I feel one of the problems with how some disabled people are responding to the welfare reforms is that why we do not support people during the recovery period of an sudden onset of sickness and residual impairment. I should explain for those who may not know, as well as having cerebral palsy from birth, 3 years ago I had an acute nerve virus which left me temporarily paralysed from the navel downwards, requiring 9 months rehab so I do have a bit of experience here.

The modern hospital is an acute setting where there role is simply to sort out the immediate problem until someone is stable and then they simply discharge people with little considering for the recovery process from that point. Therefore I believe many people are left in limbo as being ‘sick’ but stable where they are left without support or a proper plan for their physical and emotional recovery.

So many people are left on their own to come to terms with their new situation with little to do other than claim for benefits and other they think they should be entitled to as they go through the angry stage of change. This is why they become so obsessed with the benefit process and blame ATOS for not providing them with the emotional validation they are seeking.

We therefore need to better support everyone through the recover process physically and most importantly emotionally to enable them to see the positive side of the situation they are in to be ready to celebrate their abilities and make a new meaningful contribution to society.