tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-230119842024-03-07T09:45:20.849+00:00Through Myself and Back AgainNaomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.comBlogger165125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-91024029672666070992011-05-12T00:15:00.000+01:002011-05-13T21:25:12.399+01:00'The language of shirkers and scroungers?' Talking about illness, disability and coalition welfare reform - Disability & Society<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0L7u8Esc0_ENl8EgwiN1xg9RX2b8GDhiPOctukWDDY8aSCD29lWvHVPZ0wCRYkRp9aETRjnnKBlxJDAs4QoIVaaRGkcEjPqhzh_fzlILYPqxV-rFDoOglW9VdKq3DLnuI2RtZ/s1600/IMG_0145.JPG"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 239px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0L7u8Esc0_ENl8EgwiN1xg9RX2b8GDhiPOctukWDDY8aSCD29lWvHVPZ0wCRYkRp9aETRjnnKBlxJDAs4QoIVaaRGkcEjPqhzh_fzlILYPqxV-rFDoOglW9VdKq3DLnuI2RtZ/s320/IMG_0145.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5605602161367950146" border="0" /></a><br /><em>Picture: protesters at today's 'Hardest Hit' march, carrying a sign which is partly written in Braille. It reads "We're being ---- by the government." Someone has written a translation of the Braille word below it: "shafted". Photo copyright Lisa Egan.<br /></em><p>Yesterday's discussion on the BBC's <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b010xzzh">You and Yours</a> was about disability, cuts and welfare reform, and featured <a href="http://wheresthebenefit.blogspot.com/">Where's the Benefit</a>'s own <a href="http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.com/">Bendy Girl</a>. Some contributors' comments offered a clear example of how attitudes to disability haven't really changed much since Victorian times - if not before. Some academic research recently published has been talking about how these attitudes might relate to the way that the government and the media are representing disability at the moment. Academic journal articles are expensive if you're not at a university, but I think research around disability and society is vitally important, and this article's conclusions are a late-but-appreciated part of academic debate - so this is a bit of a summary of the article.</p><p>As a (new, but enthusiastic) researcher in disability studies, I get very frustrated about the split between theory/research and disability activism. It's not just disability - feminism has this theory-activism split too, and I'm sure other equality campaigns do as well. And certain academics have always argued for a closer relationship between theory and activism. But disability studies emerged out of the disability rights movement - the two were once very closely linked. Right now, when disabled people in the UK are engaged in a major struggle to maintain their independence in the face of cuts and attacks, it would be useful to have more theory and research supporting the disability rights movement.</p><p>So the current relevance of <a href="http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content%7Edb=all%7Econtent=a936615913">this article</a> makes me happy, although it's full of very worrying conclusions. 'Disability and Society' is an academic journal, but it has always been good at getting contributions from people who know what they're talking about, when it comes to practical disability issues. This is a short piece of research on the way that the government and the media represents disability, as part of the coalition's 'welfare reform' programme.</p><p>Despite the slightly misleading abstract, which seems to focus only on the coalition government, the article begins by putting welfare reform into a longer-term context. Garthwaite, the writer, acknowledges that these 'reforms' began with the Labour government, well <em>before</em> the current financial recession. The coalition government then continued to focus on the cost of benefits, attempting a major restructuring of the system - largely without piloting or consultation with disabled people. The research then shows the contractions in the language and representation of disability used to shore up this restructuring. Despite Chris Grayling's promise not to use "the language of shirkers and scroungers" (p.370), the government has used inference and association to suggest that many benefit claimants are workshy, without supporting this with facts or statistics. It has also gone further, with such terms as "dependency" and "unwilling" (p.370). Garthwaite compares this with language of the media towards disability benefits, which is often much stronger, with references to "cheats," "idleness" and "scroungers." The media regularly use metaphors of war, suggesting the need to 'win' a battle for "fairness" (p.371) - which encourages readers to 'take sides' in this battle. It seems that the government and the media are using very similar language about disability benefits and their claimants - the only differences are the extent of this use of negative language, and the strength of tone used. Garthwaite summarises this as a representation that questions the "integrity of the sick" (p.371), and argues that this goes against the principles of the UK's welfare state.</p><p>Garthwaite has particular concerns about policies around the new Employment Support Allowance, which is replacing Incapacity Benefit for people who are unable to work because of long-term health problems. The system individualises the issue of work and disability. Instead of focusing on inequalities in the way that work and the economy are structured, it focuses on individual 'responsibility' and 'economic (in)activity'. This is a medical model approach to disability, rather than a social model approach. It could also be very divisive for disabled people, since it places people into either a 'support' or a 'work-focused' group, with different rights and responsibilities in each. Garthwaite worries that this will affect public opinion about which conditions are 'deserving' or 'undeserving' of support (p.371). This, too, involves medicalising people, rather than dealing with social inequalities.</p><p>I'm very interested in what the article has to say about ideas of who 'deserves' welfare. Garthwaite argues that there's nothing particularly new about these attacks on disabled benefit claimants, and she identifies similar headlines from the 1980s and 1990s. The roots of the debate go back much further than that, though, she says - the split between representations of 'deserving poor' and 'undeserving poor' was strengthened in the Victorian era (although in fact the English poor laws go back to the sixteenth century and before). When I do my rant on twitter about how the government is taking us back to Victorian times, this is part of what I mean. By the nineteenth century, there was such social concern about idleness that "able-bodied" poor people were condemned to workhouses. This meant there had to be distinctions between 'deserving' and 'undeserving' poor that were, of course, ideologically motivated. The poor laws weren't just about workhouses, though. They left people who couldn't work either at the mercy of local parishes, which administered a system of charity, or in the care of (unsupported) family members. Later, long-stay hospitals became the main way that charitable care for disabled people was delivered. People lived and died in institutions. Disabled people have won a lot of battles since then, not least the entitlement to live independently in the community. Benefits and social care packages, those things society thinks it can't afford anymore, are a major part of that entitlement. Without them, we will probably see the widespread return of long-stay hospitals (nowadays they're called 'care homes'). A modern version of the workhouses is a possibility too (today the government talks about 'workfare').</p><p><a href="http://www.sociology.leeds.ac.uk/about/staff/barnes.php">Colin Barnes</a> often says that if research isn't useful to disabled people, then what is disability studies for at all? Good research could be very useful to the disability rights movement at the moment - especially when facts are in short supply. Garthwaite ends her article by calling for the stories of people on disability benefits to be listened to, so that negative government and media representations of disabled people can be challenged by the realities of our lives. This is just one way that a disability movement supported by good research would be more empowered to stand up to divisive, oppressive government and media ideologies. I'd like to see more useful research like this, with more researchers really asking disabled people what research they would find useful at the moment, and allowing disabled people to have full control of that research - rather than just <em>claiming</em> that's what they do.</p><p>Have you seen other academic research on welfare reform?</p><p><br /></p><em>Cross-posted to my academic blog.</em>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-17547964451531180592011-05-04T16:21:00.001+01:002011-05-04T16:24:14.680+01:00Bill on abstinence-focused sex education, for girls only, passes first reading in the Commons - The F Word<div style="margin-top: 10px;"> <p>See <a href="http://liberalconspiracy.org/2011/05/04/what-is-nadine-dorries-mp-proposing-exactly/">Liberal Conspiracy</a> for more on this.<br /></p> <p>I’m with these groups’ bloggers when they say that we have to unite to fight this. I think this means NOW. We cannot let a victim-blaming, misogynistic law affect the way young women are educated and socialised - especially in a society where the rape conviction rate remains horrifically low and one in four women experiences domestic violence.</p> <p>Dorries’ use of the rhetoric of sexualisation of society is particularly insidious here. Many feminists, myself included, agree that this is a growing problem. What we don’t do is shift the responsibility for this onto women. Society always moves first to change women, rather than men - and when this is victim-blaming, it’s particularly worrying. Dorries is serving the patriarchy by drawing on feminist language and themes. It’s terrifying. Disabled people know how nasty Dorries’ attacks on specific social groups can be. She needs, quite frankly, to be stopped.