Accessibility Consultant, Author, Broadcaster. Most Influential Disabled Person in the UK. Enquiries: Shani
@insanityhq
.com Enjoying a life less ordinary ✨
To the career advisor who, when I was just 16, saw me in my wheelchair and suggested I apply for a job at my local council because they “like” hiring “disabled people,” I proudly hold the title of Doctor of Social Sciences, the highest of academic achievement that exists.🎓
It’s literally the government’s duty to provide welfare to people in society who can’t support themselves. If someone has a health condition that prevents them from working, it’s our governments duty to support them, not sanction them to find jobs that don’t even exist.
Let's talk about duty.
Disabled people do not have a duty to work unsuitable jobs. Let's get that clear.
The government *does* have a duty to not dehumanise the million disabled people who want to work but are denied the chance.
It’s a duty the government is failing on 🧵 1/7
Non-disabled people and their inaccessible decisions cost us disabled people more than just money. It affects our mental health and our chance at having any financial stability. Living in an inaccessible society cannot continue to cost the earth.
So nice to be invited to celebrate Diwali and Bandi Chhor Diwas as St James Palace. 🪔
I met Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Edinburgh
@EdinburghRoyals
alongside
@SunnyandShay
.
The price tag that comes with a disability should shame us all, and it’s clear that we need action. We want to live our lives to the full, contribute to society and get on in life. Extra costs make that increasingly difficult.
#ExtraCosts
Yesterday,
@Primark
achieved a groundbreaking milestone by introducing its first-ever adaptive underwear line, bringing both affordability and accessibility to the high street. I'm so proud to have collaborated with the incredible teams at Primark on their adaptive journey. AD.
Last night I won the Campaigner of the Year at the European Diversity Awards! 🏆
I want to thank everyone who helps to amplify my voice, because when you experience so many layers of marginalisation, it’s really hard to make your voice travel to the places and people
1/3
Disabled people must be ‘mucking around’ applying for 60% more jobs and being twice as likely to unemployed I guess 👀 Oh and somehow surviving the £12K in extra costs we face a year, when benefits so low do not offset these amounts - yet further sanctions are coming.
#BBCQT
“I think people on disability benefits and sick pay are an enormous untapped resource”
Journalist Isabel Oakeshott says reform to the disability benefits criteria, announced in the autumn statement, is not “unreasonable”
#bbcqt
The maths isn't mathing, but the stigma about disabled people in work is oppressing. Only 7% of disabled workers earned over £30,000 in 2022. That revelation stopped me in my tracks because at least £12,000 goes towards extra costs we face.
#FairDues
#DisabilityPayGap
“I am often forced to buy clothing designed for for 5-year-olds. I'm 35.”
So, I’m calling to you, British brands and high street retailers, to put inclusive, universal design at the heart of your decisions.
However, there are 16 million disabled people but only 427 wheelchair-accessible homes are built each year, meaning that someone could be on the waiting list for 47 years at the current rate of building.
9% of homes in England have only the most basic accessibility features.
Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work, Tom Pursglove MP, and Disability and Access Ambassador for Tourism,
@RossCalladine
, at AbleStay London, seeing how their fully-accessible holiday home is helping disabled people explore our capital city. ⬇️
Last night I won my 24th award in recognition of my work as an Inclusion Specialist and all-around changemaker 🥹
I am honoured to have received the
@weareAllBright
#Brightlist
Inclusion Advocate Award! 🏆
I’m proud to have worked with over 250 businesses/brands on inclusion.
A disabled person is 4 times more likely to be in work if their accessible housing needs are met.
At the current rate of building in England, a wheelchair user joining the list today could wait up to 47 years for a new home that meets their needs.
Pre keynote ice cream 🍦 Enjoying the sun in Brighton ahead of closing day 2 of the
@theRCN
congress. I love visiting lots of new places and countries for work, perk of the job!
#KeynoteSpeaker
#RCN2023
#RCNCongress
Today marks 'Disability Pay Gap Day' in the UK, exposing a shocking reality: disabled workers earn nearly £67 less per week than their non-disabled counterparts. To put it in perspective, that's more than the average household's weekly food bill of £62.20.
#DisabilityPayGap
Allow me to reintroduce myself as DR SHANI DHANDA 🥹😭😳🥳
Today I became a Doctor of Social Sciences at the very University where this incredible journey of mine began
@wlv_uni
🎓
I’m overjoyed to have been recognised for my work with an honorary doctorate!
