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I gave a TED talk

Hello,

I wouldn’t say I ever forget how bad ableism is, but the physical weight of it does sometimes slip to the back of my mind. I have so successfully curated my own world - chosen the job I do and the places I frequent and the people I see - that ableism sort of exists on the periphery. It’s constant but it’s fleeting; it’s in the shops or the pub, on the train, at a dentist appointment, but it’s not in the important things.

Or, at least, not as often as it used to be. Until it is.

This week, I was lucky enough to give a TED talk at the London Business School. I was incredibly happy to have such a big platform to speak about some of the ideas in my book to a new audience of people beyond those I usually reach. And it went really well; as I spoke I could feel the room absorbing my message, and see people nodding along. I really enjoyed being on such a prestigious stage.

I also really enjoyed meeting some of the other speakers, and I had some really lovely conversations with the LBS students and staff involved in putting on the event, who were both incredibly welcoming and very accommodating. They made the whole thing a lot of fun.

What was less fun was how awkward many of the attendees were with me at the end-of-event drinks.

And when I say awkward, I mean really, painfully awkward.

I have to say, it took me by surprise. Not that it should matter, but they had just watched me give a TED talk.

Of course, none of it was malicious. But it did make me think, once again, about all the unspoken rules about where disabled people belong.