Most people agree that the true sign of a modern and civilized society can be seen in the way that it treats those that are “weakest”. Social welfare, even in times of austerity, should ensure that the “weakest” do not slip through the net. For disabled people, the holes in the net have just got [...]
The description heroes has been applied liberally over the last few days to describe the Chilean miners. Every time I’ve heard this I’ve winced a little bit, in a very similar way to the way I feel when I hear disabled people referred to as heroic. The miners have been through an ordeal that they [...]
I’ve just returned from a six-day break in Barcelona. Two things struck me in particular about a wheelchair-using disabled person spending time in this wonderful city. Firstly, the ability to get to so many places is like a breath of fresh air for a wheelchair user – particularly one like me, coming from London. Both [...]
Last week I went to a friend’s wedding party. It was held in the basement health club that was his own small business. I used the elevator to get down to basement level. He half complained about how he had been obliged by the law to spend a fortune for his small business fitting the [...]