Toni

'A physical or mental condition that limits a person's movements, sense or activities'.

The protected characteristic in which i have decided to look into is Disability. My reason behind this is because it is a topic very close to my heart as i myself have type 1 diabetes and require extra support in the workplace.

So who am I and what have I been doing? My name is Toni, I work in a nursery with children aged between 3 months and 5 years and I am an Early Years Educator. Unlike other nurserys and education based settings, my workplace does not have a child with a disabilty currently attending and so due to this, i have taken a different appraoch and have looked at it to see what they would have in place if someone who has a serve disbility did begin to attend or even start to work there.

So before doing anything, I looked at the Equality Act of 2010 and looked at what it said regarding Disability.

(1)A person (P) has a disability if—

(a)P has a physical or mental impairment, and

(b)the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on P's ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

(2)A reference to a disabled person is a reference to a person who has a disability.

(3)In relation to the protected characteristic of disability—

(a)a reference to a person who has a particular protected characteristic is a reference to a person who has a particular disability;

(b)a reference to persons who share a protected characteristic is a reference to persons who have the same disability.

(4)This Act (except Part 12 and section 190) applies in relation to a person who has had a disability as it applies in relation to a person who has the disability; accordingly (except in that Part and that section)—

(a)a reference (however expressed) to a person who has a disability includes a reference to a person who has had the disability, and

(b)a reference (however expressed) to a person who does not have a disability includes a reference to a person who has not had the disability.

(5)A Minister of the Crown may issue guidance about matters to be taken into account in deciding any question for the purposes of subsection (1).

(6)Schedule 1 (disability: supplementary provision) has effect.

If we take a second to look at this photo, we can see the different legislations within the Equality act being represented and we can also see that the representation for disabiltiy is someone in a wheelchair. So even though they have made changes to the Equality act to help those who suffer from a disability, the representation of a disability is of someone in a wheelchair? Someone who suffers from mental health issues is suffering with a disabiltiy and yet they are not being represented in the picture? is this because it is easier to portray someone who is physically disabled rather than mentally?

Within my place of work, they have many policy and procedures in place as a nursery needs to. I was able to look at what they had in place to make sure that if a child does come to the nursery and have a special education need, what they have in place.

Some things were:

•Setting reflects children's diverse background

•Designated member of staff – special educational needs co-ordinator

•Setting should have a buddy SENCO

•If children require additional support with development and/or behaviours are linked with a personal inclusion plans.

•Working with parents and professionals

•Medical forms/health forms for staff members.

•Parents are encouraged to liaise with SENCO.

•If a child has medical conditions and requires extra support, or changes to day to day routine, an assessment can be taken to determine where extra support it needed.

•If a child has mental health issues (short term) step will be taken to prevent any escalation.

Some things in which i beleive the company have done well at is that there is a policy in place to cover the children and staff if they do have an SEN or are disabled. They are prepared with trained SENCO's and by having them work with the parents as well, it means that the child will feel secure as it means a parent can give a routine to the SENCO to work with. They also do regular check ups and make sure that if a child seems to be suffering from a mental illness, that they help that child before it escalates.

For staff it is especially important to me, to be able to take 5 minutes if i do begin to feel faint or if my anixety starts to play up. So it is really important to make sure that i am able to get away if i need to, but also that the children are not affected by me not being there.

Some things i found to be a disadvantage was that the nursery itself has a step to access the nursery itself and so for someone who may be in a wheelchair, this will then be a problem as they will not be able to get into the nursery. The corridors are also very narrow and filled with the childrens bags, this again would cause problems as it means the access is very restricted.

For staff, it may be that if they are suffering from a mental illness, they may not want to discuss this and so then, this means that there is very little that can be done as it wont be known.

Something in which i did was go online and look at what information was avaliable for those who's access may be restricted. In their Access Statement for the Houses of Parliament, it shows us with pictures as well as in written texts, all kinds of information for those who may be visiting and may be in a wheelchair.

Across the 2 floors there are 8 lifts in which are accessiable when needed. There are also wheelchairs on site as well as staff who are more than happy to help the visitors get around.

It also tells us the different ways in which to travel to the Houses of Parliament and the best ways for those who need wheelchair access.

For this document to be online and avaliable to everyone at anytime, to me, is something that every company who allows the public to come to see the buildings or shops should have. It gives not only the person who may have the disability but the carer the support they need and allows them to maybe not feel as anxious about going. 

As you can see here, the Houses of Parliament has a very open area which would be suitable for those in a wheelchair or anything like that.

Thank you for listening and dont forget...

The dictionary definition of a disability may be ' a physical or mental condition that limits a persons movements, senses or acivities' but at the end of the day, they are still people just like you and I and they deserve the same oppotunities as us.

Thank you.