</p> <p>Feminist bloggers, are your groups thinking of doing something about this? I’m lacking a local group, but I do some work with UK Feminista. I’m hoping we’ll get to address this, and Dorries’ related anti-abortion campaign, at the Summer School. I need to get involved in a group, but it’s tricky when you’re not in either London or a large university. Hmm.</p> <p>Thoughts, anyone?</p> <p>(Daily Blogging Attempt Month, Day 4. Cross posted to my tumblr blog.)</p> </div>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-36130405447958849522011-02-25T00:05:00.007+00:002011-02-25T16:39:58.392+00:00Participate!Welcome, one and all, to February's Disability Blog Carnival - the 74th, if you're counting. I asked you to Participate, and you did. While 'Participation' is perhaps not the most exciting of themes, a great set of writers have interpreted it in all kinds of ways. Here, in no particular order, are their fantastic posts.<br /><br />Our first post comes from <a href="http://lifeofthedifferentlyabled.com/">In my eyes my life with cerebral palsy</a> (a blog whose strapline I adore), about going for what you want in life. A childhood example shows the impact of getting involved:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"When I was a kid the local wheelchair basketball team had an activity day, I attended and loved it so much that I begged my occupational therapist to go again so much that I managed at the ripe old age of five to convince them to lower the program age range from eight to five."</div><br />Having that kind of impact can involve some serious work, though. When social and physical barriers are everywhere for disabled people, participating in the most ordinary of activities can be frustratingly difficult and thoroughly depressing. This month, <a href="http://cripwheels.blogspot.com/2011/02/price-of-beauty.html">Wheelchair Dancer</a> related an experience of back-door access, poor service and relegation to second-class-citizenship. I was impressed by her tenacity in complaining. More of us could participate if more of us stood up for our own rights.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"There's not much anyone can do. They rent the space; they don't have the rights to put in an elevator. She says that she will think about how to make the space more of a par with the upstairs space in terms of decoration (did she honestly think that people with disabilities would be so grateful to get in the door that we'd be happy with the hallway?)"</div><br />Staying with these themes of society and expectations, <a href="http://righttodesign.blogspot.com/2011/02/best-arms-prosthetic-limb-improvements.html">The Right To Design</a> has a thought-provoking post this month about prosthetic limbs. Are they more about society's need to normalize disabled people than about function? In short, do we need to 'look right' before our participation in society will be more acceptable? And what are the reactions when we refuse to fit in like this?<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"Is it that people are more comfortable with plastic and metal - even though they clearly indicate a lost limb - than the actual flesh of an impaired body? Or that they want to see that the person is at least trying to repair/replace their disability - to make themselves more "normal"? Does the strangeness of a prosthetic limb somehow trump the taboos around physical difference or disability?"</div><br />Meanwhile, <a href="http://workingatperfect.blogspot.com/2011/02/disability-participation-can-be-boring.html">Carl</a> tells us that participation can be boring when you're ordinary, while <a href="http://teafeather.dreamwidth.org/1243.html">Teafeather</a> continues with the theme of ordinary things by talking about participation in online forums. After all, as Carl points out, despite the supercrip stories the media likes to revel in, most of us are indeed ordinary:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"Many people mistakenly perceive my participation in everyday activities to be something out of the ordinary, when really, there isn't all that much people my age participate in other than going to university, drinking beer and starting work."</div><br /><a href="http://diaryofabenefitscrounger.blogspot.com/2011/01/you-will-never-take-away-my-shoes.html">Diary of a Benefit Scrounger</a> has contributed a beautiful prose poem, which captures the complexity and ambiguity of participation in a society that cuts benefits and demonises disabled people. I love the spirit of defiance that shines through it:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"One warm, summer afternoon, when the breeze feels like silk, I will take a motorbike ride with my husband, racing through hazel lined lanes across the rolling South Downs. I will gulp in pleasure and live a year in those few, adrenaline-fuelled hours. I will pull off my crash helmet, shaking my hair and laughing at life. I wonder if you'll remember how little my life normally gives me to laugh at?"</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Thinking about a similar kind of paradox, <a href="http://astridvanwoerkom.wordpress.com/2011/02/06/the-drawbacks-of-participation/">Astrid</a> is concerned about the double-bind of participation in society for disabled people:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"Disabilities create barriers to participation, yet as people with disabilities, we’re forced to participate in the non-disabled community as much as we possibly can... We shouldn't have to prove how oh so capable we are in order to be valuable members of society."</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>In societies where access and equality are very limited, campaigners have to work even harder towards equal participation for all. The editor of <a href="http://www.womensweb.in/newsmakers/social/item/where-every-child-can-play.html">Women's Web</a>, which is based in India, has contributed this interview with a mother of a child who has autism. She lives in Bangalore and campaigns for access to play spaces. And her campaign group is making a difference:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"5 years on, Kilikili’s achievements are many: 3 inclusive public parks, many partnerships with parents’ other organizations to transfer the knowledge gained, ‘inclusion events’ for children with disabilities to meet and interact with others and a ‘Buddies’ programme specifically for children with autism and developmental delays."</div><br /><a href="http://elizabethmcclung.blogspot.com/2011/02/end-of-neurotypical-and-opening-of.html">Elizabeth McClung</a> and <a href="http://uppity-crip.blogspot.com/2010/04/adapt-is-like-high-school-youth-group.html">Cheryl</a> have been thinking about participation in communities of disabled people, but in rather different ways. Elizabeth considers how disabled people are quite capable of excluding (other disabled) people from our communities. Cheryl, an ADAPT activist, begins by thinking about ways in which ADAPT is like a youth club where she feels like she belongs completely, and goes on to think about how she could engage other young people in the same kind of activism:<br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">"I want to work for a CIL and teach 15 year olds about public policy. Get them pumped up, take them to the fun run, get them more pumped up, and then send them home to keep them away from the arrests. Although hill visits would be cool too. A 15 year old shaking Tom Harkin's hand, priceless."</div><br /><a href="http://candidlycrippled.blogspot.com/2011/02/able-privilege-checklist.html">Spaz Girl</a> tells me she thinks her Able Privilege Checklist is off-topic, but it's full of gems about how easily non-disabled people take their access for granted, echoing many of this month's posts. My personal favourite from her list:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"You can go out in public and will not be accosted by a variety of tired, cheap car jokes such as 'Do you have a license for that thing?'"</div><br />I want to end with Sharon Waschler's excellent post over at <a href="http://aftergadget.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/blogging-dogging-and-being-dogged/">After Gadget</a>, which returns to the ambiguities and complications of participation in life - and activism, and many other things - when you're disabled. A lot of us will be able to identify with her difficult story of making a supreme, costly effort to stand up for disability rights, only to meet with a defensive reaction, or worse. But her reaction of "If not me, who?" is a reminder, for me, of why it's important to keep campaigning even when it's incredibly hard work:<br /><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">"When you are silent in the face of oppressive language and behaviors, you participate in the oppression of all people. Yes, there is self-preservation and picking your battles, and there are also moral imperatives."</div><br />Happy 74th Disability Blog Carnival, all. I hope I haven't missed off anyone's entries, but it's been that kind of a week, so let me know if I have! See you at the next Blog Carnival - ETA: this will be over at <a href="http://writerinawheelchair.blogspot.com/">A Writer in a Wheelchair</a> on 25th March, and the topic is 'Milestones'. You can leave links to your entries in the comments there, or e-mail Emma at ejcrees 'at' googlemail 'dot' com. Enjoy.