The recent battles over welfare reforms have created a new movement of people who describe themselves as disabled people are I would argue actually long term sick or just impaired, and this has really muddied the waters on the term ‘disabled people’ as it is abused for everyone’s benefits except maybe disabled people.


While it is politically incorrect to argue that you can not compare the needs and experiences of someone with diabetes or depression with those of someone with severe cerebral palsy it is a fact. Those who shout and scream it is divisive to use labels and we are all be together are not having their needs ignored, their voices unheard being walked over and having their resources taken away to pay for the wants of other people.


In the social model, disability is external to our identity which can be seen when we encounter barriers. Therefore our impairments and conditions will be more significant to who we are and how we represent ourselves. Therefore it is absolutely wrong that someone with one impairment can represent and dictate the lives of another. While some impairments like Autism appear to be allowed to talk about their impairment, people with cp are always punished politically for trying to do the same.


I believe people with lifelong impairments often have less condition specific medical interaction in their lives and there more likely the live with social model. In opposite, people with newly acquired impairments or conditions will have learnt this through medical intervention and are going to live the medical model. They need DLA and the benefits system to valid themselves as they fight to become unemployable second class victims of society.


There is nothing wrong with what the sickness movement wants if people with other impairments we permitted to say you know what, thank you very much but we are not the same and we are going to represent ourselves on our own from now on. The problem with is the sickness movement, in the guise of a pan-impairment disability movement, needs people to believe they need the same as people with significant impairments, to get what they want.