Disability in the United Kingdom

Housing

Disability campaigners lose legal fight over Grenfell recommendation “Campaigners have lost their High Court battle with the government over its decision not to implement evacuation plans for disabled high-rise residents.” (Jul, BBC)

‘We just want our homes not to hurt us’: “There are 104,000 people on the waiting list for an accessible or adaptable home. But not enough are being built, so many disabled people and families with disabled children are left in temporary accommodation for years” (Apr, Big Issue)

Outrage as ministers reject post-Grenfell safety plans for disabled people “Personal fire evacuation plans were in public inquiry’s proposals, which ministers had said they would ‘accept in full’” (2022, the Guardian) See further detail on inside housing.

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Disability and ageing – time to think outside our silos? (2022, Centre for Better Ageing)

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Assistive Technology Changes Lives: an assessment of AT need and capacity in England:

“There was a notable lack of joined up thinking, and missed opportunity for holistic AT delivery that considered the whole individual, across their life-course and diverse needs. Many people were found to be waiting months - and even years - to access essential AT products, while discussions over who would fund what prevailed.” (Jun, Global Disability Innovation Hub)

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Impact

Racism worsened Covid health outcomes for Black Disabled people “The Commission’s findings highlighted a number of issues including the difficulties faced by members of this community in accessing public health information, the government’s lack of engagement with Black Disabled people who the report says also experienced discrimination when accessing social services.” (Jul, The Voice)

‘Government Just Made it Worse’: COVID’s Disproportionate Impact on Disabled People of Colour Revealed. (Feb, Byline Times)

Covid-19 and the Crisis in Social Care: Exploring the Experiences of Disabled People in the Pandemic: “the social care crisis has challenged the goal of independent living.”. (2022, CUP)

COVID-19 pandemic impact on psychotropic prescribing for adults with intellectual disability: an observational study in English specialist community services: "The pandemic caused an increase in psychotropic prescribing associated with lockdown severity and urban settings." (2022, BJPsych)

Health and healthcare for people with disabilities in the UK during the COVID-19 pandemic: “As the UK opens up, it is important that health care services and social policy address the poor mental health and social isolation of people with disability so that the inequalities occurring early in the pandemic do not become further entrenched.” (2022, Disability and Health Journal)

Documenting the Pandemic for Disabled people: Covid Disability Archive (2022)

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Response

Disabled people an ‘afterthought’ in pandemic response, Covid inquiry told. (Oct, Open Democracy)

COVID Inquiry Hears About Government Disregard of Disabled People:

“Issues highlighted included the greater susceptibility of Disabled people with long term health conditions to respiratory disease; the greater likelihood of transmission in Care Homes and other residential settings; the increased risks by virtue of receiving care and support; the discriminatory barriers to receiving services and the cyclical nature of poverty and disability.” (Oct, Disability Rights UK)

‘They gave her a bed to die in’: family of woman with Down’s Syndrome denied intensive care seek answers from Covid-19 inquiry. (2022, the Guardian)

Disabled people are being left out of COVID recovery. “Here are five ways to change that” (2022, the Conversation)

‘Completely Inhumane’: Government’s Relaxed Approach to COVID Represents a Regression for Disabled People’s Rights (2022, Byline Times)

Booster jabs are vital – why is it so difficult for clinically vulnerable people to access them? (2021, the Guardian)

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Living with COVID-19

Two-thirds of UK workers with long Covid have faced unfair treatment, says report (based on survey of 3,000). (Mar, the Guardian)

Living with long Covid series exploring the “millions of lives impacted by long Covid” (2022, the Guardian)

Doctors with long Covid say they have been denied disability benefits. (2022, the Guardian)

Alarm after EHRC says long Covid should not be treated as disability (2022, the Guardian)

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Changing the Funding Landscape for Disability Justice: Disability Rights UK’s call to Funding Organisations. “True change begins with accessible funding processes, core unrestricted funding, inclusive eligibility criteria, and the acknowledgement of intersectional experiences.” (Nov, Disability Rights UK)

