Tag: Inclusion

My last concert

On By Katy DalyIn BlogLeave a comment

Almost a week I attended what will be my last concert, and it has taken me a week to fund the strength to write about it, due to just how automatic the experience was.

Music is a freeing experience for me, it is one of few places in this world where i do not feel constricted by my disability, where I do not feel disabled. But concerts often have the reverse effect, and they really did this time.

I went to a Dean Lewis concert, and I suppose as final concerts go it was a good way to finish a bad run. I made the mistake of going back to a venue I already knew was inaccessible to me, by this I mean that although the venue was technically wheelchair accessible, I knew the view it would provide me with wasn’t. Contrary to popular belief just because the venue in wheelchair accessible, doesn’t actually mean it will provide an accessible view to wheelchair users.

I was told previously that I would be able to go on the main floor when visiting that venue again, after my first very poor experience of it. However, when I went this time, I was told this was not possible due to there being no risk assessment of a wheelchair user being on the main floor. I found this confusing as I can’t really understand why I would have been previously given permission to do something that I was never going to be able to do due to lack of risk assessment.

I also don’t really understand why I’m more of a risk in a crowd full of people than the drunk people in that crowd are. Of the many concerts I’ve been to at this point, I’ve never once been the person that needed help of any kind. It isn’t about my safety. It is about the venues, fear of being sued. I argue that I in fact more safe to be in that crowd than many other people, once I’m in it, I do not move. And surely the people within the crowd have some responsibility for their own safety, is it not their job to ensure that they are not injured by someone in a still and unmoving wheelchair?

We really need to move past the idea of the accessibility for disabled people is just getting them into the building, that’s it’s just taking a box to say we tried. In some ways this is where the legal requirement for accessibility hold us back. People don’t actually consider the accessibility of a venue as long as it meets these legal requirements and the legal requirements are outdated and basic.

I cannot put myself through this again, I’m scared if I keep trying it’ll ruin music for me. Music saved my life. I’ll take a lot of it that’s freeing, over a little more of it that’s debilitating.

Disabled people deserve fun. And I’m tired of that being an argument. I’m tired of nice excuses, and lovely people not be able to do anything about it, and feeling bad. But nothing changes because no one sees that it should.

I just want to dance.

The venue was – The Victoria Warehouse,

Sleeping in my chair.

On By Katy DalyIn BlogLeave a comment

This is where I’m spending my night tonight. It’s not good for me but it’s worth being able to spend time with my siblings. But that’s the way it has to be sometimes, when you live in an inaccessible world. You have to be the one to sacrifice to spend time with the people you care about.

Nobody puts baby in the corner.

On By Katy DalyIn Blog1 Comment

But sometimes it’s best to put me in the corner.

And that’s just the reality of living in a society where 99% of the homes are inaccessible to you. But you still have family, you still have people you wanna spend time with especially unimportant dates, like today was for me. So you allow yourself to be put into the corner to be out of everyone else’s way.

To be fair to them, it was the best place to put me to give me the best view of the room. But it did feel very very much like I’d be in the way if I was anywhere anywhere else. So is it really a choice then, if I feel like like I have no other options?

At least I got to be involved. At least I can get in the house at all. At least I was some consideration when they were looking for a home. Even though I do have to go up and down a very dodgy and frankly scary ramp to get in and out. At least I have some access which is better than none.

I worry that I’m never going to feel as if I belong anywhere. Even in my own home but especially in society as a whole. And being in someone else’s house is just a reminder of that.

I know it’s wrong for me to make their home all about me. But I also feel like I have to think about about me because someone has to think about me and the rest of society has failed to do that. But can I judge the people I care about about, the individuals themselves for the home they choose, when the majority of homes are inaccessible to me to begin with.

The answer is it would not be fair to. And yet I wish I could, I wish it would be fair of me to blame someone sometimes for how inaccessible the world is to me. Not just be mad at the somehow non-existent yet also everywhere “society” that is to blame. People caused the ableism I am forced to live with, and yet in most situations I can not be mad at people for it. I know why but at the same times, it makes absolutely no sense.

But at least I can get in the home of the people who I care about. Despite my the fears and difficulties and only being able to get in one room. At least I was a thought, right? And something is better than nothing.



Concert equality example

On By Katy DalyIn Blog2 Comments

Why is it not fair to assume that those that need accessibility seats at concerts have the same chance of getting tickets for a show than those that don’t. The answer is it’s simply not true.

On top of the fact that disabled people, who need accessibility seats, are massively limited in where they can sit in a venue and they can only go with one person. Is the fact that there isn’t as many tickets available to them as non-disabled people. In fact the numbers are dramatically different, I’ve worked out an example to show you.

I did some rough maths (I can’t do the actual figures because of course they hide them) to show you just have few accessible seats there are at the AO Arena as one example.

They’re 4 blocks in the ao arena which have accessible seating. There’s roughly 650 seats per block. I took one block and then rounded down as they’re are smaller blocks. So if every seat in the AO arenas 4 blocks was accessible, which it clearly isn’t they’d be 2600 seats for disabled people. To match the roughly 20% of disabled people in society (the figures actually 24% of people are disabled but not everyone’s going to go to a concert) this means to match the capacity of the arena they’re should be 4600 accessible seats. Split across the blocks they’re should be 13 blocks of completely accessible seating. And if you think there’s ever that you never been to a music venue. Usually maybe 30 seats in a block are accessible split across the 4 blocks that’s 120 seats because I guessed let’s say 200 give them the benefit of the doubt. Still nowhere near the 4600 there should be.

