Patchworker Spotlight: Puneet’s story

Community Stories, Advocacy and Campaigns, Health and Disability, Students and Graduates, Staying in work, Self-Employment, Organisations, Employers, Spotlight Stories,

Patchworker Spotlight: Puneet’s story

Puneet Singh Singhal is a Disability Inclusion and Accessibility Advocate, and the Founder of ssstart. We recently spoke with Puneet to find out more about his story, his motivation for the work that he does, and his thoughts on disability equality.

To start, could you please tell us about yourself?

My name is Puneet Singh Singhal and I’m from New Delhi, India. I’m a person with an undiagnosed learning disability and stammering. I see my life as the intersection of poverty, domestic violence, and multiple invisible disabilities. I’m a disability activist advocating for a more inclusive and accessible society for people with different and distinct, visible, and invisible disabilities. I’m also the founder of a non-profit called ssstart, working towards normalizing speech and communication disabilities, mainly stammering.

Can you tell us a bit more about your story?

As a little child in New Delhi, life was beautiful. I remember when I started my schooling, it was so much fun learning English and Hindi alphabets, mathematics, and drawing. I used to recite prayers and sing the national anthem in the school assembly. In classes, I was the one who read the mathematics table aloud as my classmates repeated after me.

But then everything changed when I witnessed violence among adults for the first time. I felt wounded and yet so numb that I used to stand in one place for hours without having a single thought. I found myself in shackles. Before, I was scared to sit in the dark, but at this point, I found refuge in darkness. I stopped communicating. When I was asked a question, my words didn’t come out.

The school stage that used to be my comfort zone changed into a battlefield. One day, the whole class started to stammer “gu-gu-gu-good morning,” and I realized that they were mocking me. My classmates and their parents even complained to the principal that I could be a bad influence and make all of them stammerers. My mother couldn’t believe that her son, whose tongue was as fast as a train and sharp as a razor, was struggling with his speech! Being subject to constant mocking, I completely lost my confidence.

I used different strategies to ease my stammering: finding alternatives for words I generally got stuck on, reducing my statements to a minimum, or arriving late to avoid introducing myself. When people tried to help by asking me to slow down or by finishing my sentences, it made me even more self-conscious. And then there were these weird and rather dangerous pieces of advice like licking ashes of cremated bodies or rubbing alum on the tongue until the upper layer was removed.

Looking back, my childhood was not easy, but do I regret having a stammer? No. It made me a more sensitive human being. I feel connected with all who are unable to express their thoughts and are longing to be understood.

Witnessing violence in my personal surroundings shook me and took me to an island of isolation and loneliness. I changed from a child who loved to be in the spotlight to a stammering, timid boy who tried to avoid conversation. Today, I embrace my special style of communication, and I dream to set free those who experience real barriers to communicating fluently.

Have you faced any workplace barriers due to your situation? Do you think the ‘conventional’ world of work most employers use needs to change?

The impact at work depends on the culture of the organisation/area of business we work for. The more value-based and ethically literate the place is, the better the conditions. For example, many HR staff with whom I disclosed my stammering replied that they also stammer occasionally. An occasional stammer is not the same as a diagnosis of stammering at the clinical level. While this may be well-intentioned, it undermines the extent of the struggle experienced by someone with a stammer. Societal change needs to occur so we can:

Create a general culture of respect and ethical literacy.
Change opinions so people don’t think that dysfluency is a sign of low intellectual capabilities.
Have zero tolerance for bullying by co-staff, HR, and even seniors to the person who stammers.
Promote stammering voices to speak in public, if they are willing, to raise awareness and normalize speech differences. This is only possible if there is trust and mutual respect.

If you could change one thing about the world of work or the way employers saw accessibility, what would it be and why?

Accessibility improves the life of all.

What inspired you to start doing the work you currently do?

My life with poverty, domestic violence, and multiple disabilities drive me to change the lives of other people like me. No matter how small the change is, I’m immensely self-motivated and I do not feel the need to get motivated by an external source. My life is inspirational enough to fuel me up to keep working day in and day out.

What is the biggest lesson you have learnt from your career to date?

Disability is diverse. There are many vastly different disability issues, all equally important but some are covered and talked about more than others. From ramps to sign language and employment opportunities to healthcare, there is a wide range of issues to think about which makes it difficult to prioritize. This then causes millions of people with disabilities to feel ignored or sidelined, almost like there’s a hierarchy within the disability community. Although the communities and organizations are committed to full inclusion, on ground levels, we are struggling to live up to these ideals. For example, the divide between physical disabilities and mental or cognitive disabilities is pretty evident. Moreover: race, gender, sexuality, education, wealth, and other identities also play a huge role in generating strong division amongst disability communities.

Do you have a favourite quote or personal mantra?

“There is nothing impossible in all the world except that the heart of man is wanting in resolution” — Confucius.

If you could change one thing about people's perception of disability, what would it be?

