The Paralympics show sport has woken up to disability, but not the politicians | Peter Beresford

Mark Glasgow — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:54:37 +0000

It’s as if some of our politicians want us to believe there are two disabled populations: one competitive, the other dependent This year looks set to highlight the contradictions facing disabled people in our society. On the one hand, they are facing increasing marginalisation and discrimination under “welfare reform” policy and public expenditure cuts. On the other, the official rhetoric presents them as the heroes of the forthcoming London Paralympics.

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The Paralympics show sport has woken up to disability, but not the politicians | Peter Beresford

British Paralympic Association unveils ‘five-year vision’ to widen remit

Mark Glasgow — Mon, 21 May 2012 13:54:31 +0000

BPA unveils strategic plan that aims to use profile of London 2012 to help ‘inspire a better world for disabled people’ The British Paralympic Association has vowed to use the momentum of this summer’s London Games to help improve the grassroots provision of disabled sport and “inspire a better world for disabled people”. Against a backdrop of renewed concern from Paralympic luminaries including Tanni Grey-Thompson that wider changes to the welfare system could harm sporting chances, the BPA has unveiled a new “five-year vision”. It will seek to use the profile of London 2012 to help improve grassroots sport provision, change attitudes towards disabled people in society and improve accessibility.

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British Paralympic Association unveils ‘five-year vision’ to widen remit

London 2012 wheelchair access: is Olympic host city prepared? – video

Mark Glasgow — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:36:06 +0000

Wheelchair users David Slater and Anna Alston travel from Trafalgar Square in central London to the Olympic Park in Stratford using only public transport Laurence Topham Mustafa Khalili

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London 2012 wheelchair access: is Olympic host city prepared? – video

Councils ‘failing to assess needs of carers of people with autism’

Mark Glasgow — Mon, 21 May 2012 11:35:59 +0000

Survey finds four out of five carers have not been through assessment process that councils are obliged to provide Only one in five carers of people with autism have ever received the local authority assessment of their needs to which they are legally entitled, according to a major survey of carers’ needs. Of more than 5,500 carers who filled in an online survey for the National Autistic Society (NAS), 80% said they had never been through the assessment process, which local authorities are obliged to provide and which helps them obtain the right assistance.

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Councils ‘failing to assess needs of carers of people with autism’

Tanni Grey-Thompson warns that Paralympic legacy threatened by cuts

Mark Glasgow — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:50:30 +0000

Former athlete, who won 11 gold medals, says welfare reforms are putting wider access to sport for disabled people at risk Britain’s greatest Paralympian, Lady Tanni Grey-Thompson, has warned that disability benefit cuts will affect the development of top athletes and undermine the Games’ key legacy aim of widening access to sport for disabled people. Hundreds of thousands of working age people will lose disability benefits over the next four years as a result of the government’s controversial welfare reforms. Grey-Thompson, who won 11 Paralympic gold medals as a wheelchair athlete, said disability living allowance (DLA) had been crucial in enabling her and many other disabled athletes to participate and compete.

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Tanni Grey-Thompson warns that Paralympic legacy threatened by cuts

Challenge for Paralympics to change lives and perceptions

Mark Glasgow — Sun, 20 May 2012 20:50:24 +0000

Wheelchair basketball medallist Ade Adepitan praises transport aid that is threatened by cuts There’s a sense of fizzing excitement around this summer’s Paralympics. The games are “coming home” – the first forerunner to the Paralympics took place in Stoke Mandeville in 1948 – and for Team GB supporters there are expectations of an avalanche of golden moments to match the second place in the medal table achieved in Beijing. But it’s not just about sporting spectacle, human drama and podium glory in what are predicted to be the biggest Paralympics, with 165 countries set to compete, compared to 146 in Beijing

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Challenge for Paralympics to change lives and perceptions

A letter to … the brother I almost had

Mark Glasgow — Sat, 19 May 2012 03:00:29 +0000

The letter you always wanted to write I am writing to you for the first time in adult English, despite the fact that you can only read simple words and phrases and would not be able to understand the content of this letter unless it were translated into elementary sign language. We were born on the same wartime winter day in 1942

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A letter to … the brother I almost had

Remploy bidders offered wage subsidy

Mark Glasgow — Thu, 17 May 2012 19:24:00 +0000

Government announces £10m concession in attempt to firm up bids for 36 loss-making factories under threat of closure Employers who take over any of the 36 state-owned Remploy factories facing closure will be offered a short-term subsidy of up to a third of the wages of the units’ disabled workers, the government has announced. The £10m concession has been announced by ministers in an attempt to firm up bids for the factories, which have been declared unviable in their existing forms. The deadline for submission of business plans has been extended

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Remploy bidders offered wage subsidy

Politics Weekly podcast: Greece nears euro exit and disability benefits cut

Mark Glasgow — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:35:39 +0000

As Greece prepares for a new round of elections the markets are getting restless around Europe and money is being rapidly withdrawn from banks exposed to a disorderly exit. Meanwhile, in Britain David Cameron has begun openly contemplating the break-up of the single currency while the Bank of England governor has complained of a continent “tearing itself apart”. Joining Tom Clark in the studio to discuss this are Randeep Ramesh , the Guardian’s social affairs editor; Heather Stewart , economics editor of the Observer, and Max Wind-Cowie of the thinktank Demos

Politics Weekly podcast: Greece nears euro exit and disability benefits cut

Mark Glasgow — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:35:39 +0000

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Politics Weekly podcast: Greece nears euro exit and disability benefits cut

Live Q&A: Employing disabled people, 24 May, 1 pm – 3pm

Mark Glasgow — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:35:33 +0000

Join us on Thursday to discuss the role played by social enterprises in increasing disabled employment Many social enterprises employ disabled workers.

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Live Q&A: Employing disabled people, 24 May, 1 pm – 3pm

Live Q&A: Employing disabled people, 24 May, 1 pm – 3pm

Mark Glasgow — Thu, 17 May 2012 16:35:33 +0000

Join us on Thursday to discuss the role played by social enterprises in increasing disabled employment Many social enterprises employ disabled workers. This is part of the social value they generate and can also give them a unique selling point in their chosen market place

Letters: The human cost of disability cuts

Mark Glasgow — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:38:33 +0000

We are concerned about the current and projected impacts on disabled people of the changes to employment and support allowance; the ongoing issues with the work capability assessment; the reduction in local authority social care expenditure; the replacement of disability living allowance by personal independence payment; the closure of the independent living fund and the cap on housing benefit ( Report , 10 May).

Home care, stealth tax and the elderly: which councils charge the most?

Mark Glasgow — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:27:58 +0000

A significant reduction in the number of older people getting care for free, or partly funded by the council means a vast difference in costs. Which councils charge the most and which have the lowest rate?

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Home care, stealth tax and the elderly: which councils charge the most?

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Cuts putting lives of learning disabled at risk, say nurses

Mark Glasgow — Wed, 16 May 2012 04:44:39 +0000

Inconsistent levels of care are putting patients in danger, and are being exacerbated by budget cuts, survey reveals When the abuse of adults at Winterbourne View hospital near Bristol hit the headlines earlier this year it catapulted the mistreatment of people with learning difficulties in residential settings into the headlines, and prompted calls for immediate reforms to protect vulnerable people. However, if advocates for change had hoped that the revelation would be the final alarm raised about poor care for people with learning disabilities, then a new report from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is likely to shatter those hopes

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Cuts putting lives of learning disabled at risk, say nurses