Understanding disability
In Wales, it’s estimated that around 26% of the population is disabled, however many of those don’t realise that they can call themselves disabled.
This page provides information about understanding disability, and our work in this area.
The following information is based on the lived experiences and priorities expressed to us by our community. If you need medical/health advice, please contact a GP or medical professional. Read our medical disclaimer
What is disability?
According to UK Law, ‘You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities’. This includes those who are struggling with chronic physical and mental health issues.
In Wales, we follow the Social Model of Disability, which explains how it can be environmental, organisational, and attitudinal barriers that dis-able people and prevent participation in society, not necessarily medical conditions or impairments. That’s not to say that people don’t need medicines and treatments – but that, sometimes, accessing those can be difficult, and it’s barriers like these which can be dis-abling.
Many of those who reach out to FTWW for support regarding their long-term chronic health issues don’t realise that they are ‘allowed’ to call themselves disabled, often because there are lots of stereotypes about disability being or looking a certain way.
To find out more about the Social Model of Disability, please download the Toolkit from Disability Wales here.
What are we calling for?
We aim to empower our community to better understand what’s meant by the term ‘disability’, learn about the social model of disability, know their rights, and be ‘disability confident’.
FTWW members often tell us that the medical model tends to be used in a lot of places, including workplaces and clinical spaces. This is where the person who is unwell, or has an impairment, is expected to change themselves to fit in with what’s around them. Their symptoms or impairments are solely ‘to blame’ for them not being able to do things.
Whilst it’s true that symptoms like pain and fatigue can make things very difficult for people, that doesn’t mean that other changes in wider society aren’t needed. In fact, they can help to make some aspects of life a little easier and more inclusive.
The medical model can also mean that, for those who don’t have a ‘visible’ impairment, their symptoms and needs aren’t always understood or taken seriously until a medical diagnosis is confirmed.
Evidence suggests that this can disproportionately impact girls, women, and people registered female at birth, because there are often very long diagnostic delays for the health conditions with which they are living. This can mean that the care, support, and adjustments they might need to help them participate in life aren’t made available to them.
Welsh Government committed to embedding the social model of disability across public services back in 2002, but – as our members testify – there is a very long way to go.
For those who do identify as disabled, they sometimes find that their testimony isn’t respected. We hear from women who have been challenged by others because their impairments aren’t always visible externally and have had to ‘prove’ they are disabled or unwell by answering lots of intrusive questions.
Sometimes, employers might not consider making ‘reasonable adjustments’ because they don’t understand or recognise the needs of employees who don’t have a formal medical diagnosis.
These issues disproportionately affect women and those of marginalised genders because, historically, they have not been believed or taken seriously when it comes to their reporting of symptoms or struggles. Sometimes, these can be dismissed as personality flaws or mental illness – however, those in FTWW’s community also say they find it difficult to access mental health support.
Some report being told by those around them that mental distress is ‘typical in women’, because women are ‘more sensitive’, ‘over-reacting’ or ‘hormonal’. Gender stereotypes like this are unhelpful and can prevent women and people registered female at birth accessing the care or reasonable adjustments they need. For some, this can mean they find it hard to access healthcare, education, or work.
We need to:
See increased knowledge of the Equality Act 2010 across the UK, in Wales, and within our community, so that those who might not have identified with ‘disability’ before are able to recognise their own experiences and rights within it.
Raise awareness and understanding of the social model of disability both amongst our community and networks, but also among the public bodies and other stakeholders with whom we work.
Empower our community and wider society to embrace the social model, and give them the confidence to challenge places and spaces where it isn’t adopted
Ensure that the voices of those with lived experience are heard by policy-makers, health boards, local authorities, and beyond, to ensure they don’t create or perpetuate barriers for disabled women and people registered female at birth
Help our community and wider society to reject negative stereotypes and tropes about disability, including how some disabled and chronically ill people view themselves
Raise awareness of the worrying intersections facing disabled women, such as the higher risk of domestic abuse, and a lack of accessible refuges or support
Continue our fight for health equity, so that everyone can access the healthcare they need, regardless of who they are or where they live.
