I've been trying to write a piece about Assisted Suicide (AS) for years. I've been collating links and quotes here and there. I've written the odd paragraph that's popped into my head. I've compiled statistics, made notes on documentaries and generally tried to write a well researched, fact-based post.
Maybe I'll actually post it some day. Today I'm not using quotes from other people about why they think legalising AS is bad; today I'm writing purely about my own thoughts and experiences. The rest of this post is behind a jump due to talk of suicide and probably other triggery things too.
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
27 March 2014
06 July 2010
Benefits part 1: How I benefit
It's taken me a while to even start writing these posts because at the moment I'm even less functional than usual. Overheating is one of the less pleasant symptoms of OI, and in case you hadn't noticed it's been rather warm lately. And then there's the fact that I've had a cold on top of my chronic sinus problems for more than 3 weeks which has had me whimpering a lot in between doses of painkillers. Basically all I've been fit for is laying on the sofa watching NCIS.
Edit: Another week has passed since I first sat and started writing this post before I found the spoons to come back and have another crack at finishing it.
I suppose I should start off by explaining exactly why I get the benefits I do. I'm generally of the opinion that my medical history is my business, not yours. Which is a bit odd because I'm a fairly open person. I think it's a reaction to the fact that because I'm disabled my medical history is supposed to be out there for public consumption. I'm also definitely of the opinion that my income is my business. But I've been called a "scrounger" by our politicians so many times that I've been ground down.
So here's my history:
I get Disability Living Allowance. I get the high rate mobility (HRM) component and middle rate care (MRC) component. I get HRM because I'm virtually unable to walk. I can walk a very short distance but only very slowly and with extreme pain and difficulty. My aforementioned osteogenesis means that a good many of my joints have been shattered so have extremely limited movement. The rest of my joints are held in place by tendons and ligaments of such poor quality that my 4kg cat can dislocate my knee by sitting on it. Because my tendons and ligaments don't do a good job of holding me up I fall over very easily, which is really not very safe in someone with brittle bones. Between the pain, the difficulty, the slowness and the danger involved in walking I'd be pretty much housebound without a wheelchair. I couldn't even walk as far as the bus stop at the top of my street before my knees had swollen up so much that I couldn't bend them for the rest of the day.
I then get MRC because I need constant supervision due to injuring easily. Activities during which I’ve broken bones include walking1, sleeping2 and eating3. So the government can't scrimp on my supervision by telling me to cut out risky activities cos, you know, eating and sleeping are essential for survival.
I've had osteogenesis since I was born (well, actually, since I was conceived) but until about 5 years ago I was perfectly healthy. There's a difference between illness and impairment. For many people they overlap but for many more there's a great deal of difference. So up until the age of about 26 I had a physical impairment, but I was a picture of health. At one point I didn't even notice that my GP had deregistered me because they hadn't seen or heard from me in so long. Being a healthy young person I earned for a significant chunk of my degree despite typical student work like bartending being not accessible to me. When I graduated I took on 2 part time jobs rather than a full time position. In addition I got paid for writing articles, doing media stuff for the now defunct Disability Rights Commission, and eventually I progressed far enough through the stand up circuit to get paid for making people laugh.
Then I got sick. I've always had slightly dodgy sinuses but starting in 2004 they got progressively worse. I can remember the day things started going downhill actually: I was in Edinburgh and it was the day I went to see Laurence's show. I've always taken co-dydramol for my bone and joint pain. But that day in Edinburgh was the first time in my life I'd had a headache that co-dydramol couldn't touch. I might as well have swallowed 2 M&Ms. These sinus pressure headaches became more severe and more frequent until I became unable to work in 2006 because spending roughly 2 days a fortnight in bed in agony doesn't please an employer.
How painful can a blocked nose be? Well, having grown up breaking my bones regularly I have a much higher psychological tolerance to pain than the average person. I recently had a nurse in a laser clinic describe me as "remarkable" because she was burning me with a laser and I didn't even blink. 2 years ago I broke my nose and didn't notice for 3 weeks because the pain was so minimal compared to what I'm used to in that region. It was only when I reached 3 weeks I thought "hmm. If it was anything other than broken it'd be healed by now." I've never, ever, taken anything stronger than 10/500 co-dydramol for a broken bone (or 3) but nothing less than morphine provides any relief at all for my sinuses. Morphine may relieve my pain but it comes with a side-effect of making me "drunk": it reduces my inhibitions and gives me verbal diarrhoea. So for around 2 days every 2 weeks I have the choice of being either in too much pain to work or too stoned to work. Someone who needs 2 out of every 10 working days off is not employable. 2 days every 2 weeks is an average during a "good" period. If I catch a cold they can last for months because related to my sinus problems I also have a rather buggered immune system. And my sinus pain can be bad for every one of those days for the whole 2 months it takes me to shake the cold.
