Disabled people can be worse off if they return to work

People with disabilities, whom the government urges to return to work, find that doing so often means they end up being financially worse off. It’s all because for many sick and disabled people, including those of us with multiple sclerosis, self-employment is the only realistic option. Regrettably, this is because they face heavy discrimination in …

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Unexpected fall in disability benefit paid to older people

Fewer older people are today paid attendance allowance (AA), a disability benefit, despite an increase in the UK’s elderly population. Government figures show that the number of people over retirement age who receive the benefit has plummeted since 2011. The figures were released by minister for disabled people Sarah Newton, in a written answer to …

Christmas, Hanukkah, Yule, or another festival – disabled or not – let’s all be happy

Season’s greetings to one and all, family, friends, neighbours, acquaintances, and all my readers alike. If you are disabled and find this season a challenge, be sure to pace yourself. As almost 17 years have passed since I received a diagnosis of having MS, I understand it can be difficult. It is easy to get …

Disabled politician condemns government’s ‘suffer and die’ policies

New Labour MP Jared O’Mara, who has a disability, has accused the Conservative government of introducing policies in the hope that disabled people will “suffer and die”. It is a view with which I find it hard to disagree. O’Mara is now one of just a few disabled MPs, he has cerebral palsy, in the …

Awards for good attendance discriminate against sick and disabled

It’s time to take my hat off and salute the eminently sensible views of a mother who talks about her two sons. One chronically disabled with severe cerebral palsy, the other fit and well with a perfect school attendance record. And that’s where mum, Rachel Wright of Essex in England, put her foot down. You …

Dispelling myths about disability

    The following blog was published in the Huffington Post and I think it is worthy of some comment and discussion. Please feel free to leave your opinions. Headlined Basic Myths about Disability I Can’t Believe We Still Have to Debunk, the original blog was written by Sarah Blahovec, pictured left, described as an …

Stopping abuse of parking bays for disabled people

Not all physical disabilities, let alone the mental ones, are necessarily apparent to other people – and by ‘other people’ I include those of us who live with more obvious physical disabilities. As just one example, let’s look at car parking bays denoted by the well known wheelchair symbol that are reserved for people with …