Disabled Rights

Improving your home to adapt to living with a disability can be a stressful process if you need to make adaptations when living independently. There is help available from social services departments of your local council who can complete an assessment of your home. The assessments are usually completed by an occupational therapist who will assess what changes would best meet your needs. When they have completed your assessment they decide whether any adaptations are needed to your home – if they do you can be awarded a Disabled Facilities Grant.

It is standard practice for local councils to give a grant to eligible applicants so that houses are suitable for disabled people. Some of the costs may be payable by yourself; however in some cases they are fully covered by the council.

If you require any more information on this service then you can contact the Housing Department from your local council or alternatively the Environmental Health department.

If you are looking for a new job there are a few ways that can help you indentify employers who positively encourage disabled people to work for them. One of these ways is to display the “disability symbol” on an advertisement for a job for example. All employers are bound to the Disability Discrimination Act to treat everyone equally but some of them will show their encouragement by employing disabled people. If this is the case then it is likely they will display the “two ticks” disability symbol on their job adverts which indicates they have made specific commitments regarding employing disabled people.

Equal opportunities are standard in the work place these days and being comfortable around others in the same position can be a benefit to working in a certain environment. An employer could include a statement in a job advert that actively encourages disabled people to go for the job. If there is anything that you need advice on with applying for a job then your Disability Employment Adviser can contact the employer on your behalf.

The government has revealed an array of measures which they say represents a huge shift in their approach to mental health and issues surrounding it. They have published a strategy for preventing people who are at risk to mental health conditions including victims of sexual or physical abuse and people who don’t have homes or safe places to live. The government have also published two reports; one is about providing people who have mental health conditions with help on how to stay in work. The other report focuses on improving job prospects for people who are out of work.

The strategy that the government have set out includes employing mental health workers in job centres which will help to give support. Developing links between companies and their employees is important to the government and they are aiming to help support British businesses with retaining employees who have mental health conditions.

Channel 4 has announced that the 2012 Paralympics will be broadcast for the duration of the event. After winning the rights to the games Channel 4 will see this as a step forward in their development.
150 hours of coverage on the television will be given to Channel 4 for the London games. According to the chairman of Channel 4, the Paralympic games will be the main event rather than a sideshow to the Olympics.
It is thought that Sky were the biggest rival to the BBC with regards the rights to the games but didn’t bid in the end.

The Paralympics are due to start soon after the completion of the Olympics. It is also confirmed that Channel 4 will be completely rebranded with a Paralympic theme for the duration of the games.

There has been a huge amount of snowfall in the last week in the UK. This has had an effect on everyone with regards to getting about the country, trying to do day-to-day business and basics like shopping and commuting. The fact that the roads are extremely dangerous to drive on suggests that many people stay home and don’t risk causing accidents to themselves and others.

Even walking around the local streets is hazardous, wrapping up warm is essential and taking plenty of supplies with you on journeys is recommended too. If you can avoid going out in these conditions - as low as minus 17 degrees Celcius in some places, then it is best to stay where you are. The snow is turning to ice and the conditions aren’t looking like improving soon.