And yes I know it’s not perfect. They hide the figures so disabled people don’t have exact numbers to prove to you all how unfair it actually is. And not all disabled people are going to need access tickets. But even with these rough figures the AO arena has less than 5% of the amount of accessible tickets it should have to reflect the percentage of disabled people in society.

Having us in the room is not equality, it is not the equity we deserve. We deserve to have the same number of tickets available to us as non-disabled people do. We deserve to have fun, we deserve to have friends, we deserve to have fun with our friends.

I miss swimming

On By Katy DalyIn BlogLeave a comment

I used to do a lot of hydrotherapy as a child but of course it’s only paid for when you’re a child so I haven’t been able to go in 10 years. But I loved being in the water, and I miss it so much.

Swimming or simply being in the water is something everyone should get to enjoy and pools being accessible is a big part of this. All pools should be as accessible as possible to everyone. And it should be common sense that any equipment needed to make them this way should also be functioning.

Image Description: A Facebook Screenshot from a post by Misa On Wheels. The post shows a picture of a pool hoist over a pool. The text above the picture reads “Accessibility PSA – Having a pool lift is only useful if it is not perpetually out of order.”

The Social Model of Disability.

On By Katy DalyIn BlogLeave a comment
All credit to the original creator. You can also find the video here. 

Now I was using this as a point in a tiktok video. And though I decided not to use it I did share the video after.

It got me thinking about how much easier the world would be for me, for a lot of people, if they were just thought about when things were created. How much easier we could make the world now if we thought about people and what they need when things were upgraded.

People don’t want to do that though, and many have convinced themselves it’s impossible to even try. We still have a long way to go to have a truly accessible world, and that’s a little sad sometimes.

Why can’t the Paralympics and the Olympics be part of the same show?

On By Katy DalyIn My Disability Truth1 Comment

I’m going to need someone to explain it to me like I’m five or something because I’m really not understanding it.

It makes perfect sense for there to be separate events, but a separate show allows society to treat the Paralympics as if it’s not quite the Olympics. And over and over again it does this, the Paralympics Tiktok channel is one example of this. Many people think the Olympics is now over when the Paralympics hasn’t even begun. I can’t blame them, there’s been a very clear end to it all. I really don’t understand why they just can’t be combined to have one opening and closing Ceremony?

Am I missing something?

I’m not saying it would be easy, but I think that so many people have convinced themselves it wouldn’t be possible or it isn’t necessary, that they’re not even willing to consider the idea that it could work.

It would change the Paralympics from being a token idea of equality to actual equity.

Two wheelchair users, one bus.

On By Katy DalyIn BlogLeave a comment

It always surprises me, but it probably shouldn’t anymore, that public transport is generally only designed for one person in a wheelchair to use at a time. We don’t in fact all know each other and coordinate when we need to do things together, contrary to popular belief.

As I write this I’m on a bus on the way to pick up some medication for a family member, I like to be useful and it’s not often I can do that without actually being in the way, but today happens to be one of those days.

There was someone else that wanted to get on the bus in a wheelchair, but they couldn’t because I’m already on it. I feel bad as if somewhere it’s my fault, even though logically I know that it isn’t because I didn’t design the buses. But can you imagine if the roles were reversed?

If public transport was only designed to take one non- disabled person at a time? How annoyed would they be at having to wait for a bus with a space on all the time?

But it doesn’t matter that disabled people have to wait. It doesn’t matter that wheelchair users can never go out with other friends in wheelchairs when they need to use public transport. We almost always have to meet them at the place we’re going. We don’t get the full experince.

This is made even worse when you realise that society actually pushes disabled people together. They think it would be easier for us all to be friends at a young age, because no one who isn’t disabled should have to be friends with someone who is. But then don’t create a society where you’re actually able to do things as friends. It’s just weird to me.

My phone

On By Katy DalyIn Blog, My Disability Truth, Writing Prompts2 Comments

What is the most important thing to carry with you all the time?

I know how that sounds but bare with me.

My phone, the internet, and social media, it is how I access the world. There’s no other way I can do so without help, there’s no other place I can be me the way I want to.

My phone also gets me help when I need it.

It’s not unfair to say that it’s my lifeline.

So don’t judge people who live through the Internet, judge the rest of the world for making it there only option.

Not being the easy option.

On By Katy DalyIn Blog, My Disability Truth, Writing PromptsLeave a comment

What bothers you and why?

Take now as I start this post, I am on a bus, and the people I’m with decided to go sit at the back. I know there are supposed to be the better seats on the bus, but I can only sit in one place on the bus, and there were seats near me when we got on, I’d be lying if I said their choice doesn’t bother me. How can it not?

They could have chosen to sit with me, but they didn’t. And every little time someone makes this choice, it reinforces what I think I’ve always known, I’m not more important than the better option.

My disability is an inconvenience to them, to be honest, it is to me as well, but I can’t escape it. They can though, and worse than that, they choose to. I don’t know if it’s made better or worse by the fact I can’t blame them though.

I just wish society made being with me the easier option.