Claims for disability discrimination are the most frequent type brought against the
@metpoliceuk
but all the coverage of the Casey Review only talks institutional racism, sexism and homophobia.
Ableism in the force has the highest number of claims yet
I'm proud to be listed as one of the most influential disabled people in the UK for the fifth year running.
I held my spot at
#2
and won the overall business and finance category.
Congratulations to all the award winners, our community is thriving!
The marathon continues 🏃🏽♀️
If any media outlets are covering disability rights stories with everything going on right now, please use a diverse range of disabled people including:
✅ People with different conditions and impairments
✅ Those who were born with and have acquired conditions and impairments
Today marks the beginning of UK Disability History Month, running to December 16th, focusing on Disability, Children, and Youth. This prompts a reconsideration of how institutions engage with disabled youth, urging the media to adopt more non-stereotypical portrayals.
#UKDHM
Worrying about what to wear shouldn’t constantly overshadow important and once in a lifetime opportunities. But that’s my reality along with many other disabled people.
I was invited to a reception with The Queen Consort for International Women’s Day. It was fabulous and I felt
The biggest con of experiencing disability is being expected to remove all the barriers we did not create.
We have to disproportionately use our time, money and energy (some of us already have limited energy) to fight for the most basic rights and
Love this! We did something similar for my brother’s wedding. We gave out covid tests along with traditional Indian sweets as well as live-streamed the wedding so anyone who was shielding could still be part of the celebrations, just remotely and in the safety of their own home.
My mom and dad just went to a retirement party with all Black folks—and you need to hear about it:
They were all required to wear masks and had temperature checks at the front door.
Masks were enforced and only permitted to be taken off while eating.
They had separate
I am thrilled to have been nominated for the Inclusion Advocate Award at this year's BrightList Awards, taking place tonight!
It's such an honour to be recognised alongside so many incredible people and allies who are making a difference in their communities and industries.
Happy Vaisakhi 🎉 No, it’s not Sikh new year.
It was on this day in 1699 when the tenth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, established a new Sikh order, the Khalsa Panth.
The mission of the Khalsa is to work towards “degh tegh fateh” for everyone, regardless of gender,
I’m truly honoured to named in
@BBC100women
2020 list 🎉
It recognises trailblazing and influential women from across the globe 🌍
Thank you to everyone who supports me and amplifies the work I do for
#inclusion
and
#equality
🙌🏽
#BBC100Women
I’m Shani and I break down barriers 🙅🏽♀️
I’m so excited to share the final part of the LinkedIn campaign, which in 30 seconds shows how I turned my passion into a career.
Read More:
#EverydayEquality
#RepresentationMatters
#SeatAtTheTable
On top of disability, ethnicity and gender pay gaps, last year it cost me £13,000 to live in an inaccessible society.
Disabled people’s money just doesn’t go as far due to higher cost of living as products and services aren’t designed for our needs.
Today marks 'Disability Pay Gap Day' in the UK, exposing a shocking reality: disabled workers earn nearly £67 less per week than their non-disabled counterparts. To put it in perspective, that's more than the average household's weekly food bill of £62.20.
#DisabilityPayGap
Today is
#PurpleTuesday
, a powerful reminder that disabled people and their households hold an astounding $8 trillion in global spending power, growing by 14% each year. Yet many businesses and brands aren’t accessible and ignore the needs of the world’s largest ‘minority’ group.
Arghhh! I’m shocked and speechless (which is very unlike me!) Thank you to everyone who supports and champions my work and my voice, so I can hold space and create impactful change for others. Thank you for this incredible award - Well done to everyone shortlisted too!
#FFAwards20
I’m back at the
@UN
with supporting the first ever youth delegation of 15 disability advocates from around the world.
I look forward to catching up with colleagues from the disability inclusion and accessibility world.
#ZeroBarriers
#ZeroCon23
🌱
If you’re able to, grab a copy of the
@DailyMirror
newspaper today for this double page spread on coping with chronic pain, disability and long-term illness.
It’s full of brilliant advice from a GP, a psychologist, and me - the disability expert.
Are you a disabled person who is fed up with the lack of accessible public toilets when they're out and about?
@itvnews
are looking to speak to some people about this for a news piece. Please email me hello
@shanidhanda
.com if you’d like to be involved.
#JournoRequest
#Disability
As I have a pre-existing medical condition I'm unable to access private healthcare for my condition & most travel insurance policies. I am being denied access to healthcare and have to pay premiums to travel. Has this ever been legally challenged before as it's discrimination?
