Articles for the ‘lifestyle’ Category

The trouble with mobility scooters

The trouble with mobility scooters

Mobility scooters are big business – and they can transform the lives of people with disabilities. But their rising popularity in the UK is creating hostility, not least when able-bodied people use them as a cheap alternative to a car The TGA Supersport tends to be bought by people who were fond of motorbikes in their youth, and many of its owners know it affectionately as the Harley, because its high silver handlebars supported by chrome springs are immediately reminiscent of the brand. It’s a Hell’s Angels look for people with limited mobility

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Disabled people’s magazine taps a ‘niche for positivity’

Disabled people’s magazine taps a ‘niche for positivity’

The founders of an online lifestyle magazine for disabled people on why there’s a need for a feelgood factor A broad smile spreads across the faces of Martyn Sibley and Srin Madipalli when asked where they were when they decided to launch an online lifestyle magazine for disabled people. “On the beach,” they respond in tandem

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Why retirement villages are building in popularity

Why retirement villages are building in popularity

Retirement communities can be an attractive option for older people. But does the model work as well for those with disabilities? Judi Gerrard sweeps her mobility scooter into the bustling coffee shop at the Lovat Fields retirement village in Milton Keynes

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Comment is free readers on … negative attitudes towards disability | The people’s panel

Comment is free readers on … negative attitudes towards disability | The people’s panel

According to charities, public abuse of disabled people is on the rise . Four readers tell their stories Isobel Glenelg, posts as IsobelGlenelg Having no visible signs of disability (unless you count an almost permanent pain-induced grimace) has its drawbacks. In the early days of my blue badge ownership, I was often glared at disapprovingly.

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Who ‘deserves’ disability benefits? Everyone in physical need | Madeline Lewis

Who ‘deserves’ disability benefits? Everyone in physical need | Madeline Lewis

We don’t deny the rich the right to use the NHS or state schools, so why should we deny them help dressing and eating? Hostility towards those on disability benefits has been on the rise this week, evidenced by the reports of increased public abuse towards the disabled, and the outcry regarding the lottery-winning couple who still claim disability benefits. These outpourings of venom betray an ignorance about what any disabled person goes through on a daily basis – loss of privacy, independence and dignity, for example – as well as a total inconsistency in views on social welfare.

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Benefit cuts are fuelling abuse of disabled people, say charities

Benefit cuts are fuelling abuse of disabled people, say charities

Rising public resentment blamed on government focus on alleged ‘scrounger’ fraud and inflammatory media coverage The government’s focus on alleged fraud and overclaiming to justify cuts in disability benefits has caused an increase in resentment and abuse directed at disabled people, as they find themselves being labelled as scroungers, six of the country’s biggest disability groups have warned. Some of the charities say they are now regularly contacted by people who have been taunted on the street about supposedly faking their disability and are concerned the climate of suspicion could spill over into violence or other hate crimes.

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Benefit cuts are fuelling abuse of disabled people, say charities

Benefit cuts are fuelling abuse of disabled people, say charities

Rising public resentment blamed on government focus on alleged ‘scrounger’ fraud and inflammatory media coverage The government’s focus on alleged fraud and overclaiming to justify cuts in disability benefits has caused an increase in resentment and abuse directed at disabled people, as they find themselves being labelled as scroungers, six of the country’s biggest disability groups have warned. Some of the charities say they are now regularly contacted by people who have been taunted on the street about supposedly faking their disability and are concerned the climate of suspicion could spill over into violence or other hate crimes

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Letters: The benefits of a civilised society

Today the welfare reform bill is expected to return to the Commons ( Report , 30 January). Under government plans, 670,000 households – two-thirds containing a disabled family member – would lose an average of £670 a year because they are deemed to have one or more additional bedrooms. Separated parents or grandparents who use their extra bedroom to share the care of their children or grandchildren; families in which two same-sex teenage children have their own bedroom for privacy and study; foster parents with rooms occupied by foster children – many, despite having nowhere else to move to, will see their incomes cut if the bill passes unamended.

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Housing benefit changes ‘could force 11,000 disabled people out of homes’

Housing benefit changes ‘could force 11,000 disabled people out of homes’

Homeless charity Crisis says young disabled people who can no longer afford flats could end up being forced to live on the streets Controversial government changes to housing benefit could see 11,000 young disabled people forced out of their flats, putting them at risk of homelessness, according to campaigners. The homeless charity Crisis says the government’s own figures (pdf) show that almost one in five of the 62,500 people in England, Scotland and Wales affected by the proposed extension of the Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) have a disability.

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