Disabled Rights

We are a society where the over 50’s make up the largest segment of the population. This is because more and more of us are living longer than ever before, but with this longer life comes health problems, one of them being dementia.

Old age will happen to us all, and we hope that when we reach it we will be able to get the help that we need. The worry is that many of us may not! It appears that many hospitals are failing those patients suffering from dementia. In fact hospitals can actually make the condition worse with more than 50% of carers reporting that after a stay in hospital many of their patients came out more confused and agitated than when they went in.

Many nurses in hospitals admit that they have not had the proper training to enable them to deal properly with the needs of those patients suffering from dementia. This illness is terrible for both the patient as well as the family and friends around them so it is vital that the government ensure that our hospitals are able to deal properly with those suffering from the disease.

It is staggering today that some airline companies are still not able to accommodate properly those with disabilities. Jetstar an Australian budget airline have a policy of checking in wheelchairs as baggage. This left Kurt Feanley, a triple paralympic champion having to having to drag himself along the airport floor, in order to board the plane. The airline do offer the alternative of using an airline wheelchair which has to be pushed by an attendant, but for those who are independent, there is no other option than to do what Feanley did.

The airline is now looking into its wheelchair policy and released a statement apologising for Feanley.

It is amazing how some children with special needs often improve their learning with the help of animals. Dolphins are famous for this, known to help autistic children to communicate better with the people around them, but now it seems that dogs could also have the same effect.

Dogs have long been known as man’s best friend, but they can be much more than just a companion and some special needs schools are now using dogs as a way to help children with special needs to learn.

A special needs school in Wales has what is known as a therapy dog called Bertie. The cocker spaniel spends one day out of every week with children who all have severe learning difficulties. Teachers at the school believe that having a dog in the classroom encourages the children to communicate in making their feelings understood.

If this example proves to be a success, we could see more therapy dogs in special needs schools across the country.

At this time of year, many elderly people receive a fuel allowance to help keep them warm over the cold winter months, but the government has now refused to extend this allowance to those who are suffering from cancer.

It seems that cancer sufferers need more help than most during the winter, as chemotherapy treatment leaves patients feeling much colder than those who are fit and healthy. Keeping warm is vital for their recovery, and Macmillan Cancer Support estimate that up to 400,000 patients need urgent help.

The government argue that the disability living allowance already provided to cancer sufferers meets all year round costs and that this is already much more generous than the winter fuel bill allowance.

Those suffering from cancer already have a lot to go through without having to sit in a cold home. In a society where we claim to look after those most in need it seems the government is failing those cancer sufferers who need their help most.

The wheelchair sports awards were celebrated at Stoke Mandeville, where the Paralympic movement started in 1948. Various awards were accorded to disabled people for the performances over the year 2009. Daniel Lucker for example got Junior Male Achievement for his outstanding performance as a wheelchair racer.

Other awards includes Junior Female Achievement, Best Female Newcomer, Individual Male Achievement, Coach of the Year and many more.

The ceremony is one of the highlights in the Paralympic calendar and sets the mood for the coming 2012 Paralympic games.

Labour MP Anne Begg is leading the campaign against a government plan to scrap attendance allowance which would affect 1.6 million people.

‘We have got to find more money for social care but that shouldn’t take existing national benefits away which are of tremendous importance. Just as in the NHS we don’t means test, I don’t think in the National Care Service we should means test either.’

Other MPs have joined the battle like Roger Berry, chairman of the Commons disability group, Jeremy Corbyn and others to defend the cause of the over-65s living with the aid.

Around 1.6milliom people claim the attendance allowance, a weekly payment between £47.10 and £70.35. They can spend it on any personal care they need.

Previous posts on this site have focussed a lot on the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA), which came into force in 1995, and has since had amendments added in 2004 and 2005, which have added new elements of the legislation for employers, providers of services and goods, and public bodies. The meaning of disability is very specific in the DDA:

‘There must be a mental or physical condition which has a substantial and long-term adverse affect on the employee’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. Long-term means that the condition must last, or be likely to last, for more than 12 months’.

This means that there are many conditions that people probably wouldn’t associate with a disability, but could actually be classed as one for the purposes of the act, which is especially important for employers in the way they treat potential, existing or even ex-employers. The 2005 amendments to the act clarified that progressive illnesses such as HIV and cancer are covered under the DDA and also said that mental illness is covered in the same way as physical disabilities, even if the illness is not clinically recognised.

The definition of disability means that many people are protected from discrimination as a result of their condition in their employment, educational opportunities or when receiving or purchasing services. It is very important for employers and service providers to understand their responsibilities in relation to disability, and ensure they are able to work effectively in this area.

The rights of the disabled on airlines are very similar to those in most other cases discussed on this blog, and rightly so we do want a non discriminative society don’t we? Open to debate really isn’t it, I won’t go there though!

The disabled are protected on airlines by The Air Carrier Access Act which prevents the discrimination of disabled people’s needs in regards to air travel. In 1990 The Department Of Transport created the basic rights that the disabled were to be entitled to.

These rights include the following.

•    Airlines are unable to refuse entry onto the plane to the disabled
•    Airlines cannot put a limit on the amount of disabled people on a flight
•    Twin aisle airlines must have accessible toilets to the disabled
•    Aircraft with more than 100 seats must have space for a foldable wheelchair

Disabled people should in my view have as much right to quality of life as a normal person. The things that can be done these days are very impressive with lots of facilities to help them to lead a normal life. The advances in these facilities over the years have dramatically improved compared to the basic ones that existed in the past.

In the modern world you have many different types of wheelchairs such as mobility chairs which make the disabled more independent. In the past the disabled may have had to rely on a carer although the newer and more advanced mobility scooters have changed all this. You can often see the disabled in their scooters all over the place, and it must make them feel a lot more independent.

My grandma has recently had an assessment by her housing association to determine if she was eligible to have a walk in shower fitted in the bathroom of her flat. And the good news is, she was approved and is having one fitted very soon!

She has just had her 90th birthday and hardly a spring chicken anymore although she is very good for her age, her bathroom has a fairly low level bath but this has proved difficult recently so the news of a walk in shower is really good news. The considerations of the person’s physical circumstances are spot on from my grandma’s point of view, and something that I share. So if anybody out there is personally affected or knows of someone who is then I would recommend them to contact there council or Housing Association to arrange a consultation, the chances are that they are already on the case but if they aren’t give them a ring!

I personally think it is really good that the local Council’s and Housing Association’s are upgrading the properties that they own, particularly looking after the elderly as it is them that often need the help the most.