Guest column
Guest writers have their say
Barrier grief
The government’s new welfare reform plans will only stigmatise more disabled people, says disabled academic Ruth Patrick
Critical friends
As Disability Now, Scope and the United Kingdom’s Disabled People’s Council (UKDPC) prepare to publish a major report on disability hate crime, Ruth Bashall and Anne Novis, co-chairs of the Metropolitan Police’s disability independent advisory group (DIAG), describe how their work is slowly helping the force improve its attitude to hate crime
No welcome in the valleys
Post office closures are hitting disabled people in Wales particularly hard, says Rosaleen Moriarty Simmonds
The outrage of the train
First-class rail carriages are an anachronism, says Annie Makoff. So why can’t we use them to make travel easier for disabled passengers?
Why it's still not safe to come out
It will take more than a change in the law to stop care providers discriminating on the grounds of sexuality, says Ju Gosling
Act yet to take West End by storm
New government figures suggest the Disability Discrimination Act has improved access to goods and services. But Pip Raymond-Cox, former Lady Mayoress of Westminster, says there is still much more to do
Becoming positively human
It’s time the government stopped discriminating against women in HIV screening policies, says Alice Welbourn
Communication matters
Kate Caryer on how her university degree is a perfect response to patronising comments but why communication is still an issue in the education system
That flaming Heat sticker!
Emma Bowler regrets that it has taken a bad-taste joke in a magazine give-away to put disabled children on the media agenda
Don’t let those ‘awareness’ days, weeks and months pass you by
Agnes Fletcher says we should not be too quick to dismiss the daily onslaught of 'awareness' campaigns if they can change people's attitudes to disability
Why does joining the jet set have to be such a pain?
Simon Stevens wonders why everyone treats him like a complete idiot from the moment he books his flight – and all the more so if he’s travelling alone


