Discrepancies In Disabilities

This is going to be another of my infamous controversial subject matters. I'd like to throw this topic out there to the PHYSICAL/SENSORY disabled community. Notice I put those words in capital letters. There's a reason for this, which is the over-arching theme of the post.

In my opinion, and this is just my opinion, I believe that there is very little out there, activity wise, for people like me who happen to have a severe physical disability and/or compounded by health problems. You cannot move on Facebook and in society for groups, events, trips geared solely for those who happen to have a learning disability but there is zilch available to the rest of us who happen to be fine mentally, but simply have issues with mobility/health and/or sensory impairments. Whilst these groups are often inclusive for anyone who happens to be disabled, they're often not entirely suitable for those who have no intellectual impairments.

It's right that there should be facilities out there for those with additional needs, but I do feel that the majority of activities are heavily weighted in favour of those who happen to have a learning disability. One of the reasons for this, and again I'm not shying away from controversy, is that it's the easier option. It's far simpler to lay on a disco for people who have say, Downs Syndrome who can walk about than have to logistically organise personal care, accessible transport, suitable equipment and accessible venues to cater to those merely with physical needs. Doubtless, this is a broad statement and if you have a severe physical AND learning disability, then you would be severely disadvantaged according to my theory. I also believe on a psychological level, those with a learning disability appeal more to the mass consciousness of society because of their supposed loving simplicity, which is more palatable for everyone to deal with. In a sense, physically disabled people lack the fun and cute factor!

There's a sense that those individuals with a learning disability are prioritised in terms of care because of the lack of 'capacity' issue, a comment directly from the mouth of a Social Worker. Now whilst I completely understand that concept and its importance, those who have mental capacity get put on the back burner. It's an entirely phoney notion that physically disabled people are fully able to orchestrate their own social lives without help from anyone else. From my own experience of social isolation and physical disabilities, it's so much more difficult to be active, present and sociable with a physical condition compounded by health problems. Absence socially leads to depression, frustration and a loss of mental well-being for many individuals.

Picture the scene, you have a care package that meets your physical and social needs. A physically disabled person has to emphasise the personal care aspect of this arrangement before his/her social needs. Someone who doesn't have to take into account those requirements can prioritise the social side without having to think about time, accessibility, transport, equipment etc. It could simply be a case of a support worker taking them out in their car or using public transport, go more or less anywhere and not have to encompass all the problems someone like myself has to face on a daily basis.

Getting up, toileting, washing, dressing, making meals, using and maintaining specialist equipment, going to bed etc takes an unenviable amount of time, effort and money in terms of employing a personal assistant. Then you have to think about if you can get in the place you'd like to go to, what transport you need etc. We, are collectively far worse off than those without physical difficulties I'd argue.

There needs to be a more equal, even-handed approach to the social needs of ALL disabled people, but there are so many facets to these issues that it's virtually impossible. More groups need to be created in society that meet the needs of the physically and sensory disabled community which aren't based around patronising or infantile pursuits. Taking on board all the unique problems that we alone face as a collective.

With the Adult Social Care budget on a shoestring, I can't see much changing sadly.