Disabled Workers in the Arts

Please Note:

Participants were not informed of questions in advance, but were informed of themes.
Minimum feedback was given by interviewer, with the only input being the questions themselves.
Interview questions focused on themes of: access experiences, access changes, awareness of narrative, awareness of other disabled workers, experiences of masking, experiences of diagnosis, experiences of discrimination, and advice.
Participants covered a range of intersectional backgrounds and disabilities.
Unfortunately due to the size of the project not all intersectional backgrounds and disabilities could be covered. Concerns over lack of coverage in research are: Learning Disabilities (partly covered), Visual Disabilities, and Limb Differences.
Research was designed to support screen readers and those with dyslexia.
If you have any problems accessing research please use contact form to contact Chloe Kennedy for an altered PDF or for enquiries.

Funded by the National Lottery, with thanks to Rachel Sarah Leveney.

During the Creative Freelancers: Shaping London's Recovery Cohort, companies and researchers were interested in a disability bible. A document that could help arts companies engage better with access and inform them of what to do when working with disabled arts workers. During that process it became clear that a disability bible would be a very large undertaking, requiring a group workforce. and a large base of funding. Whilst this is not that, this research does go some way to help create the start of a Disability Bible, and highlight what working in the arts with a disability is like.

Six disabled arts workers were interviewed to provide their experiences of working in the arts. The below documents outline the main themes found, with the participants personal beliefs outlined below. It was made for disabled arts workers in mind, with a hope that it could help generate connection and recognition over some of the issues that they face. Also to help support arts workers interested in finding out more about this topic.

These documents have been created to feel more like a conversation. Please feel free to skim read to the sections that support you.

For arts workers who are not disabled but working in access support, discussions on Access Support can be found at the back of the last document 'Access'. You may also be interested in other sections.