"Why don't you work part time?" Because employers expect to know when you're coming in to work. Even if they list 'flexi-time' as an option they still expect you to be present at certain times and they like to know in advance when you'll be coming in. I can't predict in advance which days I'm going to be ill.
"Why don't you work from home?" I doesn't matter where I'm located. On days when I'm too ill to work, I'm too ill to work.
"Why don't you write?" When I had a contract as a columnist I'd get a phone call on the Tuesday asking me to submit an article on Friday. If I was ill on the Wednesday and the Thursday I'd have either nothing to hand in on Friday or I'd hand in something written under the influence of morphine. Either way, my contract would not get renewed. And it's taken me 8 days to write this piddling little blog post.
If I were otherwise unimpaired and just had my sinus problems I could probably manage a physical job that require little brainpower on ill days by taking so much morphine I couldn't feel a thing. I'd make absolutely no sense so would be unable to do a "thinking job", but I could manage a repetitive task job like unloading loaves of bread from a trolley and placing them on a supermarket shelf. But I'm not otherwise unimpaired, I have a knackered skeleton and "thinking jobs" are the only kind I can physically do.
I've really explored all the options and working is just not possible. So I get Incapacity Benefit. This is topped up with a very tiny amount of Income Support to make up the total a severely disabled person living alone is deemed by the government as needing to live on. I also get Housing Benefit to keep the roof over my head.
Part 2 coming soon. Unless this sore throat and bunged up ear turns into another cold...
1 December 2008 I tore a tendon out of a metatarsal which pulled the tip of the bone off with it. This injury was the result of simply walking normally.
2 In the early hours of 01/01/2000 I slept in an awkward position. I got woken up by blinding pain at about 4am. The awkward sleeping position had crushed not just one but several vertebrae.
3 As a child I caught my forearm on the edge of the table while eating dinner. This light tap caused my forearm to snap (I only have one forearm bone now where the radius and ulna have been broken so many times they’ve fused together).
Edit: Another week has passed since I first sat and started writing this post before I found the spoons to come back and have another crack at finishing it.
I suppose I should start off by explaining exactly why I get the benefits I do. I'm generally of the opinion that my medical history is my business, not yours. Which is a bit odd because I'm a fairly open person. I think it's a reaction to the fact that because I'm disabled my medical history is supposed to be out there for public consumption. I'm also definitely of the opinion that my income is my business. But I've been called a "scrounger" by our politicians so many times that I've been ground down.
So here's my history:
I get Disability Living Allowance. I get the high rate mobility (HRM) component and middle rate care (MRC) component. I get HRM because I'm virtually unable to walk. I can walk a very short distance but only very slowly and with extreme pain and difficulty. My aforementioned osteogenesis means that a good many of my joints have been shattered so have extremely limited movement. The rest of my joints are held in place by tendons and ligaments of such poor quality that my 4kg cat can dislocate my knee by sitting on it. Because my tendons and ligaments don't do a good job of holding me up I fall over very easily, which is really not very safe in someone with brittle bones. Between the pain, the difficulty, the slowness and the danger involved in walking I'd be pretty much housebound without a wheelchair. I couldn't even walk as far as the bus stop at the top of my street before my knees had swollen up so much that I couldn't bend them for the rest of the day.
I then get MRC because I need constant supervision due to injuring easily. Activities during which I’ve broken bones include walking1, sleeping2 and eating3. So the government can't scrimp on my supervision by telling me to cut out risky activities cos, you know, eating and sleeping are essential for survival.
I've had osteogenesis since I was born (well, actually, since I was conceived) but until about 5 years ago I was perfectly healthy. There's a difference between illness and impairment. For many people they overlap but for many more there's a great deal of difference. So up until the age of about 26 I had a physical impairment, but I was a picture of health. At one point I didn't even notice that my GP had deregistered me because they hadn't seen or heard from me in so long. Being a healthy young person I earned for a significant chunk of my degree despite typical student work like bartending being not accessible to me. When I graduated I took on 2 part time jobs rather than a full time position. In addition I got paid for writing articles, doing media stuff for the now defunct Disability Rights Commission, and eventually I progressed far enough through the stand up circuit to get paid for making people laugh.