I was honoured to be invited to 10 Downing Street last night to celebrate Vaisakhi.
I received heartfelt praise from many people across the Sikh community, who expressed their pride in me and my work. 🥹
It's especially meaningful to receive such words of appreciation from
91% of disabled people are worried about energy bills this winter
@scope
. Thank you
@MartinSLewis
@susannareid100
for highlighting this issue on
@GMB
. £150 is a tokenist gesture; whilst we welcome this support, this amount of money doesn't begin to scratch the surface. A thread🧵
'Life costs more when you're disabled. We're already in our own cost of living crisis.'
Up to six million disabled people start receiving £150 this week to help them with rising living costs. But does it go far enough - we speak to Shani Dhanda about how people will manage.
The representation we all needed when growing up 🥹 I’m so happy things are progressing for future generations of disabled people. Incredible work
@TheSineadBurke
🙌🏽
From runways to galleries, stadiums to television screens, British Vogue’s May 2023 covers celebrate a new vanguard of Disabled talent. First up,
@TheSineadBurke
. In an important essay, she underscores why nothing is more fashionable than inclusivity.
Have you ever come across that quote from Maya Angelou that goes 'They may forget what you said - but they will never forget how you made them feel'?
Well, it's so true, especially when it comes to using inclusive language. It's not just about avoiding insensitive words or
This week your
#SouthAsian
colleagues may be observing:
👉🏽 12 April -
#Ramadan
- a month of fasting
👉🏽 14 April -
#Vaisakhi
- festival celebrating the founding of the
#Sikh
community and spring harvest in
#Punjab
.
👉🏽 14 April -
#Boishakhi
- Bengali New Year
We won!
@RIDI_org
award for reasonable adjustments in recruitment 🙌🏽
I’m so honoured that my role at Virgin Media allows me to live my passion, which is helping to create
#everydayequality
and remove barriers.
Congratulations to the entire team! ❤️
Tell me you don’t understand disabled people and our needs without telling me you don’t understand disabled people and our needs….
✅ no alt-text.
✅ announcement about welfare reforms that are counter productive.
✅ minister role sits in DWP which is failing disabled people.
We're delighted
@MimsDavies
has been appointed as the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work
@DWPgovuk
, taking forward our next generation of welfare reforms to tear down barriers to work for disabled people across the UK and continuing to protect those most in need.
I’m working with BBC Rip Off Britain on a piece about Blue Badge Thefts. Have you had your Blue Badge stolen from your vehicle? If so, and you’d be happy to talk to a Rip Off Britain team member about your experience, please send me a message, and I’ll put you in touch.
Thanks!
I’m devastated to hear of
@judithheumann
’s passing.
I was incredibly fortunate to interview Judy at the closing of the
@HarkinSummit
. We spoke at length about her life’s work but there was one question I really wanted to ask her. It was ‘did you ever think you would do this
ITV News are filming a piece on disability hate crime and want to speak to someone who has been a victim of this.
Location: London
Date: Wednesday 30th Nov
Format: In-person filming
DM me if you’d like to contribute to the piece.
#DisabilityTwitter
#JournoRequest
Looking for disabled people to share their experiences about the lack of awareness and access barriers around safe evacuation for a white paper. It can be brief and anonymised if you don’t wish to be identified.
#DisabilityTwitter
Me and my opinions felt right at home as a guest panellist on
@loosewomen
✨
It was a truly fantastic experience, especially having grown up watching these incredible women on my screen and on Loose Women over the years.
#LooseWomen
1/3
Absolutely loved every minute of my conversation with
@hollywills
and
@Schofe
on
@thismorning
.
I’m super grateful to the team
@ITV
giving me the opportunity to highlight the amount of inequality faced by
#disabled
people, just going about our daily lives.
Prime example of how someone’s condition/impairment doesn’t disable them, the world is disabling with its inaccessible spaces, products and services with the bias decision makers have assuming everyone will be able to access the everything in the same way.
Don't forget you can catch me on two shows today:
🌞
@thismorning
Morning on ITV at 10 am. I'll be on for The Morning View, covering the day's top stories.
I'm proud to be one of eight disabled activists and movement-builders on the advisory panel, ensuring disabled people are at the heart of decision-making for the Disability Justice Fund. Here's an update on our first funding round 👇🏾
We’re delighted to have awarded funding to 16 projects across London working for disability justice.
All of these projects will put Deaf and Disabled Londoners at the heart of campaigns for change.
