Disability: Unfiltered

 
 

Gritty Talent was set up to connect fantastic creative talent from under-represented groups into the media. We know from the data that disabled, neurodiverse and deaf talent, as well as those with long-term health conditions, have found it really hard to get in and get on.

Disability Unfiltered is a resource created by the brilliant disabled talent that we work with, to help the industry understand what they need to know when it comes to creating accessible and disability-positive work environments, being an ally and knowing the fact from the fiction.

We hope you find this useful!

 

The Social Model Of Disability

  • The social model of disability takes the view that people are disabled by physical and attitudinal barriers in society, not by their conditions or impairments.
  • These barriers include: physical infrastructure, systemic barriers; ableist and derogative attitudes; communicational barriers; educational barriers; and social exclusion.
  • Social model of Disability: Lack of physical access; Unadapted communication; Inaccessible information; Lack of career opportunities; Limited social opportunities; Ableist & limiting attitudes; Low income; Outdated policies & procedures
  • For example - if someone is unable to use the stairs at their place of work, they would be disabled by the lack of a ramp or lift - not their condition.
  • The social model focuses on removing these barriers to create equity by giving disabled people the same social benefits and level of independence that non-disabled people have.

Identity & Media Representation

Understanding Disability & Neurodivergence

Intersectionality

  • Intersectionality refers to the ways in which multiple traits and social characteristics network and connect with one another to form a unique experience, typically in cases of discrimination and inequality.
  • These characteristics include, but are not limited to: disability; ethnicity; gender; economic background; sexual orientation; age; religion; nationality; marital status.
  • Intersectionality: Ableism; Racism; Homophobia; Transphobia; Economic; Discrimination; Ageism; Misogyny; Xenophobia
  • For example - the experience of a Black woman with paraplegia will differ greatly from an Asian, transgender man with fibromyalgia, though both are considered legally disabled.
  • Intersectionality helps us better understand the complexity surrounding discrimination and inequality, and allows these issues to be understood as compounded matters, not as one single case.

Accessibility & Barriers

  • Accessibility is understanding the needs of people with disabilities, so they have the same access as non-disabled people. It involves designing or modifying products, services, and facilities so that they can be used by everyone.
  • Examples of accessibility in action could be: Disabled parking spaces close to services Ramps and lifts in multi-storey buildings Large fonts and line spacing in written text
  • Text-to-speech technology (and vice versa) Alt text for visual content Wide, clear physical spaces Smart technologies (i.e. Amazon Alexa; Google Assistant; iOS Siri)
  • Accessibility: Environmental; Visual; Informational; Typographical; Mobility; Audible; Cognitive
  • Accessibility promotes equity throughout society and allows non-disabled people to be better allies to disabled people by challenging inaccessibility and making changes in their own lives.

Ableism & Allyship

  • Ableism is the prejudiced treatment of, and discrimination against people with disabilities. Like other forms of discrimination (such as racism) it can exist in the form of micro-aggressions and unconscious biases.
  • Examples of ableism are: Implementing inaccessible designs, products and services Using harmful or derogatory language Trivialising someone's condition Making assumptions about someone based on their disability.
  • Denying someone a job because of their disability Suggesting people with disabilities are “inspirational” for handling everyday activities Using words like “normal” to describe non-disabled people Believing people with disabilities need to be 'cur
  • Ableism: Derogatory Language; Inaccessibility; Micro- aggressions; Assumptions; Medical Model of Disabilit; Segregation; 'Inspiration p*rn'
  • Ableism, in most cases, is illegal. Being aware of the nuances around ableism better equips non-disable people to support disabled individuals by checking their unconscious biases and challenging ableism where it exists.

Work & Careers

A photo of Mel Rodrigues, a fair skinned woman with chest-length brunette hair, wearing a navy blue jumpsuit with yellow heels and pink, hanging earrings. She's sat on a plywood bench to the left of the photo, with yellow and zebra cushions on it
A feature image with the title 'What will it take to make our workplaces truly inclusive of disabled people?' written in white, central aligned placed in the centre. On the right and left border are three vertically aligned profile images of talent

Blogs

Me, TV and Reframing Disability as a Positive Identity - by Mel Rodrigues, founder & CEO of Gritty Talent.

‘…But as a person who works in the UK media and who identifies as disabled, I am filled with optimism and belief that now is the time for big change - and we are seeing signs that it is happening. In the past two years, I’ve witnessed the industry do more to address accessibility, culture and representation of disabled people than in the past two decades combined.’

I yawn a lot, don’t take it personally: MS, TV and me - by Vicki Lines-Gibbs,

creative director of Gritty Talent.

‘When I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2011 it was a shock, to say the least. After three bouts of vision loss, one whilst working on the studio floor of The One Show, I was called into Moorfields eye hospital and given the hammer blow - I had relapse and remitting MS and it’s incurable…’

A photo of Vicki Lines-Gibbs, holding a script in a kitchen. TV production equipment is placed around her.

What will it take to make our workplaces truly inclusive of disabled people? - by Remi Brand, marketing manager of Gritty Talent.

‘The road to meaningful disability inclusion at work feels like a long and bumpy one. Despite 83% of all acquired disabilities occurring in the workplace, the world of employment still struggles to open its doors fully to our working disabled population. The data from the 2022 CDN/Diamond Disability Deep Dive also projects that the UK’s TV industry needs more than 13,519 additional disabled people to bring it into line with the wider UK workforce, which could take 20 years to achieve at the current rate of progress. So, how does the industry even begin to achieve this goal?’

External Resources

Talent & Employees

Producers & Employers

Research, Reports & Studies