The politics of Disability has been a replication of Animal Farm, where some impairments are more equal than others. For years it was people with spinal injuries on top, but how those on top are often are disabled people that will not disclose their impairment and shout hate crime if anyone gets anywhere near finding maybe they are not really disabled.


People with cerebral palsy have been around a very long time and I would argue for a shile range of reasons, people with cp have one of the strongest and well rounded impairment identities. I would also argue that in terms of working aged social care and the increasing severity of cerebral palsy, we cost the most on an individual basis. 


Yet, at this moment of time, people with cerebral palsy do not have any national charity or organisation which is solely representing them and their needs and desires. Scope may cough and splatter at this but over the 15 years, there are moved away from caring about cp to a more generic notion of disability because of some notion of political correctness. Now someone with an head cold is going to be better supported by Scope than anyone with cp.


To make matter worst, the disability farm has now been cleared to make for a new generation of people claiming to be disabled, simply because of the cold hard cash and the free car. This means people with cp have been pushed right off the agenda and kept the metaphorical cages as their political space and voice is ransacked. I would argue people who thought people with cp were better off dead last week  will not suddenly think any different this week because they have diabetes or whatever, and now eligibility for benefits. So ofcourse there will not mind a few mercy killings of real disabled people if it means more money left for them.


If people really believed in the social model, they would be talking about their impairments and not their disabilities. We all end up saying disabled people because there is no language for a post social model world, which we are approaching. I am not saying people with cp should get special treatment but fair and equal treatment in the issues that affect us without people who other impairments stealing their voice. We need to think “All same All Different” not “All same All same (or else!)”.