In today's episode of Speaking of Inclusion, I am joined by Esi Hardy, founder of Celebrating Disability. Esi is an advocate, facilitator and consultant who works with organisations to develop truly inclusive workplaces for disabled people.
Our conversation begins with Esi sharing a personal story of the challenges she faced trying to organise accessible equipment for a holiday; an experience filled with administrative roadblocks, lack of empathy, and systemic failures in understanding disability needs.
It's a stark reminder of how everyday experiences are often far from straightforward for disabled people, even when dealing with organisations whose entire purpose should be to support them.
From there, we explore some key concepts in disability inclusion, including the practicalities and culture around ‘reasonable adjustments’ in workplaces. Esi explains the difference between proactive and reactive adjustments, and highlights why creating an inclusive culture from top to bottom matters so much more than ticking boxes or implementing last-minute fixes.
We discuss the various models of disability (the social, medical and charity models) and how these influence attitudes and actions in society and at work.
We also dig into ‘weathering’ , a term that describes the gradual emotional and energetic toll of receiving countless microaggressions, administrative obstacles, and subtle (or not-so-subtle) reminders that you don’t quite belong. The cumulative effect erodes self-confidence and well-being in a way rarely acknowledged by most work cultures.
If you listen to the very end, you’ll hear Esi’s golden piece of advice (something quite unique, which she picked up from a book about psychopathy and unexpectedly applied to her approach to advocacy and life). Trust me, it’s an absolute gem and well worth waiting for.
Here are three key takeaways from this episode:
Lived experience is crucial: Systems and adjustments designed without regular input from disabled people almost always miss the mark. True inclusion is only possible when you listen to those whose lives are most affected.
Proactive trumps reactive: Building inclusion into the DNA of your workplace culture, processes, and everyday practices will always be more effective than scrambling to fix individual problems as they arise.
The unseen cost of ‘weathering’: For disabled people, and other marginalised groups, the mental and emotional labour of advocating for your most basic needs can be exhausting. Systems that don’t acknowledge or seek to alleviate this are not truly inclusive.
A question to reflect on while listening:
Are your workplace or personal actions removing barriers, or are there hidden assumptions and practices that might be quietly creating them?
We said we’d include in this episode's show notes:
A fact-check and resource link about the concept of ‘weathering’ and where it was first coined.
"Dr. Arline T. Geronimus coined the term “weathering” to describe the effects of systemic oppression—including racism and classism—on the body. In Weathering, based on more than 30 years of research, she argues that health and aging have more to do with how society treats us than how well we take care of ourselves. She explains what happens to human bodies as they attempt to withstand and overcome the challenges and insults that society leverages at them, and details how this process ravages their health." Source: https://amzn.eu/d/7HGOmtf
Esi Hardy can be contact via LinkedIn @EsiHardy or on the Celebrating Disability website CelebratingDisability.co.uk
Speaking of Inclusion is hosted by Katie Allen. Katie is a specialist inclusion consultant and confidence coach, offering a no BS approach to DEI and helping people become more confident in important human conversations.
Theme music is courtesy of Epidemic Sounds - "No Drama" by Alder