Challenging Ableism and Embracing Disability - with David Burroughs

Disabled and Proud

Brooke meets David, a wheelchair user with cerebral palsy who shares his journey and experiences with disability. David discusses his childhood surgeries, the impact of his disability on his education, and the challenges he faced in the workplace. He also talks about the creation of Buddies For All, a social isolation tackling initiative born out of the pandemic.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• David created a platform called Buddies For All to tackle social isolation among disabled individuals, providing opportunities for social and leisure activities.
• There are challenges in navigating the university experience as a mature student, highlighting issues of ableism and social integration.
• David shares experiences of ableism in the workplace, emphasizing the importance of addressing uncomfortable conversations around disability.
• We require nuanced conversations and discomfort in addressing misconceptions.
• We need to take a nuanced view on being disabled and proud, acknowledging that it depends on the day and circumstances, reflecting the complexity of disability identity.

BEST MOMENTS

"The trouble with me is I can't see, my good points tend to focus on the bad stuff, so I tend to feed that to other people too."

"I suppose that I never give up, I keep trying. So it's a never say die attitude."

"I do think that point is really quite key is that sometimes it is a yes or no answer, and it completely depends upon the person."

"Kids being curious around disability is a good thing because it's almost like it gives you a moment to be like, do you know what, like being disabled, like it happens, it's fine."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/disabled-and-proud/id1621152878

HOST BIO

Disabled and Proud is the show that brings listeners a different perspective on disability. Each week this podcast highlights an awesome disabled guest speaking about their own disability; why they are proud to be disabled and why they are proud to be themselves.

The conversations in this show will look at what challenges these amazing people face socially, mentally, physically and life in general. This show is raw, open, honest, funny, welcoming and educational.

Disabled & Proud does exactly what it says on the tin! And whilst we are creating this space for disabled people to be unashamedly themselves, without the need to conform to society, this is also not about toxic positivity. This show will be shining a big, bright light on disability without it being “Paralympic or pity”.

As you will hear disability is WHOLE, COMPLETE & PERFECT and whilst the topic of disability can be quite heavy - and we definitely don't shy away from the bad days - this podcast is also about having fun too! Our aim is to play a part in reclaiming the word disability - turning it from inadequacy to perfection!

INSTAGRAM! https://www.instagram.com/disabledandproudpodcast/?hl=en: https://www.instagram.com/disabledandproudpodcast/?hl=en