Then I got sick. I've always had slightly dodgy sinuses but starting in 2004 they got progressively worse. I can remember the day things started going downhill actually: I was in Edinburgh and it was the day I went to see Laurence's show. I've always taken co-dydramol for my bone and joint pain. But that day in Edinburgh was the first time in my life I'd had a headache that co-dydramol couldn't touch. I might as well have swallowed 2 M&Ms. These sinus pressure headaches became more severe and more frequent until I became unable to work in 2006 because spending roughly 2 days a fortnight in bed in agony doesn't please an employer.
How painful can a blocked nose be? Well, having grown up breaking my bones regularly I have a much higher psychological tolerance to pain than the average person. I recently had a nurse in a laser clinic describe me as "remarkable" because she was burning me with a laser and I didn't even blink. 2 years ago I broke my nose and didn't notice for 3 weeks because the pain was so minimal compared to what I'm used to in that region. It was only when I reached 3 weeks I thought "hmm. If it was anything other than broken it'd be healed by now." I've never, ever, taken anything stronger than 10/500 co-dydramol for a broken bone (or 3) but nothing less than morphine provides any relief at all for my sinuses. Morphine may relieve my pain but it comes with a side-effect of making me "drunk": it reduces my inhibitions and gives me verbal diarrhoea. So for around 2 days every 2 weeks I have the choice of being either in too much pain to work or too stoned to work. Someone who needs 2 out of every 10 working days off is not employable. 2 days every 2 weeks is an average during a "good" period. If I catch a cold they can last for months because related to my sinus problems I also have a rather buggered immune system. And my sinus pain can be bad for every one of those days for the whole 2 months it takes me to shake the cold.
"Why don't you work part time?" Because employers expect to know when you're coming in to work. Even if they list 'flexi-time' as an option they still expect you to be present at certain times and they like to know in advance when you'll be coming in. I can't predict in advance which days I'm going to be ill.
"Why don't you work from home?" I doesn't matter where I'm located. On days when I'm too ill to work, I'm too ill to work.
"Why don't you write?" When I had a contract as a columnist I'd get a phone call on the Tuesday asking me to submit an article on Friday. If I was ill on the Wednesday and the Thursday I'd have either nothing to hand in on Friday or I'd hand in something written under the influence of morphine. Either way, my contract would not get renewed. And it's taken me 8 days to write this piddling little blog post.
If I were otherwise unimpaired and just had my sinus problems I could probably manage a physical job that require little brainpower on ill days by taking so much morphine I couldn't feel a thing. I'd make absolutely no sense so would be unable to do a "thinking job", but I could manage a repetitive task job like unloading loaves of bread from a trolley and placing them on a supermarket shelf. But I'm not otherwise unimpaired, I have a knackered skeleton and "thinking jobs" are the only kind I can physically do.
I've really explored all the options and working is just not possible. So I get Incapacity Benefit. This is topped up with a very tiny amount of Income Support to make up the total a severely disabled person living alone is deemed by the government as needing to live on. I also get Housing Benefit to keep the roof over my head.
Part 2 coming soon. Unless this sore throat and bunged up ear turns into another cold...
1 December 2008 I tore a tendon out of a metatarsal which pulled the tip of the bone off with it. This injury was the result of simply walking normally.
2 In the early hours of 01/01/2000 I slept in an awkward position. I got woken up by blinding pain at about 4am. The awkward sleeping position had crushed not just one but several vertebrae.
3 As a child I caught my forearm on the edge of the table while eating dinner. This light tap caused my forearm to snap (I only have one forearm bone now where the radius and ulna have been broken so many times they’ve fused together).
09 February 2010
Hear me roar!
I am angry. I am really fucking angry. I don't usually get angry because I'm quite lazy and anger takes a lot of effort. I usually just roll my eyes or bang my head on my desk. They're not very labour intensive. Especially if you don't repeatedly bang your head against the desk: Just the once, leave your head resting against the desk and you're in the perfect position for a nap. See? Lazy.
I am angry with NHS wastefulness. Perhaps I should go join the Taxpayer's Alliance? Eh, nice idea, but I don't want to stop all benefits ever and force disabled people into workhouses.
