Your Letters - January 2011

Change battery, change supplier

Like David May (“Ask the Experts: How to avoid battery charge”, Disability Now, November 2010) I am also annoyed by the high cost of batteries for my electric wheelchair.

Last time we had new batteries we were charged £180 for two batteries from a retailer. We didn’t have to pay VAT as we’d bought other items from them and they had a VAT form signed by myself. However, my husband had to go and collect them, and they are very heavy and awkward to carry.

This year we decided to have a good look at alternative prices. We went online and found similar batteries being sold at half the price that we had been paying. When we asked about VAT, one retailer said we’d have to pay VAT up-front, but when the batteries were delivered they’d send a VAT form for us to sign and would refund the VAT, once they’d got the signed form back from us.

The batteries arrived by courier the next day, at no cost to us, fully charged and with the VAT form enclosed. Within a week the VAT was credited to my bank account; the batteries were identical to the ones in my wheelchair!

You have to read the small print as some manufacturers charge for delivery and some don’t give VAT back. If people aren’t on the internet they could get information from the Yellow Pages.

I thoroughly recommend buying direct from the manufacturers.
Barbara Barry, Horsham, West Sussex

Iran, for non-runners

I was very interested in Marion Bull’s article on Iran (“Iran: Persian paradise”, Disability Now, December 2010). I’ve always wanted to see the country and was booked to go with Cox & Kings, but the visit was cancelled when the Iraq war started.

When I originally planned to go to Iran I could walk but can now manage only five minutes on foot. I am also 80 and use a power wheelchair. What I’d like to know is whether Marion is disabled.
Aileen Ireland, Crowsborough, Essex

EDITOR’S NOTE
On Disability Now, all our travel writers are disabled, with a range of conditions and impairments because it’s essential that all our travel experience conveys the perspective of disabled travellers.

I think my daughter deserves to be clothed. How can I make the Government agree?

I am the mother of a 43-year-old daughter with a profound learning disability (mental age 12-14 months).

Our daughter lived at home with us for 40 years but has now moved into a residential registered home with three other profoundly disabled adults. None of the adults speaks; all rely on others to speak for them.

I manage my daughter’s money and the local authority takes all her Disability Living Allowance and social security, with the exception of the mobility component, which leaves her with £21.80 per week. Part of her mobility is paid to the home to pay for a special bus, which carries three wheelchairs.

I am extremely concerned about the Government proposal to take away her mobility allowance.

The £21.80 she receives each week is meant to pay for all her clothes, toiletries, hair cuts, holidays and day-care costs (e.g. cinema, swimming, outings with drinks etc). In fact, the £21.80 will not even cover the cost of her clothes. She therefore has to use part of her mobility allowance to pay for these.

If she loses her mobility money, she will not be able to go out for any day care, or on holiday and will be without clothes to wear for four months of the year.

I read about the human rights issues, but surely our daughter has a human right to be clothed. I’m not talk­ing about designer clothes, just dungarees and T-shirts.

I have written to my MP but what else can I do?  Both my husband and I are in our 70s, and I suffer from arthritis. Our daughter comes home every 11 days for three days and will continue to do so for as long as we are able to cope.  How can I stop this injustice?
Jean White, Finchampstead, Berks

What's the best way to stay slim?

I became disabled in 1988 after being hit by a speeding car while riding my bicycle. I then put on weight, rapidly going from 11 to 19 stone.

I’ve never got rid of my excess body fat but I have found a way to manage it as best as I can.

Basically, the salads sold at ASDA (two for £3.00) do it for me. I buy six or eight every visit, as they have a short shelf life.

I combine this with fish as opposed to meat for main meals, and of course I snack on fruit. So far I’ve lost two stone with­out doing any exercise, not through choice, as exercise is difficult for me to do.

I wonder why Disability Now doesn’t have diet information for the disabled. Those who are new to disability need to focus on what will stop rapid weight gain from occurring at the start.

People who are disabled have to be expert at keeping those fat cells at bay. I wonder how others who are less active keep slim!
Robert Bluck, Birmingham

Graham Bool: Mary Wilkinson remembers

Following Phil Friend’s obituary on Graham Bool (“Bionic carrot”, Disability Now, December 2010), former Disability Now editor Mary Wilkinson writes: Graham and Disability Now were long-term friends, dating from around 1989. He always said we gave him a start in the disability world, but it was he who helped us to bring top quality pictures to our readers for “a special price”. He covered political rallies, competition events, fashion, Naidex, and of course, his great love: disability sport.

Do others remember that outstanding shot of Tony Willis, the one-legged pentathlon world record breaker, leaping into the camera?

Graham was a lovely person to work with too. He was warm and enthusiastic, determined to do the job, even if it meant getting up at an impossibly early hour and driving miles. He always joined us for the Disability Now Christmas dinner. I kept up with him after I retired and, ever helpful, he supplied information for my book. I miss him.