<br /><br /><i>"We all participate in weaving the social fabric; we should therefore all participate in patching the fabric when it develops holes." </i>~ Anne WeisbergNaomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-48528570649870124052011-01-30T08:23:00.006+00:002011-01-30T09:05:24.090+00:00I'll be hosting February's <a href="http://disstud.blogspot.com/2011/01/disability-blog-carnival-73-is-up-now.html">Disability Blog Carnival</a> on the 25th. If you don't know what the Disability Blog Carnival is all about, you can see some examples of past editions <a href="http://candidlycrippled.blogspot.com/2011/01/nitty-gritty-dirty-little-freaks.html">here</a>, <a href="http://disability.dreamwidth.org/22387.html">here</a> and <a href="http://davehingsburger.blogspot.com/2010/12/long-nights-disability-blog-carnival.html">here</a>. It's a round-up and celebration of the best of the month's disability blogging, grouped around a theme. This month's (optional) theme is <span style="font-weight:bold;">Participation</span>. What do you participate in, and how? Whether you take the theme to refer to hobbies, fun activities, or just the smaller things in life that are still important to us, I think talking about our participation in life and society is increasingly important in this world of cuts and limitations. In a society where we're regularly accused of wasting the 'taxpayer's' money, let's celebrate the fact that we do frivolous things! To give you an idea, the topic was inspired by a suggestion by <a href="http://lisybabe.blogspot.com/">Lisy Babe</a>, with whom I share an interest in cult TV, that people might want to write about participation in fandom. <br /><br />It would be great if you could get your blog posts to me by 20th Feb, to give me time to work on the round-up post - I'm a slow blogger! If you have a last-minute burst of inspiration, though, I'll do my best to fit it in later. Either link to your entry in a comment on this post, or e-mail me with the link at lilwatchergirl (at) gmail (dot) com.<br /><br />Enjoy <span style="font-weight:bold;">participating</span> in the month's blog carnival!Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-58938815847258638332011-01-17T10:45:00.003+00:002011-01-17T11:06:12.678+00:00...And Sometimes Things Work Like They Should<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiDJRTFvdC5Ce9XYfHrHW6hK-Vl8Y-xqPUaiRU441WRJ2F8aYKni4eG7dr-5kavoJJhhPdI4mYHiNFxo7z6JdyzWv5ZevAjKYANhh682Emp5oUoFWyllapUzWjELzXhwB9U1J/s1600/5362920721_9265b01b5e_o.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 180px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdiDJRTFvdC5Ce9XYfHrHW6hK-Vl8Y-xqPUaiRU441WRJ2F8aYKni4eG7dr-5kavoJJhhPdI4mYHiNFxo7z6JdyzWv5ZevAjKYANhh682Emp5oUoFWyllapUzWjELzXhwB9U1J/s320/5362920721_9265b01b5e_o.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563109490850464658" /></a><br /><br />It's only a little victory, but in the midst of all the struggle for services, I am happy this morning. Disabled Students' Allowance has paid for a second desk in my study (my own desk has a bad setup that hurts my neck and subluxes my shoulders) and a stand so that I can use my laptop/read in bed. They came to set the equipment up today. Compared to other battles to get what I need and am entitled to, this has been relatively easy to arrange. And it will make <span style="font-style:italic;">such</span> a difference to the amount of work I can do. Being able to work properly in bed will be so exciting.<br /><br />The fight with Access to Work continues, but incredibly, I might actually be getting there with them. They've moved on from the fifteen pages or so of details I had to write about my needs, and are now asking actually relevant things. I'll be unbelievably relieved if I win this one. The thought of not getting support and therefore never being able to teach again was utterly, appallingly terrifying.<br /><br />New anti-depressant medication is starting to work. This is also a relief. I hope it continues to do so.Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-61639609599488083902011-01-08T09:01:00.004+00:002011-01-08T09:29:18.332+00:00Adventures in Disability, AgainI'm seriously neglecting blogging at the moment (on both my blogs, and indeed at <a href="http://wheresthebenefit.blogspot.com/">Where's the Benefit</a>). But life is currently quite a struggle, and I thought writing might help a bit. So here is a new, if brief post.<br /><br />When they say disability is a full-time job, they're really not kidding. Yesterday, which was supposed to be a work-from-home day for me, involved three awful encounters with professionals (two on the phone, via The Girl) that left me so exhausted and close to having a complete breakdown that, of course, no work got done.<br /><br />I won't go into the ins and outs of the personal budget I'm hoping to get from social services which, while intended to meet my care needs, is very unlikely to do so, because of the ubiquitous 'computer says no' situation in which I and my needs are far too complicated for anyone official to begin to grasp. So let's just say that my morning was taken up with frustrating social workers and their departments' frustrating policies. It was the afternoon's (first) phone call that was really distressing, though.<br /><br />For the past few years I've received lots of support from Access to Work, a government organisation that supports disabled people in work. They, like everyone else, are cutting back severely on their eligibility criteria. This means that, although I officially qualify for support as before, their support is now only given if my employer can't meet my (expensive) disability access needs as a 'reasonable adjustment'. This doesn't sound unreasonable, until you realise what this means in practice. I have a part-time lecturing a job this semester. I need a support worker in the classroom. I can't get up to write on the board. I can't get around the classroom, which will affect how I teach. I can't give out materials. I may need someone to read some of my lecture notes if I get tired. I can't operate the classroom computer or projector, because of accessibility issues. I can't bring materials into the classroom. And that's just the potential access problems I can think of right now. None of this affects my ability to lecture (I'm a good, experienced teacher), but it does involve access issues so complex that I *need* someone with me in the classroom to do the various practical things that I used to do, when I could leap around the classroom with boundless energy. Access to Work, however, are - get this - <span style="font-style:italic;">telling me to make a student, unpaid, do all this work</span>. This would be unprofessional, unethical, educationally questionable, exploitative and downright unfair. But they see this as a 'reasonable adjustment' on the part of my employers. They don't care, of course, that if they don't provide this support worker I will have to give up this job, which will probably be the end of my just-splutting-back-into-life career.<br /><br />So another fucking battle to get my needs met starts. I seem to have about one of these a month, at least. I'm currently also struggling with my university's disability support people, because of whose incompetence I've had to restart my PhD this month, and who cannot get their act together regarding my academic support workers (paid for from a student disability support fund, which is also very limited). Add in my battle with social services, and I think I'm having a revisit from my old friends, bipolar disorder complicated by neurodiversity. I have to go to the doctor and talk about changing my antidepressants ASAP. But of course, if I go to them and say "I'm drowning in disability administration that would make the most mentally healthy people feel depressed," they'll look at me completely blankly. This stress will be put down to my weaknesses, not society's attempts to make life so difficult for disabled people that we just kill ourselves so that we don't cost the government anything anymore. Ooh, and I'd better not say <span style="font-style:italic;">that</span> to the doctor, or I'll be accused of severe paranoia. You know, I increasingly question how much of my mental health stuff is down to my brain being wacky, and how much is down to the effects of trying to live in a society that has no place for me and would much prefer I wasn't here. A social model of mental health? To some extent, I think that applies.<br /><br />Right, that's all my self-pity got out. My Girl is asleep next to me with a migraine, poor thing, so I don't know if we're doing the sales today as we had planned. I hope so, 'cause I need a serious distraction.Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-6078251750432745792010-09-28T21:49:00.003+01:002010-09-28T21:58:15.669+01:00I register for a PhD on Friday.Would you like some terror with that order of academia?<br /><br />My house is still really quite inaccessible (as of today there are no longer big holes in the floor, but I keep tripping over the random boxes of crap that are absolutely everywhere, and we don't have many places to sit down yet). I interview for new PAs (aka carers) on Thursday, and so far only have about four potential candidates (for two posts). We are massively lacking on the furniture front. Oh, and The Girl goes away on Friday, for at least a couple of weeks. In the midst of all this chaos, I'm going to be pretending to be a research student. <br /><br />Well aware that I have entirely neglected this blog over the past year, I shall endeavour to do better (while also trying to remember to update the equally-ignored research blog). I bloody need to. The disorganisation in my house is reflective of total anarchy in my head, and I have no idea where to start with that. I'm picking a hell of a time to start playing the consummate professional again. Wish me luck.Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-90445918901149514722010-08-13T12:29:00.004+01:002010-08-13T12:41:20.263+01:00ESA: It Doesn't Add UpThis is cross-posted from <a href="http://wheresthebenefit.blogspot.com/">Where's The Benefit</a>, a new team-written blog aiming to counter-campaign against the government's distressing War on Welfare Claimants. This was my first post for WtB, so don't be too mean about it. Thank you.<br /><br />The government now has two different, simultaneous official responses to the medical tests for <a href="http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/esa/index.htm">Employment Support Allowance</a> (ESA), which replaced Incapacity Benefit in 2008 for those who cannot work due to illness or disability. These responses, unsurprisingly, contradict each other.