Unlocking our potential

Kathleen Kennedy’s busy life belies narrow-minded assumptions about disabled people When people meet Kathleen Kennedy for the first time they often think she has learning difficulties. In reality, she has a degree in business and is the author of two books. Having a disability throws up many problems in the workplace, largely around the assumptions that other people make. But UNISON disabled members are working together to tackle those assumptions. Kathleen is 43 and lives independently in Aberdeen. She is a support assistant for her local council, and is the vice-chair and equality officer at her UNISON branch, as well as being on the national disabled members’ committee. She also has cerebral palsy and arthritis, and experienced “a little stroke” two years ago. She is used to dealing with the assumptions that people make. She recently had a shop assistant tell her that it’s nice she “managed to get out the house today”, to which she responded “I work full time!” She sees the funny side. “Although life can be hard, it’s quite funny when that happens. I just think to myself, I’ve got my own car!” People assume she can’t do many things, and yet every week she goes horse riding. Kathleen’s been employed since she was a teenager, but it was hard to get that first job. “I started out shredding paper and licking stamps on envelopes, but it got me in the door.” She has a degree in business from the Open University, and has written two b...
Source: UNISON Health care news - Category: UK Health Authors: Tags: Article Magazine disability discrimination disability-information-day-2018 disabled members Source Type: news