In depth: My experiences with disability
"It's this idea of the postcode lottery...when my son was born and we started with the services here, it's actually limited us. We will not move because he's got a place in the community here. He's known and he's getting services. If we move five miles down the road, it's very different. This...read more
"We visited social services. They were expecting us, so they knew we were Deaf, but the staff couldn’t sign and expected us to lip-read. I was boiling inside and felt so uncomfortable. They just had no awareness. I’m not asking for anything of a high level, just someone who can...read more
"Lizzie says, to her, the relationship with personal assistants is really, really crucial. The flexibility, the intimacy of that relationship and the skills and the responsibilities of that role that people have. So that she can feel safe, respected, and have choices in life."
"It would be nice to think that somebody could come and check in on me. Because I think there are times where I would have warranted an 'Are you actually okay?' No, I'm not. And friends may have picked up that slack. Friends who are in the community, we back each...read more
"It's always been an ongoing battle. In terms of recognising that I need support. But I'm also a mother of a soon to be 15 year old boy He has a personal health budget. And we've had a personal health budget now for the last six years. Although it doesn't feel like...read more
"About a year ago, I had less support than I've got now. I've had to backup to get my support in place. Because I was struggling. A year ago, I was struggling at like cooking and filling forms and reading letters."
"I am taken to hospital and I ask for an interpreter. They say, 'Oh you can’t because it is the weekend.' But we need interpreters 24 hours. Why don’t they have a list of interpreters that can be contacted out of hours?"
"The most important thing that needs to change is for the medical professionals to stop being this institution where we're not allowed to have equal say. Because of the terminology. Because of some of the phrases they use. It's very easy to understand what the issue is, especially when it...read more
"A lot of people that tend to care for people with disabilites like myself are not very good at doing things like form filling. They tend to think, 'Oh, this guy he's up and about. He's quite independent.' And they forget about your other needs. And when you enquire, you don't get...read more
"Social care wise, it's working for me at the moment. But they just want to reduce my package and expect me to pay through the nose for it. And so that's driving me insane. "
"I took up a part time job. And I'd worked out that I was still underneath the bracket, which was fine. I checked, I could offset my care and my childcare. But then I was offered the ability to do more hours. So I contacted them and said, 'Look, I'm taking the option...read more
"As we moved into adult services, life's been difficult for all of us. And during the next few years, there were many failings. One of my big experiences is I've come across a lot of providers who say they can do a job that they can't do. This has had...read more