Written by Lewis Donaldson
Before writing this blog, I had no idea that more than 1 in 5 Australians have a disability.
This International Day of Persons with Disabilities, this year’s theme focuses on fostering disability inclusive societies for advancing social progress.
I had the opportunity to interview Charles Sturt graduate Dr Chrissy Antonopoulos who is tackling stereotypes and helping others.
Chrissy is legally blind, neurodivergent and a psychologist who just finished her PhD on implicit or unconscious bias – the biases and beliefs everyone has, but aren’t aware of.
Her choice behind this all stemmed from her experience after she was diagnosed with vision loss.
Chrissy says finding employment was difficult, especially after she would disclose her disability.
“I had job offers revoked and was even fired after disclosing I would need to use screen magnification software,” she said.
“I had also noticed people were treating me differently after becoming disabled.
“People would assume I was not capable of working, being in a relationship, or being independent.”
Chrissy says many aren’t aware of the impact their words or assumptions have on those with disabilities.
Her experience studying at other universities highlighted for her the educational barriers many face.
“I’ve had situations where I was not supplied with textbooks in a format I could access, like PDF documents, until the end of semester,” Chrissy said.
“When I originally enrolled in psychology honours, I had a supervisor who did not understand that I could not read text and would tell me I was reading “too slow” and would not complete my thesis.
“I’ve also faced many barriers in accessing psychology studies with universities making assumptions about my ability to meet the competencies for psychology registration.”
Despite the struggle, Chrissy powered on until she found education that was supportive of her needs.
“For my PhD, CSU has been the smoothest disability support I have received,” she said.
“I was supplied with textbooks and documents I needed in an accessible format and provided with software like transcription and screen magnification.
“Without this support, it would have been extremely difficult for me to complete my PhD and I’m grateful for the ease in which it was provided.”
Now, Chrissy is using her experience in her role as director and psychologist of Beyond Bias Consulting to better the lives of others with disabilities, chronic health conditions and mental health concerns.
“I truly believe that what underpins much of the barriers we face are the attitudes and stereotypes of others, mostly the unconscious biases people have,” she said.
“If we can encourage others to look inwards and consider how they feel and think about disability, we can start to challenge and unpack the prevalent unconscious biases in the community.
Chrissy says there should be more people with disabilities in leadership roles to truly represent the more than 20% of Australians who do have a disability.
“People with disabilities bring a wealth of experience, knowledge and expertise in many different areas,” she said.
“Diversity of thought in leadership is important and having leaders with a disability is part of this picture that needs to be prioritised.
“Our skills related to resourcefulness, creativity and persistence have been developed as a response to surviving in a society which is often not built for us.”
Charles Sturt’s Accessibility and Inclusion services support students with a range of disabilities and conditions. Click here to find out more.
Charlie blog is a SSAF funded initiative.
