In this episode I speak to Abbie Russell, the co-chair of Access King's, the Staff Disability Inclusion Network at King's College London. We speak about the importance of peer support and official disability networks for the disabled academic community.
Key links from the episode:
In this episode I speak to Abbie Russell, the co-chair of Access King's, the Staff Disability Inclusion Network at King's College London. We speak about the importance of peer support and official disability networks for the disabled academic community.
Key links from the episode:
Welcome to Enabled in Academia. My name is Lienkie Diedericks your host, creator and hopefully not the only listener of this podcast about how to survive and thrive in academia, as a disabled chronically ill and/or neurodiverse individual. Here with me today we have Abbie Russell from King's College London. Abbie thanks so much for talking with me today.
Abbie Russell :Hi, thank you for having me. It's really good to be here.
Lienkie Diedericks :Abbie could you tell us just briefly or you know an overview of the work that you do at Kings and which projects you're involved with.
Abbie Russell :Yeah, sure. So, I am an engagement officer at the Institute of psychiatry psychology and neuroscience in College, London, and I work in the press and communications office but I also work in operations and health and safety, and I also work closely with our faculty diversity and inclusion team last year, I was appointed as the disability equality champion for the faculty, which is the first role of its kind, at King's, so it's quite an exciting time. We've got a lot of work to do but it's quite good as part of the faculty, inclusion work, part of that role I chair, a disability inclusion Working Group, which is a great it's a great team, and I've learned a lot and we've, we've done lots of positive action, out of that, and students are welcome to join that working group as well so if there are any students from the ioppn listening, and please get in touch with me. I also co chair for community access kings, which is the staff disability inclusion network, running, more formally for about a year but it started off more informally, as part of a research group and then gradually it was just kind of become this network of staff that been interested in disability inclusion.
Lienkie Diedericks :Exciting stuff and congratulations on being the first disability equality champion. That is a really exciting role. Could you tell us specifically about some of the things you guys have been working on in the working group, and in your role?
Abbie Russell :Yeah, so the disability inclusion working group is a team of staff members of the faculty, and all different kinds of areas so we get that kind of cross faculty insight, which I think is really important to kind of include the experiences of different areas in the faculty, where there's variation, and the group has worked on things like creating guidance for Accessible event guidance for accessible online meetings. More recently, we've published a tip for communicating while wearing a face covering to kind of highlight that not everyone can communicate while wearing a face covering some people lip read and actually the face covering have been creating this barrier that we didn't really see before. And so we just saw some some raising awareness on that we've organized events for Disability History Month, for the last two years now we've done a series of events that might be film screenings or drop in events and discussions, and just an opportunity for people to come find out more really and raise awareness that way. And then we've also done a lot of work around neurodiversity. So, we've been talking to students about how we can be more neuro inclusive and also staff as well, just published a new intranet page, which we hope will be on the website. One day, and that's just kind of gathering lots of information about neuro diversity and how and how to better understand neuro diversity how it's different for everyone what you can do to sort of be more inclusive and there's a section for researchers as well so because we work at the Institute of psychiatry psychology and neuroscience we've got lots of researchers interested in autism. And so we've got a little bit of information for them too
Lienkie Diedericks :It's really great to hear that you guys are publishing so much as well, I'll definitely include the link to your tips on the facemask in this transcript so that any if any of our listeners would like to listen to that that would be really interesting. I know, I just had a little bit of hearing loss in my right ear from years ago. And you won't believe it as soon as we started hearing loss but it's something I picked up immediately I hadn't even realized that I loved reading that much. And so it especially in situations where there are quite a few people in marketing, practice orientating be very interested in that myself.
Abbie Russell :That's really interesting you say that actually because I think it's for a lot of people they realize how much they rely on lip reading. When the ability to lip read and suddenly, remove, and I guess it's just an example of how our environment is disabling in a way.
Lienkie Diedericks :And it's also nice to hear that the working group is thinking about, you know, disability as a dynamic shifting target, rather than you know these sets of accessible options that we have you know to make things accessible and they never change but of course, as the world changes and circumstances change like COVID that really highlight also changing accessibility needs.
