Our Interview with Paralympian Sophie Christiansen!
DR UK: You've worked tirelessly to use your position to show that, despite how well known you might be and the accomplishments you have, all Disabled people continue to face barriers in our everyday life, from housing to transport. I wondered if you could tell us a little bit more about that, what helped and what changes you would make to stop having those barriers that you experienced.
Sophie Christiansen: I started to speak out about disability issues around the London 2012 Paralympic Games because I was starting to be interviewed about day-to-day life – and I’m not just a Paralympian! At the time I worked as a statistician for a pharmaceutical company and now I work as a software developer for an investment bank. So, I had that dual life to talk about and it was really powerful to do because we watch the Paralympics and see these amazing athletes winning gold medals. But actually, how did we get there? What are the barriers that we face in day-to-day life just to live?
So, I started giving examples of where society has let me down, like getting into work on trains, I've been left without a ramp countless times. When I was trying to buy a house with my fiancé, there was hardly any accessible housing: I didn’t want to live in a flat, and the only options we could afford were bungalows, which pushes the price up because all Disabled and older people are competing for the same type of property.
For me, it’s so important to move away from the narratives that Disabled people are benefit scroungers – UK society and Government needs to remove barriers we face because our society is not set up for Disabled people.
DR UK: Thank you for sharing that – I know our policy team do lots of work on the inaccessible and unaffordable nature of the housing landscape currently in the UK.
I wondered if you could talk about any information that was available for you when you were going through those struggles with finding housing?
Sophie: Yeah, I mean, not just with housing, but living with a disability, finding the relevant information is so difficult. It is getting a bit better, with companies having accessibility statements on their websites and valuing lived experience more. But having a Handbook like Disability Rights UK has, means all the information is in one place, the information we need just to go about our lives. It makes it easier for us to find information rather than having to continually fight for that.
DR UK: How important it is that information is written by Disabled people for Disabled people?
Sophie: Yeah, definitely, I believe in nothing about us without us! I think it’s important organisations reach out to Disabled people to get wide amounts of input from lived experience - I do it myself! I don't know what it's like to have other disabilities like being neurodivergent or visually impaired, but I take it upon myself to learn about the barriers that different impairments face. So, having a handbook really written by people with different impairments is so powerful.
DR UK: I wonder if you have any examples of this Disabled community, with our varied impairments, coming together to support you, and how that might have impacted you?
Sophie: I think the Paralympics is a great example of seeing different impairments just getting on with their life. It definitely changed my life when I went to my first Paralympic Games when I was just 16 years old. It was so influential for me at that age to see different people from different countries, with different disabilities. Seeing that diversity and in such a positive way made me decide I wanted to be like them. It helped me want to talk about my disability because I was really quite shy when I was a teenager, especially because of my speech, so seeing amazing Disabled people really just made me come out of myself more. I think that's what society in the UK is really missing out on by being so siloed and not embracing diversity. You're really missing out on multi-coloured life and getting the most out of people by sharing such diverse outlooks on life.
DR UK: That’s such a good point about feeling more confident after being around other Disabled people, and how, people of all forms of marginalisation can feel like this when seeing ourselves being embraced. I’m glad you brought up the Paralympics though, because I did want to ask you about that - equestrian riding is quite an unusual sport to get into. How did you first get involved?
Sophie: In the UK, there's a charity called Riding for the Disabled Association, which for me was perfect. I went to the RDA with my school. The physiotherapists who visited my primary school believed in the benefit of horse riding for the pupils with disabilities, and we all went in the school minibus to the local group, and I just loved horse riding, it made me feel normal. It was like physiotherapy in disguise; I hated normal physiotherapy as a child so on a horse it didn't feel like that. It just felt like I was a normal little girl - I would not have sat on a horse without the charity. My family weren't remotely into horses, so without that charity, my whole career would not have happened.
DR UK: Wow, that's so interesting - one of the campaigns we run, Get Yourself Active, is about Disabled people's right to physical activity. It's great that there's charities that are finally opening up this access for people. It’s also sad that charities have to fill that gap, because, as you mentioned, being able to take part in this when you were young did so much for you, both as a young person and for your whole life. And I wonder how
I wonder how you think things may have changed or stayed the same when it comes to Disabled people having access to sport?
Sophie: Yeah, I think everyone has different experiences, right? Depending on where you live or what you're interested in. For me, when I was at school, I had brilliant PE teachers and they got me involved in things football and hockey, even if I was awful and kept falling over! However, I know that that is not the case in every school, so I was super lucky with that.
Then, when my dressage career took off that was the only sport for me really, apart from going to the gym a lot to keep myself fit for riding a horse. That took a lot of working out what I could and couldn't do. I did face a bit of discrimination in that area – when I went to university I tried to work with a personal trainer who just refused to meet with me because I have a disability!
Now I’ve worked with brilliant personal trainers who are able to think outside the box. It’s really not difficult – it's just about being open to talking to people. Now I’ve retired, I’m finding other sports – I’ve recently got into frame running, which is an athletics event for Disabled people. So it’s a frame without pedals – you just sit on the seat and run. It’s amazing.
I’ve started training at an athletics club – I also do parkrun, which is brilliant because I’m often the only Disabled person at parkrun - but no one cares, and people really cheer me on! I kind of get the same buzz from parkrun that I did from competing, which is really cool.
DR UK: That’s great - I would love to know your thoughts on how physical activity, when in an accessible way and in the way that we can enjoy, can help improve Disabled people's lives.
Sophie: Yeah, obviously, I've just retired, and I didn't want to just stop being physically fit, because I think it enables me to live my life to the fullest by being fit and active. So I still think it is difficult to get into different sports, even now. Like in athletics, I’m having to find people to ask about Para sport. That’s kind of why Disability Rights UK has the Handbook – information finding is the worst when you’ve got a disability. When you find the right places, it’s so worth it.
Take my experience with parkrun – they were so inclusive. I just emailed them saying I’m bringing my frame, just so you’re aware. They were like ‘cool’, and they just made an announcement at the start, so people are aware. To be able to run 5K with around 500 able-bodied people every week is really cool. It’s something I never thought I would be able to do.
DR UK: Wow! That goes to show that when organisations are willing to just listen to us a bit and think about how to make things inclusive for us, there's such a world of possibility for the different things we can enjoy.
My final question then, going back to the equestrian events is, what is your favorite memory over the years of riding and competing? I mean, I suppose it can also include Park Run and these things that you've done since retirement, seeing as they sound so great as well.
Sophie: Yeah, I mean, within my career, I would definitely say, London 2012 was a definite game changer for the Paralympics. My sport isn't the most well-known but in London we had 10,000 people coming to watch. My favorite memory was when I came out of my 3rd event - my horse was super safe with the people, but the crowd were told to do a butterfly wave instead of clap for health and safety, and my brother and my 2 cousins jumped up, ripped off their T-shirts, and shouted, ‘We love you, Sophie’ and the whole 10,000 strong crowd just erupted into cheers. That was like my favorite moment. But yeah, also, being able to achieve things that I never thought I could also give me that same high. So, running my 1st parkrun, I was like in tears by the end because I never thought I'd be able to do that with my fiancé. That was really cool!
DR UK: I love how some of your favorite memories include being in an Olympic stadium, and then also doing the Park Run – it just goes to show how important these experiences can be to us personally. It doesn't have to be winning a gold medal, though obviously you have a few to your name!
You can listen to the full interview on DR UK’s YouTube or below:
Find out more about our Get Yourself Active campaign on this website.
You can buy our Disability Rights UK Handbook from our shop. There is a concessionary rate for people on income-related benefits.