July is Disability Pride Month. To mark the month, we caught up with Emma Chalmers who is a Clinical Educator in NHS Lothian and also one of the co-chairs for the Disabled Employee Network (DEN). She let’s us know why it’s important to raise awareness this month.
How did you get into the job?
I terms of my regular role; I was really fortunate after becoming disabled that there was a job that I could do that suited my previous skills and knowledge and that I am really lucky to also love doing. Getting into the DEN team was really a matter of right time and right place, as I joined DEN just as our previous co-chair was leaving NHSL and there was an availability.
How do the team you work with make a difference?
The DEN team is a great place for support and understanding as its members are all either disabled themselves or are allies to those who are. DEN helps to create good working relationships between employee and employer, and we often are a means to ensuring our members have the right support for their disabilities at work. We host some of the monthly Lunch And Learn sessions with the aim to provide people with information and perhaps different perspectives on disabilities. Recently our Lunch and Learn interviewed an autistic colleague to explore their experience.
What is the goal of Disability Pride Month?
Disability Pride Month aims to give all those with disabilities a voice in a world that can often keep us quiet or hidden away. It’s an opportunity to show people that we are not ashamed of our differences, that we can have normal lives, jobs, relationships and experiences. It aims to avoid ‘othering’ the disabled community and challenges negative attitudes towards those with disabilities, including challenging the use of certain language and the ableism that is experienced daily by the community.
How important it is to celebrate Disability Pride Month?
All people deserve to be seen and heard and by celebrating Disability Pride Month, people can show us how they support us. Even if you aren’t disabled, your voice during and after pride month can help make changes across the world that will benefit all. For so many years, disabled people were kept away from the world, sometimes to protect us, but often to avoid the need to make change. Now we want those changes to be made and for disabilities to be thought of and accommodated at all points in life. Pride month helps us to promote that message.