Abbie Russell :Yeah, absolutely.
Lienkie Diedericks :I don't know if they are working groups like this in any other faculty. Do you perhaps know?
Abbie Russell :I'm not sure, actually, I think, I think there are a few sort of starting up, but I'm not sure.
Lienkie Diedericks :Because I'm thinking this might be really useful for everyone in my department as the Global Health and Social Medicine Department, I'm definitely going to find that our faculty have something like this because I think we work in global health and social medicine which intersects a lot with disability studies, and that's something we can really try and emulate in other departments so well done for the ippn for taking the initiative on this. I was wondering if you could talk a bit more about the work that your group does about raising disabilities amongst amongst themselves and if the senior relates to your access King's work as well, if you could tell us a little bit more about access kings as a staff network then, yeah, about the value of having your co workers and I guess if your students your co students are also disabled knowing about your disabilities and how community can really make a difference.
Abbie Russell :Yeah, definitely. So one of the aims of the disability inclusion Working Group at the ippn within the faculty, we aim to very much work closely with access schemes and feed into that the network itself as well obviously by sharing anything that we do with the network, and that's kind of our tap into the rest of kings. So, I think one of the key elements of the community network that kings is that it gives you that connection to the whole university rather than you work in your faculty and you know who then your faculty and that's it. And the benefits of doing that is sharing best practice you know sharing information with every one in the network. And then they can take that to their fast too. And so we do aim to be very much working alongside the access network and kind of using that network to consult with and to sort of share information with as well. And so Access King's is for all staff at King's College London including PhD students, it might be, you know, might have people with disabilities, you might have people who are neurodiverse might be people with long term health condition or it might be people who don't identify as disabled themselves but they have an interest in making more accessible and inclusive, obviously the benefit of that is that it's kind of combined knowledge and experience, and that can very much influence the activity of the working group, and the committee itself, probably worth mentioning actually a bit about the committee's we have the network which is anyone could be a member and you can join in and you can have access to all the information and attend the events. But there's nothing really expected of you you don't have to do anything you don't have to commit an hour a week, do something for disability inclusion and but we also have a network committee. I think we've got about 15 members of the committee at the moment, and it's more for people who want to do some things to to contribute to disability inclusion, so we might have a number of activities that we're working on, and the committee is really for people who want to get involved, basically, and do the work because there's so much work that needs to be done so. The committee is also open to all staff and PhD students and when I say all staff, I mean, academic staff teaching staff professional services. Yeah, everyone's welcome basically.
Lienkie Diedericks :And that's really great. I'll definitely include a link for our listeners, especially our kings listeners today. If you're a PhD student or a staff member and you went to where the access King's network. Well, now you know you are aware and this might be a wonderful opportunity to join a community of like minded people, if you just join the network Don't worry there's nothing expected of you. It's just your participation at at voluntary events. And if you want to get more involved in changing things on demand. Then the committee might be an option for you.
Abbie Russell :Yeah, it is difficult. If you are a disabled person and you've had trouble getting the adjustments that you need. It can be really tiring to keep on asking for it, or chasing it up, or even just even mentioning it you know some people may not have told their manager that they have, or they need an adjustment at work, do their job well they need some support for a while, while they study. And I guess the benefit of being part of a network is that you're not the only one asking for an adjustment. You're very much in a group within a group of people and there's that whole network behind you. I guess the network kind of aims act as this big voice for fourth day this is what we need and sort of hold hold King's accountable but sort of put the company in motion to get stuff done.
Lienkie Diedericks :I think that's really great. And I want our listeners to know that the disability services have also created a team disability network as well. So, you know, you're welcome to join us as well. We have a similar type of aim, and that's for any students so that there's an equity as well for students who are undergraduate and masters masters students as well. I was wondering if we could talk a little bit more about the validation of being part of the group like being part of access kings or even being part of the working group and what that can mean for someone with a disability or chronic health illness is neurodiverse or even have mental health issues.
