During Diversity & Inclusion Week your colleagues will be sharing their stories about their different dimensions of diversity. The daily dimension for October 13 is Living with a Disability. Taryn Green is sharing her personal story and not on behalf of people living with her or other disabilities.
After reading her story, join Taryn and her fellow panelists in today’s Fireside Chat at 1:00-1:30 ET (in English):
Taryn Green, Marketing and Communications Coordinator at BrokerLink, is an introvert; but in recent years she has stepped out of her comfort zone to speak out about living with a disability. “It’s not natural for me to do this,” she says. “But I feel like there’s a fear, in a way, about disability. People are afraid of disability, and the only way you can overcome fear is by speaking up.”
Taryn has Cerebral Palsy, which is a group of disorders that affect muscle tone, movement, and motor skills. Taryn walks with a bit of a sway but can run and jump. “The biggest impact is on my speech,” she explains. Cerebral palsy can affect a person’s muscles around the mouth and tongue.
At work, she uses a few assistive devices, including an ergonomic chair and a specialized device attached to her keyboard instead of a mouse.
Taryn explains that normalizing things like assistive devices will help to remove barriers for people living with disabilities. “How many people wear glasses?” she asks. “They’re an assistive device. Without glasses many people wouldn’t be able to drive or do their work. We’ve normalized glasses; why can’t we normalize other assistive devices?”
She stresses the importance of normalizing many aspects of living with a disability, such as parenting. Taryn’s husband is also disabled, and together they have a four-year-old daughter.
“We’ve really got to think about disability differently and think about the positives too. My daughter is very patient, and very kind and open and accepting of other people because she has parents with disabilities.” She smiles. “She’s very independent.”
Taryn agreed to share her story to help start conversations. “People don’t want to talk about disability; it scares them.”
She says more awareness is needed to dispel some of those fears. “I think the key thing is to read and consume media by disabled people. Not about disabled people, but by them,” she says. “There’s a great Netflix documentary called “Crip Camp.”
She points out that some people may feel ashamed of their disability and that misconceptions and ableism – discrimination against people with disabilities – contribute to that. Taryn hopes that by stepping out of her comfort zone and speaking up, she can help break down those barriers and start honest conversations.
“I have a disability, but I can also be a part of society,” she stresses. “And a very good, contributing member of society.”
We appreciate Taryn Green sharing her story! For more resources visit the DEI intranet page.