Stephane Leblois, MA’s Post

Channel 4 highlights how the conversation around disabilities have changed https://lnkd.in/eeJev4Vf

Fantastic reporting Sarah Richards the kind of reporting that only comes from having a disabled person in roles like journalist. From a lived experience perspective and because it helps build trust with the community that you have skin in the game. You might not realise but your next article is already written. I worry that 'universal access' just won't cut it. Its a term with too much wiggle room. Universal access is what you do to go above compliance. We haven't got there yet. Adherence to disability standards for public transport, achieving the government's own targets for employment, these haven't been met. Compliance is the benchmark that's been established as the base. Dont build a house on poor foundations. Any measures of legacy need to be explored with the understanding of why haven't we gotten to bare minimum so far? #brisbane2032 #paralympics #disability

We’re thrilled to partner with Disability Sports Australia to help deliver its Try-Para Sport program, designed to connect budding Para-athletes with local groups across amateur and elite levels.   Research shows 75% of people living with a disability want to play a sport but feel there are limited opportunities.   DSA chief executive officer Ayden Shaw says these events are a fun, and help get people, at any age, involved in para-sports.   “Sport has the power to change people’s lives. Our mission is to enable more Australians with a disability to be more active more often. Bupa’s support at the grassroots level is vital to achieving our ambitions,” Mr Shaw says.   Paralympic Gold Medallist Matthew Haanappel OAM PLY says partnerships such as these help foster a lifelong love of sport or even the next generation of champion Paralympians.   “All sporting careers and healthy active lifestyles start at a grassroots level which is why developing and supporting community-based programs such as this are so important,” Matthew says.   Learn more: https://lnkd.in/ge9QXphP

The Paralympics have profoundly shaped society’s perception of people with disabilities, playing a crucial role in promoting visibility, representation, and understanding. Since their inception, the Games have challenged stereotypes and dismantled misconceptions by showcasing the extraordinary athleticism, skill, and determination of disabled athletes. They provide a global stage where athletes are celebrated for their abilities, not defined by their disabilities. The impact of the Paralympics extends beyond the sports arena, confronting societal prejudices and sparking conversations about accessibility, inclusion, and equality. By presenting powerful images of athletes pushing boundaries, the Games challenge the narrative that disability equals limitation. These athletes demonstrate that people with disabilities can be world-class competitors, redefining what’s possible. Moreover, the Paralympics have helped drive legislative and social change, contributing to the broader push for disability rights in accessibility, education, employment, and public spaces. This visibility has shifted the perception of people with disabilities from passive recipients of aid to active contributors, leaders, and champions. Yet, the Paralympics also highlight the need for deeper, systemic change. While they shine a light on disability and promote visibility, they also remind us of the work still to be done. Access to sports, education, employment, and healthcare remains uneven. The Paralympics serve as both a celebration of progress and a call to action for advocates to push for true equity and inclusion. A huge congratulations to all the Paralympic athletes for their remarkable achievements and for continuing to challenge societal norms. #Paralympics #Inclusion #DisabilityAdvocacy #Accessibility #DisabilityRights #RepresentationMatters #Equity #BreakingBarriers #CelebrateDiversity #WeAreBillionStrong Debra Ruh Nabil Eid

“How Brisbane's 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games can learn from the past to create a legacy for people with a disability” – another great article by Sarah Richards published on ABC News. Sara writes about the Game Changers report. In short: The Game Changers report has examined five past sporting events in the hopes Brisbane can learn from their strengths and weaknesses. The report looked at Olympic and Paralympic Games in London, Tokyo and Paris, as well as the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games and 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup. What's next? Brisbane 2032 legacy committee chair Grace Grace said she's committed to making the most of the chance to create a "transformational legacy" for people with a disability. Check out Sara’s article: https://lnkd.in/gQMCpvZn   As a former Paralympian myself, it is sometimes surprising that events made for Paralympians forget that tens of thousands of supporters with disabilities will be coming to watch the competition. They also forget that the city already is home to thousands of persons with disabilities, and people who can benefit form universal design. Let’s get in now and get Brisbane the most universally designed and inclusive city in the world! Incidentally, did you see the University of Queensland got a QS World Ranking the other day of 40th in the world? Why not give us a call for your inclusion and Paralympic needs? #uq #Paralympics #inclusion #disability #sport 

I was desperate to fit in, to feel seen and heard and accepted. I was born with limb difference and I was the only disabled child going to my mainstream school. Counting my lucky stars, I was never really bullied at school, but I very aware that I was excluded from certain things, by teachers and fellow students. I was aware no-one could really understand what it was like for me, to be excluded and to be different from everyone else. And then I found sport. When I started competing in Para swimming, I found the inclusion I so desperately craved. I met other kids, just like me, living with disabilities, so desperate to be accepted, so desperate to be given opportunities to participate in the world and to succeed. Swimming gave me community, it also gave me strength, confidence, life long friendships, so many opportunities to achieve goals and smash them. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if this became the norm for disabled people everyday in every part of life. The Paralympics gave me so much that it still resonates and washes over my life, even today, more than twenty years after I retired from swimming. You can see, in the photo, my grin, my joy, as a young teenage girl, who loves her body, her disability, and her life in that moment. This is the power of inclusive sport and inclusivity. Never doubt that disabled people belong. [Image: A white teenage girl with half her right arm missing and wearing a prosthetic leg is wearing a blue swimming costume and light blue tracksuit jacket, she has a medal around her neck and is smiling.] #Paralympics #Olympics #Sport #InclusionMatters #Empowerment #Leadership #Disability