The Disability Power 100 in 2023 (Nov, The Shaw Trust)

Disabled activists face down police to protest in front of Rishi’s hotel (Oct, Disability News Service)

Turning the tide: Debrief feature on fighting for equality when rights are eroded:

“I often feel that we’re going backwards. And some days it’s easy to think we made no progress. But that’s too simple. Our previous gains have put us in a different situation. The civil servants I talk to today have a much better understanding of disability from those I talked to thirty years ago. Disability-related supports can be undermined but the government would find it hard to take them away entirely. Today’s battles are different.” (Oct, Disability Debrief)

It’s time we united for justice “Disabled people are suffering as a result of government neglect.” (Sep, Big Issue)

Disabled Virgin Mary in Peterborough Cathedral art exhibition. (May, BBC)

Call for solidarity: Defend the rights of disabled campaigners, ‘calling on the Metropolitan Police to prevent a repeat of the systemic discrimination towards disabled protesters that we documented in our report “Restricting the Rebellion” in 2019.’ (Apr, Freedom)

Disabled people have been at the heart of ‘direct action’ protest for years – what do we do now? Claiming the right to protest. (Jan, The Independent)

Dementia and Hope a vision for “dismantling the barriers which disable a million people in the UK” (Jan, One Dementia Voice)

Disabled youth participation within activism and social movement bases: “[Young disabled people] feel pressure to agree with those who have identified the cause, advised by established figures on ways in which they should demonstrate resistance, and are requested to provide recommendations that will improve the situation for young people: a limited involvement.” (2022, Current Sociology)

First orthodox siddur for people with disabilities launched in UK (2022, Jerusalem Post)

Radio play Pride and Protest offers a window into the current struggle for disability rights. (2022, Disability Arts Online)

Tickboxes and Tokenism? Service User Involvement Report 2022 (2022, Shaping our Lives)

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Disabled people and the environmental crises How Disabled people want charities and government to respond to the climate and nature crises. (Sep, NPC)

Briefing for charities and funders on how the climate and nature crises impact older and disabled people (Jun, NPC)

Disabled people are being left out of the climate conversation (May, Big Issue)

Why I’m here: four disabled female voices on their place within the environmental movement. (May, Greenpeace UK)

Protest for All a guide for climate change groups on making their protests accessible for disabled people. (link to pdf, 2022, Bristol Disability Equality Forum)

The people making a difference: profile of a climate activist: “a heavy wheelchair is handy for wrongfooting the police”. (2022, the Guardian)

Disabled People Must Not Pay The Price For Clean Air (2022, Bristol Disability Equality Forum)

City’s co-produced climate action plan ‘is a world first’ featuring Bristol's climate plan, which we also covered on the debrief (2022, Disability News Service)

Disability and the heatwave: Cooling solutions and disability as weather alert goes red (2022, BBC)

‘There’s no support for us at all’: The realities of caring for a disabled child during a heatwave. (2022, Big Issue)

Glasgow disabled facing hostility for car use “Disabled people are facing "climate-change themed" hostility and aggression for using cars, according to a charity.” (2022, The Herald)

A new Community Climate Action Plan in Bristol (2022, Bristol DEF)

Up to the Challenge report examining the National Disability Strategy and how it addresses climate change. "Disabled people across the country are excluded from the important work to tackle climate change." (2022, Oxford)

For disabled environmentalists discrimination and exclusion are a daily reality (2022, Greenpeace)

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Sign Languages

How is sign language adapting to climate change? 200 environmental science terms that have their own new official signs in British Sign Language (BSL). (Aug, BBC)

Stormzy Interpreter On Making Grime Accessible (Aug, Dig!)

