National News
- Hybrid Car Pose Potential Threat to Hearing Impaired *NEW*
- Lords Deny Assisted Suicide *NEW*
- Campaigner Comic Relief Raises a Record £57 Million
- Campaigners Warn Lack of Disabled Access Looses Retailers Thousands
- Stephen Hawking To Make A Full Recovery
- The Equality Bill
- Asda to Sell Living Aids
- Bouncers Mistake Cerebral Palsy for Drunkenness
- Labour MP Claims That Dyslexia Does Not Exist
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Hybrid Car Pose Potential Threat to Hearing Impaired
The ministry for transport in Japan has brought together a panel to assess whether manufactures of hybrid cars will have to install noise making devices.
The hybrid cars make almost no noise when they change from fuel to battery and this poses a potential threat to people with visual impairments. Due to this the panel is considering forcing manufactures to install noise making devices.
In an interview with the BBC, a transport ministry official said, “Blind people depend on sounds when they walk, but there are no engine sounds from hybrid vehicles when running at low speed.”
The world’s most popular hybrid car is the Toyota Prius. A spokesman for Toyota Motor in Tokyo, told the BBC that although Toyota has no immediate plans to add noise-making devices to the hybrid vehicles if it becomes a social concern, it is something that Toyota will have to address.
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Lords Deny Assisted Suicide
The Lords has rejected Lord Falconer’s new proposal to safeguard friends and family helping terminally ill people travel abroad to die.
Lord Falconer wanted a law to be put in place that will protect friends and family helping a terminally ill person travel abroad to clinics like Dignitas to die. Currently over 100 people from the UK have travelled to Dignitas in Switzerland and as of yet no one has been prosecuted. However, Debbie Purdy, who is terminally ill with multiple sclerosis, has been fighting for clarification to establish whether her husband will be prosecuted if he helps her to travel to Switzerland. So far she has lost the High Court and Appeal Court cases and is waiting for the verdict form the Law Lords.
The proposal would have seen amendments made to the Corners and Justice Bill that will allow travel if the person has conformation from two doctors that he or she is terminally ill and is in a competent frame of mind to make such a decision. Additionally, a declaration will have to be made by the person stating that it is their wish to have an assisted death and this should be witnessed by an independent person.
The motion was backed by disabled peer Collin Low and campaign group Dignity in Dying. A poll of over 1,700 people carried out by Dignity in Dying found that two thirds supported a change in law similar to that being proposed by Lord Falconer.
In an interview with the BBC, Sarah Wootton, chief executive of Dignity in Dying, said: ‘I hope they have the courage to do what is desperately needed and change the law to end the unnecessary threat of prosecution while safeguarding against abuse.’
However, Jane Campbell strongly opposes the motion and gave a rousing speech against the motion at the House of Lords. Campbell was born with spinal muscular atrophy and is involved with Living in Dignity, a campaign group that opposes assisted suicide.
In an article for the Guardian, Campbell writes that:
‘If the state were to sanction any person to assist another in the ending of that person's life, it would put at risk the lives of the very people who need every encouragement to live. We would be feeding in to the stereotype that our lives are so tragic, burdensome and insufferable that we must want to die.’
During the debate, she told the Lords that:
‘If I should ever seek death - there are several times when my progressive condition challenges me - I want to guarantee that you are there supporting my continued life and its value. The last thing I want is for you to give up on me, especially when I need you most.’
What are your views on the Lords’ decision? Get in touch with us by emailing info@access-news.co.uk or via the Facebook group. 
Comic Relief Raises a Record £57 Million
Comic Relief has raised over £57million for helping people in the UK and Africa. Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the money raised would make a "real difference".
Some of the most memorable events of the night included sketches by Mitchell and Webb, Katie Brand, James Corden and the English football team and French and Saunders’ take on Mamma Mia! The night also included Comic Relief does Top of the Pops and included musical performances by Take That, Annie Lennox, The Saturdays, Elbow, Franz Ferdinand, Oasis, The Script, and a performance of (Barry) Islands in the Stream by Rob Brydon, Ruth Jones and a guest appearance by the legendary Tom Jones.
Additionally, nine celebrities climbed Kilimanjaro. Cheryl Cole, Gary Barlow, Chris Moyles, Kimberly Walsh, Fearne Cotton, Alesha Dixon, Denise Van Outen, Ben Shephard, and Ronan Keating raised £1.5million by climbing the 6,000m summit of Kilimanjaro.
The money raised will go to help many people who have a range of disabilities, and young careers, across the UK. Comic Relief has forged a partnership with one of the UK's leading carers organisation, the Princess Royal Trust for Carers that currently support 13,000 young carers. Comic Relief has asked the Royal Princess Trust to develop and manage the new programme on Comic Relief’s behalf. Comic Relief is also dedicated to people of all ages with mental health problems find the support that they need. Additionally, Comic Relief does work with people suffering HIV and AIDS in Africa.