Disability is not a punishment, it is difference. We add to the diversity.

Find out more about Puneet’s story and work:

ssstart's Website

Follow Puneet on Instagram

Follow Puneet on Twitter

Contact Puneet on LinkedIn

Join Puneet’s Patreon

Published: 8th December 2022

All Tags

Accessibility Accessibility int he workplace Accessibility ramps Adaptive fashion Advocacy All Saints Alt text Assistive technology Autism Awareness Blog Bullying Burnout Business Businesses Cancer Candidates Captions Cerebral palsy Characters Charity Charity sector Chronic pain Closed captions Clothes Clothing Cognitive disabilities Communication Companies Company Company Corner Confidence Confucius Consultant Consultation Content designer Data talent Diagnosis Difference Digital transformation Disabilities Disability advocate Disability advocates Disability community Disability confident Disability inclusion Disability Policy Centre Disabled Disabled people Disabled People’s Direct Action Network Disabled-led Diverse Diversity Diversity and inclusion Diversity Recruitment Platform Domestic violence Dysfluency Education Employment opportunities Empowerment Ethnic minorities Fashion Fashion industry Feedback Flexible work Freelance Game Gaming Gareth Walkom Garment technologist Gastrointestinal conditions Gender Guide dog Healthcare HR Hybrid working Inclusion Inclusivity India Inspiration Intellectual capabilities Interviews Invisible disabilities Invisible disability Istituto Marangoni Jack Wills Job descriptions Job interviews Job opportunities Learning disability Leeds Leeds trinity university Legislation LGBTQ+ Long-term health condition Long-term health conditions Maya angelou Meta Metaverse Migrants Motivation Musculoskeletal conditions Neurodivergence Neurodivergent Neurodiversity consultant Neurodiversity space Neurotype Neurotypes New Delhi Non-profit Partially sighted People Phase Eight Phone calls Physical disabilities Pirate video games Policy Poverty Presentations Primark Public speaking Puneet Singh Singhal Race Raising awareness Registered blind Remote work Rights School Scope Self-employed Self-employment Senior staff Sexuality Shaw trust Shaw trust power 100 list Sign language Social mobility Social-emotional learning Social-emotional learning platform Software Speaking situation Speech differences Speech disabilities Speech impediment Spotlight series Spotlight stories Ssstart Staff Stammer Stammering Stories Stuttering Sweaty Betty Tech industry Tech talent TEDx Tesco Think tank Underrepresentation Unhidden Unhidden Clothing Universities Vanessa Castañeda Gill Victoria Beckham Video game Violence Virtual reality VR Web accessibility Women Work environment Work from home Working conditions Working from home Youth Access to work Accessibility in the workplace Accessibility test Accessible work Acting Adhd Adjustments Administrative Adrian lord Advice Advocacy and campaigns Allparty parliamentary group for inclusive entrepreneurship American civil rights movement Android Anglonorman App Artificial intelligence Bad grammar Barriers to work Bbc Benefits Blind persons act Blue badge Blue badge service specialists Care Career Carer Celtic languages Center on everyday lives of families Ceo Cfs Chloe tear Chronic fatigue syndrome Chronic health condition Chronic illness Community Community story Community, community story, founder, feature, accessible work, disability employment gap, making a difference Companies house Compressed hours Computer science Computers Coronavirus Councils Covid19 Crystal mark standard Deaf Demo Design Dialects Dictionary Digital accessibility Disability Disability discrimination act Disability employment gap Disability rights movement Disability services Disabled peoples direct action network Disabled persons employment act Easy read Email address Employers Employment English English speakers Entrepreneur Entrepreneurship Epilepsy Equality Equality act Equality and diversity Equality of access Esources, disability, disability services, support services, community story, features, adjustments, social support network Eugenics Facebook Feature Features Fibromyalgia First world war Flexi Flexible working Flexitime Flextime Founder Francesco cirillo Freelancing French Gcses Gdpr General data protection regulation Good Good grammar Google Government policy Government support Graduate Graduates Grammar Grammar schools Health Health condition Health conditions Hearing impairment History History of language Holistic Ico Impact Imposter syndrome Inclusive entrepreneur network Inequalities Inequality Information commissioners office Information governance Instagram Internet Jacqueline winstanley Language Latin Law Learning difficulties Lexicographers Limited company Local councils Local government Making a difference Marketing strategy Mecfs Medical conditions Medical model of disability Medical vs social models of disability Medicines Mental health Middle english Mindfulness Mlm Mobility issues Multilevel marketing National league of the blind Neurodiversity Niya Normans Old english Old french Onboarding and retention Online Out of work Oxbridge Parent Passwords Patchwork hub Payment details Planning Planning for work Podcasts Pomodoro Preposition Private schools Psychiatric Psychiatry Punctuation React Reasonable adjustments Recruitment Remote working Resources Resources and support Rest Retinopathy of prematurity Sales Scam Search engine Second world war Shell shock Slang Social Cipher Social interactions Social media Social model of disability Social support network Socialising Spelling Spoken language Spotlight stories Standard english Startup State schools Student Students Studying Suffragette movement Support Support services Syntactician Syntax Technology The Disability Policy Centre The elderly Then barbara met alan Trafalgar square Turkish United nations Universal inclusion University University of arts london University of cambridge University of hertfordshire University of hull University of leeds University of oxford Victoria Jenkins Visual impairment War Ways of working West germanic dialects William shakespeare Windsor consultations WithVR Wordpress Work structure Workforce recruitment Working environment Workplace barriers World war one World war two Young carer

