Month: May 2017

Redefining Independence for Disabled People

I want to take a week off politics to talk about a new idea I have been considering regarding independence for disabled people. Independence is a confusing term in relation to disabled people. There has been two main definitions of independence.

The first definition can be seen as connected to the medical model of disability. Here, independence means being able to do everything for yourself like getting dressed and so on. True independence is actually impossible because it could include baking bread instead of buying it and walking instead of taking the bus. It is therefore defined within a level of social conformity and allowed a generation of therapists to enforce a regime upon people with impairments that was unproductive.

Many people with impairments did not agree with these definition and they redefined independence within social care to relate to having choice and control over how things in their lives were done. They believed it did not matter if they were unable to do things for themselves, as they could employ staff that they can control themselves, and the important point is that they are able to decide how they do things. This is the kind of independence I had adopted since I went to university.

Recently, I have been wondering if there is a third way of looking at independence for people with impairments. For many of us, there is always going to be a number of things we are unlikely to be able to do for ourselves, even with technology, and this is fine. However, improvement sin technology means there are maybe times we can be left for longer periods without a presence of personal assistance than we need currently.

Personal assistance is a great tool but it does involve an emotional and practical investment that can be exhausting and restrict how we are and how we feel free. Quality time on our own, free from anyone else, can be very good for our emotional wellbeing, Therefore by still ensuring we have the support we need, it is also important to exploring how we live and use technology to ensure we can have a growing amount of time that is truly ours.

I am very aware that this idea will be seen as a justification for ‘unnecessary’ cuts but I believe the notion of independence will show a new maturity by people with impairments in understanding the notion of independence. It is about getting what we want whether that requires personal assistants or having quality time to ourselves. It is a concept that also needs exploring when we look at the long term purpose of social care.

Why am I voting Tory as a disabled person

I wanted to explain properly why I am voting Tory as someone with significant impairments. I am very aware that in doing so, I am most likely to be subjected to a torrid of abuse from other ‘disabled’ activists but this simply shows how Corbyn has permitted sheer hatred to enter mainstream politics.

I think it is important that I explain that I am not blindly supporting the Tories, there is many promises in their manifesto I have concerns with including how they wish to fund social care. There is also things I like in the Labour Manifesto and I am happy to make my mind up policy by policy..

The main reason I am voting Tory is because they are prepared to have an adult conversation on disability issues despite the great pressure to simply pity people with impairments. In dealing with people that are often in fragile stages of their lives emotionally, it is going to be extremely hard to get this right. But real inclusion is about being considered a responsible adult, the basics of citizenship. If people with impairments really want equality, that requires give and take.

I am not suggesting every Tory politician and party worker has a perfect understanding of disability issues, or a perfect attitude and behaviour towards people with impairments. But this is not the hostility towards discussion on the issue that now exists within the Labour party on the subject.

Labour sees disability as a welfare issue and hads without a doubt have a divide between ‘the chronically sick’ and the ‘severely disabled’, where there is a huge resentment towards the later and hatred that May wishes to protect their needs against the former group, where a shyness towards employment is celebrated under Labour. Please make no doubt that Labour has declared war on people like myself who they see have having no place in society.

What I hate about Labour is the anti-government lies their endlessly spout about people with impairments, taking individual and complex cases of difficulty and wrongly blowing them up into examples of systematic abuse. A perfect example of this is when Guardian Journalist and disablist bigot, Frances Ryan stated once again in one of her hate speech articles that one million disabled people were missing out of social care, being forced to go to bed at 7pm in nappies. So many things Labour activists say are false built upon lie upon myth upon lie upon myth.

I had to fight every step of the way to get where I am today and I believe we live in a better society for people with impairments. Under Corbyn’s red flag, I am regarded as automatically unfit for society based on the same bigotry that existed under 1930s germany. Yet so many people with impairments simply do not want inclusion, but just ‘their’ benefits at any price and regardless of the lives it will cost with Assisted Dying being supported by Labour.

The Tories provide me with a sense of respect and does not seem to question my abilities. It is not perfect but it is far better than the hatred I receive from Labour.

Labour disabled activists seem to support legalising killing disabled people

As I have said previously, one of the reasons I am not voting Labour is that during a Lobby at Portcullis House on the Assisted Dying Bill, my Labour MP was unwilling to even pretend o show me that he was interested in my concerns and the fact I want my right to live to be protected. Many Labour MPs have publicly shwon their support for Assisted Dying, including Kate Green and Liz Kendall. I fear that as opposed to Conservatives, the left wing ideology is more supportive of Assisted Dying even if there are somewhat quiet about it.

So what is the problem with Assisted Dying? I thank it is firstly important for me to say that I believe everyone should have a good End of Life experience that includes a pain-free death as far as this is possible, even if thats means using medication to ease the process in what remains a process of actively dying with no coming back. What I oppose is whenb someone who has been diagnosed with a progressive disease who does not yet experience any significant symptoms being able to book an appointment with their GP at some arbitrary point in the future for them to come around and kill them because they do not wish to be a burden to others.

I have argued the reasons against Assisted Dying before and this is not the focus here. My point that if the Tories are the so-called nasty party towards people with impairments, you could almost forgive some of their MPs for supporting it. But Labour, especially under Corbyn and his wonderful red flag, are supposed to really care about us as they promise us a new utopia. But the reality is that Labour, supported by bigoted organisations like ‘Disabled People Against Cuts’, see disabled people as unfit for work and therefore unfit for society, who should be paid currently unlimited amounts of welfare. However, this welfare model is vocally based towards people with lesser impairments, meaning those with higher support needs are being pushed out. I further fear that with Labour’s heroic portrayal of informal carers, denying those being ‘cared for’ personhood, that mercy killings will become a socially accepted norm under the red flag. It will also be a win win for Labour in keeping the welfare bill under control based on the attitudes that existed in Nazi Germany.

The disabled activists who have dug themselves into a hatred of the government from seven years of social media chinese whispers, with myth upon myth, response to my concerns about Labour’s silent eugenic agenda is complete denial, to the point they will not even dispute my concerns. This is the point I am bombarded with insults, accusations about my mental health and blocked for being a troll, the new Labour term for someone who speaks the truth.

The question to answer are do these activists, who probably never met someone with high support needs, really support assisted dying? or are they are just stupid, hating the government simply because their disability assessment did not go the way they wanted without any interest on the real impact a terrible Labour government will have upon all people with impairments? It seems legalising the killing of people with impairments is a price they are willing to pay to keep their benefits!