For everyone inspired by the success of our incredible ParalympicsGB athletes in Paris, this is a great summary of the BPA's commitment to ensuring that the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games deliver lasting social impact, driven by a focus on three core priorities: 1. Enabling equitable access to sport: Focusing on community sport and schools, we will bring change for disabled people in the UK, empowering the disability community to feel confident in and having access to inclusive and accessible sport, physical activity, and PE. 2. Championing disability inclusion: Through our partnerships and networks, we will encourage decision makers to create inclusive and accessible environments that empower disabled people to thrive as an employee, customer or client. 3. Transforming understanding: Through campaigning and influencing, we are seeking to transform the public’s understanding of disability, leading to a significant reduction in the societal barriers that disabled people face in sport and society. It's an excellent read, and feedback very welcome! https://lnkd.in/eY_ecvDp #paralympics #paris2024 #paralympicsGB

Global Disability Inclusion, LLC is currently highlighting some of the companies that are supporting the Paralympic Games. These companies have also created marketing communications campaigns that feature people with disabilities. It’s not surprising that Toyota Motor Corporation is on the list. Toyota has created some exceptional commercials in the past few years, including a memorable 2021 ad that featured U.S. Paralympic swimmer Jessica Long. (I will include some examples of Toyota’s ads in the comments section.) As I learned in the Diversity and Inclusion in IMC course at West Virginia University, marketing communications campaigns that feature people with disabilities are not that common. In fact, in 2021, Nielsen reported that while about a quarter of Americans had a disability, people with disabilities were featured in only about one percent of primetime TV ads at the time. (I will also include a link to this research in the comments section.)  This is something that needs to change. The Nielsen article explains that including people with disabilities in marketing communications campaigns can positively impact the business. However, the article also emphasizes the importance of portraying individuals with disabilities authentically. If you get a chance, you might want to check out some of the other examples that Global Disability Inclusion is sharing this week. Note: I used AI to help write this post. I wrote the first draft and then improved it using ChatGPT and Grammarly.

What an incredible end to the Paralympic Games in Paris! A huge success for Paris and the IPC and, of course, for the brilliant Paralympics GB team and BPA. Medals for GB in almost all fields of play and showcasing the talents of athletes we have come to know and admire over the last few iterations of the Games, and some brilliant newcomers. One of the very noticeable shifts in tone for this Games was Paralympic athletes and commentators using the platform of the Games to talk more openly the everyday challenges they still face as disabled people in the UK. It started at the very beginning of the Games with the shocking, but sadly not surprising, coverage of Spirit-Patron Baroness Tanni Grey-Thompson having to draft herself off a train at King’s Cross – en-route to the Paris – because of a failure of assistance. In 2022, ten years after London, we, at Spirit of 2012, conducted to some polling to test whether the London Games were as game-changing for attitudes to disability as is often thought. 10 years on from London, 70% of people we polled told us that the London Games had a positive impact for perceptions of disability, and two-thirds thought that this had become more positive in the ten years’ post Games. However, the polling also highlighted how much work there is still do on shifting social attitudes with 64% agreeing “many people feel awkward in the presence of disabled people” – with more disabled people than non-disabled people agreeing with this statement – and 67% agreeing that many people have negative stereotypes of disabled people. https://lnkd.in/edZbQ55n A Paralympic Games, however successful, cannot nor should be expected to change that on their own. However, the platform that such a successful Games can give to athletes to talk about the everyday issues  whilst  campaigning for change cannot be overlooked. During the Games, the British Paralympic Association launched their new social impact strategy and the Equal Play campaign to ensure disabled children in schools have equality of access to physical activity in schools. The incredible results on the field have done us proud as a nation, and the opportunity to make lasting changes for greater inclusion is now.  For the 18 months we have left Spirit of 2012 will be working with partners across sport and also the arts and community to help make this happen.

It’s time society reflected and changed their attitudes towards people with disability The Paralympics is one of the world’s biggest sporting events, bringing together the world’s best athletes. It’s also one of the only times people with disability (PWD) are represented on the big stage, while exposing the general population to a community that is often shunted. However, even with the Paralympics being at the forefront of the media, society still has a massive lack of awareness and indifference to the games. Aimée McLaughlin’s article ‘Channel 4’s Paralympics ad reflects changing attitudes to disability’ addresses moving away from the ‘superhuman’ narrative while tackling well-intentioned but misguided perceptions. To put the ‘superhuman’ narrative behind them, Channel 4 has collaborated with the disability-led inclusion agency Purple Goat Agency. Together, they have created a campaign that shows Paralympians taking on the unchangeable elements of gravity, friction, and time, which make no exceptions for anybody. The campaign aims to celebrate the games and its athletes, but it questions the audience’s perceptions and preconceived ideas of disabled athletes. Ahead of the 2024 games, Channel 4 reported that 60% of people watch the Paralympic Games to “see athletes overcoming their disability.” Yep, there it is. It’s society’s preconceived idea that we must ‘overcome’ our disability because it’s a ‘problem’. But what society doesn’t realise is what we ‘overcome’ is a world that was designed for non-disabled people. Living with a disability isn’t a problem, it’s society’s preconceived way of thinking. Disability doesn’t stop us from living our lives, we still travel, have families, partners and friends, complete daily tasks and compete in global sporting events just like everyone else. The Paralympics isn’t for the population to go, “Wow, they are amazing for someone in a wheelchair”. It’s a chance to celebrate hard-working athletes reaching their goals. It’s wonderful to see broadcasting outlets like Channel 4 collaborating with PWD to create a campaign that celebrates athletes and holds society accountable for their stereotypical views. But what we need is for the momentum to keep going. We need to see PWD stay in the spotlight and be continually represented AND not just every four years when the games are on. #Paralympics #PeopleWithDisability #PWD #PreconceivedIdeas #Representation #Athletes