<br /><br />On the one hand, <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/7937034/Hundreds-of-thousands-playing-the-benefits-system-Chris-Grayling-says.html">Chris Grayling wants the rules "tightened"</a> to make it harder to claim benefits. He seems particularly concerned about people who start a claim for ESA and then discontinue it before they reach the top of the queue for their medical test (apparently without considering legitimate reasons why this might happen, such as an improvement in health). That's Official Government Opinion on ESA Medicals Number 1. As usual, the rhetoric is that we must weed out as many 'scroungers' as possible. As usual, important relevant facts are missing - in this case, that the level of benefit received while waiting for a medical assessment is <a href="http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/FinancialSupport/esa/DG_171896">the same low rate</a> that <a href="http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTaxAndBenefits/BenefitsTaxCreditsAndOtherSupport/Employedorlookingforwork/DG_10018757">Jobseekers' Allowance</a> claimants receive. I'm not entirely sure the figures add up, either. <br /><br />Yet a few months ago, a group of nineteen disability- and welfare-related organisations, led by the Citizens' Advice Bureau (CAB), released a <a href="http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/press_20100323">report calling for a review of the medical test for ESA</a>. In particular, the report highlighted concerns over a low success rate among ESA claimants - rates which Disability Alliance clearly states <a href="http://www.disabilityalliance.org/esastat2.htm">here</a>. It also offered evidence of the "limited effectiveness of the assessment", and poor treatment by medical assessors, which they claim especially fails those with more complex medical conditions. Examples of CAB clients who had failed the test included "people in the advanced stages of Parkinson's Disease and Multiple Sclerosis, people with severe mental illness, and [people] awaiting open heart surgery." <a href="http://wheresthebenefit.blogspot.com/2010/08/link-round-up.html">Lisa</a> and <a href="http://wheresthebenefit.blogspot.com/2010/08/not-fit-for-work-not-fit-for-benefits.html">incurable hippie</a> have already posted about cases that demonstrate the problems associated with the target-driven medical assessors who conduct the ESA medicals. This report confirms that these are far from being isolated cases. <br /><br />In response to the report and the organisations' concerns, the government has now agreed to <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/jul/27/benefits-health-test-review">an urgent review into the Work Capability Test</a>, the medical assessment for ESA. In response to comments from the review group, Grayling appeared to support the review. He said that he understood claimants' concerns and anxieties, and that the tests needed to be "applied sensitively". So that would be Official Government Opinion on ESA Medicals Number 2, then.<br /><br />The review group will report on the Work Capability Test towards the end of this year. We might expect a responsible government to reduce the negative rhetoric that the group has already complained about, and leave further ESA-related comments until after the publication of their report. Which makes Chris Grayling's comments this week all the more concerning. Even more worrying is the way the government uses similar statistics as those that led to calls for a review. Remember that concern in the <a href="http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/press_20100323">CAB report</a> over the low success rate among people claiming ESA? The government thinks it <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/5813319/Up-to-90-per-cent-of-sickness-benefit-claims-rejected-under-new-system.html">just demonstrates how many people are capable of work</a>.<br /><br />In fairness to the media, there are <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/new-benefits-system-forces-threequarters-of-claimants-back-to-work-2036903.html">some newspapers</a> that have highlighted the ways in which the government has spun these figures to its own advantage. This article also highlights the fact that four in ten appeals by people who have been refused ESA are successful. This may not be a huge percentage, but it certainly suggests that significant numbers of claimants are unfairly becoming victims of the government's cost-cutting approach. No wonder there's so much anxiety around the ESA medical assessments. Anxiety that won't help those who already have long-term illnesses, or mental health problems, or acute life-threatening conditions - or who are already living in fear and poverty as a result of the War on Welfare Claimants.<br /><br />Our caring Tory government: capable of viewing the same results of ESA testing as <span style="font-style:italic;">both</span> a serious concern for the poor sick people who are being refused help <span style="font-style:italic;">and</span> a triumph for the scroungers who are being rooted out. But mainly the second one.<br /><br />Don't forget that you can contribute towards the review of the Work Capability Test, as <a href="http://wheresthebenefit.blogspot.com/2010/08/work-capability-assessment-independent.html">incurable hippie posted recently</a>, if you have any experiences that you think would be useful to the group conducting the review process.<br /><br /><br />Thanks to members of the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/messageboards/F2322273">BBC Ouch messageboard</a> for sharing some of the links in this post.Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-55797757308310472292010-05-08T13:13:00.004+01:002010-05-08T13:27:25.012+01:00The views of a disabled Lib Dem supporter on a coalition with the ConservativesDear Liberal Democrat representative,<br /><br />I understand that the party has asked for the views of supporters on a coalition with the Conservatives. I am writing to offer an opinion, as a lifelong voter and supporter of the Liberal Democrats.<br /><br />I would like to outline just a few reasons why I believe this coalition would be an appalling mistake, and a violation of the votes of those who supported the Liberal Democrats *against* the Tories, in good faith.<br /><br />The Tories want to destroy the welfare state and the NHS. As a disabled person reliant on disability benefits and the care system, and pleased to live in a country that offers these things to its citizens, I am terrified that the Tories will leave me destitute and without care or medical support. Please stand up for the welfare state.<br /><br />Nick Clegg himself has been outspoken on the Tory 'marriage tax allowance' policy, which privileges marriage over alternative families, including my own LGBT partnership, and the many single parent families and extended families of all shapes and sizes that make up the UK. Please stand up for alternative families.<br /><br />The Tories have no commitment to civil liberties, the environment, an end to Trident, or electoral reform. The Liberal Democrats are distinctive in all these things. It's why I support you. It's why I campaigned with my local Lib Dem candidate and spent hours helping the Lib Dems on polling day. It's why I'm seriously considering joining the party, even though party membership for ordinary voters is something I've never been sure about before. I will not be able to join, however, if there is a coalition that violates everything I believe in and everything that has led me to support the Liberal Democrats for my entire adult life.<br /><br />I urge the party to consider their supporters and voters carefully in deciding on a direction for a coalition. More than this, however, I urge you to consider the needs and rights of ordinary people in the UK.<br /><br />With thanks,<br /><br />Naomi --<br /><br />----------------------------------------------------------<br /><br />If you agree, and want to share your views with party HQ, e-mail balancedparliament@libdemvoice.org . They've asked for views before 2pm today, but I'm sure they'd find views useful at any time this weekend.<br><br></br>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-48580893199859617142010-01-14T10:18:00.006+00:002010-01-14T10:44:36.700+00:00The Comment From Hell: On Health and Ideologies of HealthI just posted a comment on <a href="http://contexts.org/socimages/">Sociological Images</a>, in relation to a post of theirs on images of obesity and the environment, and how the two are linked in the concept of personal responsibility. What interested me was their discussion of health ideologies. <br /><br />So this was the comment-from-hell that I left in response to the post. (Sorry it's so long, <a href="http://contexts.org/socimages/">Sociological Images</a>. But if you will keep posting interesting things that make me reflect sociologically...)<br /><br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">...the most interesting thing about this shift in ideologies of health (and one reason it’s linked with environmentalism) is the concept of personal responsibility. Health used to be understood as something that ‘happened to’ people. That, too, was a mis-reading of the situation, since disease usually spread because of poor living conditions related to poverty, and this wasn’t acknowledged in social policy until about the early twentieth century. Nonetheless, for centuries a person’s health status was not understood as something that they could do much about.