Under the Equality Act 2010, the definition of a disability is “a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on a person’s ability to do normal daily activities”. This includes but is not limited to the following: dyslexia and other specific learning differences, visual impairments, hearing impairments, long-term illnesses, mental health conditions, physical impairments, autism spectrum conditions.

We are committed to raising the profile of disability awareness that focuses on the person’s ability and on addressing and removing the barriers that are disabling them.

We welcome new members to join the network:

• Disabled staff (both visible and non-visible/hidden);
• All staff who are supportive of disability equality in the workplace; and
• Managers: we provide guidance and support for managers on how to recognise and support disabled staff who may require workplace adjustments

We provide a place for members to get in contact and have dialogue in support of each other with networking, events and an informal morning coffee session each Friday, currently on Teams.

We aim to help develop a positive culture and a spirit of openness, which enables disabled staff to contribute more effectively to the overall work of the College.

Able works on the following themes:

• A - Awareness of disability at work / Ability focus
• B - Benefit of Able networking in providing guidance and support to staff and managers
• L - Listen and share experiences of disability issues with the aim of helping to remove barriers
• E - Encourage and increase the declaration of disability

How to join Able

If you would like to sign up to the network, please fill in this form to join us on Teams in Office 365 (you may need to log in with your Imperial username and password). 

Able Committee

We are looking for people who have an interest in disability and who are keen to play a part in driving forward cultural change at the College. This is an opportunity to develop and explore different skills, and to meet and network with people outside of your day-to-day role. As part of the committee you will get to be involved with a wide range of activities, from creating events for the network and the College community to getting involved in feeding back on new policy and procedures relating to disability. The time commitment varies but averages around an hour a week.

• Ahlam Khamliche, Co-Chair
• Adrian Mannall, Co-Chair
• Dez Mendoza, Co-Chair

Disability Awareness and Support panel discussion - 26 February 2021

We have compiled a list of the questions that were posed in the Teams chat during the Disability Awareness and Support panel discussion held on Friday 26 February 2021, which the panel did not have time to answer fully during the event itself, but have taken the time to provide answers for afterwards.

View the Able@Imperial Disability Awareness and Support panel questions and answers (pdf) (Imperial login required).