My anger started about a week ago. In 2004 I was referred to the surgical appliances dept at the Royal Free for a splint for my wrist. There was a smattering of wastefulness about my referral: GPs are not considered intelligent enough to refer patients directly to SA, my GP had to refer me to orthopaedics for them to refer me to get a splint. Which seems like a waste of my time and NHS money for me to have to see an orthopod I didn't need to see. But it was a one-off ortho appt, they referred me downstairs to surgical appliances and discharged me from ortho.
Last year I saw an orthopod at UCH about my broken foot. As The Boss promised during the appointment from hell two months later I was indeed referred to orthotics for inserts into my shoes.
"Surgical appliances" and "orthotics" are two different names for exactly the same department. One hospital uses one name, the other uses the other. So, yep, I'm a patient at exactly the same department at two different hospitals. Common sense would indicate that I should perhaps get my details sent from one hospital to the other so I can have all my supporting needs met in one place: Saving my time, and most crucially, taking up only 50% of the orthotics appointment slots therefore costing the NHS only 50% of the current cost. So last week I tried to arrange for that to happen.
Of course that would be far too sensible. I enquired about the possibility and was told that both hospitals have a policy of not issuing orthotics unless they've been prescribed by an orthopod from that hospital. So thanks to stupid policies I need to have twice as many appointments as I would need if the stupid policies didn't exist, costing the NHS twice as much.
The word is "fail".
Then I started reading about the ten23 campaign. A sort of great idea. I say "sort of" because I can't help but feel that the campaign is somewhat misguided. They are aiming their "stop being so stupid" at Boots when elsewhere on the site they have this fact:
So, yeah, can't help but feeling that the campaign would be more worthwhile if it was aimed at stopping the NHS wasting money on homoeopathy rather than stopping Boots from selling homoeopathic "remedies". Because I care how the NHS spend their money, how A. N. Other spends his or her money down the chemists really doesn't bother me.
And then today I read this article from The Independent: The ex-gay files: The bizarre world of gay-to-straight conversion (yeah I know it was published eight days ago, I'm a bit slow).
Yep, NHS money is being wasted on "treating" homosexuality, even though -- as the article recognizes -- homosexuality was removed from the DSM 36 years ago.
The NHS will happily spend twice as much money on orthotics appointments than is needed, they will happily spend millions on treatments proven to not work, they will pay for "treatments" proven to cause more harm than good, but what they won't pay for is a kidney cancer drug proven to extend life.
The NHS is a hot political topic at the moment, so why aren't the political parties all promising to stop pissing NHS money down the drain?
So I'm busy being angry. And having to go to more orthotics appointments than I need to. Grr.
Edit 21/02/10: The end to NHS homeopathy may be in sight!
I am angry with NHS wastefulness. Perhaps I should go join the Taxpayer's Alliance? Eh, nice idea, but I don't want to stop all benefits ever and force disabled people into workhouses.
My anger started about a week ago. In 2004 I was referred to the surgical appliances dept at the Royal Free for a splint for my wrist. There was a smattering of wastefulness about my referral: GPs are not considered intelligent enough to refer patients directly to SA, my GP had to refer me to orthopaedics for them to refer me to get a splint. Which seems like a waste of my time and NHS money for me to have to see an orthopod I didn't need to see. But it was a one-off ortho appt, they referred me downstairs to surgical appliances and discharged me from ortho.
Last year I saw an orthopod at UCH about my broken foot. As The Boss promised during the appointment from hell two months later I was indeed referred to orthotics for inserts into my shoes.
"Surgical appliances" and "orthotics" are two different names for exactly the same department. One hospital uses one name, the other uses the other. So, yep, I'm a patient at exactly the same department at two different hospitals. Common sense would indicate that I should perhaps get my details sent from one hospital to the other so I can have all my supporting needs met in one place: Saving my time, and most crucially, taking up only 50% of the orthotics appointment slots therefore costing the NHS only 50% of the current cost. So last week I tried to arrange for that to happen.
Of course that would be far too sensible. I enquired about the possibility and was told that both hospitals have a policy of not issuing orthotics unless they've been prescribed by an orthopod from that hospital. So thanks to stupid policies I need to have twice as many appointments as I would need if the stupid policies didn't exist, costing the NHS twice as much.
The word is "fail".