Signs for Change review of a beautiful documentary by Rose Ayling-Ellis. See also an interview with Rose: “Nobody deaf in this country has the profile I have. I just want to get it right.” (Jun, the Guardian)

Work to be done on census figures for BSL: discusses methodology and estimates 150,000 BSL signers in the country. (2022, BDA)

Sign Language is My Language a series of “new perspectives on the experience of being deaf in 21st-century Britain.” (2022, BBC)

Sign language used in court as deaf jurors with own interpreters used for first time in England. (2022, Daily Mail)

Why I co-created a Twitter bot for BSL interpreter requests (2022, The Limping Chicken)

Sign language 999 BSL service launched for deaf people (2022, BBC)

A Sociolinguistic History of British Sign Language in Northern Ireland. "The study shows how the Protestant schools played an important role in the transmission of BSL in the island of Ireland." (2022, Sign Language Studies)

Why everyone should learn some sign language (2022, New Scientist)

British Sign Language to become recognised language in the UK (2022, the Guardian)

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Braille

The Politics of Braille Exploring continuing arguments about use of Braille:

"Blind people are divided in regards to its usefulness, schools debate whether it is worth recruiting qualified teachers, and governments fail to set aside funding to either train those teachers or fund their employment in local authorities. ‘Has technology replaced Braille?’ is a question I hear thrown around by the media more often than I should, usually accompanied by an article about a technology that will revolutionise how blind people read, rendering Braille unnecessary. It has not failed to escape me that whilst I’ve seen countless such articles, Braille is still firmly in place as the writing system used by blind people globally." (2022, Catch These Words)

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Israel-Palestine Conflict

DR UK Stands in Solidarity with Disabled Palestinians “We are deeply concerned about the severe humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza, and we are committed to advocating for the protection of the rights and dignity of Disabled individuals in this time of crisis.” (Nov, Disability Rights UK)

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Overview

Jack Moyse, You and I. Fiona Johnstone reviews an exhibition of photographic works by Jack Moyse, a young artist living with muscular dystrophy. (Oct, The Polyphony)

Does the Booker Have an Autism Problem? “This year’s Booker Prize longlist is a sign that, during the past 20 years, the publishing world has advanced and stagnated when it comes to autistic representation.” (Oct, Publishers Weekly)

‘I think it’s a new artform’: Chris Fonseca, the man bringing Deaf dance to the mainstream. (Sep, the Guardian)

Inside Britain’s only all-wheelchair dance troupe a feature on Propel. (Video, Aug, NBC News)

Representing disability in museums. (May, The Hunterian Blog)

Barbara Hulme shares a showcase of watercolour portrait paintings titled 'Men's Health' – highlighting their disability/ health stories. (Feb, Disability Arts Online)

Unfinish’d sympathy: can literature get over reading disability morally? (2022, the Guardian)

Storytelling and Chronic Illness – An Evolution of Time and Place. (2022)

Being Hybrid A guide to hybrid events for the literature sector. (2022, Spread the Word)

‘Don’t tone it down’ – inside the invasion of British museums by disabled artists. (2022, the Guardian)

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TV and Film

Is There Anybody Out There? review “Ella Glendining’s intelligent documentary challenges the discriminatory attitudes she faces as a young woman with a rare physical disability” (Nov, the Guardian)

Kirkmoore review – disability is way funnier than this comedy can handle. (Oct, the Guardian)

Mixmups: Behind the scenes with the disabled stop motion characters. (Oct, BBC)

Name Me Lawand review empathic and inspiring portrait of deaf Iraqi refugee boy. (Jul, the Guardian)

Disney hasn't gone 'woke' by replacing Snow White's seven dwarves – they’re just treating people like me with respect. (Jul, Metro.co.uk)

Disabled artists talk about their experiences working in TV: 'There’s still a lot of work to do'. (Apr, BBC)

Doctor Who casting Ruth Madeley is game-changing for disabled fans. (Jan, Radio Times)

“An Irish Goodbye:” A New Standard for Disability-Focused Stories. (Jan, Respect Ability)

The 5 As: our standards for disability inclusion in the television sector. (2022, BBC)

‘I’m done with being token deaf character on TV’: Rose Ayling-Ellis, winner of last year's Strictly Come Dancing, important reflections on representation. It's worth watching the whole speech.

