Disability Awareness in the UK & US

🇬🇧 🇺🇸 𝗧𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 #𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗨𝗞 & 𝗨𝗦 

A conversation this morning with a close colleague reminded me that visibility matters. She had no idea about this part of my life & I remembered how impactful it was to learn similar info about several others in our field. Turns out we had more in common than nerding out on tech-for-good or impact finance! 🤓 ✨ 

To further visibility & inclusion, here's a peek into what I carry with me at work & home:

 👶 A child born with needs requiring surgery at 4 months old, another as a toddler (+ due for a specialist follow up soon)

 🚼 Nursery carers raised flags that facilitated early interventions e.g. 5 years of OT with a woman who feels like family

 🚸 Entering school, navigating services needed & being “nominated” by an advocacy group in the US to be one of 6 named families representing 600+ in a class action lawsuit against the State of Texas 

👩‍💻Countless hours transitioning across borders, school & healthcare systems in both the US & UK to learn & translate acronyms & frameworks (e.g. IEP --> EHCP)

🔍 Navigating an "it takes a village" network of primary, extended & chosen family dynamics that get the nuances of hidden disabilities & sensory differences, behaviour & ability🎢 including through seasons where needs & differences are very visible & others where it is more hidden, masked, misunderstood, or underestimated. ➡️ 𝗟𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝗲𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝗻 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱𝘀 ⬅️

It's also meant:

🫂 An ongoing practice of remaining curious & agile to meet people where they are, accepting that humans wobble (or worse) & that practising the art of repair (when granted) can go a long way

✨𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 "𝗯𝘂𝗴𝘀" 𝗰𝗮𝗻 𝗯𝗲 "𝗳𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀" 𝗶𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝘃𝗶𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀! I see all you "nerds" with special interests!!! 👀

💡Aha moments reflecting on 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘄𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗱𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝗸𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗹𝘂𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗿𝘆 & 𝗲𝘅𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗳𝗮𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗵𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆...😅

📍Navigating my own feelings & facts as I right-size unbridled professional & personal ambition with authenticity & capacity ⚖️

🏊‍♀️ Remembering that given this is the water I swim in, I sometimes forget the water is wet... so, letting people in can be very helpful.🌪️

𝗦𝗼, 𝗶𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗹𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗮𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘣𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘀𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗶𝘀, 𝗼𝗿 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗲𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗳𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗶𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂. 🫶

Feel free to join the conversation about this on this on LinkedIn and/or reach out anytime about anything I've mentioned here: from unspoken things to geeking out about shared special interests in tech, business & finance for good. ✨

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