Ashurst turns the spotlight on disabilities ahead of International Day for Persons with Disabilities

Ashurst is turning the spotlight on disabilities for International Day for Persons with Disabilities (IDPD) on Sunday 3 December. IDPD aims to promote an understanding of disability issues and aid the integration of persons with disabilities into every aspect of life. 

To celebrate IDPD, the London employee support network disABILITY are hosting a "lunch and learn" session on disability confidence in the workplace with leading disability charity Scope. Scope will outline their recent work on understanding the experiences of disabled people at work and how their campaigns are influencing attitudes on disability. For more information about disABILITY, please visit our Disability & Resilience page.

To encourage open and honest conversation, solicitor Michael C. Smith and partner Terence van Poortvliet have shared their personal stories on disability and working together. Ashurst is proud of the diverse array of skills and abilities we have within Ashurst. Recruiting, retaining and promoting the best people from the widest possible talent pools is essential to enable us to offer the exceptional service our clients expect. 

Michael C. Smith, real estate solicitor

My disability – Lebers Optic Neuropathy

This means my vision is very blurred and, in particular, that my central vision, needed for detailed tasks such as reading, driving and recognising faces, is severely curtailed. My eyes look "normal" so it's not immediately obvious that I have very little vision. I can perceive light and dark and find my way around without a guide dog or white stick, so I challenge people's preconceived ideas of disability. When I tell people that I am blind on the phone before a meeting, they expect an old man with a cane and dark glasses to walk in. Most cannot compute the fact that even though I have walked in and found a chair to sit down on, I am unable to read a piece of paper in front of me.

The biggest challenge

Travelling to other countries and cultures around the world and experiencing how people's impressions and stereotypes of disability differ. The UK, and more specifically London, is probably the most progressive country in terms of equality/disability legislation, and this is brought into sharp focus when you travel to countries where disability remains a taboo subject and pejorative stereotypes still prevail.

The biggest opportunity

Following sight loss whilst reading for a medical degree, the opportunity to return to university and study at King's was a huge break. King's simply said that they had never had experience of a visually impaired student but were willing to implement resources in order to facilitate my degree and make it accessible. A refreshing and rare outlook from a large institution. 

The 2012 Paralympics were instrumental in shifting public perceptions of disability. I've noticed a positive paradigm shift in equality and inclusiveness following the 2012 London Games.

My advice

My experience of disability in the workplace is that the topic generates a fair bit of awkwardness. This mostly revolves around people not wanting to say the wrong thing, so they end up not saying anything at all. But, as is almost always the case, a bit of well-timed communication makes all the difference and enables everyone to know where they stand. Ask the question, even to generate the exchange of information and clarify the other person's needs. People's impairments can't always be seen and aren't always physical or what you expect, therefore don't expect disabled people to look or act a certain way. A great strategy to use if you know someone has a disability but are unsure of how to approach it, stop panicking and just introduce yourself. 

Terence van Poortvliet, infrastructure partner

"Your next trainee has a disability – is that okay with you?" 

This question was the start of my experience of supervising someone with a disability.  In many ways, this question, although entirely innocent, highlights some of the preconceptions that remain in relation to disabled people in the workplace. Would I have been asked if I would be comfortable supervising a male/female/gay/straight/transgender trainee?  My instant reaction also highlighted a number of those preconceptions – did I have a choice?  Actually, how am I going to deal with someone with a disability?

So, what's the problem?

In my experience, the biggest hurdle to overcome with a disability is understanding the constraints, and indeed opportunities, that the disability presents both for the "employer" and the "employee".  My relationship with Michael started with a very candid conversation with him about what his disability was, how it affected him and how it affected the work he could do. This is a two-way street – the "employer" cannot shy away from expressing their concerns and questions, and the "employee" must be honest.  Michael in this case was typically confident: "throw it all at me and I'll tell you if I can't do it – but there won't be anything I can't do". The experience over the six months was almost entirely positive. Of course, there were bumps in the road and issues (as there have been with all of the 22 trainees I have had) but I never shied away from delegating any work that I would give any other trainee.  

I was, however, relatively surprised when Michael volunteered at the last minute to fill a spot at a conference in Wales. The conference involved long periods of networking. Michael returned bursting with details of attendees and potential connections. I was intrigued as to how he made so many connections; it turned out he simply stood by the entrance and when he saw anyone enter alone, he sidled up to them, introduced himself, spoke, exchanged cards and thereby probably made more networking connections than anyone else would have done.

Everyone gets it wrong sometimes

The negative side of an era of increased awareness and sensitivity is a paranoia on behalf of the well-meaning – that they say or do the wrong thing.  Working with someone with a disability, you soon appreciate that you will get it wrong at some stage but, as with anything else in life, the object is to learn from the mistake rather than wallow in the guilt, or worse, avoid the issue.  Michael formed part of the Ashurst team that climbed the Three Peaks on behalf of the Railway Children charity. Standing at the top of Snowdon at about 1 a.m, I found it necessary to tell Michael that it was starting to rain. Michael, rather grumpily, pointed out that although he was blind, he was not totally devoid of any sense of feelings and – thank you very much – he was also wet!

Easy wins

The barriers to success for people with disabilities are often far more subtle than you might actually think, and the less obvious the disability the more likely we are to overlook the barrier. However, these subtle barriers are often the most easily surmountable. For example, in a training session, the trainer pointed to various elements of a graph on the screen to show that the sum of the costs, the overhead and the margin totalled the sum payable. To an attendee who was unable to see the screen, the lesson became "as you can see the sum of that plus that plus that equals that". The mistake on behalf of the trainer was, again, entirely innocent.

Understandably, someone with a disability would find it relatively intimidating to point out the issue in front of all of their colleagues. However, a simple piece of feedback lead to instructions to future trainers to take this into account, revolutionising the experience for any partially sighted attendee and, indeed, anyone dialling into the training.  

Another perspective

One of the most rewarding experiences for me in supervising a partially sighted trainee was sharing that experience with my children (at the time aged eight and seven). Children have a perception of the world uncluttered by our own prejudices. They ask the questions that we feel too awkward to ask and the nature of their questions often exposes the bias of adults. As an example I will leave you with a question from my daughter who, rather than asking whether Michael could do the job, asked "is Michael the best trainee you've ever had?"

Our commitments

Supporting the physical and mental health of our partners and staff is an integral part of our role as a responsible employer. Please visit our Disability & Resilience page for further information on our commitments to ensure an inclusive working environment for all.