A new show with the usual push and pull as Simon and Phil grapple with the world of disability. Phil noticed a London hospital was getting grief for charging blue badge holders (disabled people) for visitor parking. Phil asks, well why not? Resilience is a buzz word, particularly in the field of mental health, so called ‘snowflakes’ and Millennials. Simon was recently asked by an HR recruiter, is it ok to put the word ‘resilience’ in a job ad? Prime Minister Boris Johnson has written to all government departments to ask them to re-look at how they can remove disabling barriers and help unleash the talent of disabled people currently excluded. A refreshing proclamation of leadership  or an all too familiar refrain? Where does stammering and stuttering sit within the world of disability? Is it covered by the legislation, a natural fit within the social model? A new book called ‘Stammering: Pride and Prejudice’ allows Phil and Simon to look at the topic.A hearty Listeners Corner (messages from you) rounds off another bumper show. If you'd like a Transcript, drop us a line. Let us know what you think of the show via Twitter, Facebook or email [email protected] (mailto:[email protected])  Links to topics discussedBlue Badge Parking at hospital (http://bit.ly/39tALOH)Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Disability across government (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10893772/boris-johnson-letter-cabinet-ministers-barriers-disabled/)Stammering: Pride and Prejudice   (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Stammering-Pride-Prejudice-2019-Difference/dp/190782636X/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2GNXFHPF7V3Q0&keywords=stammering+pride+and+prejudice&qid=1582552482&sprefix=stammering+pride,aps,134&sr=8-1)

Just in time for Christmas, but Phil and Simon are not yet full of festive cheer. There’s campaigning to be done! Following the general election in the United Kingdom, Phil and Simon set out what would be in their disability manifesto. Simon gets all "Andrew Neil", and Phil becomes a Trade Union Rep! Is Berlin Tegel the most accessible airport if you have mobility difficulties, Simon explains why that might be. Tesco has joined the sunflower lanyard programme, to help non-visibly disabled people but is this the right approach? How is it being positioned?Talking of positioning, perception and reality, International Day of Disabled People was marked on the 3rd of December, and Phil and Simon wonder if it has a more significant impact in parts of the world other than in the UK. Is there an element of tick box? Does everyone make a big deal for a day then go back to as we were?Using a set of wheels when you’re navigating the pavement, is there some kind of etiquette? Why do people keep moving away from their line of travel and aim directly at Simon forcing him to move? Is he a magnet? Are they over overcompensating? Who will chicken out first?We update listeners on TUI and their wheelchair height restrictions plus listeners suggestions for song titles linked to disability. This includes the perennial Choices and Rights and a new song, The Social Model. After our conversation on the last show about Career and Personal Development Courses, a listener asks why aren’t there more of these courses?That is it for 2020. Thank you for listening, thank you for taking part and thank you for contacting us. Have a super Christmas and a wonderful New Year. Sainsburys sunflower lanyard  (https://www.about.sainsburys.co.uk/news/latest-news/2019/07-10-2019-sainsburys-and-argos-announce-national-rollout-of-hidden-disability-lanyard-scheme)Tilly Moses  (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-49911276)The Social Model song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kJe7FNSy_0&list=PLzkk4hYjDKsOl6WZSU2yTCPbGGf2rYmkx&index=3&t=0s)Choices and Rights song (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yU8344cQy5g)Jane Campbell on Desert Island Discs  (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01lh96q)

In this Show Phil shares his concerns about TUI Holidays who have changed the rules on the size of the wheelchairs they will carry, this could have major implications for powered wheelchair users.  Linked to the travel theme Simon describes a hotel in the US whose definition of accessibility leaves something to be desired. Simon poses the question; is our generation just too tolerant when it comes to confronting disabling barriers and are younger disabled people becoming angrier? Martin Luther King, turning the other cheek, versus Malcolm X taking direct action We have both been running personal development programmes (PDP) for disabled people for different clients for many years. In this show, we share our thoughts about the importance, relevance and impact of these programmes. We end by asking our listeners to suggest songs that would make a great playlist for the PDP courses. Queen “We are the champions” is a Phil suggestion with Simon offering Ian Drury’s “Spasticus Autisticus”. What would you choose? Send us your suggestions to the [email protected] Here's a link to the specialist holiday company Phil mentioned in our discussion Enable Holidays (http://bit.ly/2OaWZgz)  Transcription is available on request. Click here for the Itunes link https://apple.co/2SO6GSV or here http://bit.ly/2ONehjc for the Audioboom version  If you have any comments, feedback or suggestions, please email us at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . We hope you enjoy it.You can visit the Phil and Simon Show Facebook page http://bit.ly/1t8tS0dor follow us on Twitter @PhilSimonShow (https://twitter.com/PhilSimonShow)