“I had to break through countless barriers to get to where I am. It’s been a lonely, upsetting journey, and whilst winning Strictly was an amazing experience, it shouldn’t be allowed to conceal the hardships I have been through to get here.” (2022, the Guardian)

Channel4 Disability Code of Portrayal commits to more nuanced approaches in portrayal of disabled people, involving disabled people themselves. (2022, Channel 4)

Starring Rosie Jones Disability Benefits is a comedy take on getting disability benefits from the government, and if that doesn't work, getting the disability benefit in a life of crime. (2022, Channel 4)

Britain's Got Talent 2022 Eva Abley's performances, a 14 year-old comedian. (2022, Adnan Entertainment)

Let’s storm Parliament! Then Barbara Met Alan is a film from BBC on the ”punks who risked their lives to fix ableist Britain”. See also on “these stories change how people think”. (2022, the Guardian) One line I enjoyed from the film: “It was 1990, nothing in law, just a pat on the head and a fuck off if you moan too much”. See also a comment on what the film misses out.

Broadcasters unite to create ‘passports’ “that will remove barriers and support better inclusion of disabled people and other colleagues at work.” (2022, Channel 4)

‘It’s time for us to live our lives to the full’. Line of Duty’s Tommy Jessop on changing the world for people with Down’s syndrome. (2022, the Guardian)

Channel 4 creative brief Disability Disruption commission "ripping up the playbook and showing disabled people as they have never been seen before on British TV." (2022, Channel 4) See also coverage on Broadcast.

I'm thrilled that Rose Ayling-Ellis won Strictly Come Dancing: see her interview in the Guardian talking about her life, career and the show. (2021, the Guardian)

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Media

How To Report On Disability Responsibly In Journalism “How we tell stories about disabled experiences matters. Bad reporting directly affects how non-disabled people treat us in the real world, from people in our daily lives to politicians writing policy.” (Jun, Journo Resources)

Disability in Advertising: Is Representation Finally Improving? (Feb, Just Copy)

The media are failing disabled people. “Lucy Webster explains why – and how they can do better” (2022, Tortoise)

BBC Unveils Latest Statistics on Disability, Ethnicity Representation. “53% of teams monitored achieving their targets for disability representation, an increase of 35 percentage points over the last year and a half.” (2022, Variety)

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Clothing and Fashion

Meet Unhidden, the fashion brand changing the game for people with disabilities. (Sep, the Guardian)

Reframing Fashion: British Vogue Celebrates Disabled Talent in Historic New Edition. (Apr, Tilting the Lens)

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Fall in disabled older people in census data ‘could be due to pandemic’, or the change in wording of the census question. (Feb, The Independent) More young people declared disability in the census after inclusion of mental health in the question about disability.

Childhood disability, social class and social mobility: A neglected relationship. “We specifically focus on the importance of social class for disabled young people's outcomes, emphasizing the need for intersectional analyses of disability inequalities.” (2022, The British Journal of Sociology)

Outcomes for disabled people in the UK: 2021 detailed statistics from a range of datasets. (2022, ONS)

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Overview

It's not all doom and gloom: What the pandemic has taught us about digitally inclusive practices that support people with learning disabilities to access and use technologies. (2022, British Journal of Learning Disabilities)

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Artificial Intelligence

Making AI delivery robots disability-friendly “As a robot designed to use pavements, it could have become another frustrating obstacle for disabled people to navigate.” (May, BBC)

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Online Accessibility

Accessibility as a cyber security priority Want security that works better for people? Make it accessible. (May, NCSC)

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Social Media

Teen beauty queen's TikTok account blocked over acne. (Jan, BBC)

As a disabled person, social media has been a lifeline "The internet bypasses what keeps us apart: inaccessible transport, a lack of appropriate care, pain and fatigue. [...] The real power of the disability community, [comes] in the slow accumulation of knowledge that accrues from bearing witness to each other’s lives." (2022, Financial Times)

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Overview

The financial wellbeing of disabled people in the UK “Three-in-ten (27%) disabled households are in serious financial difficulty, compared to one-in-ten (11%) of non-disabled households.” (Sep, University of Bristol)

‘I live in fear of debt collectors’: disabled people in England tell of toll of soaring care costs. (Jun, the Guardian)

