The theme for this year’s UK Disability History Month is Disability, Livelihood and Employment, which provides a perfect opportunity to showcase disabled people in the world of work. This article focuses on my role as a disability consultant and the keys that enable me to do this successfully, how I got in to it, the pros and cons and my advice to others wishing to follow a similar path.

My name is Callum Russell and I am blind since birth. I am the founder of CrystalEyes, a bespoke consultancy supporting organisations with any aspect of disability inclusion, with a particular focus on the needs of those with a vision impairment. My work sees me deliver awareness training, as well as provide access audits of company websites and recruitment processes, all of which supports companies, not only to become disability confident, but to take steps towards disability confidence in action. I am also passionate about inclusive employment for all, which is why I am proud to be an associate of the British Association for Supported Employment, as well as an AccessAble ambassador.

My employment journey

I had previously worked for a sight loss charity, initially as a Community Fundraiser. But I then had the opportunity to set up and run an employment support programme, which sought to enable adults living in Surrey with a sensory impairment to seek and maintain sustainable employment. I very quickly gained an understanding of the importance of the right support at the right time, accessible recruitment processes and the opportunity to develop skills and attributes that employers value, whether you are disabled or non-disabled.

I then moved on to become an Equality Diversity and Inclusion Advisor. However, this role did not work out as hoped. Nonetheless, I realised from this apparent setback that disability inclusion was my passion and that setting up my own consultancy felt like the best way of turning this passion in to a meaningful career.

Key enablers

Assistive technology has transformed the employment prospects of vision impaired people, such as me. For example, JAWS enables me to use a laptop to complete standard tasks, such as sending and receiving emails and producing written reports, which are things that sighted people take for granted. In addition, the power of AI is transforming access to photographs and other visual material, which enables people like me to work even more independently. UK Disability History Month provides an opportunity to reflect on the progress that has been made in this area and my grandparents often remark on the fact that, when they were working as teachers in the 1960s, vision impaired people had very limited career paths due to the extreme limitations of working exclusively in braille and the lack of technology available. The technological advancements of today should surely be a cause for celebration.

In addition, financial support offered by Access To Work has been, and is continuing to be, an enabler for me and for many others. Consultancies like mine, as well as employers generally, would not be able to afford the assistive technology outlined above without this vital financial support.

Employment prospects for the vision impaired

Despite the enablers described above and the undoubted developments in the support available, the well rehearsed statistic of only one in every four vision impaired people being in sustainable employment has remained largely unchanged for a generation. However, of far greater concern is a recent survey by the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Eye Health and Visual Impairment, which found that a quarter of employers are unwilling to make changes to their workplaces in order to be accessible to blind or partially sighted employees, with 48% of those surveyed admitting that they do not have accessible recruitment processes. It is therefore important that we continue to highlight the benefits of inclusive employment, the key enablers for vision impaired and other disabled employees and the financial support available to employers seeking to employ vision impaired and other disabled people.

Positives of self-employment

This will obviously differ depending on one’s perspective. But I personally relish the fact that no one day is the same and that every organisation I work with has different needs and perspectives. In addition, self-employment brings with it a tremendous amount of autonomy, which is something I have always valued in previous roles.

Challenges of self-employment

The main challenge of self-employment is the need to always be on the lookout for potential new business. I find that there are busy periods and quiet periods; it is important to not get too high when things are going well or too low when things are a little quiet.

Advice to others

1. Self-employment is a vocation. Be prepared to give it absolutely everything.
2. Don’t just go into self-employment. The experiences I’ve gained from previous roles have served me well, particularly when I first set up, as prospective clients want to be reassured that you have what is needed to fulfil their requests. So meaningful career experience is definitely worth obtaining.
3. Be prepared to take any opportunity, particularly early on. The busier you are, the more your name gets out there and the more likely it is that other opportunities will come along.
4. Social media, particularly LinkedIn, is a vital communication tool. Opportunities have arisen as a result of posts I have made on my LinkedIn profile.

 

It's clear that while significant progress has been made, there is still much work to be done to ensure inclusive and accessible employment for all disabled people. The advancements in assistive technology, the support of programs like Access to Work, and the positive impact of disability inclusion are cause for celebration, but the challenge remains to break down the barriers that still prevent many from securing sustainable work.

We are currently offering an Inclusive Employment package, which includes access to two of our eLearning training courses and a Detailed Access Guide for a meeting space. If you’re an employer, we encourage you to consider the value that disability inclusion can bring to your organisation - not just as a legal obligation, but as an opportunity to tap into a talented, diverse workforce.