Disability History Month

This is the second year at Metanoia Institute we have celebrated and brought awareness to our community about Disability History Month (DHM). Please see: https://ukdhm.org/

DHM runs from 16th November to 16th December every year, with this year having two joint themes, Disability and Hidden Impairments and Disability and Sex and Relationships.

Disability History Month has three aims.

•          Celebrate our lives as Disabled People, now and in the past
•          Challenge Disabilism by exploring our oppression over time and now
•          Achieve Equality

 

As part of our marking of Disability History Month we are delighted to be hosting a free workshop by Caroline Hearst.  Caroline is a trained art psychotherapist with a diagnosis of autism in adulthood. This event will be recorded and made available for all students via our Virtual Learning Environment Moodle.

“What springs to mind when you hear the term ‘disabled’?  Is it parking spaces, wheelchair symbols, guide dogs?  Or maybe Paralympic sporting prowess and military veterans?  This question is worth a bit of self-reflection, as disability cannot - and should not -  be reduced to a singular identity, particularly a visible one.  Disability History Month brings an opportunity to consider how we construct concepts of ‘disability’ and disabled people.  For many, the experience of being ‘disabled’ is the outcome of social oppression - caused by a society constructed for, and by, people without disabilities. This month we are invited to consider what this means for us as individuals, and within a professional context.

The barriers faced by people with disabilities are often environmental, organisational and attitudinal in origin.  This month provides a chance to ensure that our discourses about disability are located in wider social and political discourses about diversity, inclusion, equal opportunities and human rights; as it is only in doing this that we can truly move away from an individual deficit model of disability. “

Prof Carrie Weston

We are also launching a student collective for our students who identity as neurodivergent to help them self-organise and help them form a supportive community within Metanoia Institute. Members can click here to register.

“There is nothing wrong with you - What's wrong with you?

UK Disability History Month (UKDHM) is a month for promoting disability equality and inclusion as well as celebrating the history of disabled people. One of the themes for UKDHM 2021 is Disability and hidden impairments and the other is relationships and sex.

The talk by psychotherapist Caroline Hearst will address the theme of disability and hidden impairments. What is a hidden impairment - A hidden impairment or disability is one that is not easily visible or apparent. Nevertheless, they can still be a challenge to a person's abilities in the world of work, education, and in social environments. Therefore, it is important that as a learning community we educate ourselves on all disabilities including ones that are not easily visible or apparent seek to understand for more information on UKDHM 2021 please click here: https://ukdhm.org/”

Ade Banjoko

Disability and Student Support Officer

As an organisation we are proud of the work we are completing on equality and diversity but recognise this is a journey and we still have work to complete achieve full inclusivity.