All of FTWW’s trustees and staff champion the Social Model of Disability and attend training to keep up to speed with its aims. As a patient-led charity, co-production is at our heart, and we work tirelessly to ensure that our members and wider community have opportunities to be part of service design and delivery because we believe in the disability movement’s mantra, ‘Nothing About Us Without Us’!
What have we achieved?
Our campaign activity to raise awareness of disability, the social model, and disability-gender injustice, is extensive. Some of our achievements are outlined below:
We raise awareness through events, media, training and fundraising
We support our trustees, staff, volunteers and members to share their experiences, and regularly meet with journalists to raise awareness of key issues facing our community
We write and publish blogs about the intersections of disability, health issues, and gender.
We take part in consultations, advisory boards and co-production of healthcare
- We respond to a wide range of Government and Senedd Consultations to ensure that the voices and experiences of women and people registered female at birth, especially those living with long-term health conditions who are not typically ‘seen’ as disabled, are heard and taken into account
- As chair of the Women’s Health Wales Coalition, we work to ensure a wide range of health issues and impairments are considered and included when it comes to things like the Welsh Government’s Health Plan for Women and Girls.
We engage directly with policy makers and researchers
- We were members of the steering group responsible for coproducing the ‘Locked Out’ report which explored the impact of the pandemic on disabled people in Wales
- We are members of the Welsh Government’s Ministerial Disability Rights Taskforce and working groups; with FTWW’s Chair, Willow Holloway, chairing the working group for Health and Wellbeing
- We work with Welsh Government policymakers and researchers in workshops to develop feasibility studies into topics like a Welsh Disability Kitemark, and a national Centre for Independent Living
- We engage with researchers and academics to connect them with our members, with the aim of improving female health, making sure that activities are accessible for disabled women and that their experiences and needs are considered in research projects
- We regularly give evidence to Senedd Committees, such as the Equality and Human Rights Committee, on topics like the barriers facing disabled women in employment.
Related news and blogs
Join FTWW to Illustrate & Raise Awareness of Women’s Health Experiences!
FTWW and our friends at Cardiff University will be hosting two workshops on Drawing Out Long-Term Health Issues.
Open to women and people registered female at birth living or receiving healthcare in Wales, these workshops use step-by-step drawing exercises to help people express and share their thoughts and feelings about their health issues. You can read more about the process here.
Disability and Employment: Nothing About Us Without Us
by Dee Montague-Coast (FTWW Engagement Officer) Last week, I met with my (at the time of writing, only) work colleague in-person – something so normal to many, however it was the first time I’d seen her in person since November 2019 – over a year before I began...
What’s Wales got to do with it? Why the UK General Election Really Matters for Women’s Health Equality – and why Welsh Voices Count
A FTWW Blog As the UK General Election fast approaches, many of FTWW’s followers might be thinking that, as the NHS is devolved in Wales, there’s little that any new government in Westminster can do to address health inequities experienced by those we support. Partly,...
Stories from our commmunity
Advocating for yourself or someone else
Many women find it difficult to discuss health issues and seek support, even if these health issues are having a significant impact on their lives.
We're working with our community to develop tools and tips to help women to speak up, and provide guidance for people who would like to support their loved ones, friends, colleagues or patients who are living with health conditions.
Useful links and documents
FTWW's bi-lingual understanding disability leaflet
This flyer provides a brief overview of our work in this area and why it is needed
Women’s Health Wales: A Quality Statement for the Health of Women, Girls, and those Assigned Female at Birth (2022)
Read more about the situation in Wales regarding disability
Disability Wales Social Model Toolkit
This toolkit has been developed to explain the social model and gives insight into how we can all use the social model in not only our daily lives but also how organisations can implement it.
Locked out: liberating disabled people’s lives and rights in Wales beyond COVID-19
This report is about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on disabled people.
English (UK) 
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