Comic Relief continues to support various charities in Wales from Help the Aged, to Mental Health Matters LTD, to Alzheimer's Society.
Campaigners Warn Lack of Disabled Access Looses Retailers Thousands
Campaigners have warned that retailers are loosing thousands of pounds every year due to insufficient access for disabled people.
Disability Wales is currently compiling a report into the issue, the campaign, Streets Ahead, has been running since November 2008 and the report is due to be published in September. Disability Wales hopes that the report will influence decision makers at the Welsh Assembly and at Westminster.
Some of the difficulties that disabled people face include lack of drop kerbs, narrow and uneven pavements, a lack of step free access, narrow isles and lack of disability awareness training.
In an interview with Wales Online, Disability Wales policy officer Rhyan Berrigan said that:
“If shops were more accessible disabled people would be more likely to shop there.
“We want to make retailers aware that people have money to spend and if they can access the shop they’re likely to return there again and again.
“In general there’s quite a negative attitude from shop keepers about the issue, which we believe is because of a lack of awareness and a lack of training.”
Disability Wales isn’t the only group that is concerned with the lack of disabled access. Richard Jones, Principal Consultant of Accessible Wales, said that:
“As a both a person with a disability and also a disability consultant I advocate positive access. The improvement of access within town centres should go a long way to boosting trade that is already struggling. I would be proud to see that people with disabilities can shop in the local town centres as opposed to visiting large out of town retailers. Accessible Wales completely backs the “Streets Ahead” campaign and will do anything we can to enhance the awareness of good access.”
Stephen Hawking To Make A Full Recovery
Professor Stephen Hawking was taken into hospital on Monday 20th of April after falling very ill. However, a statement on his official site on Tuesday states:
‘Professor Hawking is being kept in for observation at Addenbrooke's hospital this morning. He is comfortable and his family is looking forward to him making a full recovery.’
A Cambridge University spokesman said Hawking was still having tests for a condition that was not related to his respiratory infection, and was not life threatening.
Hawking began to develop the symptoms of incurable motor neurone disease in the 1960s. Motor neuron disease causes the nerves that control muscles to steadily decay; this has led to Hawking gradually losing the use of his limbs and voice which has resulted in Hawking using a wheelchair and being reliant upon a computer screen and a voice synthesiser to communicate. Hawking is one of the world's longest-surviving MND patients.
The Equality Bill
The Equality Bill is just days away from being presented before parliament. If the Bill is passed then there will be major changes for the disabled community.
The Bill aims to make Britain fairer through a single equality, which will require public bodies to consider the diverse needs and requirements of their workforce, and the communities they serve, when developing employment policies and when planning services. The Bill will try to tackle the discrimination that people face and promote disability equality, racial equality, age equality, gender equality and equality for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender communities.
For the disabled community the Bill will try to improve conditions through a verity of ways. One of these is through changing employment tribunals in order to allow them to make far wider recommendations that will improve policies not just for the individual but for a larger group of people. The Bill will also make it possible to pave the way for class-action discriminations claims which will allow an entire workforce can be represented in court by groups such as trade unions or the Equality and Human Rights Commission.
In addition, the new Equality Bill will mean that Positive Action can be used by employers. This will make it possible for employers to take under-representation into account when choosing between two equally qualified candidates for a job. Positive Action is supported by the CBI, the TUC and the Equality and Human Rights Commission, as a means of producing workforces which are more diverse and more reflective of the communities they operate in.
According to the website www.equailtybill.com:
‘Of all the groups represented by the Equality Duty, the disabled are those most likely to encounter benefits in their day-to-day lives. Whether it is drop-down kerbs for wheelchair users, or sign-language provision for the deaf, public bodies will be under a duty to provide and promote Equality in every decision they make.’
Asda to Sell Living Aids
Seventy five Asda stores will start selling living aids aimed at disabled and older people on Saturday. Fifteen products are currently being stocked including folding wheelchairs, walking sticks, urine bottles, tap turners, raised toilet seats, jar and bottle openers and easy handle pens. The products will sold under the name Mobilease which has been devolped by businessman Dermot McLaughlin and is registered with the MHRA who have responsibility to ensure that medical devices work and are acceptably safe.
Until now, mobility aids have only been available on prescription through the NHS or social services, independent stores or specialist websites and newspaper or television adverts.
In an interview with Disability Now, Mr McLaughlin said that:
'The mobility and living aids industry has been stuck in the dark ages for decades.
'The very products that are created to make life easier for people have been cursed by a strange irony - they are unnecessarily difficult to access.
'They should be easily available to customers, but the existing government system can be slow and restrictive.'
Pamela Martin, Senior Buyer for ASDA, said:
‘Mobilease products are incredibly important for a large number of our customers and we're delighted to be the exclusive retailer. Our 17 million customers a week identify ASDA as a retailer that is constantly looking to offer value in all areas of our business and this new offering supports this wholeheartedly.’