Disabled people facing a ‘cost-of-breathing’ crisis a campaign by Scope and ITV. “For disabled people, this is not just a cost of living crisis.” (May, Scope)

Homelessness and disability “Report reveals people with physical disabilities and health conditions are at much greater risk of homelessness” (May, University of Bristol)

Broke and disabled in Tory Britain: the reality of life on one meal a day. (Mar, the Guardian)

Disabled people among hardest hit by cost of living crisis, finds study. ‘Disabled people in the UK are much more likely to struggle to heat their homes and cut back on food this winter, according to a report highlighting “massive” income gaps amid the cost of living squeeze.’ (Jan, the Guardian)

Disabled young people have less upward social mobility than their peers – and class background makes this worse. (Jan, the Conversation)

Disability Price Tag 2023: the extra cost of disability. “On average, disabled households (with at least one disabled adult or child) need an additional £975 a month to have the same standard of living as non-disabled households.” (Jan, Scope)

Thousands of vulnerable people cut off from gas and electricity for days at a time. (2022, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism) And this is just the data from last winter.

Blind people amongst those worst affected by cost of living crisis (2022, City A.M.)

What actions are people taking because of the rising cost of living? “Around 4 in 10 disabled people experiencing rising cost of living cut back on food and essentials” (2022, ONS)

‘I see price rises of 25-50%’: how inflation is affecting people with a disability or illness (2022, the Guardian)

Disabled people's experiences with activities, goods and services. “Disabled people with invisible impairments could face a conflict between needing support but not wanting to have to identify themselves as disabled to access it, because of perceived external judgement and negative stereotypes regarding disability; this contributed to a sense of vulnerability which people felt negatively impacted their wellbeing.” (2022, ONS)

From disability to destitution devastating analysis on the economic situation of persons with disabilities. (2022, JRF)

A survey of almost 700 people What disabled consumers choose to buy and why “90 per cent were affected at the decision-making stage of purchases by either; limitations of design, limitations in available information, or how information was presented.” (2022, BDF) See also on Forbes.

Energy prices: Fears and cutbacks as hike hits disabled families (2022, BBC)

In a survey of 1,200 disabled people, more than half feel “anxious, depressed or hopeless” about financial worries and problems (2022, Yahoo! News)

Disabled people facing ‘impossible choices to survive’ in cost of living crisis, “amid a perfect storm of soaring energy prices, increasing fuel and food costs and cuts to government support”. (2022, the Guardian)

New data shows food insecurity major challenge to levelling up agenda "People who are limited a lot by disability are approximately 5 times more likely to be food insecure (in the past six months) than people who aren’t living with a disability." (2022, Food Foundation)

Rising living costs will push more disabled people into destitution "Benefits are falling far behind the extra costs associated with disability," (2022, New Statesman)

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Financial Inclusion

New debit card lets relatives track spending of relatives with dementia. (Mar, This is Money)

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Social Protection

Disabled people are trying to tell us how benefits system is killing them. “Dr China Mills shares her experiences of pulling together decades of evidence of deaths, protests and failures in the disability benefits system for a new timeline which holds the government to account” (Nov, Big Issue)

UK’s new back to work plan will make life even harder for disabled people “As part of these plans, the government is planning to implement tougher sanctions for people who are judged to not be taking appropriate steps to secure work. The proposed punitive measures include suspending benefit claims altogether and stopping access to free medical prescriptions and legal aid.” (Nov, The Conversation)

Activists raise concerns over human rights record “of the outsourcing company that defeated Atos in the battle for a multi-million-pound disability benefits assessment contract.” (Oct, Disability News Service)

The commodification of social security medical assessments —academic analysis and practitioner experience. (Aug, Public Money and Management)

What would a fair disability benefits assessment look like? “It is apparent that the current disability benefits process isn’t working, so we asked the experts what a fair system would look like, and whether that could exist at all.” (Jul, Big Issue)

The tragic deaths the British press is reluctant to cover exploring deaths linked to cuts in government benefits. (May, Columbia Journalism Review)

A decade after the Tories demonised disabled people on benefits, it’s happening again. (May, the Guardian) See also: open letter from Scope.

