Government reports from the Office for Disability Issues consistently point to the ongoing need for disability mediation in the civil and commercial sectors, indicating that disabled people remain significantly less likely to participate in cultural, leisure and sporting activities. Mediation of disability disputes can have immediate practical impacts which benefit both parties, and which inform a wider community.

An example of disability dispute resolution

I recently mediated a dispute between an individual service user and a sports facility which had been ongoing for a decade. The parties involved reached an effective resolution within the course of a single afternoon.

The service user had felt that over that period of time the sports club had neither understood her disability needs, nor made reasonable adjustment to their facility to enable her to make full use of it. The sports facility, on the other hand, felt that the individual had not been prepared to show any flexibility in how and when she was prepared to use their facility.

Failed communication

There had been several attempts at mediation, conducted through mediators with no specialist knowledge of disability. Each of these attempts had failed. This attempt at dispute resolution represented a final mediation before the matter was to be escalated to litigation, at potentially significant cost to both parties.

Speedy resolution

With the help of a professional mediator with significant experience of disability mediation and personal experience of disability, it took less than three hours for the parties to achieve a resolution to a dispute which had stretched over ten years.

The understanding each party gained as a result of mediation not only allowed for closure, but also for a new beginning. The two parties continue to have a respectful working relationship to this day.

To find out more about Disability Mediation please visit: www.centreforresolution.com/disability-mediation

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