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Very informative

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Good layout, clear information  and very organised.

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I think that, you have covered a lot of information that is clear and easy to understand. you have also given all your information in detail giving a lot to read and take in.

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Simon Minty defies convention in all kinds of ways. Best known perhaps as the cofounder of the comedy troupe Abnormally Funny People (AFP), a collective of mainly disabled comics and actors that's been around in various guises for almost a decade, he is also a former high street banker, an entrepreneur and a disability consultant. And he is charting new territory once again with the launch of a comedy podcast.

Featuring disabled actors, comics "and generally interesting people" as guests, the AFP podcast, he says, is not trying to change people's beliefs. "This is first and foremost comedy. I want lots of disabled people to listen to it, but I also want it to be accessible to everybody so that people think, 'You know what? This is a different, quirky thing.' The hope is the podcast might be another step towards ensuring more disabled actors and comedians are in the mainstream of entertainment."

After two experimental runs, the inaugural podcast, Girls Just Wanna, is out this week. With guests actor Lisa Hammond and model and lawyer Shannon Murray, September's one-hour "discussion" touches on everything from being pointed at in the street to dating.

Minty, 46, sees humour as a powerful tool to relax people about an awkward subject, and is determined that the podcast should not be pigeonholed as "earnest" or "lecturey".

When asked if he ever dreamed he would have so many strings to his career bow, and that one of them would be comedy ("my evening job"), Minty says he used to be envious of a pal who always seemed to go to bed late and get up late and thought: "How can I work that out?"

Minty's funny bone is never far from the surface, but that's not to say he doesn't do serious. For a start, he says that grappling with issues such as discrimination and inclusion in a comedy context can be illuminating. "We will talk on the podcast about the Independent Living Fund, or about access to work. These are massive things that are having a huge impact on disabled people. Assisted suicide is another topic. Sometimes we throw in a random gag because we can. Sometimes you need to prick the tension a bit.

"I think a good chunk of disability comedy is taking the mickey out of people who aren't disabled and how they behave. It's lovely, because the non-disabled person says: 'Oh yeah, that is me, but they're not being horrible to me'. So they laugh at their own behaviour, but they also learn from it."

On wider disability rights and social justice, Minty has achieved a substantial amount through his consultancy work over the past couple of decades. He advised a number of large companies, including banks, on how to implement requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act after it was introduced in 1995. While he doesn't describe himself as an activist, he is close to many campaigners and is vocal on a range of issues.

"It disappoints me hugely that the act has been in place for coming up to 20 years, yet the unemployment rate for disabled people has remained pretty level," he says. "That really devastates me. As for the whole idea of 'disablism', people don't even know what that means - it's like a made up word for them. It's going to take another 10 years before they even get the concept."

Referring specifically to disabled people in the workplace, he adds: "There are little moments 15 years later where I see companies slipping back a little, and I just think: 'Did we really make an impact?' And then there are other areas where we've come on in leaps and bounds."

Minty speaks admiringly of the enthusiastic supporters within companies, as well as across media and entertainment, who have helped drive progress alongside the activists and advocates. All of this gives him cause for optimism. "Five years ago, no one was talking about mental health in the workplace - now everyone's talking about it. Learning disability was something else that people didn't do, and now there's a huge amount of work on it."

He says the portrayal of disability on screen has come a long way since he was a boy and people of small stature were almost always depicted on TV and in films in a negative or derogatory way that horrified him. "They were dressed up as some freakish clown or an alien ... or were the butt of a very poor joke. It used to make me flinch." But even if things have improved, he nevertheless cautions against complacency. "What you have to be very careful of is that organisations will say: 'Oh, we're doing our week of ...' and that's it for the rest of the year."

He applauds recent moves by the BBC to introduce new "diversity targets" throughout the organisation, including for disabled people. He was consulted by the director general, Tony Hall, while the policy was being drawn up. Asked if he worries about it being a potential box-ticking exercise he says that, done well, it can constitute effective auditing. "So long as it's lots of boxes and you do it regularly."

He would like a version of the podcast to transfer to radio or TV, but the bigger picture is never far from his mind. "What I sometimes wonder about media and other organisations is that they say: 'Oh, we can't do that - we're worried about tokenism', and I say: 'Yeah, but that means you won't do anything!' Sometimes you just need to force it."

Age 46.

Lives North London.

Status Dating an American woman.

Education Epsom high school, Surrey; North East Surrey College of Technology; Chartered Institute of Bankers (evening classes), certificate in banking; City University, BSc Philosophy & Sociology; City University, postgraduate diploma disability; Management at Work.

Career 2009-present: owner, Sminty Ltd (disability consultancy); 2005-present: cofounder, director, occasional performer, Abnormally Funny People; 2001‑09: director, Minty & Friend Ltd (disability consultancy) 1997-2001: freelance disability consultant; 1986-93: financial services officer/trainer, Barclays Bank.

Interests Standup comedy, travel, gadgets.
Topics

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Disablism? Simon Minty's just having a laugh | Mary O'Hara

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Simon Minty defies convention in all kinds of ways. Best known perhaps as the cofounder of the comedy troupe Abnormally Funny People (AFP), a collective of mainly disabled comics and actors that's been around in various guises for almost a decade, he is also a former high street banker, an entrepreneur and a disability consultant.

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Discriminating against disabled people. Describes negative attitudes , behaviours, practices and environmental factors which discriminate disabled people have a disadvantage associated with many forms of impairment, where as there is no intristic physical or mental problem about having a different colour skin.

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Simon suggests that Disablism is the worst form of prejudice and discrimination because 

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Simon suggests that Disablism is the worst form of prejudice and discrimination because 

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Disabled people have a disadvantage associated with many forms of impairment, where as there is no intrinsic physical or mental problem about having a different colour skin for example.