Then I started reading about the ten23 campaign. A sort of great idea. I say "sort of" because I can't help but feel that the campaign is somewhat misguided. They are aiming their "stop being so stupid" at Boots when elsewhere on the site they have this fact:
In the UK, the NHS spends around £4million every year on homeopathy and the British government supports four NHS Homeopathic Hospitals - Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool and London. What's more over 400 GPs in the UK regularly refer patients to homeopathic clinics. With homeopathy having been conclusively proven to work no better than placebo, there is no place for it in the National Health System, and no reason to support it with money that would otherwise be used to support real, proven treatments with genuine efficacy.
From http://www.1023.org.uk/why-you-cant-trust-homeopathy.php
So, yeah, can't help but feeling that the campaign would be more worthwhile if it was aimed at stopping the NHS wasting money on homoeopathy rather than stopping Boots from selling homoeopathic "remedies". Because I care how the NHS spend their money, how A. N. Other spends his or her money down the chemists really doesn't bother me.
And then today I read this article from The Independent: The ex-gay files: The bizarre world of gay-to-straight conversion (yeah I know it was published eight days ago, I'm a bit slow).
It transpires during the sessions that she gets most of her clients through an NHS GPs' surgery near her home. She says they refer people to her for treatment for their homosexuality.
Yep, NHS money is being wasted on "treating" homosexuality, even though -- as the article recognizes -- homosexuality was removed from the DSM 36 years ago.
The NHS will happily spend twice as much money on orthotics appointments than is needed, they will happily spend millions on treatments proven to not work, they will pay for "treatments" proven to cause more harm than good, but what they won't pay for is a kidney cancer drug proven to extend life.
The NHS is a hot political topic at the moment, so why aren't the political parties all promising to stop pissing NHS money down the drain?
So I'm busy being angry. And having to go to more orthotics appointments than I need to. Grr.
Edit 21/02/10: The end to NHS homeopathy may be in sight!
13 November 2009
Care consulation... the last post
The consultation on care ends today!
Makes sure you've signed http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AttendanceA/.
To be eligible to sign you need to either be a British citizen (regardless of where in the world you live) or live in Britain (even if your nationality is not British).
Also, please make sure you've forwarded this on to *everyone* you know that's eligible to sign.
The government has claimed that DLA for under 65s is safe. But that still leaves 2 problems:
1) People like me being plunged into poverty and dependence because we've turned 65.
2) The crap wording of the green paper means they could change their minds about this and take DLA away from under 65s without going to consultation again.
Bear in mind that most over 65s develop an impairment of some kind so there's a very real possibility that this might affect YOU in the future.
Makes sure you've signed http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/AttendanceA/.
To be eligible to sign you need to either be a British citizen (regardless of where in the world you live) or live in Britain (even if your nationality is not British).
Also, please make sure you've forwarded this on to *everyone* you know that's eligible to sign.
The government has claimed that DLA for under 65s is safe. But that still leaves 2 problems:
1) People like me being plunged into poverty and dependence because we've turned 65.
2) The crap wording of the green paper means they could change their minds about this and take DLA away from under 65s without going to consultation again.
Bear in mind that most over 65s develop an impairment of some kind so there's a very real possibility that this might affect YOU in the future.
08 September 2009
Save Our DLA: What now?
(This is a follow up to this post.)
If you've missed the Emails from Benefits and Work suggesting how to campaign to stop the government from taking Disability Living Allowance/Attendance Allowance out of the hands of disabled people, here are the three tasks:
If you're pressed for time and want to do just one quick thing that'll make an impact then this is it: The Number 10 petitions website reopened for business yesterday following the summer recess. A Save DLA/AA petition has been created: http://3.ly/saveDLA. Please sign and pass the link on to anyone and everyone you know. (The paragraph is italicised for emphasis as it's so important.)
Even if you don't get DLA/AA please sign the petition (as long as you're British). You never know if you'll need to in the future (and as most people acquire an impairment in old age, the chances that you'll need to claim AA are quite high). And even if you're not British you can pass the link on to anyone who is.
Finally the government are having a "Big Care Debate Roadshow" where you can go and tell the government exactly what you think about their plans to impoverish and remove independence from disabled people. For the tour dates see here.
If you've missed the Emails from Benefits and Work suggesting how to campaign to stop the government from taking Disability Living Allowance/Attendance Allowance out of the hands of disabled people, here are the three tasks:
- Task One: Contact disability charities and ask them to speak out against the proposals.
- Task Two: Get in touch with your MP and tell them how important DLA/AA is.
- I can't find a link to the third Email online anywhere, but it was suggesting people go to http://careandsupport.direct.gov.uk/ (the site is currently broken as I type though) and give their comments on the Green Paper.