Find out more about these projects 🧵
I'm excited to share I’ll be on the new health consumer show called Con or Cure on
@BBCOne
starting this Monday. 🩺
It’s dedicated to righting the wrongs of bad medicine, exposing medical quacks, exploding false news, explaining topical health and showcasing extraordinary cases.
This
#IDPD
I wrote about the systemic barriers to meaningful employment for disabled people. We are not ‘work shy’ or ‘benefit cheats’ - we’re being over-excluded and some even face exploitation in the job market.
#AutumnStatement
#DisabledWorkers
#Work
Optically it sounds great having South Asian representation in positions of power, but if those people are actually causing more harm, doing nothing to lessen inequalities, abusing their position and spreading hate - what difference does it make? It’s just embarrassing.
I don’t know why so many people working in wealth management keep requesting to connect and speak with me.
If you work in wealth management, I think you should know:
👉🏽 Nearly half of everyone in the UK that lives in poverty is disabled or lives with a disabled family member.
If you haven’t heard of
@Evenbreak
it’s a job site where you can find employers who actively want to hire disabled people.
I really wish this existed when I was trying to enter the world of work!
Share
@Evenbreak
with any disabled jobseekers you know.
#DisabilityTwitter
Barriers and bias exclude disabled people from work - not our bodies, abilities, or productivity.
Rather than accepting the government and media's portrayal of disabled people as "work shy, shirkers, and benefits cheats," here are the facts.🧾
Here’s my first blog post for
@scope
on the silent epidemic that is
#loneliness
. I was shocked to learn almost half of working-age disabled people are chronically lonely, saying they “always or often” feel lonely.This equates to 3 million!
#WhatINeedToSay
Reminder - you don’t need to tell me that I have a short stature. I’m reminded by it every single day whenever I do anything in my life. These are the things people have said to me this week
👉🏽 You’re so tiny
👉🏽 You’re so cute I want to pick you up and put you in my pocket
🤮
📣 Exciting News! I'm thrilled to announce the launch of my brand new newsletter that's all about accessibility and inclusion.
It's your one-stop shop for the latest updates, tips, and news that you can trust. And the best part? It's completely FREE! 🤑
If you care about
I’m proud to be named on the 2020
@ShawTrust
#DisabilityPower100
which is helping to inspire the next generation for a more
#inclusiveworld
. Share this if you believe in equality for disabled people. See who else is on the list
Nearly 5 years later I have collected my new wheelchair today 🎉 It took this long because:
👉🏽 Waiting for NHS Wheelchair Services appointment to find out they couldn’t provide anything suitable for me. Current waiting list is 9000 people in my local area.
👉🏽 COVID delays
This bad boy has severed me well for 18 years, but now it’s time for an upgrade. Any recommendations for a super lightweight folding
#wheelchair
? RIP
#Lomax
There are strong indications that the government is set to announce the abolition of the work capability assessment (WCA) and the introduction of automated sanctions for UC claimants in today's
#SpringBudget
.
Whilst abolishing the WCA may sound like good news, it depends very
I noted that in the winner’s speeches many thanked commissioning editors for ‘taking a risk’ on them as actors, their script or show idea - especially people from minority backgrounds. I was shocked. These are outright talented people who are feeling they are a ‘risk’.
Ten years ago
@LennyHenry
made headlines when he left BAFTAs in disgust because it was “All White on the night”. This year at the same ceremony BAFTA’s first non-white Chair calls out lack of diversity and how industry has to change.
Change has to come.
1/2 I was on
@SkyNews
this morning discussing the decision the extend the Blue Badge scheme for people with non visable conditions or impairments. I welcome the news but strongly believe more bays need to be made available and Blue Badge theft/misuse
#BlueBadge
#EverydayEquality
AJ wasn’t the only one winning on Saturday night 🥊
I’m very honoured to be the recipient of the Asian Business Chamber of Commerce President’s Award.
Thank you for all the support in everything
@cas_majid
@_Anj_Khan
#EverydayEquality
Today is
#DisabilityPayGap
day for 2021, the day on which disabled workers effectively stop getting paid and work for free for the last 52 days of the year.
1/7
WOW! I loved every minute of speaking at and attending
@WOWisGlobal
yesterday. If you get the opportunity to attend - grab it with both hands. It’s on today and tomorrow
@southbankcentre
.
#WowLdn
#Wow2023
I'm thrilled to share Fair Dues, which launches today. It's a collaborative resource where disabled freelancers or self-employed workers can anonymously share pay rates to combat the flood of unpaid work requests we receive.
#FairDues
#DisabledWorkers