Social care costs see thousands chased for debt. “More than 60,000 adults with disabilities and long-term illnesses in England were chased for debts by councils last year after failing to pay for their social care support at home.” (Feb, BBC)

UK government errors denied thousands disability benefits: “Campaigners hit out after data reveals majority of successful appeals were due to Department for Work and Pensions mistakes” (2022, the Guardian)

Five-month disability benefits delay causing hardship (2022, the Guardian)

Government spent £440m fighting disability claimants as whistleblowers claim system broken. (2022, ITV)

Secret DWP report reveals unmet needs of disability benefit claimants (2022, Disability News Service)

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Overview

History Depth Study: Fight for Rights in Modern Britain Student Book. (Oct, Oxford University Press)

Wasting money, wasting potential: families are appealing a record number of decisions on not granting special educational needs, and “in 2021-22, the public sector wasted nearly £60 million losing EHCP tribunal disputes”. (Sep, Pro Bono Economics)

Children with Disabilities forced to travel hundreds of miles for school. (2022, The Bureau)

Changing Children’s Attitudes to Disability through Music: "A core driver for change appeared to be sharing enjoyable musical activities with competent musicians who had disabilities." (2022, Disabilities)

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Higher Education

Deaf scholar promoted to full professor in deaf studies “Until the appointment of Annelies Kusters, UK had only hearing people as full professors in the field” (Nov, the Guardian)

Improving the experience of disabled PhD students in STEM “The researchers found that out of 192 survey participants UK wide, only a third (33%) felt they had received the support they needed to be on an equal footing with their non-disabled peers” (Nov, Disabled Students UK)

How to promote disabled women in academia (Sep, THE)

What I’ve learned from a decade of working with a disability in academia “climbing the academic ladder in an able-bodied world” (Jun, Times Higher Education)

Disabled students are being let down by universities (2022, Metro)

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4% of large charities report their disability pay gaps, research finds (Aug, Civil Society)

Do disability passports really work? “Passports will not help employees – and may present more barriers – if wider approaches to disability and adjustments are poor. The passports themselves are no substitute for sound adjustments processes or good manager attitudes to disabled employees. [...] When done as a “box ticking exercise”, as some employees and managers reported they were, passports risk being ineffective or even harmful.” (Jul, Business Disability Forum)

Great Big Workplace Adjustments Survey 2023 Results

“Disabled employees are still waiting too long for the adjustments they need to reduce or remove the barriers they experience in their jobs: 1 in 8 employees have to wait more than a year for them. Employees also have to push for adjustments, or even fund them, themselves. Only ten percent of people told us it was easy to get the adjustments they needed.” (Jun, BDF)

Why employer inflexibility matters for the recruitment, retention and progression of disabled workers.

“Whilst some disabled people may need specific aids, adaptions, or equipment in order to facilitate their ability to work, the vast majority only require changes in the way in which work is organised.” (Jan, Disability & Society)

Disability and Small Business Report (Small Business Britain)

Non-disabled workers paid 17% more than disabled peers. Disabled women face the biggest pay gap and it persists for workers throughout their careers. (2022, TUC)

Positively Purple a new book from Kate Nash on building an inclusive culture in business. (2022, KoganPage)

Employers influencing disabled people’s employment through responses to reasonable adjustments. Employer reactions to requests for adjustments in the workplace go on to influence the rest of disabled people's careers. (2022, Disability and Society)

Disability Pay Gap: “Mandatory reporting would only capture a snippet of the full picture as only large organisations would be required to report”. (2022)

The blind farmer: ‘It’s all I ever wanted to do. Now I can help others do it’ (2022, the Guardian)

‘I was dismissed as simple’: People reveal the reality of disability discrimination at work (2022, Metro.co.uk)

Disability pay gaps in the UK: 2021 “The disability pay gap, the gap between median pay for disabled employees and non-disabled employees, was 13.8% in 2021”. There is a slightly wider pay-gap for men with disabilities, and considerably wider for those with more activity limitations, or with autism listed as their main impairment. (2022, ONS)

