I had to hire myself and spent much of my early adulthood living below the poverty line
CBC Communications | Posted: October 5, 2022 6:20 PM | Last Updated: October 5, 2022
Living with a disability is about navigating one darn thing after another
October is Disability Employment Awareness Month (DEAM). To help spread awareness, CBC Calgary is highlighting stories from self-advocates and inclusive employers. Learn more at cbc.ca/mycalgary.
This story is the experience of Athena Cooper, who is a visual artist and coach who uses art-making practices to help others explore, grow and heal.
I was born with the genetic condition, osteogenesis imperfecta (a.k.a. brittle bone disease), and I have been a power wheelchair user since the age of six.
After a successful 14-year career working in web development and digital marketing, I chose to leave behind the corporate 9-to-5 to become a visual artist, creativity coach and entrepreneur.
I am a professional acrylic painter and an active status member of the Federation of Canadian Artists. I've exhibited my paintings in Calgary, Vancouver and virtually during the pandemic climate. With my husband, a clinical counsellor, I also co-founded the Tilted Windmills Healing Centre, an initiative that promotes using creativity and self-expression as tools to support mental health.
As a visual artist, I use my art as my advocacy and my way of allowing others to see the world through my eyes as a person with a disability. I have been fortunate to receive grant funding from the Canada Council for the Arts, Calgary Arts Development and the City of Calgary for the research and development phase of a future art exhibition on the subject of interabled love.
I see interabled relationships — the romantic relationship between a disabled partner and an able-bodied one — as a microcosm of the relationship between the disabled and able-bodied in wider society.
The preconceptions around interabled love dig into the same contentious questions around what value does a disabled person bring to that romantic relationship (or society)? Will that person only ever be a burden to that relationship (or society)?
I strongly believe that all of us have something to bring to the table and that people with disabilities can and should be able to live ordinary lives. - Athena Cooper
I strongly believe that all of us have something to bring to the table and that people with disabilities can and should be able to live ordinary lives.
I know from my own relationship with my able-bodied husband that my disability is an aspect of our relationship but not its central focus by any means.
In my planned art exhibition, I will highlight the extraordinary, ordinary nature of our lives as an interabled couple through a series of paintings.
Wheelchair accessibility is top of mind in everything I do and can require an exceptional level of pre-planning to make the simplest outing a reality. For instance, when I was recently hired to facilitate a painting workshop, I made an extra trip down ahead of time to confirm I'd be able to get into the building, have enough room to manoeuvre in the workshop area and have access to an accessible washroom.
While some of this accessibility screening can be done over the phone, I know from experience that requirements that I deem absolutely essential can be unknowingly missed by someone who doesn't have a solid understanding of what accessibility means. A single step at the entrance, a doorway that's too narrow, a tight hallway crammed with furniture or an accessible washroom that's being partially used for storage — all of these are deal breakers that I've encountered in so-called "wheelchair accessible" spaces.
A single step at the entrance, a doorway that's too narrow, a tight hallway crammed with furniture or an accessible washroom that's being partially used for storage — all of these are deal breakers that I've encountered in so-called 'wheelchair accessible' spaces. - Athena Cooper
There's also a lot of planning that goes into getting me to and from a job. If I'm motoring there in my wheelchair, I might use Google Street View to confirm the existence of sidewalks with curb cuts along my route.
For longer ventures, I'll book a Calgary Transit Access, which works best when secured five days in advance and requires buffering about an hour on either side of the trip to account for pickup and drop-off delays.
I would challenge employers to flip their preconceptions about hiring people with disabilities. If they think that hiring someone with a disability is going to be burdensome or cost them additional time and resources, I say what will it cost them to not factor disability into the equation? What is the talent pool that they will be missing out on?
People with disabilities can be fantastic employees because they are natural creative problem-solvers, and study after study has shown that they have a lower turnover rate than their non-disabled counterparts.
If they think that hiring someone with a disability is going to be burdensome or cost them additional time and resources, I say what will it cost them to not factor disability into the equation? - Athena Cooper
Also, disability can happen to anyone at any point in their life, so planning for accessibility and inclusion can benefit not only new employees but existing ones as well. I remember when a work colleague broke his ankle skiing and came by my desk horrified at all the accessibility points of friction he'd discovered around the office after hobbling around for a few days on crutches — all the same ones that I dealt with in my wheelchair on a daily basis.
Unlike more public-facing venues such as storefronts and restaurants, office environments are not required to have the same standard of accessibility.
After I finished university, I'd apply for jobs at small companies befitting my entry-level experience only to discover they were located in walk-up offices above storefronts. On the flip side, I couldn't get hired by larger companies that might've had the accessibility I needed because I didn't have the level of experience they wanted.
Ultimately, I had to hire myself and spent much of my early adulthood living below the poverty line on government benefits taking on small freelance jobs, volunteering or creating my own projects in an effort to build up my CV and portfolio.
I remember when a work colleague broke his ankle skiing and came by my desk horrified at all the accessibility points of friction he'd discovered around the office after hobbling around for a few days on crutches — all the same ones that I dealt with in my wheelchair on a daily basis. - Athena Cooper
Today, there are those who would say the situation has changed thanks to more folks working from home. However, I would argue there's a difference between the option of working from home and being forced to because of a lack of accessibility.
Prospective employers need to know that people with disabilities can bring to the table an unexpected set of skills and strengths that they've learned through a lifetime of challenges.
I once had a high-pressure role in email marketing with a large clothing retailer that required all of my planning skills and being able to pivot direction on a hairpin. My colleagues would sometimes ask me how I seemed so unfazed by it all, and I would simply say, "living with a disability is just about navigating one darn thing after another."