Reena Parmar

Internalised ableism can be a huge barrier to success, particularly when we compare ourselves to others that have not experienced the same barriers. Be kind to yourself and look after your mental and physical health, as no one else can do that for you. Pace yourself and take one day at a time. Find allies and champions to support you on your journey. Take time to pause and reflect regularly on what is and is not working for you, so that adjustments can be made in a timely way.

Through her involvement with the Disabled Solicitors Network, Reena has supported the publication of resources and guidance that have practical impact for both individuals and employers in the solicitors’ profession eg disabled students guidance, guidance on beginning an organisation’s digital accessibility journey and best practice guidance for organisations on reasonable adjustments. Reena actively supports aspiring solicitors and others within the profession that reach out to her, through informal mentoring, bilateral support and guidance, and advocacy. Reena has successfully sought to raise awareness around disability and neurodivergence in a variety of different ways, including by giving talks about her lived experience, presenting on panels about disability, featuring on podcasts, contributing to press articles and publishing regular social media posts. Her public profile means that her messaging reaches far beyond the disability community within the legal profession.

Organisations often focus on the recruitment of disabled or neurodivergent talent, but they do not invest in the retention and progression of that talent. This needs to change because there is a distinct lack of disabled and neurodivergent senior leaders in the legal profession and more broadly within the business world. In 5 years’ time, I hope the conversation will have moved on from why disability, neuro-inclusion and mental health are strategic imperatives for businesses; to be in a world where all medium and large businesses recognise the value of disabled and neurodivergent talent, and where these aspects of diversity are given appropriate recognition and focus throughout the employee lifecycle. I hope to see a greater mix of diversity on partnerships, boards and at C-Suite level – with the focus expanding beyond gender and ethnic diversity to include other dimensions of diversity such as disability. I intend to play a role in driving that change.

Walking our dog, spending time with family and friends, reading, travelling.

Being outside in nature on a sunny day with our dog Rocky.

Dogs

I would introduce paid disability leave (distinct from sick leave) as a standard employee day 1 right, so that disabled people are empowered to take time off to manage medical and other disability-related appointments without having to use up their annual leave or sick leave.

Physical infrastructure – modifying the public transport system so that disabled people are able to travel independently and with confidence that they will be able to get where they need to go. Ensuring all office, education and public service premises (including courts) are accessible. Education – disabled and neurodivergent children need more support at an earlier stage within the state education system. It is incredibly hard to access additional support without an Education Health Care Plan (and getting one of those is next to impossible). A lack of support in education can limit life opportunities later. There is an urgent need for more government investment to solve this crisis. Access to Work – this can be an invaluable service but it can take a long time to navigate the process, which can limit the ability of disabled people to take on jobs with the support that they need on day one. There also needs to be more awareness and training around access to work within the education system (to ease the transition from education to work) and within job centre services. Benefits – the current system is lengthy, bureaucratic and based on a deficits model; not supportive and easy to access. It is premised on the assumption that a disabled person is seeking to “cheat” the benefits system. Disabled people have to spend a lot of time and effort in navigating the benefits process, and some may experience poverty in the meantime. Workplace adjustments – Workplace adjustments can also transform an employee’s experience, and this is an area that organisations often get wrong. Employees should be able to access workplace adjustments quickly and easily, without the need for individuals to project manage the process themselves or obtain multiple layers of internal approvals. Line manager confidence – I would like to see organisations investing in building up the disability and neurodiversity confidence of line managers and supervisors. They will often be the first point of contact for a disabled or neurodivergent employee that is struggling, and that can be critical in shaping an employee’s experience, so it is important to empower those managers to be supportive and empathetic. Role models – representation matters. If you can see it, you believe that you can be it. Notably, there is a distinct lack of disabled and neurodivergent senior leaders in the legal profession and more broadly within the business world. We need to see greater disability representation at board and C-Suite level in order for more junior disabled talent to have the confidence that they can progress and thrive with their careers.