Abbie Russell :I guess it's a chance. So, to be part of a network it's a chance to connect with other people at King vo kind of bound by that being part of King. But also, you're gonna meet people who have had similar experiences or it might be that you're facing a particular barrier and your work or your study, but then you can, you can talk to someone who has already has faced that particular barrier themselves. And then they can share their experience, and I think that's beneficial because it you know you're not, you're not alone. It might be a barrier that kings needs to kind of get rid all for everyone.
Lienkie Diedericks :Yeah and kings might not be aware of it, you know, and I think it gets back to your point about critical mass, that a network has the advantage of that rather than one person, putting in our request for an accommodation, or even a complaint about how things have been going accessibility wise, and knowing I think as well that you weren't be singled out. I think that's quite important. I know, that can be a real fear I mean I think that's probably a fear as well. When you're even just replying to King's as a PhD student or an undergraduate, to disclose a disability is this idea that you might be stigmatized that you might be discriminated against, even if there are policies and all sorts of rules and regulations in place to prevent that, and I think a network is quite a good way of getting you as the disabled person that assurance that wanting to change is more likely to happen and to that they won't be unexpected repercussions.
Abbie Russell :Yeah, I think that disclosure is an interesting point actually, and obviously joining the network, it kind of gives you an insight into the benefits of disclosing. I don't really like that word, but I, I suppose. The benefits of telling someone basically that you that you are disabled or that you, and you need an adjustment or some, some support. But yeah, definitely, you're only going to tell someone if you know that there is a benefit to doing that so being part of the network you see the benefit come into contact with more information and support and other people with experience as well. And I think that's definitely a benefit of telling someone.
Lienkie Diedericks :Because I guess on this issue of disclosure or as I like to say, and telling your disability story, you know, it can be such an empowering thing but also such an incredibly scary thing because you are giving an unknown person, very intimate information about you, that can potentially change the whole relationship and dynamic, and it can lead to a lot of different kinds of microaggressions in everyday interactions with colleagues or peers. I don't know if you found that to be experienced as well and that you know network members and have a chance to actually talk through that and work through that as a network, rather than sitting with that as an individual and feeling, almost gaslights, you know, for, for having exposed exposed yourself as a disabled person.
Abbie Russell :Yeah definitely gaslighting as the buzzword of gaslighting is very much invalidation, right. So, I guess if you're feeling invalidated and you are not connecting with people who also speak your truth, then you will continue to feel invalidated, but if you know that there are other people with a similar experience you can talk to them. And you can discuss any microaggression and you can say anything that makes me feel, and you realize that actually, that isn't invalid, and your feelings are very much valid and I think that is very beneficial for your well being. If you are surrounded by people who kind of support you and have similar experiences and also validate your feeling.
Lienkie Diedericks :And I think that might be our main message for today is an I just don't know for our listeners who are at an institution, or you know, outside of kings. And we really good if you guys could tweet at me and let me know what you, what kind of networks you have available at your university, and both staff members PhD students and students and maybe we can start a discussion about best practices how to set something up like that because I think it can be incredibly beneficial. Yes, where things have gone right and wrong for you because I think often it's the case that we just don't know about these things, isn't it me i mean i've you know been part of the Disability Services for quite a while as a student, there's only very recently I heard that there was this network available and then I could go.
Abbie Russell :Yeah, I think, I think being part of a network. Another kind of aspect to it, is how much you pick up, you know, he said earlier that you know sometimes we just don't we just don't know we just don't realize because it's not, it's not our experience and it's only until someone points out that it makes you think about it, and makes you realize the impact of it as well. This is an example, I was at work one day and someobe pointed out, and the contrast edging on the stairs, and obviously at Kings we've got lots of listed buildings with, you know, those really old school concrete steps that are just gray and they're kind of worn away, they're not very even. And I just looked at them and I thought now you know you've got visual impairment, you're not gonna see the steps you're not going to use the steps because you can't see the edges, and when I, when I realized that if I saw it everywhere. Everywhere I was going to the cinema restaurant. I was just looking at the stairs I thought. Now I'm going to use these stairs, it's, it's just such an easy win I think when you realize, you know, high contrast edging probably doesn't cost that much in the grand scheme of things.