If you are interested in buying any of the Mobilease products you can find out where they are being stocked by visiting the Mobilease website, www.mobilease.co.uk.
Do you think this a positive move? Will you be buying any of the Mobilease products?
Get in touch with us by emailing info@access-news.co.uk or via the Facebook group.
Bouncers Mistake Cerebral Palsy for Drunkenness
Matty Thompson claims that he was refused entry into a pub after the bouncers mistook his cerebral palsy for drunkenness and was then verbally abused.
Matty, 18, was out with his friends and sister Katie, 20, when the bouncers told them that Matty wasn’t allowed into the pub because he was drunk and couldn’t walk. Katie then explained that Matty has cerebral palsy which affects the way he walks, but the bouncers asked for a medical card to prove this and then continued to radio other pubs nearby to tell them not to let Matty in.
In an interview with the Mail Online, Matty’s mother Jenette Thompson said: 'I'm absolutely outraged. They just can't treat people with disabilities and learning difficulties like that and call him names.
'He was very upset about it. He told me he was called names. It's sheer ignorance on their part.'
In the same interview a spokesman for Scope, the national disability charity which focuses on cerebal palsy, said: 'A disabled person should not be denied access to any premises or facilities because they are disabled.
'Disabled people have the same right to go into pubs and clubs as anyone else.
'More needs to be done to get the public, and especially those who work in customer service, to truly understand and appreciate difference so that discrimination against disabled people becomes a thing of the past.'
What do you think of this? Have you had any similar problems?
Get in touch with us at info@accessble-news.co.uk or via our Facebook group.
Labour MP Claims That Dyslexia Does Not Exist
Labour MP George Stringer recently claimed that Dyslexia was a piece of ‘cruel fiction’ to disguise bad teaching in schools.
Dyslexia is a condition that is thought to affect approximately six million people in the United Kingdom. People with Dyslexia have difficulties in reading, spelling, and short term verbal memory. Current medical suggests that theses difficulties arise due to inefficiencies in language-processing areas in the left hemisphere of the brain which appear to be linked to genetic differences.
Despite this, Stinger believes that ‘If dyslexia really existed, then countries as diverse as Nicaragua and South Korea would not have been able to achieve literacy rates of nearly 100%.’
He added that ‘Certified dyslexics get longer in exams. There has been created a situation where there are financial and educational incentives to being bad at spelling and reading. This reached a pinnacle of absurdity, with Naomi Gadien, a second-year medical student initiating a legal case against the General Medical Council because she believes she's being discriminated against by having to do written exams.’
Stringer feels that teachers are failing to educate students who find reading and writing difficult, and have therefore ‘invented a brain disorder called dyslexia.’
Due to his claims many leading Dyslexia charities have criticised Stringer. In an interview with the Guardian, Shirley Cramer, chief executive officer of the educational charity Dyslexia Action, said: ‘It is frustrating that the focus should be on whether dyslexia exists or not, when there is so much evidence that it does.’
What is your opinion? Is Stringer justified in his view?
Email us at info@accessble-news.co.uk
Waiting for Independence
On March 6th Dragon’s Eye reported on the shocking case of Lewis Walker. Lewis is a 3 year old boy who has Cerebral Palsy and his parents were told that he may have to wait two years until he can receive a specialist motorised wheelchair. Last August, Lewis was put on a waiting list to be assessed for a chair but, he still hasn’t been assessed and therefore he cannot get the chair that he needs.
Lewis’s mother, believes that the lack of the wheelchair is seriously affecting Lewis’s quality of life as he needs the chair for things like school and for his independence. She told Dragon’s Eye that: “It's pretty disgusting really that kids have to wait. It's not just kids, it's adults as well. It's just wrong really. These kids only get one chance in life and they're not getting it without a chair."
In January 2009, the Caernarfon Denbigh Herald reported the case of Llinos Parry. Llinos also suffers form Cerebral Palsy and she has been waiting since November 2007 for a new wheelchair but hasn’t even been assessed. However, she has been promised a new chair by March.
According to the statistics that North Wales NHS Trust told Dragon’s Eye:
- 44 children are waiting 0-6months
- 25 children are waiting 6-12months
- 5 children are waiting 12-15months
- 1 child has been waiting 20 months for an assessment
North Wales NHS Trust argues that the reason that there are delays in patients receiving wheelchairs is because, until recently, they were not given enough money from its’ commissioner, Health Commission Wales. North Wales NHS Trust has also told the BBC that they are working to ensure that no child is waiting longer than a year to receive an assessment.
Accessible News Web Editor and disability rights campaigner Richard Jones had the following to say on the matter: “It is an absolute disgrace that children with disabilities have to wait so long for their basic human rights. A wheelchair is a pair of legs to these children. Why should they be starved of their independence, freedom… of their childhood. This problem should be rectified as a matter of urgency as it is another case of the authorities letting people with disabilities down.”