Dr Amit Patel is a best-selling author, TV presenter, DEI consultant, motivational speaker, disability rights campaigner and charity Trustee. Amit was a doctor, specialising in emergency medicine but in 2013, he completely lost his sight overnight. Since then, Amit has been on a journey to learn to live with his sight loss. Today, Amit remains an active campaigner for accessibility, diversity & inclusion, speaking out against the issues that disabled people face daily. Committed to achieving greater representation of disabled people across all areas of life, Amit continues to challenge himself and challenge other people’s perceptions of disability. He’s one of our panellists at Be The Change - make a difference event on Diversity & Inclusion. Here’s his exclusive Q&A with Asian Voice:
- What do diversity and inclusion truly mean to you?
Diversity and inclusion to me mean not being segregated due to race, age or disability. It also means not being judged by ingrained perceptions. It’s not about being ‘woke’ or following a trend, it’s about all of us being able to walk the same path together, without fear of judgement or being left behind, and with the support needed to allow you to get to your destination or goal without barriers.
Since losing my sight, I’ve had to learn how to do everyday tasks differently from how I did them as a sighted person. It takes time, but with help and support, nothing is impossible.
I know and trust in my abilities, but not everyone around me does. Sometimes it’s a society that holds us back, so my advice is to never underestimate yourself. Disability doesn’t define you; it makes you stronger in ways others don’t understand.”
- What is your advice to people such that they can truly work towards promoting diversity and inclusion for the disabled?
It starts with language. Othering people by using terms like “the disabled” already begins to separate disabled people from abled people. This separation or segregation is exactly what we want to remove. Disabled people should be seen as whole people with their own strengths and weaknesses like anyone else, not be judged based on their disability. We talk about reasonable adjustments in the workplace to facilitate disabled people in the roles, but it goes beyond practical measures to inclusive language, a welcoming and open environment where people can be themselves. This will foster a more inclusive workplace for every minority group.
- What is the change you’d like to see in day-to-day life, where inclusion for disabled people can be further promoted?
In our minds, it’s easy to separate things like disability and racism, but actually, the two are inherently linked. Our communities in particular struggle with the concept of disability and what that means. There are various historic and cultural reasons for this which are too complex to go into here, but what I would love to see is a breakdown in barriers within our Indian/Asian community when it comes to discussing and dealing with a disability. Disabled people are not a “burden” and can live full and happy, fulfilling and independent lives. Provided we have the right level of support. And that will differ from person to person, but we should never be written off, shut away at home, or treated as an embarrassment or a curse on the family.
When I lost my sight, the pity bestowed on my family was an enormous source of frustration for everyone. I couldn’t see, but I was still me. Still ambitious, still young and full of life. I wasn’t going to sit at home and hide away from society because people thought that is what I should do.
Instead, I flipped my focus – why do we think like this and have zero expectations of someone with a disability? My priority became to achieve a greater representation of disabled people and to raise the profile of British Asians with disabilities so that the next generation sees a diverse range of powerful Asian role models.
- What should be the end goal of successfully practising diversity and inclusion in day-to-day life?
I see the end goal as not needing to practise DEI but for it to be normalised in your everyday business, activities and behaviours. That means addressing your unconscious biases and listening to the needs of different people so that you can best support them. I want to see a more diverse and inclusive society overall, this isn’t about lifting only disabled people, or people of colour, gender, or any other grouping. It’s about society being more representative as a whole. Everyone has a part to play here. I’m working primarily in the corporate, media and charity sectors, noting the lack of diverse voices within the latter. The only way I could effect change was to seek change from within. Sitting on the Board of Trustees for two national charities, my goal is to shape new policies to ensure that they reach all of their target audience and deliver effective change in the community.
I’d love for everyone reading this to think about what positive change they would like to see in our society and how they can help to achieve this.