Lienkie Diedericks :Yes, I think that might be another advantage of a network is that it pulls resources approved knowledge of people together and, and then ensure that it doesn't have to be an expensive adjustment, but that it ought to be adjusted.
Abbie Russell :One of our first event of active King network. A was a discussion collaborative event called purple sky thinking it was kind of a play on the blue sky thinking where you sort of think like you know if money was no object, what would you do, so we kind of asked the question if money was no object, what would you change at King, to make it more accessible. It was really it was really interesting so we've got lots of good ideas, and we also did a question that was more around quick fixes, you know what, what are the really easy things that we could do, and making the most ethical and I think one of one of the ideas was to have motorized doors that not just the entrance door but like throughout the building, normally you see that the the entrance, the first door in is motorized. Oh that's great but then you hit your second door. you know, now what?
Lienkie Diedericks :Do you have examples of some of the other purple sky suggestions I came up with really interesting.
Abbie Russell :Yes. So, one of the kind of more quick wins, that we had was to review workplace adjustments at a three month six month and 12 month interval. So this is something that we don't currently have in place, I don't think, something has changed recently, but this is something that can be done, relatively easy right it just means you know having the process and then just adding the three month, six month 12 month onto the form that was one of the quick wins. Another quick win was to include information about workplace adjustments disability toolkit and flexible working within the welcome pack when staff join King's. Again, I don't know if this has happened more recently but wasn't something that was happening previously we had one that was like, make all fire evacuation lifts accessible -- it's a big project really expensive, but also a big barrier wheelchair user who cannot go down cannot use the space in an emergency, then the upper floors, or the basement.
Lienkie Diedericks :To my listeners we can think of some other purple sky quick fixes and a genie which if the genie to give you unlimited wishes are things you could change in your institution right now. That has not been very, very interesting. Abbie, thank you so much for being here today, and I think we are very lucky to have you. I hope that a lot of people will get in touch with you on this podcast about the neck loop, about the working group, and potentially backer committee as well.
Abbie Russell :Great, thank you. Thank you for having me.
Lienkie Diedericks :It was great to speak to Abbie Russell today, the disability quality champion for the Institute of psychiatry psychology and neuroscience at King's College London from our chat today, I'm taking away the importance of having a safe space for disabled researchers within an institution that not only provides an opportunity to share resources and information, but also one that has the institutional power to collectively address accessibility and adjustments at a higher level, and network can act as a collective voice, which can relieve some of the pressure of individuals to change their environment, a reminder that Abby chairs her faculties disability inclusion working group who focused on improving access and making disabled voices heard. Students from the IO ppn are welcome to join. I've added the internet link to the working group in the transcript for this episode, to our listeners at other institutions, please let me know if your faculty has such a working group. And if you think it would be worthwhile to set one up. This is also a shout out to my own Faculty of King's social science and public policy to hear why we haven't kept up with the ippn Abby also coaches the disability network kings access, which is open to all staff, and PhD students, please do consider signing up to this network as it provides a much needed community for disabled academic to my listeners and other institutions do let me know if you have a similar network so that we can join forces, then check out the network's articles on communicating while wearing face mask and their top tips for accessible online meetings. You also see their neurodiversity toolkits available on the Kings internet all links are in the transcript. Thanks for listening to today's episode of enabled in academia, please do like, share and support this podcast on Twitter by following us @EnabledinAca. If you have any questions, suggestions, or impressions, please tweet us, or send me an email at enabledinacademia@gmail.com. The music for this podcast room for two is composed by Dan Loeb a bit, and it's available on the YouTube Audio music library. As always, access isn't optional for us to be enabled in academia.Yeah, I'm making nothing. Access Kingâs - https://www.kcl.ac.uk/hr/diversity/get-involved/networks/access-kings https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/diversity/2020/08/04/top-tips-for-communicating-whilst-wearing-a-face-covering/ https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/diversity/2020/05/07/top-tips-for-accessible-online-meetings/ Neurodiversity Toolkit (internal only) - https://internal.kcl.ac.uk/ioppn/diversity/disability/neurodiversity-toolkit