I had the honour of interviewing Caroline Casey. She is one of the leading disability advocates in the world. She is diagnosed with Ocular Albinism. Despite the fact that she has very low vision she is a very determined and confident woman. During the interview we discussed inclusion in the workplace, life experiences and how people can continue to fight worldwide disability exclusion and discrimination.
I left the interview feeling very content. She truly has a way bringing confidence to people. She loves my name and what I’m doing with my blog. She told me how she once kissed a boy from New Zealand named Clayton and she has loved the name ever since. “He was such a great guy. He was a renegade.”
She is very open and honest about the fact that she was part of the problem with disability exclusion. Waiting until 28 to admit that she had a disability was one of the hardest things she ever did. The first thing she did after this life altering choice was go to India to ride an elephant, solo, 1,000 KM across the country. Kanchi was her name. Caroline says that Kanchi was one of the main influences who taught her to accept her flaws. As a result she is the first female elephant handler from the West. She always wanted to be Mowgli from the Jungle Book and was one of her main influences growing up.
The thing that struck me the most about Caroline was her resilience. She has never let her disability stop her. She worked for Accenture for several years before she “came out of the closet” at age 28. The fact that she was able to be “successful” in life before even admitting to herself and to others that she was disabled is inspiring in it’s own right. She was afraid of not “fitting in” which in a nutshell is why she was so afraid to open up about her disability.
She believes that everyone needs to speak up about discrimination against the disabled community. She says that people need to stop assuming things about disabilities. “Ask questions. Use compassion, empathy and kindness. We don’t need to be fixed. We just need you to listen. There is so much more to us than how we look.” She believes the current generation has the power to change the perception of the disabled community. Caroline holds true that her generation did not have the resources that oura does for change.
Her company The Valuable 500, was founded to empower disabled people in the workplace. The end goal is to get 500 signatures from CEO’S of large companies and to get them to enforce policies and agendas that serve disabled individuals.
I will forever be grateful for the opportunity. I recommend checking out her Ted Talk and also her interview with Molly Burke. You will not be disappointed!
Cognizant Clay 