<br /><br />But today, in our consumer society, health is seen as an issue of personal responsibility. Need to lose weight? You should be paying for the best gyms and the most expensive fresh, preferably organic meat and produce. You shouldn’t be poor and stretched for time, without the means to make decent meals and without access to exercise facilities, and with all manner of difficulties relating to living conditions or educational background. Need to recover from an injury? Pay for the best healthcare practitioners, so that you can be back to work and contributing to the economy as quickly as is humanly possible (preferably quicker). If you can only afford to wait for the NHS, be careful – if long-term impairment results, and it affects your employment potential, you’ll be punished for it later. Do not ever make the wrong health-related choices. You will be forever reminded of this – while other situations, like doctors’ mistakes, will go easily forgotten.<br /><br />Among the most affected by this new ideology of health-as-personal-responsibility are disabled people, who are seen by practitioners and the public alike as being personally responsible for disability. We are not, of course, because disability is a socially created form of oppression. But you’d never know that to listen to a doctor or physiotherapist talk to a disabled person (or to read the Daily Mail reflecting on Incapacity Benefit). We must do our exercises and buy the best rehabilitation equipment and work impossibly hard towards ‘recovery’ and definitely, definitely not end up dependent on the state for our unreasonably high living expenses.<br /><br />Like Melissa says above about the environment, then: the concept of personal responsibility in health is being used to distract us from the social, political and economic causes of poor health. We need to refocus social policy on reducing health inequalities, as well as onto education, social welfare and (not least) health services. A healthy society would be a society where everyone could afford, and was empowered, to make healthy life choices. It’s a shame that the ‘obesity project’ gives us the opposite message.</span><br /><br />In memememe news, I have been tired, pained and sublux-y for the last few months, hence the NaBloPoMo FAIL and the dearth of content here. I shall endeavour to fix that. I managed to get my dissertation in (still waiting for the result) and am working on journal articles. After which there will be PhD applications. Treadmill, anyone? Fortunately, otherwise life is good.<br><br></br>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-23076126121553679272009-11-12T20:19:00.004+00:002009-11-12T20:30:35.393+00:00This Post Brought To You Courtesy of Pinot Grigio...which will explain any spelling mistakes, 'k?<br /><br />I have NO RESULTS. I have spent six effing months on research for a dissertation, and because of the physiotherapy teaching establishment's idiocy, obstinacy, protected privilege, and unwillingness to engage with disabled people and disability researchers, I have no results.<br /><br />My very sweet tutor says it's all going to be OK, and that I have other things to talk about, including sociologically significant reasons for having no results. But I can't avoid the sinking feeling that says I'm going to get a 65 on this dissertation and miss out on my distinction (for which I need at least a 68), and not be able to get funding for a PhD, and generally end up with no sodding idea what I'm going to do with my life next.<br /><br />Over on my lovely fandom posting board, we are talking etymology, words that offend everyone from feminists to disabled people, reclaiming terminology when you're in a minority group, and all that good stuff. Awesome. I love how disability-aware a lot of them are, on that random posting board that has nothing to do with disability at all. It gives me hope.<br /><br />Hope: something this blog is sometimes lacking. Let us celebrate. More Pinot Grigio!<br><br></br>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-75579043115142191012009-11-11T22:42:00.007+00:002009-11-11T23:12:16.379+00:00Customer Service<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuH8uKJ6VKwWA3pfD95tJe-yXBIikf0-Rye63FA7e05cI2Ngjf-aKl3rp7uQbvxERGfSan7JM0wu5b2oW6-uFarSSd61x2esuhuJuyiIPxK9zka3cIf8mTfzyQLywrnbA53Vk0/s1600-h/2009+random+stuff+066.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuH8uKJ6VKwWA3pfD95tJe-yXBIikf0-Rye63FA7e05cI2Ngjf-aKl3rp7uQbvxERGfSan7JM0wu5b2oW6-uFarSSd61x2esuhuJuyiIPxK9zka3cIf8mTfzyQLywrnbA53Vk0/s320/2009+random+stuff+066.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5402986492289046850" /></a><br /><br />See that pot? That's not a pot of tea. That, m'dears, is what you get in Richoux - the world's snobbiest cafe - when you order a pot of coffee. The Girl paid several £s for that pot. She was expecting a cafetiere. She was, to say the least, not impressed. As you might be able to tell from the picture.<br /><br />Talking of cafes, I've been trying to find out why the brand new Costa on Chalk Farm Road has a sodding enormous step at the entrance. This is a blatant breach of the DDA. (The Costa customer service department responded to my e-mail asking which branch I'm talking about, when I had given the exact address - which rather demonstrates how stupid they are.) It's one thing when a small, independent shop can't afford to ramp its entrance. It's quite another when a massive multi-national, with six branches in every town, refits a brand new cafe and builds a new step entirely from scratch. Wankers. If they have no answer to my complaint, I might ask Camden Council exactly why they keep giving planning permission to shops and cafes that stomp all over actual and/or potential disabled customers in their blatant disregard for the law.<br /><br />This has been the Rant of the Day. You may now return to your regularly scheduled programming.<br><br></br>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-73810052654337832272009-11-10T21:50:00.004+00:002009-11-10T21:55:44.005+00:00Day Ten - in which I cross-post from elsewhere, due to tirednessToday mostly involved doctor crap. Which I don't feel like analysing today. Maybe tomorrow.<br /><br />We're going with 'Susan' for the walker's name. We realised it covers three fandoms - with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Ivanova">Ivanova</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Sto_Helit">Sto-Helit</a> and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Pevensie">Pevensie</a>. I look forward to giving a different answer every time someone asks why.<br /><br />Today in my evening class, we were taught about feminism - very badly. I tried not to laugh or correct the teacher. I should have realised that taking a sociology class, even if not in my area of expertise, was inevitably going to involve occasional sniggering behind my laptop. I'd get angry, only I just don't care enough about the class, occasional fun though it is. (I do wish its essay deadline wasn't the day after my dissertation deadline, though. Guess which one will get prioritised? Clue: one of them will get me an MA and one won't...)<br><br></br>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-66488883525441986952009-11-09T22:27:00.005+00:002009-11-09T22:29:31.985+00:00Day Nine - Short MemoryBetween exhaustion from having spent hours on my dissertation today, and The Girl arriving at Heathrow earlier than anticipated, I forgot to post.<br /><br />It's a good thing NaBloPoMo doesn't specify either post length or, well, quality.<br /><br />Better stuff tomorrow, I promise...<br><br></br>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-12010881467946042292009-11-08T19:33:00.010+00:002009-11-08T23:39:04.420+00:00Day Eight - Scraping The BarrelToday I went to church. Before leaving the house, I noted (via <a href="http://twitter.com/">twitter</a>) that I was hoping to avoid too many comments about the new mobility aid, and offering advice to discerning readers that the way forward is <i>not</i> to say too much about such things.<br /><br />Suffice it to say that with the number, weight and intensity of comments, you'd have been forgiven for thinking I'd walked in with a new baby.<br /><br />(Although that would have been a lot less supportive for my knees.)<br /><br />Have been discussing names for aforementioned walker on fandom forums. Continuing the sci-fi/fantasy theme (following <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_the_Paranoid_Android">Marvin</a> the powerchair and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_Lovegood#Luna_Lovegood">Luna</a> the manual), and given that the walker is geeky and a bit strange*, I'm thinking along the lines of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_minor_characters_from_The_Hitchhiker%27s_Guide_to_the_Galaxy#Random_Dent">Random</a> or <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Sto_Helit">Susan</a>. Messageboard posters are currently favouring <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velma_Dinkley">Velma</a>, but I am not a Scooby Doo fan so that's not happening.<br /><br />I would say <i>again</i> that this wasn't the best month to choose to post every day, but I think you're getting the idea.<br /><br /><br />*You find these things out about mobility aids quite quickly.<br><br></br>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-81421943913161085812009-11-07T21:46:00.005+00:002009-11-08T23:39:23.626+00:00Day Seven - Photoblog<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4qOErIv87EuCEEuH08YIiP1UgU401HTagFrGR-23CngIkwp3WVChA4O3AiIYh05nUjKhwwDQthyphenhyphen6nVTHyAsCQRSCrXIKaC0CYEaaER3RKCCzcU8wXLrfdesac0Y9ydxRUM5Y/s1600-h/random+stuff+2009+167.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhb4qOErIv87EuCEEuH08YIiP1UgU401HTagFrGR-23CngIkwp3WVChA4O3AiIYh05nUjKhwwDQthyphenhyphen6nVTHyAsCQRSCrXIKaC0CYEaaER3RKCCzcU8wXLrfdesac0Y9ydxRUM5Y/s320/random+stuff+2009+167.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5401481756346468674" /></a><br /><br />The scene not far from my road which I encountered on returning from Camden this morning. I'd been working in a cafe for a couple of hours. Heading back home, I found the road blocked off in all directions, including the dropped kerbs, with no temporary ramps and no warning signs. <br /><br />The workmen acted like I was <i>entirely</i> bonkers for suggesting that they might have wanted to make their roadworks accessible to disabled pedestrians. "But we're only going to be here for an hour or so." <br /><br />Then one of the workmen instead on 'helping' me up and down the inaccessible kerbs, mainly by repeating "Keep going... keep going... keep going..." about six times. Because I can't push my wheelchair without such verbal encouragement, obviously.