This month, we were lucky enough to have Diane Lightfoot. Chief Executive of the Business Disability Forum on the show. Phil and Simon have been associates, consultants, allies and critical friends of the Forum for 20 years and we mention the organisation often in our shows. It’s unique, representing business and disability voices in one place.Three years ago Diane Lightfoot became the chief executive and we discuss what she sees as the successes and progress made in her time, as well as what still needs to be done.Prior to joining the Forum, Diane was Director of Policy and Communications for United Response, a leading national disability charity and she focused on the organisation’s employment services which focused particularly on this with learning difficulties. Phil and Simon ask Diane why is the group of disabled people so often ignored and how do we get the employment and participation rates up.There’s an error in the show. See if you can spot it and let us know, to win..our praise. Business Disability Forum https://businessdisabilityforum.org.ukUnited Response https://www.unitedresponse.org.uk

Our summer holidays are over and we review our respective trips. Gran Canaria, Brussels, Berlin, Twinwood Festival 2019 and a trip around the UK all get a mention.A rarely seen public refusal, Dominos Pizza is asking the US Supreme Court to allow them to ignore the needs of sight-impaired people regarding the accessibility of their website, all because they say they don't have any guidelines.Another refusal comes from the Royal and Ancient Golf Club who banned an Open Champion, John Daly from using a golf buggy because it would 'break with tradition'.One person who managed to get the rules changed in his favour is Billy Monger. After becoming disabled from a racing car crash, he is back in Formula 3 racing having had the regulations excluding disabled drivers racing revised to include him and others.We wrap up with some comments from our listeners and a sort of book review “The Longevity Economy by Joseph F. Coughlin" which suggest we need to view ageing and disability differently.Links:Twinwood Festival 2019 (http://bit.ly/30iofO2)Domino Pizza Supreme Court story http://bit.ly/2UZmvak   Note - there is a strong swear word in the headline.John Daly Golf Cart story http://bit.ly/2NmZWvoBilly Monger http://bit.ly/2V534x8The Longevity Economy by Joseph Coughlin https://amzn.to/2V2C5SUClick here for the Itunes link https://apple.co/2AvKoe8 or here http://bit.ly/331gEEyfor the Audioboom version  If you have any comments, feedback or suggestions, please email us at [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) . We hope you enjoy it.You can visit the Phil and Simon Show Facebook page http://bit.ly/1t8tS0dor follow us on Twitter @PhilSimonShow (https://twitter.com/PhilSimonShow)

Caroline Casey is an engaging and emotive speaker. She’s done a TED Talk, spoken at Davos and her current project is to get 500 global companies to sign a pledge to discuss disability in the boardroom. We start by exploring her remarkable childhood, where her parents didn't tell her that she had sight loss. She explains how the Johnny Cash song, ‘A Boy Named Sue’ influenced this thinking. Having a great memory and the ability to listen, meant Caroline not only got by but got on. Then as a young adult, as she was about to have a driving lesson, she realised something was amiss. A later attempt to learn to drive stopped abruptly when she not only couldn’t she read the number plate, she couldn’t identify the car.  After the realisation, rather than explore this identity, she decided to hide it herself and spent a further 11 years pretending nothing was different, a period she calls ‘the fraudulent years’. When applying for a job and asked to complete a monitoring form she’d hesitate and eventually lightly graze the tick box, in pencil, showing her confusion. Finally, at 28 years old, she says she ‘came out of the disability closet’ and embraced her full self although acknowledges, she’s still working on accepting it - asking for help is one of the toughest things for her to do and she sees this inability as a weakness.Her latest campaign is Valuable 500 and she gives us an update with an impending deadline. If 56% of board meeting agendas have never mentioned disability, 7% of board-level employees have an impairment and 80% of those hide the fact, there’s some work to do.There are a few mild swear words, just to let you know. Transcription is available on request. Links https://www.thevaluable500.comDiversish video (https://youtu.be/HZyylZpRHN0)A Boy Named Sue (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZR5XGTpophI)  Twitter @500Valuable

