Able Magazine – ‘What disabled people can do, not what they can’t’

If Able Magazine didn’t exist, the disabled community would invent it!

By Tom Jamison

Able Magazine is a rare publication where every word, on every page, is carefully selected to guide disabled people on their journey through what can be challenging circumstances. That said, we write from a relentlessly positive perspective based around our motto: ‘What disabled people can do, not what they can’t’. Perhaps that’s why we’ve been selected by the Naidex organisers to be their official media partner for so many years, since our outlooks are so similar.

While being the editor of Able Magazine certainly has its moments of pressure, not least because I don’t want to let our loyal readership down, it’s also a privilege I enjoy. And whenever I think about Naidex, I remember one brief but very important meeting with a visitor at the show.

It was some years ago when I was really just learning the ropes at Able Magazine. I was attending a busy Naidex event when I was stopped by a visitor who recognised me from a photograph in the magazine. He told me that he’d seen one of my articles in the publication and I, being slightly flushed with pride, asked him what he thought of it. “I tore it out of the magazine”, he said.

Of course, I hadn’t expected what I thought was quite a brutal rejection of my efforts, but it turned out that I’d got the wrong end of what he was telling me, as he reiterated the point differently, saying: “Yes. It was great! I tore it out and stuck it on the fridge, so I can see it!”

From that point onwards, everything I’ve produced for Able Magazine has been tested by the question: ‘Is it good enough for the fridge?’ Bluntly, if it isn’t, it doesn’t make the edition.

What’s great is that my colleagues at Able Magazine, also hold themselves to the same standards, be it when we discuss content for the next edition, or how we use a story that arrives from a disability organisation – or even when we advise our advertisers and partners regarding how they communicate with our readership.

Able Magazine has been enjoyed by disabled people since 1994 and has recently been accredited as one of the Shaw Trust Top 100 Most Influential Disability Organisations and Individuals. We’ve got a lot more pages to print yet, so I hope you’ve got space on your fridge!

Visit: www.ablemagazine.co.uk