<br /><br />FAIL, Camden Council. <br /><br />Not that we expect any better than that from you, really.<br><br>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-56356216615194885942009-11-06T20:37:00.004+00:002009-11-08T23:39:55.933+00:00Day SixThis post-a-day thing is quite hard work when you're spending up to 12 hours a day doing discourse analysis and editing research designs. Which reeeeeally don't make for interesting blog discussion material.<br /><br />On the slightly more exciting side of things, I have a <a href="http://www.phillipsmobility.co.uk/topro-troja-forearm-walker-318-p.asp">walker</a>. This is not because I have given in to society's obsession with staying upright - Mike Oliver sums up how I feel about that, in his fantastic piece <a href="http://www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies/archiveuk/Oliver/PROFLEC.pdf">What's So Wonderful About Walking?</a> But I'm just not that great at life in a wheelchair. I tip over. I fall out. I have to get out of the chair to do kerbs. I need powered wheels to get up hills. I'm in massive pain in my shoulders after a day of self-propelling (even with the aforementioned powered wheels). I can access nothing, because it hurts to lift the chair up steps (mainly because I need the aforementioned powered wheels, but not entirely). I tip over again. I fall out again. Yes, it's partly because I've only been using it about three years, but it's also because I'm dyspraxic, have crappy useless muscles thanks to FMS, and am generally a bit rubbish. I don't intend to stop using my wheelchair, by any means, but I like having a choice of mobility aids. One day, when I am very rich, I will have a garage full of them. I'm well on the way - I'm already getting on for a hallway full.<br /><br />And that's the last time I *ever* give that explanation, because I don't have to explain my mobility-aid choices, and I'm tired of feeling like I do. Hurrah for self-determination and confidence in myself! (I give it a week.)<br /><br />Anyway, I went for a (very) little walk in the rain. Which was probably rather dangerous, now that I think about it. But it was much fun, and I made it to the little cafe that's nearby, and had a cuppa before going home again. <br /><br />Must go - Hamish the Little Girl Dwarf Hamster is running around very loudly in her mouse-sized wheel, and I'm taking every opportunity I can to persuade her that I am a non-scary person whose hand she can sit in. She hasn't yet decided whether I am Friend. She's been living with me for about three weeks. She'd better figure it out soon.<br><br>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-50174397720968448192009-11-05T18:23:00.009+00:002009-11-08T23:40:21.671+00:00NaBloPoMo Day Five - Guy Fawkes' Night. Celebrating Stupid People.Should I be forced to use a wheelchair, all the time, even when I'd prefer to use crutches, simply because people are too lazy to try to understand invisible (or less-visible) impairment?<br /><br />Or is it the responsibility of service providers (of all kinds) to make services accessible to an entire disabled community, whether or not I'm there to provide them with a reminder that some people are disabled?<br /><br />And what do I do with people who are basically too stupid, or at least too focused on other things, to understand - without a constant visual reminder? Do I give in to the section of society that needs me to use a wheelchair all the time - or is that a betrayal of people with invisible and less-visible impairments, who also need to be represented?<br><br>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-84732449844746631092009-11-04T22:24:00.002+00:002009-11-04T22:44:53.526+00:00Nothing To SayI have no interesting thoughts to express this evening.<br /><br />Mainly because I have been talking theology in the pub with church friends. "Beer," my friend tells me, "is proof that God loves us." But we did also discuss real theology. Including humour and faith, church history, St Paul on women - and, um, the European Union. Not sure how that last one fitted in.Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-61741701979253796522009-11-03T10:17:00.005+00:002009-11-03T10:33:52.685+00:00YOU Are Responsible For AccessNaBloPoMo, day three. I am incredibly tired, so this is partly cross-posted from somewhere else. That's spoon-saving, baby.<br /><br />I am so sick of people assuming I can always manage inaccessible venues - which gets them off the hook from having to arrange accessible ones - because I sometimes use crutches. My church is holding confirmation classes in a venue which has "a few shallow steps". This unwillingness to think about access means that the burden is conveniently shoved onto me - the burden of finding accessible parking near enough that I can walk in, the burden of coping with steps, the burden of sitting on unsuitable chairs in pain for an hour and a half so that the following day is a nightmare of agony for me...<br /><br />And then there's the situations where friends organize informal things in inaccessible places. They tell me how awful it is that the place isn't accessible, and shouldn't society try harder? No. YOU should try harder. If you are organizing something, you are responsible for making sure your disabled friends can get in. Otherwise, they are left feeling like you don't want them there. As I feel this week about something that was organized in such a way that I couldn't get to it.<br /><br />This isn't right. We are society. When society creates disabling situations, that's because, one at a time, individuals contribute to this creation of disability. People need to think about things like access - it's not all my responsibility. I've e-mailed someone important at church to say I'm 'worried' about access. I could have put that more strongly, but I'm British and passive-aggressive. <br /><br />Damn, but I wish I'd inherited more Irish character for these situations.Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-37030603212125801062009-11-02T11:23:00.004+00:002009-11-02T12:30:36.538+00:00Instant Access: Missing the TangibleNaBloPoMo, Day Two - Monday thoughts...<br /><br />The one and only reason why I would buy something like Amazon's <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Amazons-Original-Wireless-generation/dp/B000FI73MA">Kindle</a> would be instant access to books. I love books, and a big part of that is the feel of them <i>turning down the pages I want to go back to until the whole book is a beautiful dog-eared mess</i>, the look of them <i>arranging the higgledy-piggledy multi-coloured rows when I walk past and wondering how they get so messy again so fast</i>, the amazing sense of them <i>they're spread out all over my desk and spilling onto the floor and I am clearly working on something awesome underneat all this literary mess</i>. None of that complete experience of books is possible if they're all neatly organized in little tabs on an electronic screen, and I'd never exchange <i>my life is books</i> for <i>my books are in this little reader and my house is tidy and empty and dull</i>. <br /><br />At the same time, sometimes I want books NOW. I wouldn't object to a bookshelf into which I could type in '<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shining-Stephen-King/dp/0340951397/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1257163019&sr=8-11">The Shining</a>' (I want to see how it compares with the film, having been to see that on Saturday and remembered how odd it is) and have it appear, transported directly from Oxfam Books, pre-dog-eared and fully, deliciously tangible, at the end of the Fiction shelf.<br /><br />I don't want to give up CDs for similar reasons. Unlike a lot of people, I still buy them - I have about 200 and counting, all on display in <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/63874843@N00/4067638537/">our new CD case</a>. They're not as fast, as easy or as world-accessible as being able to bring up Spotify, select a song I've heard, listen once more to be sure I like it, go over to iTunes and buy it. But how can I sit in the dark for the first time with Tori Amos or Missy Higgins or Kristin Hersh if there's no effort involved in <i>stumbling upon them and considering whether to buy them and that incredible moment when I first experience their latest musical triumphs</i>? I'm fairly sure they wouldn't say that their life's work is to create background music for shopping malls, dinner parties or internet browsing.<br /><br />And yet, it's so easy to bring Athlete's latest, conclude that '<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WCFTKI5lu4&feature=player_embedded">Black Swan Song</a>', while a work of genius, is the only good song they've written in years, and move on to the next thing.<br /><br />I'm a devoted minion of the internet and everything it has to offer, but I still wonder. In our society of instant access, where we no longer remember how to postpone gratification for a better reward, are we sleepwalking into an entirely virtual, self-referential-with-nothing-to-refer-to, eerily empty postmodern world?<br /><br />Still, I'm off to iTunes to buy 'Black Swan Song'. It may be an emo-inspired, easy-listening ditty for the instant gratification generation, but it's still really good.Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-7630161188207672132009-11-01T08:14:00.003+00:002009-11-01T09:34:42.444+00:00NaBloPoMoI can't remember whether it was last year or the year before that I participated in <a href="http://www.nablopomo.com/">NaBloPoMo</a> (or NaNoBloMo), the blog-based alternative to <a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/">NaNoWriMo</a> for those of us who are far too lazy and/or untalented to commit to writing 50,000 words in a month. I have neglected this blog appallingly during my MA year, but I really ought to rectify that oversight. A friend just posted on FB that she was doing NaNoWriMo, and it reminded me how much I enjoyed attempting to write something every day of the month last time. So here I go with trying.