Advocating for disability inclusion

Hi Everyone,

I recently had reason to contact the Opera House about advocating for disability inclusion.

I was attending a concert and wanted to take a camera to accommodate my vision impairment. I contacted them to ask if it would be ok to take a camera, it wasn’t for commercial purposes and I was happy to provide evidence of my vision impairment. In their defence, it was at reasonably late notice through social media but the response I got was that at the request of the artist no cameras are permitted. Fair enough I suppose.

I went to the performance and every man and his brown dog had a camera on their phone and was snapping away or videoing to their heart’s content. I was going to the same artist again that night and contacted them again, through social media, and pointed out that EVERYONE had a camera. All I was asking for was that they make a reasonable adjustment to accommodate my disability. I said that if I turned up in a wheelchair I assume, and rightly so, that they would bend over backwards to ensure I was able to enjoy the performance. My situation was no different to a wheelchair, just a bit out of the ordinary. I also said, perhaps confiscate all phones at entry so everyone gets treated equally. They never got back to me.

This got my nose slightly out of joint as it is just not good enough. The simple solution is to jump on their social media page and scream "YOU BLOODY RUINED MY NIGHT" for all the world to see. Perhaps satisfying but it would achieve nothing.

In NSW government departments have to have, or are working towards, a Disability Inclusion Action Plan DIAP and I had a look for the Opera House’s. Their plan is very good and is held up as an example to others as to how to do disability inclusion well, here is the link www.sydneyoperahouse.com/content/dam/pdfs/access/Access_Strategic_Plan_Web_March2016.pdf and it is actually worth reading if you ever want to advocate for yourself. Instead of screaming YOU RUINED MY NIGHT YOU BASTARDS!!! I read it and the thing that stuck out to me was on page 15 and the emphasis is mine, “ Ensuring that the Sydney Opera House is accessible to all is an essential part of Renewal. It is vital that everyone feels welcome & is able to engage with the Sydney Opera House as deeply & in as many ways as they wish. ”

As an organisation, any organisation, it is one thing to talk the talk but you have walk the walk as well. I will always call someone out and advocate if they don’t do what they say they are going to. A fancy DIAP is toilet paper if you don’t actually do it. If it’s vital everyone is able to engage in as many ways as they wish let me take a camera, a camera is how I wish to engage to accommodate my disability.

I might like to scream "YOU BLOODY RUINED MY NIGHT" but that is not effective advocacy. Instead, I called their Accessibility Manager and had a polite, friendly chat. I complimented her on their Accessibility plan and then held them up to the standards they aim for. Walk the walk. They agreed that they failed on this occasion and apologised and will make sure that next time someone with a disability contacts them through social media or other means they won’t get fobbed off. That is, to me, effective advocacy. It isn’t about me and my experience it is about the next person and their experience. I can’t change it for me but the next person won’t have my experience.

Just to finish and to demonstrate that the Opera House does try hard to work with people with disabilities I found out from speaking with them that they have a dedicated email address accessibility@sydneyoperahouse.com if you are attending a performance and have special needs contact them. There’s more effective advocacy because now I’ve let you know about it.

Screaming "YOU BLOODY RUINED MY NIGHT!!!" isn’t satisfying and helps no one, self-advocacy is and does and I live it.

Cheers,

Adrian