Brooke meets Rachel Charlton-Dailey, a writer and activist, to talk about their experiences and perspectives on disability. They discuss the importance of using the term "disabled" as an umbrella term that encompasses various disabilities, the impact of medical misogyny on disabled women, and the lack of guidelines in the media for writing about disability.
Rachel also shares their journey of embracing their disabilities and using their platform to raise awareness and advocate for change., highlighting the need for accurate and inclusive representation of disability in the media to challenge stereotypes and promote understanding.
Rachel Charlton-dailey is a freelance journalist and campaigner specialising in disability rights and disability in media. She is a columnist for the daily mirror and the founder of the unwritten. Her first children’s book Ruby Hastings Writes Her Own Story is out with Harper Collins on January 8th
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The media needs clear guidelines for writing about disability: The lack of guidelines in the media leads to inaccurate and harmful portrayals of disability. Clear guidelines would help educate writers and ensure more accurate and respectful representation.
Disabled voices are often excluded: Disabled people are often left out of conversations and decision-making processes regarding disability. Their perspectives and experiences are crucial in shaping narratives and policies related to disability.
Disability is often portrayed in extremes: Media narratives about disability tend to focus on extremes, either portraying disabled individuals as heroes who have overcome their disabilities or as helpless victims. This binary representation fails to capture the diverse experiences and realities of disabled people.
Disability benefits are essential for leveling the playing field: Disability benefits, such as PIP (Personal Independence Payment), are crucial for addressing the extra costs and challenges that disabled individuals face. These benefits help level the playing field and provide necessary support.
BEST MOMENTS
"It's very interesting when particularly around disability is that people think you owe them an explanation of your disability... But more often than not it is that that people just expect everything from you... It comes down to people just being really nosy and thinking that they're entitled to know all of these things."
"It's that reinforcement that we've had in society through media, through everything, through the way that we interact with disability. It starts literally when babies are in the womb... It's like, well, what if they're not healthy though? Are you going to change your mind about your baby when you discover that they're not healthy?"
"The amount that this government just let disabled people die because they didn't care about us is like... I literally had to just go, no, I'm done here. I'm fucking done here."
"It's just so much, so much of what we do is for, is supposed to fit into non-disabled life, that disabled narratives are missing so much... Disabled people think that they can tell them... I can always tell nine times out of ten when a non-disabled person has written a story about a disability."
VALUABLE RESOURCES
https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/disabled-and-proud/id1621152878
HOST BIO
Disabled and Proud is the show that brings listeners a different perspective on disability. Each week this podcast highlights an awesome disabled guest speaking about their own disability; why they are proud to be disabled and why they are proud to be themselves.
The conversations in this show will look at what challenges these amazing people face socially, mentally, physically and life in general. This show is raw, open, honest, funny, welcoming and educational.
Disabled & Proud does exactly what it says on the tin! And whilst we are creating this space for disabled people to be unashamedly themselves, without the need to conform to society, this is also not about toxic positivity. This show will be shining a big, bright light on disability without it being “Paralympic or pity”.
As you will hear disability is WHOLE, COMPLETE & PERFECT and whilst the topic of disability can be quite heavy - and we definitely don't shy away from the bad days - this podcast is also about having fun too! Our aim is to play a part in reclaiming the word disability - turning it from inadequacy to perfection!
INSTAGRAM! https://www.instagram.com/disabledandproudpodcast/?hl=en: https://www.instagram.com/disabledandproudpodcast/?hl=en