<br /><br />However, my life is currently <i>entirely</i> overwhelmed by The Research Project From Hell (OK, it's not that bad, but it is taking over my life entirely and proving impossive to crawl out from underneath - let's call it The Research Project from Purgatory). So there isn't a great deal to say today. <br /><br />Yesterday being Halloween, we went to the new ('largest screen in the world') drive-in at <a href="http://www.pinewoodgroup.com/gen/drivein.aspx">Pinewood Studios</a> and watched The Shining. Not the greatest film ever. Visually stunning and effective, but not great in terms of plot or character development. We also noted Kubrick's huge debt to Hitchcock.<br /><br />I am about to go to church to celebrate All Souls' Day (which is actually tomorrow, but we did All Saints last week), where the Mass will be said for many friends and family of the congregation who have gone ahead of us. Including my grandparents. Should be a good service. Happy All Hallows Day, people.<br /><br /><i> The golden evening brightens in the west;<br /> Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;<br /> Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed...</i><br /><small>- 'For All The Saints', William Walsham How</small>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-19770039240146808082009-10-18T09:39:00.005+01:002009-10-18T10:45:09.142+01:00What I've Been ReadingMy blogroll is never very long, because I have mild* OCD and can't bear clutter, even on the right hand side of a blog post. But in lieu of actually doing things with my life worth writing about (hence current acute posting shortage), I've been doing a fair bit of reading during dissertation downtime. Which, when you have fatigue issues and are supposed to be working on something intense, is a lot of the time.<br /><br />I can't believe it's taken me this long to find FWD/Forward at <a href="http://disabledfeminists.com/">http://disabledfeminists.com/</a> . It's a team blog on the subject of disability and feminism. There should be more blogging about the spaces where disability, sexuality, gender and life converge. This is a fantastic example of such.<br /><br /><a href="http://blog.cripchick.com/">Cripchick's blog</a> is a poetic, activist take on life and disability. I'm still wrapping my imagination around the <a href="http://blog.cripchick.com/archives/4757">poem</a> she put up yesterday. Beautiful and world-expanding. The theme of this year's <a href="http://www.greenbelt.org.uk/">Greenbelt festival</a> was 'Standing in the Long Now' and experiencing moments in time as moments in eternity - but I too often waste energy fighting to get past the many moments of frustration in life, rather than appreciating them with the depth that Cripchick does in this poem. I want to see the frustrations of the 'carer'/disabled person relationship as more than something to endure as quickly as possible. <br /><br />My Girl is blogging her journey through her father's experience of cancer at <a href="http://twentysevenpercent.blogspot.com/">http://twentysevenpercent.blogspot.com/</a> . She wrote about planning and living life yesterday, in a way that made me think differently about how well we cope with disability, as a disabled family (that's how I think of us, along with <i>multi-cultural</i> family, and <i>mixed-religion</i> family, and <i>really will be married soon, if we can just get a bloody move on with the planning</i> family). It's interesting when you get the chance to see these things from up on someone else's viewing point - if only in passing. I spend so much of my life thinking I'm a failure at, well, everything. It's sometimes useful to remember that I have a lot to deal with, and that I usually deal with it quite well. Not the most social model or activist-y viewpoint. That doesn't matter. <i>To everything there is a season...</i>**<br /><br />Other stuff:<br />- <a href="http://asbojesus.wordpress.com/2009/10/14/790/">ASBO Jesus makes me happy</a><br />- <a href="http://twolumps.net/">Two Lumps is one of the funniest online comics out there</a><br />- <a href="http://kateharding.net/">Shapely Prose</a> is amazing and inspiring writing, whatever size you happen to be: check out <a href="http://kateharding.net/2009/10/08/guest-blogger-starling-schrodinger%E2%80%99s-rapist-or-a-guy%E2%80%99s-guide-to-approaching-strange-women-without-being-maced/">Schrödinger’s Rapist</a><br />- <a href="http://sarcasticlutheran.typepad.com/sarcastic_lutheran/">Thinking Christians of any denomination will adore the Sarcastic Lutheran</a><br /><br />Anyone know any good sociology/social theory blogs? I'm in the market for some reading around such things.<br /><br /><br />And with that, I must fly. I mooted the idea of a lay choir at church, and suddenly I'm one of the founding members of something that might turn out to take up rather a lot of time. How I get myself into these things, I do not know. (Well, I do. I say things, while in sub-hypomanic <i>I can do everything</i> mode, like "I'd like to set up a lay choir" and people actually take me seriously. Crazy.)<br /><br /><i>Wanders off singing 'Praise God from whom all blessings flow'...</i><br /><br />*Ha. Ha, ha ha ha, ha.<br />**Ecclesiastes 3:1Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-72342224469690100902009-08-22T15:04:00.003+01:002009-08-22T15:18:39.885+01:00'Save Our DLA' Campaign - Some New Ideas and Thoughts...One of my fellow DANners posted the following idea online, with another campaign action suggestion. (He's given me permission to copy his post and spread the idea around.) I love this idea, and I'm going to do as he suggests.<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">I have something of an idea for immediate protest, for those of us who are fortunate enough to receive DLA Mobility Component and have a Motability car, on finance or lease.<br /><br />In recent days, I've taken the liberty of writing to Motability and the Minister for/of Disabled People (<a href="http://www.jonathanshaw.org.uk/">Jonathan Shaw</a>) suggesting, that if my DLA care Component is ever given over to my Local Authority to 'supposedly' provide a care package for me. That, "as I seldom have enough money for care and also food and other necessities, I will be applying to cancel my Motability lease, as soon as, or, if the Government decide to divert or remove my DLA Care Component. In order that I'll have enough money to live on."<br /><br />I'd maybe like to see others do the same, or similar? I think the threat alone to Motability and Government 'face', would be enough to see a complete backdown of this 'hair brained scheme' of the Government's?<br /><br />Motability is seemingly worth in the region of £16 billion pounds a year to the British economy and motor industry, to say nothing of the revenue the Gov't takes in, in fuels and oil consumption from recipients! There's also maintenance and upkeep to be threaded into theses costs and the cost in human terms if some 250,000 cars were suddenly disposed of and flooded back onto the second hand market!<br /><br />Worth a thought and some possibly, some action?<br /><br />- wheelzuk<br /></span><br /><br />I would add to this suggestion of writing to the minister and/or to Motability generally, that we could CC our letters both to the chief executive of Motability and perhaps also the Transport minister. If the government doesn't care that taking away our DLA care component will have a knock-on effect on our whole lives, maybe they need to start realising that it will also have a knock-on effect on the whole economy. There are, after all, a lot of us out there...<br /><br />---<br /><br />A lot of people have been pointing me towards <a href="http://www.cpag.org.uk/">CPAG</a>'s published 'assurances' that DLA will not be affected. (Interestingly, they have <span style="font-style:italic;">taken down</span> their earlier press release about this.) "It's only Attendance Allowance, so that's all right," I'm now hearing from fellow campaigners. A reminder of three things here:<br /><br />1. If the government sets the precedent of taking away cash benefits and handing them over to local authorities, do we really believe they're going to stop at AA? Once a precedent is set, it's far, far easier for the government to say "It worked with AA" and remove our DLA - without having to write a new Green Paper on the issue.<br /><br />2. Do we *really* trust the government on this? We've heard similar assurances on the new Employement Support Allowance that have failed to materialise. Once the government's broad phrase 'disability benefits' in that Green Paper is passed as *law*, do you really think they won't use that as a perceived mandate to get rid of DLA too?<br /><br />3. If it really is 'only' Attendance Allowance that's going to be scrapped, are we actually going to sit back and do nothing because it doesn't affect (most of) us directly? The principle of independent living should apply to ALL disabled people, not just the disabled people who are under 60. An ageing population means the majority of disabled people are 60+. They need our support just as much as younger disabled people do. Maybe more, because they're being herded into care homes en masse. (I know - my father owns a nursing home. His is a very nice one, but I still wouldn't want to be *forced* to live there when I wanted at least the choice to remain living independently at home.)<br /><br /><br />ADD YOUR CAMPAIGN IDEAS in the comments! I'd love to hear what people have been doing. Me, I've been promoting the idea on every social networking medium I can find, getting my friends, family and PAs to sign up for the campaign, trying to help spread other people's ideas, and writing the odd e-mail. It's not much. (I've had swine ful - talk about 'viral campaigning', haha. I am, ergo, utterly spoonless right now). But I continue to believe that armchair campaigning and 'viral' networking like this CAN make a difference. Just look at how many thousands of people have signed up to contribute something to this one campaign. Last I heard, it was over 20,000. Now that's not bad.Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-23011984.post-52128782694752193862009-08-06T10:38:00.008+01:002009-08-08T10:34:17.904+01:00In Our Own Words: Fighting For Our DLAWhat <a href="http://lisybabe.blogspot.com/">Lisy says</a>:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Without my DLA I'd be practically housebound, unable to afford supermarket deliveries and would pretty much have no quality of life at all. Also bear in mind that most people develop some kind of impairment in old age; Attendance Allowance, a benefit for over 65s who need assistance, is currently the benefit at the top of the 'at risk' list. So signing this petition isn't just for those who are currently claiming, signing is an investment for your own future!</span><br /><br />What <a href="http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.com/2009/08/save-our-dla.html">BendyGirl says</a>:<br /><span style="font-style:italic;"><br />It's impossible to explain how much people like me rely upon the extra income from Disability Living Allowance... Without my DLA I would be housebound. I would not be able to afford to run a car, without which I cannot shop, access health care, collect prescriptions or pay for the care I receive. The idea of allowing local authorities to control this benefit is enough to give me nightmares for the rest of my life. Local authorities already ration care, the process is desperately stressful and only those considered to have 'critical or substantial' needs will qualify. Trying to justify oneself as disabled enough for the local authority is the most degrading thing I've ever experienced, topped off by a social worker who clearly stated he would 'ensure I lost my entire care package'... </span><br /><br />What <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/messageboards/F2322273?thread=6814061">I said</a>:<br /><br />Benefits and Work sent me the following e-mail. They're looking for 1000 people to sign up before they start hardcore campaigning, in order that there are enough people on board to make a different. I think their campaign is massively important, given the serious threat to our Disability Living Allowance*/Attendance Allowance** and other benefits.<br /><br />DLA was established, after years of research, because the costs of living as a disabled person in a barrier-filled world organized by and for non-disabled people were considered to be so high. The estimated costs of disability that came out of this research were far, far higher than what is actually now given to DLA claimants. It was also emphasised that DLA should not be means-tested, because the costs of disability are high whether a person is extremely poor or generally has enough to live on.<br /><br />Yet the government is proposing either means-testing DLA and AA, or removing it altogether. Their proposal to put the money in the hands of local councils is TERRIFYING, especially to those of us who have experienced first-hand the way that council-funded care has been limited, cut and removed from a majority of disabled people. Councils would leave DLA claimants without enough money either to fund their care or to cover their disability-related costs. The end result of this could well be the death of the poorest disabled people. Do we want to live in a society where the richest are subsidised to the tune of millions (HBOS et al), while the poorest people with the highest costs are left without enough money to fund their care, to support their mobility needs or potentially even to eat?<br /><br /><br />Benefits and Work's e-mail about their campaign, detailing their campaign, is copied below. As of this morning, they have over 5000 people signed up to this campaign. We need more people involved, because not all disabled people have the energy, resources, money or access needed to campaign on this issue. Ironically, and usefully for the government, the fact that we are disabled could lose us our disability benefits. <b>So we need YOU.</b><br /><br />_______________________________________________________________<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">Claimants have just 100 days to prevent their DLA and AA being abolished.<br /><br />A government green paper has revealed proposals to stop paying ‘disability benefits, for example, attendance allowance’’ and hand the cash over to social services instead.<br /><br />Under the plan, current claimants would have their disability benefits converted to a ‘personal budget’ administered by local authorities and used to pay for services,– not to spend as they wish.<br /><br />Once the green paper consultation period ends in 100 days time, if an almighty row has not been raised, it is likely that both major political parties will see the lack of outrage as a green light to end both DLA and AA.<br /><br />We’re looking for a minimum of 1,000 claimants, carers and support workers to join our campaign to save these benefits from being abolished. Find out how you can take part from this link:<br /><br /><a href="http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/disability-living-allowance-(dla)/dla-aa-cuts">http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/disability-living-allowance-(dla)/dla-aa-cuts</a><br /><br />We know that many people will take false comfort from the fact that, unlike AA, DLA is not specifically named as being for the axe. But if the government was planning only to abolish AA it is extremely unlikely that they would refer constantly throughout the green paper to 'disability benefits', a term which includes not just AA but also DLA.<br /><br />Others will dismiss this as just another idle discussion document and our concerns as scare mongering. But it’s much more than that.<br /><br />36 meetings have already been organised around the country for people working in government and the caring professions to meet to be told about the setting up of a new National Care Service which would oversee the system. In addition, a stakeholders panel of more than 50 voluntary sector organisations, trades unions and academics has been established to offer advice to the government.<br /><br />Some organisations and individuals, such as RNIB and welfare rights worker Neil Bateman writing for Community Care magazine, have already voiced their alarm.<br /><br />But not every disability organisation is opposed to the proposals and some even agree with them.<br /><br />In a press release, Disability Alliance has welcomed the publication of the green paper and said that it 'looks forward to working alongside Government and all the other stakeholders in bringing these plans into fruition.' They have even said that they agree that there is a case for 'integrating disability benefits such as attendance allowance' into the new system.<br /><br />One thing everyone does seem to agree on is that huge cuts in public spending will have to take place in the next few years as a result of the credit crunch and global recession.<br /><br />Political parties are desperately looking for the softest targets to be the victims of these cuts. <b>Dismissing the green paper’s proposals as hot air and not worth worrying about could be the costliest mistake you ever make.</b><br /><br />Find out more about the proposed abolition of DLA and AA and how you can join our campaign to fight back:<br /><a href=" http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/disability-living-allowance-(dla)/dla-aa-cuts"><br />http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/disability-living-allowance-(dla)/dla-aa-cuts</a></span><br /><br />The government's green paper on care threatens to remove our disability benefits, currently given to us to cover our disability living expenses, handing the money over to local councils (so that they can treat us in the way BendyGirl describes above). This would be a disaster. DON'T LET IT HAPPEN. Join the campaign.<br /><br />And to end with more reasons, in our own words, why we can't lose this benefit - <a href="http://batsgirl.blogspot.com/2009/08/dla-and-aa-under-threat.html">Batsgirl says</a>:<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">The reason DLA and AA are given as money and don't require receipts and suchlike to prove how the money was spent, is because of the huge diversity of disabilities and living conditions it covers, and because the expenses don't always work out that neatly.<br /><br />Let's explore an example: grocery shopping. I have to pay more for my grocery shopping than an able-bodied person.<br /><br />First of all, I have to pay for home delivery. I rarely have the spoons to manage to get all the way around a busy, bright, noisy, complicated supermarket, even with a mobility scooter - much less to then be able to get myself and my shopping home, and then immediately put it all away as well. To someone with a condition that makes moving about painful, who has difficulty lifting and carrying, who becomes tired very quickly, or who is easily confused, that's a triathlon.[...]<br /><br />I had typed as far as my ninth point before I realised I'd gone a bit off course and deleted most of it. Hopefully I've demonstrated my point: disability-related expenses crop up in unusual ways and aren't always possible to calculate - which is why getting DLA or AA in the form of extra money to be spent at the claimants' discretion is utterly invaluable.<br /><br /></span><br />*DLA is given to claimants up to the age of 65 who have significant care and/or mobility needs.<br />**Attendance Allowance is the equivalent benefit for those over 65 - but there is only a care component, no mobility. As far as I can tell, this is because people over 65 are <i>expected</i> to have mobility problems. Nice.<br><br></br>Naomi J.http://www.blogger.com/profile/10918322634249814999noreply@blogger.com6