Just sometimes... is it me?

A few weeks ago, I had one of those experiences where, after much reflection, I realise even more, how we still have such a long way to go to achieving a truly inclusive society. I think I also recognise that sometimes it falls down to individuals and their level of understanding and awareness.

I was at the dentist and there is one room on the ground floor and the rest of the rooms are upstairs. To my knowledge, there is no lift on the premises. When I initially phoned to book the appointment, the receptionist that I spoke to was fully aware that my appointment would need to be in the downstairs room, saying that it was noted on my records. I thought ‘Great, at least this means I won’t have to say this every time I have to make an appointment’.

I arrive, see the dentist and after they ask me to book a new appointment. I obviously oblige and follow the dentist to the reception desk to make the appointment. The receptionist gives me a date and a time, and I merely ask whether there are any appointments on a Monday morning. The receptionist explains that the dentist I have just seen only has the downstairs room on a Friday morning, despite this being a Monday. The receptionist then explains that I could see a different dentist. I reply that the one I saw was not my usual dentist and that I was happy to see them again, as long as it’s downstairs. The receptionist then replies ‘You can either see her on a Friday morning downstairs, or if you would like a different day then you can choose to see her upstairs’.

At this point, I had to stop and reflect on what I had just heard. Choose? I looked at the receptionist and said ‘I don’t have a choice, I can’t get up the stairs’. The receptionist just looked at me and said ‘Shall we go for Friday morning then’? By this point, I just wanted to get out of there, the fact that she thought I was choosing to have the appointment downstairs was interesting to say the least.

It took me a little while to process this, but I think it shows how there needs to be more education and awareness as to how situations like this are dealt with. Whilst I would by no means expect them to change their whole rota for me, I feel that it could have been dealt with differently. The bottom line is the receptionist left me with the feeling that I was being difficult for asking for a different day and that actually they were offering an alternative, but I was choosing not to take them up on this.

After much reflection on this, I recognise that whilst there is still lots of work to do with businesses and organisations regarding true inclusion, there is also work to do with some of the individuals who work for them. The receptionist I spoke to on the phone originally was clearly aware of my access needs, so it is a practice happening within the organisation, but the receptionist I dealt with on the day, appeared not to have the same level of awareness.

Experiences such as this are very tiring, especially because they happen far too much. I understand that language can be complex, and maybe I’m being a little harsh, but from the perspective of true inclusion, I feel like this is a less obvious example of how exclusion can occur. Most people have a choice of when they see their dentist, but, in the eyes of this receptionist, it feels to me, that I don’t. I am aware that there are far greater concerns for the world right now, and in reality this is minute, but I still feel it is important to share.