Disabled Rights

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.

This is a tax free benefit for children and adults with a physical or mental disability which requires some form of personal care as a direct result of their disability. Examples include needing aid when walking, completing menial tasks around the home, doing the weekly shop. All these things entitle you to some sort of allowance.

So who is entitled to this allowance?

•    Those with a mental/physical or both
•    If your disability requires the care of another person to care for you
•    If you have walking difficulties
•    You must be under 65 when making your application

Your claim is not applicable to your working conditions, if you are in employment or unemployed it makes no difference, everybody can apply as long as you meet the standard requirements above.
How much will I be entitled to? This is dependent on 2 factors

•    Mobility – How able your are on your feet and how you manage independently
•    Care – If you require some form of care to go about your daily requirements

The payments made to you will be either in 1 full payment or monthly via direct debit into your bank account.

What rights do the disabled have in hotels? What responsibility do hotels have towards the disabled?
The answers to both questions are very positive for the disabled as they have numerous rights; also hotels are liable to provide the facilities that the disabled require to make their stay a more comfortable one.

Hotel will usually seek advice from the DDA or/and employ an independent company to annually inspect their premised for recommendations for facilities required by the all disabilities, form this report the reasonable changes will then be made as is the responsibility of the hotel. Hotels will usually state in their brochure or website the facilities that they offer to the customer, typically you will see disabled toilets as well as chair lifts or standard lifts.

This is all beneficial to the disabled as it make their lives a lot easier, this is something I feel strongly about as I feel that people with disabilities should be treated as equals in all society. It is hardly their fault that they have been born with a disability is it?

The disabled have basic rights when it comes to travelling by public transport, the notion that they are to be treated as equal to an able bodied person applies in the same way on public transport, this is usually changes and special arrangements have to be made if deemed reasonable.

They are different types of transport but the most common tend to be bus/coach and train, aeroplane travel is also at liberty to maintain good conditions for the disabled.

The main thing that can be done on trains and buses for example is the availability of a ramp and member of staff to put the ramp out for the person and to ensure they are safely transferred. This has to be pre-arranged by the person involved or by family or friend; if the travel company is made aware then the situation can be addressed.

Planes have a very similar way of doing things although permission has to be given by the person’s doctor depending on the severity of their disability. Similarly an aid can be provided to help the person safely on and off the plane; this again has to be pre-arranged.

The DDA was set up to protect those with disabilities in various situations. For example, in employment, education, premises and facilities or services.

The act applies to anybody who supplies goods, food or a service. This can include bus companies, food outlets, car washes etc. And as expected, the parties involved have a responsibility to act in a lawful way towards people with disabilities. Local authorities, private members clubs, transport providers are all have to take the act into consideration as part of their daily workload, not unreasonable in my view. Surely this is something that comes naturally and should become more common in England; it shouldn’t really need an Act to protect those with disabilities.

Due to the focus on the current financial climate people with disabilities could be at greater risk if cut back have to be made in a business, but this of course has to be on reasonable grounds, and if it is felt that those grounds were discriminatory then action can be taken. Companies can be taken to a tribunal if necessary, this has to be done within 3 months of leaving the employment.