Your letters - October 2008

Your views

TV slights Paralympics

Why are the Paralympics not shown on terrestrial television, apart from the one-hour highlights? This highlights the fact that the Paralympics are considered less important than the Olympics. If you are a keen sports fan you want to watch whatever sport is on television, not just non-disabled sport! What will happen in 2012?
Lizzie Kemp, by email

Hate crime needn’t involve hatred

I have camptocormia and Parkinson’s and walk with a stoop, to the amusement of a certain kind of person. I treat the stares and sniggers as a hate crime, like racial abuse. Alas, the authorities do not. Perhaps it should be enshrined in law that to target a disabled victim does not have to involve "hatred" to qualify as a hate crime.
Anthony Jones, by email

Ofsted report on teacher training was not all bad news

We welcome Ofsted’s new report (Disability Now Online, Teacher training gets a poor end of term report). We are pleased that it found practice to be satisfactory or better in all but one of the initial teacher training providers surveyed and highlighted the positive impact Training and Development Agency pilot training resources had made on trainees. We are making sure that initial teacher education providers can make clear to trainees what a training programme should include if it is to prepare them well to meet the needs of pupils with learning difficulties and/or disabilities, and are also taking steps to ensure that those responsible for monitoring induction provision are fully aware of what constitutes good practice in teaching such pupils.
Phil Snell, programme manager for SEN and disability, Training and Development Agency for Schools

Sex posters ignored gays and lesbians

We are very pleased that the Family Planning Association has chosen to focus its sexual health week on the issue of people with learning difficulties but we are sad that gay and lesbian people with learning difficulties have not been shown on the posters. The barriers that people with learning difficulties encounter when we try to exercise our right to have relationships are even bigger if we are gay, lesbian or bisexual.
Newham People First, by email

Insurance companies do discriminate

It’s about time insurance companies were taken to task over insurance quotes (Disability Now September, Breaking News). The company I had been with for a very long time refused to quote me on my adapted vehicle, stating that they did not do adapted vehicles. I have tried others and they are similar or want me to find out how much different items cost, such as windows, lowered floor, hydraulic ramps, etc. They were just trying to put me off getting a quote, because how on earth was I going to get that information? I’m now with Virgin, which was more than pleased to have my business. It is definitely discrimination. Well done, Thomas Atkins.
Norman Taylor, by email

Government should raise its game

Please could we add to the call for the Office for Disability Issues (ODI) to become an efficient Ministry of Disability Issues? The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) and ODI are ineffective. We cite the Disability Now hate crime campaign, which should have been pursued by the government, like racism, not left to Disability Now, and there is a plethora of equally serious matters. We have repeatedly tried to raise national disability issues with the EHRC and ODI, to no avail. Disabled people do need a place to address matters that are national, not local, and that relate to widespread disablism and not personal problems.
M Doyle, via email

Royal Festival Hall is an access failure

I write, horrified, at your praise of the refurbished Royal Festival Hall and the chief executive (Disability Now September, News View). It isn’t accessible and hasn’t been since its multi-million-pound re-opening about 14 months ago. Lambeth Council officials finally admitted that they hadn’t bothered to inspect one of the front doors, which has been neither automatic in opening nor responsive to pressing the button with the wheelchair sign on it. Staff have referred to the building’s inaccessibility for over a year as “teething problems”. When Disability Now praises a building that should have “go away if you’re disabled” written (in Braille) on its front door... Well, what hope is there for disabled people in the UK?
Kevin Fleisch, by email

YouTube film clips illustrate sick society

I returned from the kitchen to find my wife in tears. She had been reading your item about offensive content on YouTube (Disability Now September, Media Watch). Her first child was born with anencephaly and survived only a few hours. These sickos who post clips think they’re normal; I hope that they’re wrong. The really scary part of all this is that such a website can exist. Hopefully, your piece will have a positive effect.
Mr A Watt, by email

Sex help would turn PAs into prostitutes

Having read the article by Simon Parritt (Disability Now September, Disability Rights), I had to respond, as personal assistant (PA) to a man with high support needs. Professionals crave rules and guidelines to make them feel safe, and safeguard service-users from abuse. Asking PAs and careworkers to assist with sexual needs, either with a partner or alone, leaves both parties open to abuse. Would we also have to assist with fetishes, service-users who choose to have multiple partners, and anything else that may or may not offend our own morals? As a very liberal woman, I understand completely that people with disabilities have as much right as anyone to express their sexuality in any way they choose, but I find it quite ridiculous and frankly offensive to suggest PAs should be used in this way. There are thousands of sex workers who choose their employment and would be far more suited to this aspect of assistance rather than expecting PAs to become prostitutes.
Lisa Johnson, by email

New design of Disability Now is harder to hold

I tend to agree with Clare Evans (Disability Now September, Your Views), who said she does not like the new format. It is more difficult to lay flat and read comfortably, especially if you have problems with your hands. The old style was far better.
John Clancy, Sittingbourne, Kent

Men can also suffer domestic abuse

I’m glad to see that something is being done to help disabled women who are victims of domestic violence (Disability Now September, Behind Closed Doors) but why was no mention was made of disabled male victims?

The term “domestic violence” means, literally, “(any form of) violence in the home”, but in recent years it has deteriorated into a synonym for “violence against women (in the home)”.
Even among non-disabled people, men can be the victims of violent (female) partners but a disabled man can be especially vulnerable to this form of abuse.
John Redgwell, Braintree, Essex

Editor’s note:
If you have experienced domestic violence and would like to talk to someone about it, men can call the free Men’s Advice Line and Enquiries (MALE) on 0808 801 0327.

Women can call the free, 24-hour National Domestic Violence Helpline on 0808 2000 247.