If you're pressed for time and want to do just one quick thing that'll make an impact then this is it: The Number 10 petitions website reopened for business yesterday following the summer recess. A Save DLA/AA petition has been created: http://3.ly/saveDLA. Please sign and pass the link on to anyone and everyone you know. (The paragraph is italicised for emphasis as it's so important.)
Even if you don't get DLA/AA please sign the petition (as long as you're British). You never know if you'll need to in the future (and as most people acquire an impairment in old age, the chances that you'll need to claim AA are quite high). And even if you're not British you can pass the link on to anyone who is.
Finally the government are having a "Big Care Debate Roadshow" where you can go and tell the government exactly what you think about their plans to impoverish and remove independence from disabled people. For the tour dates see here.
05 August 2009
Save our DLA
Below is copied and pasted what lilwatchergirl posted on a messageboard.
Please sign. 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 up is an investment for your own future!
Links to people talking about the proposals:
Lilwatchergirl
Bendy Girl
Batsgirl
Neil Bateman (I feel like he should be "NeilBatemanGirl" as the other people I'm linking to about this all have "somethingGirl" as their moniker. I do not wish to imply Mr Bateman is in any way effeminate; I do not know him from Adam. Or Eve.)
Edited to add: Purple Noise (OK, another person without their handle being somethingGirl)
More from Lilwatchergirl
If tweeting on the subject please try and use the hashtag #saveDLA. The media takes a lot of notice of Twitter these days so it'd be awesome if we could make #saveDLA a trending topic. A shortened, easily Tweetable link to this post is available: http://short.ie/aws3bv
Edit Aug 7th: There is now a Facebook group protesting the planned DLA/AA axe. And from Nabil Shaban (yes, he was in Doctor Who):
Edit September 8th: The Number 10 petitions website reopened for business yesterday following the summer recess. A Save DLA/AA petition has been created: http://3.ly/saveDLA. Please sign and pass the link on to anyone and everyone you know.
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 DLA/AA and other benefits.
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.
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?
Benefits and Work's e-mail, detailing their campaign, is copied below. They have 300 people signed up to the campaign so far. Help them get to 1000, and then we can start campaigning.
Ideas for smaller-scale campaigns to support this one could be thought up and discussed here, too...
________________________________________________________________
Claimants have just 100 days to prevent their DLA and AA being abolished.
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.
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.
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.
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:
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/disability-living-allowance-(dla)/dla-aa-cuts
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.
Others will dismiss this as just another idle discussion document and our concerns as scare mongering. But it’s much more than that.
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.
Some organisations and individuals, such as RNIB and welfare rights worker Neil Bateman writing for Community Care magazine, have already voiced their alarm.
But not every disability organisation is opposed to the proposals and some even agree with them.
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.
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.
Political parties are desperately looking for the softest targets to be the victims of these cuts. Dismissing the green paper’s proposals as hot air and not worth worrying about could be the costliest mistake you ever make.
Find out more about the proposed abolition of DLA and AA and how you can join our campaign to fight back:
http://www.benefitsandwork.co.uk/disability-living-allowance-(dla)/dla-aa-cuts
Please sign. 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 up is an investment for your own future!
Links to people talking about the proposals:
Lilwatchergirl
Bendy Girl
Batsgirl
Neil Bateman (I feel like he should be "NeilBatemanGirl" as the other people I'm linking to about this all have "somethingGirl" as their moniker. I do not wish to imply Mr Bateman is in any way effeminate; I do not know him from Adam. Or Eve.)
Edited to add: Purple Noise (OK, another person without their handle being somethingGirl)
More from Lilwatchergirl
If tweeting on the subject please try and use the hashtag #saveDLA. The media takes a lot of notice of Twitter these days so it'd be awesome if we could make #saveDLA a trending topic. A shortened, easily Tweetable link to this post is available: http://short.ie/aws3bv
Edit Aug 7th: There is now a Facebook group protesting the planned DLA/AA axe. And from Nabil Shaban (yes, he was in Doctor Who):
"First they took away your "Home Helps"
Then they took your Incapacity Benefits
They they took the DLA Care, and Attendance Allowance.
Then they took away your Mobility Allowance, and Motability
Then they forced you back into institutions
And then offered you Assisted Suicide"
Edit September 8th: The Number 10 petitions website reopened for business yesterday following the summer recess. A Save DLA/AA petition has been created: http://3.ly/saveDLA. Please sign and pass the link on to anyone and everyone you know.
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