Welcome to the Phil & Simon Show No 33.In an article published in the US, it is suggested that full employment has reduced the unemployment rate for disabled people. Taking a somewhat cynical view is this because the last in the queue are finally at the front? If so what’s wrong with that? https://n.pr/30ym0G5No P&S podcast would be complete without some discussion about accessible toilets and this one is no exception. Who says it unacceptable for non-disabled people to use them? We come to a view.Simon recently gave Phil a copy of Daniel Klein's book “Every Time I Find the Meaning of Life, They Change it” (OneWorld Publications 2015) at a point where Phil was feeling pretty low. We discuss the books messages and their impact.Following last months podcast featuring the inimitable Tom Shakespeare, we revisit the discussion around the Social Model of Disability to explore the impact on us.Finally, we dig deep into our listener's postbag and pull out comments about transcriptions, workplace adjustments research, where and when people listen and should we do more news.Keep the comments coming we love hearing from you.Transcript available by clicking here (https://www.dropbox.com/s/u4yps05va018go6/Phil%20%26%20Simon%20Show%20No%2033%20Transcript.rtf?dl=0&fbclid=IwAR2Ogb8N_jz3fZLdHGdMWryAdtMRcancLNymupyceePkALvm6YSpPJYufZc)A full transcript of this podcast is available on request. Please email [email protected]

Tom Shakespeare is our guest this month. An English sociologist and broadcaster he is known to many who are involved in disability rights as well the broader public because of his appearances on Radio 4 and numerous television documentaries. Tom has achondroplasia, a form of dwarfism and uses a wheelchair. He has worked at the World Health Organisation and is currently Professor of Disability Research at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Tom has never been afraid to share his views on a whole range of subjects. As you might expect he was very frank about some of the more difficult moments in his life; when he challenged the thinking of many disabled activists, about the social model, his take on bioethics and more recently assisted suicide. Our discussion also explored self-confidence as distinct from self-esteem and how ‘adversity inoculation’, that is experiencing surmountable challenges in life, can help with resilience rather than overprotecting people from taking risks.Tom talks about his influences; his father and Jenny Morris’ book Pride Against Prejudice. He questions whether we can get stuck, rejecting diversity of thought and resist smart allegiances which will ultimately weaken disabled people’s progress in society. For example, we need medical classification so how do we work with medical professionals, adapt them and own them? Or why don’t we work with the organisations we don’t like to change them?Transcript available here (https://www.dropbox.com/s/l81rw0y72yzy3qc/Phil%20%26%20Simon%20Show%20No%2032%20Tom%20Shakespeare?dl=0&fbclid=IwAR0blfPXkfNE4Z1R2naXnLRlvmhgoIJPC1rssYCCjXe2JqTVB8mJQz9yXQM) - click Download once you arrive. Finally just to let you know in advance there is a little swearing in this recording. Plus there's a ten second gap at the end before we sign off, so you can recover your breath from the interesting conversation. If you need a full transcript of this show please email us at [email protected]

We've not had research about reasonable adjustments in work for a while but the Business Disability Forum (https://businessdisabilityforum.org.uk) have completed a new survey. Phil and Simon investigate the findings are assess what might be behind the numbers.The Phil & Simon Show has produced a  transcript (https://www.dropbox.com/s/ute0kz6si8vda6v/Phil%20%26%20Simon%20Show%20No%2031.pdf?dl=0 ) for every show and released it at the same time as the pod. However, we weren't sure if anyone was reading it. Our guest Joanna Wootten (https://twitter.com/JoannaSolutions) gives us her thoughts on podcasts, radio, transcripts and being a Deaf person.We recently spoke of the sad passing of Sir Bert Massie. His autobiography, A Life Without Limits (http://www.mereobooks.com/books/genre/self-help-motivational/fighting-fairer-world) , has just been published and Simon and Phil review it.Plus there might be a mention of Simon's (https://twitter.com/simonminty/status/1125478187184553986) recent sporting activities.LinksTranscription (https://www.dropbox.com/s/ute0kz6si8vda6v/Phil%20%26%20Simon%20Show%20No%2031.pdf?dl=0 )Survey findings (https://businessdisabilityforum.org.uk/adjustments)Sir Bert Massie's book publishers (http://www.mereobooks.com/books/genre/self-help-motivational/fighting-fairer-world)Sir Bert's book Amazon Kindle (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Life-Without-Limits-Disability-Activist-ebook/dp/B07QB3XKNB/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1558519372&sr=8-1-fkmrnull)Dwarf Sports Association UK (https://www.dsauk.org)