- All right, OK, let's go!
- People often have a very simplistic idea of what access means.
All disabilities are individual, and I'm not just talking about, you know,
people who may be wheelchair users, people who are vision-impaired,
people who are deaf, but all those individual disabilities
have their own nuances, as well.
- So I'm partially sighted and I don't use a cane.
I try and ask for directions and it's often confusing for people
when they get questions that seem really too basic for them.
So they might confuse me with someone
who doesn't really understand cognitively.
- Some of us are more fearful. As soon as you approach us,
especially persons like me, you know, autistic people like myself,
erm, er, we are a little bit already on guard
because of all the bad experiences we've encountered.
- A big thing for me is planning ahead
and trying to understand what I'm getting into when I go through a space.
- The main hurdles for me are getting through the front gates.
So I arrive and I try and look for someone to ask, like, "Where am I?"
"How do I get to where I wanna go?"
"Where exactly is the door to something?"
- The first thing I look for is information.
- I'm autistic, so as an autistic person,
erm, I suffer from anxiety,
er, mainly sensory anxiety.
So before I go to a public space,
I do my homework, I try and look for photographs of the space
so that I can be prepared where to go, I don't get lost.
- I kind of gig around a bit. I have to go to the site
and find out if there are any captioned performances
or interpreted performances,
and sometimes that can be a bit of a palaver
where you just go, "I can't be bothered."
- I noticed as soon as I came in there was an information booth to my right,
so... I kind of make the decision,
"Am I gonna be able to get round OK on my own
or do I need to start asking already?"
- This is Lucy. She's my psychiatric assistance dog for anxiety.
So at the entrance, the security guys were actually very friendly,
but they were going to stop me
because they thought I was bringing a pet.
- There's lots of people assume that whoever you're with is a carer
or something like that, and they tend to talk to the other person rather than you
and taking that as an assumption that you must need help.
- If you can actually put yourself in the person's place,
the person with the wheelchair or the person with the hearing impairment
or vision impairment, if you can put yourself in their place
and just let go of that fear of looking stupid, then that helps a lot.
- Be visible. Be present and visible in your workplace.
So if you're working at a festival, a theatre, a gallery,
if you're security, if you're front-of-house, if you're bar staff,
the hardest thing for me is to find you.
So be visible.
- I don't think you can ever be afraid of saying, "How can I help you?
I'm not quite sure what to do. Can you tell me what you need?"
I think those three basic things go a long way in helping what could be
a potentially difficult situation.
- Verbal description is a key one for me.
So knowing how to describe a location or something.
Erm, a welcoming attitude, as well.
Erm, really making sure that someone feels welcome inside a space
is really important for anyone with a disability.
- If you're a service provider and I'm just asking a question,
not only is it rude to interrupt me,
you know, erm, not all disabled people,
in fact, most of us do not feel entitled,
we don't approach life as if we are entitled to special treatment.
So, you know, don't accuse us of that.
Don't carry that attitude when you're interacting with us.
- To take time for someone is the biggest gift you can give.
I need extra time to get more information,
especially when it comes to printed material.
So a menu at a bar
or, erm, the order of events for a festival venue
that has show after show after show,
or the program, for example, who directed it, I wanna know.
Everyone else can read that information
and I'd like to ask a person face-to-face
to tell me that information.
So it takes a little time,
it might be frustrating cos you're in a high-pressure,
quick-turnaround kind of job,
but I'm gonna ask for the time and that's good customer service to give it.
- People with a disability have a keen interest in culture, as well.
They belong there, they belong in the audience,
and they're not problems to be solved
in terms of, "We've got this person wanting to come and see a show
but it's gonna be a hassle."
I think, erm, it would be great if that attitude could be left behind
and just go, "This is a person who wants to come and see a show,
how can we help them enjoy the experience?"