FlawBored Theatre Company
Tickets to Edinburgh Fringe performances of It’s a Mother F**king Pleasure. 

A bumper show this month. There’s an underlying theme around the erosion or optionality of including disabled people. 
What do you do when you’re hotel room isn’t ready…especially when you return to the hotel after a night out at midnight and find out? Move to another room? Not so simple if you’re a wheelchair user. Kat Watkins had this happen to her, and we explore what coulda shoulda happened. 

Did you know there are new consumer duties which may assist differently disabled people (beyond Phil’s favourite group being learning disabled people who fill in forms). 
Simon and Phil have noticed the word ‘vulnerable’ is creeping back into the language to describe disabled people. Used without context or explanation, as in, ‘financially vulnerable’ or ‘vulnerable to exclusion’, the use of the word feels patronising and retrograde. Is it linked to Covid when lots of people were vulnerable? Is it broader, a moral driver of ‘being kind’? The issue is the word is disempowering, and inclusion isn’t optional nor a favour. There are legal duties underpinning this, as well as a moral imperative. 
More happily, we enjoy the success Lenny Rush is experiencing. A British actor with dwarfism, only 14 years old, he is absolutely storming it. We ask, was Peter Dinklage in Game of Thrones a watershed moment?   
Links
Disabled woman forced to sleep in hotel dining area ‘after the booked room was unavailable’
Disability and Vulnerability paper 
New Consumer Duty.  
Speech introducing a new duty
Best Bits of Am I Being Unreasonable with Daisy Cooper and Lenny Rush


Lenny Rush BAFTA acceptance speech