FAC Insights: Radical Body’s Disability Data Drive research report

FAC Insights is a forum for us to showcase and share long form pieces looking at various parts of the music industry and the society that shapes it. Pieces take the form of videos, interviews, discussions, articles and more.

In this piece, we're pleased to feature Elle Chante, Director & Co-founder of Radical Body, discussing the organisation’s Disability Data Drive research report. Elle explores the barriers disabled, D/deaf and neurodivergent artists face in sustaining careers in the arts, and the changes needed to create a more accessible, supportive and sustainable sector.

What first inspired Radical Body, and what gap in the arts sector were you trying to fill?

We (myself and Katie Walters) co-founded Radical Body out of necessity. As two performers, we were trying to figure out how to make performances in the arts more accessible and accidentally fell into a deep rabbithole of challenging situations. When we realised how difficult having a career in the arts was, we knew we needed to do something about it, and we’ve been trying to tackle the gap between what disabled people need vs. what's available ever since.

What motivated you to launch the Disability Data Drive?

We had worked on other projects previously - creating a play about coming to terms with chronic illness, running online scratch nights, and collaborating with organisations - but found societal and political perceptions to be quite the barrier last year. There was a lot of rhetoric about disabled people and work, and a lot of fear around cuts to income for disabled people. We wanted to learn more about what was challenging from wider networks and create a document that could show tangible statistics about what is actually happening rather than what people think is happening. With the stats we want to question more dangerous perceptions that can consequentially make it unsafe, uncomfortable or impossible to work as a disabled person.

One of the strongest findings was that 88% of respondents have paid for their own access needs. What impact does that have on someone's ability to sustain a creative career? 

It’s definitely a massive impact!  Oftentimes disabled people are taking great health and financial risks to do what feels important to them. It’s then extremely difficult when the adjustments they have to ask for are treated like they're unreasonable. How can a sector be sustainable for disabled people if they frequently have to pay for their access needs just to do their work? Why is there a general assumption that disabled people don’t want to work instead of that it’s difficult to work? From things like hotel rooms for PA’s to extra unaccounted food costs due to dietary needs, these things can very quickly build up. I know there’s been gigs I’ve done before and even though it was paid, without the access costs being paid for I’ve easily lost money. That makes the pot of performances I can do smaller and continues the cycle of restricting opportunities for disabled artists. It’s all tied together in a very messy and sometimes quite saddening way. 

Were there any findings that genuinely surprised the team?

We were really shocked about the statistic that 88.9% of people had questioned their ability to work in the arts because of their access needs. I think it’s something that a lot of disabled people have to face at some point, whether it’s ‘Am I well enough to work’ or ‘Will the sector ever provide for me’? This shows just how much of an effect access needs not being met is having on disabled people being able to prosper (or even continue) in the arts sector.

Are there areas of disability and access you feel still aren't being talked about enough?

Yes! I think access is still often seen as a very static thing, but for dynamic disabilities what works today might not work tomorrow. In that sense sometimes wanting black and white answers can be tricky, and that’s why it’s important for access to be part of the general conversation, rather than just a tick box exercise at the beginning. True care makes all the difference.

We’ve also seen a lot of reliance on Access to Work in the industry, but as we noted in the report it can be an unreliable source of income for disabled artists. Waiting times (according to disability arts online) are now an average of 38 weeks for PAYE applicants and 77 weeks for self employed applicants. Imagine getting a work opportunity but being unable to know if you can financially afford to take it or not for nearly one and a half years. It would be laughable if it wasn’t still seen in the industry as a reliable safety net that disabled people can easily apply for.

Disability is one of the protected characteristics that we could all experience one day, whether through illness, injury or aging. Sometimes I think society forgets that! Having an arts sector that is bereft of D/deaf, disabled and neurodivergent voices is an arts sector that is omitting important perspectives, experiences and wonderfully diverse work. Realistically, putting provisions in place to support the disabled community would benefit us all at some point, and I hope that the future holds a more care driven, supportive way of working that celebrates our complex humanity.