Business Without Barriers: interviews with successful disabled entrepreneurs and personal accounts from employers who are helping to break down barriers to employment. (2022, FSB)

Disability Smart Awards (2021, Business Disability Forum)

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Wheelchairs and weight: 'I haven't been able to weigh myself for 22 years'. (Oct, BBC)

A review of advocacy “This report covers in depth research about advocacy for people with a learning disability and autistic people who are inpatients in mental health, learning disability or autism specialist hospitals.” (Oct, NDTI)

Thousands with learning disabilities trapped in hospital, some for years “because of a lack of psychological support and overly complicated treatment systems” (Mar, the Guardian)

National Health Service crisis: Why are disabled people disproportionately affected? (Jan, BBC)

Will the NHS Care for Me? feature by a disabled person on why people with a learning disability are more than twice as likely to die from avoidable causes than the rest of the population. (2022, BBC)

A study on avoidable mortality in children/young people with intellectual disabilities. “Children with intellectual disabilities had significantly higher rates of all-cause, avoidable, treatable and preventable mortality than their peers. The largest differences were for treatable mortality, particularly at ages 5–9 years. Interventions to improve healthcare to reduce treatable mortality should be a priority for children/young people with intellectual disabilities.” (2022, BMJ Open)

Fractured, fighting, fixed: my personal experiences in hospital as a base to reflect on why medical systems struggle with inclusion. (2022, Disability Debrief)

Recognising lived experience is essential to empowering disabled patients. (2022, BMJ)

Warning over early deaths of learning disabled: “adults with a learning disability were twice as likely to die from preventable illnesses.” (2022, BBC)

A BBC show Ellie Simmonds: A World Without Dwarfism?

“A pioneering drug is coming on the market that promises to make children with achondroplasia - Ellie’s form of dwarfism - grow closer to average height. A genetic condition, achondroplasia is the most common type of dwarfism in the UK, and the new treatment raises the question: if cutting-edge medicine can stop disability in its tracks, should we use it?” (2022, BBC)

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Overview

Rachel Heller obituary Artist whose vivid works were lauded by the likes of David Hockney and Maggi Hambling (Oct, the Guardian)

Clare Gray, 1969-2023 “Clare was hugely well regarded for her advocacy work and involvement in the Disability Power 100 [...] it is accepted across the disability community and beyond that Clare was one of the most influential disabled advocates campaigning in the UK in the last decade.” (Oct, Shaw Trust)

Lame Captains and Left-Handed Admirals Amputee Officers in Nelson's Navy (Sep, University of Virginia Press) See also this discussion on New Books Network (no transcript).

Slow Workers: Labelling and Labouring in Britain, c. 1909–1955

“Intellectually disabled people adopted precarious strategies of ‘getting by’ and while they commonly experienced low wages, could also sustain degrees of community inclusion at the margins of the economy.” (Jul, Social History of Medicine)

Tracing Disabled Children’s Lives in 19th-Century Scotland through Public and Institutional Records. (Jul, Genealogy)

Lois Keith obituary “Writer, teacher and disability rights campaigner who challenged the barriers facing disabled women” (May, the Guardian)

In his time, Benjamin Lay may have been the most radical person on the planet. ‘Benjamin Lay’s dwarf body shaped his radicalism. For someone “not much above four feet” tall, life was a struggle to be considered equal, even to be taken seriously in many situations. Benjamin had to fight.’ (May, Verso)

Everywhere and Nowhere short film “spotlights 10 fascinating stories, objects and sites with connections to histories of disability from the National Trust’s buildings and landscapes, and collections and historical records.” (Jan, University of Leicester Research Centre)

Disabled people’s activism on exhibition at the People's History Museum (2022, Disability Arts Online)

Ebooks of Paul Hunt's writings. “Paul Hunt was one of the founders of the Disabled People's Movement in Britain, and one of the first activists to argue for the social model of disability.” (2022, GMCDP)

