The Uncomfortable Truth About Disability Inclusion in DEI Work
Here’s a controversial opinion: DEI folk are scared of tackling disability. Over the last few decades disability was often separate from other work around inclusion and equal opportunities. Disability inclusion was only about accessibility, about employment programs for people with intellectual disabilities, it was almost exclusively about ramps and lifts.
Those things are vital but where DEI practitioners and organisations must focus on now is true inclusion for all people with disabilities.
The Bottom-of-the-Pile
Let’s be honest – disability inclusion often gets treated like that email you keep meaning to answer but never do. It sits there, acknowledged but untouched, while other DEI initiatives take priority. I recently reviewed an organisations Gender Equality Plan where the only reference to disability was an action to collect data (the organisation only had a very outdated Disability Inclusion Action Plan that appeared to have never been actioned). I think this is a reflection of how we unconsciously put a hierarchy on inclusion, and that its usually based on who makes the most noise and which area (as DEI folk) we feel most comfortable leaning into.
Beyond the Performative Playbook
“But we provide for reasonable adjustments and accommodations” I hear this a lot, usually delivered with well-meaning enthusiasm. Here’s the hard truth: adjustments and accessibility is the minimum bar, ask your organisation how many leaders live with a disability? Do people with disability feel seen, heard and valued? Because I can tell you in organisations I’ve worked with people with disability have been having the worst experiences when it comes to belonging and inclusion.
The Cost of Convenience
Why does disability inclusion keep sliding to the bottom? Often, it’s because it requires us to fundamentally rethink how we’ve built our workplaces – both physically and culturally. It’s easier to push it off than to acknowledge that our “normal” ways of working might be inherently exclusionary. I think there is also a lot of discomfort from DEI practitioners in this space, and I must say a real lack of DEI practitioners with lived experience of disability.
The Reality Check
Here’s what pushing disability inclusion to the bottom of the pile really means:
Talented professionals required to put in enormous amounts of labour to advocate for their basic needs to be met so they can do their job.
Employees (and leaders) hiding their invisible disabilities for fear of being seen as “difficult” and therefore it negatively impacting their career progression.
Companies missing out on the innovation that comes from diverse perspectives and experiences.
The perpetuation of systemic barriers that have no place in modern workplaces.
Breaking the Cycle
The solution isn’t another awareness campaign or a hastily written policy. It’s about fundamentally shifting how we prioritise disability inclusion:
Make it non-negotiable: Disability inclusion should be baked into every DEI initiative from the start, not added as an afterthought.
Audit your assumptions: Challenge the notion that certain roles or workplace practices can’t be adapted. They can – we just need to be creative and committed.
Listen and compensate: Create paid advisory positions for disabled employees and external consultants to guide your inclusion efforts. Their expertise is valuable – treat it as such.
A Call to Action
The next time you’re in a DEI planning meeting and disability inclusion starts sliding down the priority list, stop. Ask why. Challenge the assumptions. Because every time we push disability inclusion to the bottom of the pile, we’re sending a clear message about who we think matters in our organisations.
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