I found a job through Patchwork Hub – a senior level position with a leading financial services company. Throughout the process I felt supported by very dedicated people, both at Patchwork Hub and the company, and it was really refreshing to be able to openly talk about my health condition and not feel like I had to actively avoid the subject. Their support was simply invaluable.

Ditte Olsen

Patchworker

I applied for a job through Patchwork Hub and secured employment at a FTSE 100 company. That is so fantastic, not just for my bank account and CV but also my confidence. Without Patchwork Hub – both its accessibility and the support and understanding they offer– this would not have happened for me. A platform taking a proactive approach to raising awareness amongst employers, and approaching disability inclusion in a way where we're not othered, is transformational.

Rock Bell

Patchworker

Patchwork Hub are leading a critical culture change in work and health for employers as we move into our 'new normal'. Bringing together global businesses, charities and experts to create accessible work opportunities for those currently excluded by traditional work practises, and challenging assumptions around a hidden pool of talent.

Lord Dennis Stevenson

As a company committed to diversity and equality of opportunity, we are excited to be partnering with Patchwork Hub and are looking forward to further building our relationship with Beth and the business. This platform allows us to connect with highly-skilled individuals we might not otherwise reach. Patchwork Hub hosts a growing pool of very capable and diverse talent which offers businesses unique recruitment potential, while helping to strengthen a company’s social impact.

St James's Place

FTSE 100 employer

I secured employment with a FTSE 100 company through Patchwork Hub. I would like to thank Beth and the team for helping me through the recruitment process and being there to give advice and support throughout my placement. It was refreshing to be honest about my condition and know that the company was ‘disability aware’ and would be inclusive and understanding too. This meant that I was able to focus on my job, learn from my colleagues and feel part of the team. I would advise others to make the most of this unique platform, its placement schemes and the opportunities they provide.

Ben Pearse

Patchworker

Patchwork Hub is an incredible organisation, making great strides towards bridging the gap between employers and ‘the UK’s hidden talent pool’. This is not limited to the one million disabled people in the UK navigating access to traditional job roles but extends across society to all those facing barriers. Patchwork Hub is where employees, who are experiencing the challenge of skills shortages, can come to unlock this talent pool, equally supporting employers and employees, and enabling society as a whole to thrive.

Q5

Annabel Tonge, Q5 Director (Employer)

Patchwork Hub's work will be invaluable to anyone for whom conventional work is not feasible. Having been suffering with health issues over the last few months myself and coming from a family of carers, mental illness sufferers, and disability, I've experienced firsthand the impact Patchwork Hub has on real lives. As well as offering employment opportunities, the unique offerings of community and the upcoming freelancing platform really set Patchwork Hub apart. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us how valuable work-from-home opportunities are, and Patchwork Hub has been ahead of the curve in their aim to provide working opportunities for as many people as possible.

Mia Testa

Featured Patchworker, Oxford University

Lauren Hazel Keane

Patchworker, Digital Marketing

Patchwork Hub is THE next-gen employment platform that's placing accessibility first - something that many companies in the same space should be looking up to.

WithVR

Gareth Walkom, CEO

Working with Patchwork Hub was an amazing insight into a startup leading the culture change in the world of work. Beth is extremely passionate and incredibly knowledgeable, and her start-up is providing critical information for companies looking to become more accessible and inclusive. The world of work has permanently changed following the pandemic, and Patchwork Hub provides a great insight into what the future of work should look like.

Lucas Jones

Digital Marketing Executive

I think Patchwork Hub's ethos is really remarkable and special. Especially during times like these (Covid), where the need for accessible work has become more evident than ever, shining a light on the work they do is doubly important. I can only see their mission becoming more and more essential as time goes on. during times like these (Covid), where the need for accessible work has become more evident than ever, shining a light on the work they do is doubly important. I can only see their mission becoming more and more essential as time goes on.

Natalie Vriend

Featured Patchworker, University of Oxford

Disability inclusion is not a chore or cost, it's a massive business opportunity. We're so thrilled to be working with Patchwork Hub as a disability-owned business and leader in this space, ensuring we are doing all we can to attract and retain diverse talent.

2Gether-International

Keevin O'Rourke, Managing Director | Startup Accelerator & Venture Fund (Employer)