Non-disabled people are ignorant about disability - patronising to them and constantly think that disabled means they cant do anything for themselves, they face constant curiosity, mockery and suffer violence and abuse.

Disablism and Racism are not equivalent, black people are subjected to a different scale of violence and intimidation

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Employment Opportunities for a disabled person is more of a challenge to obtain. 

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Employment Opportunities for a disabled person is more of a challenge to obtain. 

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Employment and labour market experiences. Disabled adults have significantly reduced employment opportunities. Rates of full-time employment among working age adults in 2008 were 34% for disabled people, compared to 61% among their non-disabled peers. There has been little change in these rates over recent years. Among those in employment, disabled people are less likely to be employed in high status occupations and are employed at lower rates of pay.

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BBC

Living with a severe facial disfigurement in London, means even a trip to the corner shop can turn into a parade of stares, pointing and whispers for Adam.

He is regularly called names like "spastic", "elephant man" and "freak show" because of his facial disfigurement.

And the inspirational actor was even a victim of cruel thugs who tried to rip his face off.

"I had a guy in a club in Brighton once think I was wearing a mask and tried to rip my face off and say what kind of person gives birth to something like this," he said.

"There are laws. If you hit me because I'm disabled, you could get six months, but if you hit me because of my race or religion."

REDDIT

Adam, who famously starred opposite Scarlett Johansson in Under The Skin, revealed the horrific treatment he has faced at hands of bullies in The Ugly Face of Disability Hate Crime.

He even received a comment from one woman saying he "should have been burned to death at birth".

Adam suffers from neurofibromatosis type 1 which causes benign tumours to grow in the nerves on his face.

His identical twin Neil also suffers from the condition, but has no visible signs.

Adam is now trying to change people's prejudice of disability and appeared on BBC Three last night to voice his opinions on the matter.

It is part of his mission to explore disability hate crime and find out why it is under-reported, under-recorded and under the radar.

The Ugly Face of Disability Hate Crime, is on BBC Three as part of its disability season on Thursday nights at 9pm.

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'They tried to rip my face off': Actor with facial tumours victim of horrific hate crime

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BBC Living with a severe facial disfigurement in London, means even a trip to the corner shop can turn into a parade of stares, pointing and whispers for Adam. He is regularly called names like "spastic", "elephant man" and "freak show" because of his facial disfigurement.

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Not many people would class depression as a form of a disability, however, the most common form of disablism in society today is people suffering from depression and being portrayed to be unstable or unable to cope with significant problems in public job roles, meaning not many companies will hire people who are suffering from or had a previous form of depression.

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Problems that occur that disabled people experience

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Problems that occur that disabled people experience

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The problem that disabled people
face from non-disabled people is different to the problem that black and ethnic
minority people face from white people. Non-disabled people are ignorant about
disability, they are patronising to disabled people, and they consistently
think that disability means we can't do anything.

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"They tried to rip my face off": Actor with facial tumours victim of horrific crime

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"They tried to rip my face off": Actor with facial tumours victim of horrific crime

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He is regularly called names like "spastic",
"elephant man" and "freak show" because of his facial disfigurement. And the inspirational actor was even a victim of cruel thugs who tried to rip his face off. "I had a guy in a club in Brighton once think I
was wearing a mask and tried to rip my face off and say what kind of person gives birth to something like this," he said. "There are laws. If you hit me because I'm disabled, you could get six months, but if you hit me because of my race or religion you could get a lot more." He even received a comment from one woman saying he "should have been burned to death at birth".

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Tom Shakespeare has written a book on disablism; this this was published on the 6th September 2004. Disabled people undoubtedly suffer the burdens of social exclusion, devaluation, poverty and discrimination, and these processes can be very similar to the exclusions which other oppressed group’s experience. The obvious difficulty about making a parallel between disabled people and black people, women or gays and lesbians, is that there is an intrinsic disadvantage associated with many forms of impairment, whereas there is no intrinsic physical or mental problem about having a different colour skin, being a woman, or having same sex desires and relationships.

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Infringement of Rights - This is breaking the terms of a law or agreement. Within Health and Social Care this could be a violation of someone's rights, for example, a service user not being treated in a fair, acceptable or legal way.

Labelling - Making a name for someone due to something that is different about them, for example, calling someone a 'cripple' because they are in a wheelchair.

Bullying - Using verbal or manipulative actions to intimate someone to do things. This can be done mentally or physically.

Abuse - Treating someone with cruelty or violence, regularly or repeatedly - this is also done mentally or physically.

Covert or Overt  - Covert = hidden and Overt = out in the open.

Abuse of Power - using your responsibility and position in work as a way of taking advantage, for example, gaining access to personal details and using it against someone.

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Almost 9 in 10 people with a learning disability
surveyed had experienced bullying or harassment in the past year, an incredible
88%.

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Almost 9 in 10 people with a learning disability
surveyed had experienced bullying or harassment in the past year, an incredible
88%.

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Of these 88% 66% of people were victims regularly and one third 32% were being bullied on a daily or weekly basis. The Criminal Prosecution Service figures show that the number of successful convictions fell in 2013-14 from 494 to 470, at a time when the number of recordings for disability hate crimes risen to 1,985.

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Racism is often considered to be the worst type of discrimination however, disablism is often the main type of discrimination of society today.

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Racism is often considered to be the worst type of discrimination however, disablism is often the main type of discrimination of society today.

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For example, statistics show that only 46.3% of people with a disability are employed in jobs compared to 76.4% of people who do not suffer from a disability.