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.

People are more aware now than ever before about the importance of mental health, and over the past 10 years the government has concentrated on improving treatment as well as prevention for this illness.

Once an illness that caused embarrassment, it is now something that we are actively encouraged to talk about as part of the recovery procedure. The figures for those suffering from depression is surprisingly high, with one in six people suffering from depression or anxiety at some point in their life. In fact mental illness accounts for the greatest burden than any other condition.
It has been proven that working is beneficial for those with depression, and the government is now appointing mental health coordinators to work with job centres, to get those people suffering from the illness into jobs.

For those sufferers already in work the government are setting up advice lines, from which small businesses can give their staff direct access to occupational health professionals.
The important message is that those suffering from depression or anxiety should get the help they need to learn to cope with, or even overcome their illness.

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.