A review of Beholding Disability in Renaissance England a book which argues that “by focusing on disability in Renaissance texts we can collapse barriers between us and the past, while at the same time gain new perspectives on both historical and contemporary perceptions of the disabled body.” (2022, H-Disability)

Book review of Those They Called Idiots: The Idea of the Disabled Mind from 1700 to the Present Day. “The conflation of race and intelligence is vividly documented in this volume. The long and complex history of ideas that have bound these concepts together helps us understand today’s deeply institutionalized racism as well as the entrenched we/they ableism of our educational and social service institutions.” (2022, Disability Studies Community)

Book review of Shakespeare and Disability Studies, a book which argues that a disability studies view should not focus just on disabled characters but rather ‘theater as a “social phenomenon” in which both disabled and nondisabled bodyminds engage with one another and the text.’ (2022, Disability Studies Community)

Dr Peter Scott-Morgan dies: Tributes to world's first 'cyborg' ‘And when I say “Cyborg”, I don’t just mean any old cyborg, you understand, but by far the most advanced human cybernetic organism ever created in 13.8 billion years.’ (2022, Metro.co.uk)

The Jewish Deaf Association launch new website: Jewish Deaf History (London) discussion of the history and website. (2022, Limping Chicken)

‘The lady without legs or arms’: how an artist shattered Victorian ideas about disability. (2022, the Guardian)

The 1921 census is a snapshot of a post-war Britain where disability suddenly became visible: "Poignant, defiant notes by men living with war wounds show the roots of the ongoing fight for disability rights taking hold". (2022, Inews)

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Remembering Judy Heumann

Samantha Renke on how Judith Heumann was, and is, my role model. (Mar, Metro.co.uk)

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Migration

See Britain’s hidden shame “Leaving disabled asylum seekers to rot in an old care home is not an aberration – it is the system working exactly as intended” (Oct, the Guardian)

Disabled man in fourth week of hunger strike over ‘inhuman’ Home Office facility. “The Home Office has so far refused to take any action over the case of Basam Huzyene, originally from Jordan, who has diabetes and a serious heart condition.” (Sep, Disability News Service)

Concerns raised over living conditions for family of asylum seekers from Sudan living with two disabled children in one room at Belfast hotel. (Aug, The Irish News)

UK Turns its Back on Asylum Seekers with Disabilities “More than 50 asylum seekers, most of whom have disabilities, are being warehoused in a former care home in Essex, England, without access to adequate support and services.” (Jul, Human Rights Watch)

Asylum seekers with disabilities ‘abandoned’ in former Essex care home. One advocate described this as “putting them in a dustbin and putting the lid on. But what they need is help. What is going on is unpardonable”. (Jun, the Guardian)

Vulnerable asylum seekers 'prisoners in their own homes' after fleeing war zones. “Many claim they have been placed in unsuitable properties that are littered with tripping hazards and have broken lifts.” (Feb, Mirror)

Jamaicans with disabilities facing ‘unjust’ deportation from UK. “Most of the Jamaicans facing deportation next week on a government flight live with a disability or health problem and came to Britain as children” (2022, Independent)

Non-verbal black teenager who has never left UK detained at immigration centre. “Boy who went missing from hospital arrested and held at Gatwick facility after being wrongly recorded as Nigerian” (2022, the Guardian)

A Mural on Disability and Migration bringing together the disabled movement and asylum sector. (Youtube, 2021, Disability Murals)

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Overview

Watch "See Me" by MiXiT. A celebration of inclusion. (Nov, Social Care Future)

The Lonely Reality of Avoiding Being Alone.

“As someone who requires skilled support 24 hours a day I’m never really on my own – but if I am it’s because I’ve failed. Failed, that is, to meet my most basic need, the continuous presence of someone who can keep me safe. [... In the last six months] I’ve cried because of care related arguments or relationship strain 30 times – including today.” (Sep, Tourettes hero)

On independent living, the focus of policy should be the destination.

“The problem with ‘deinstitutionalisation’ as a goal is that it elevates a departure point over a destination and process over outcome. The destination and outcome isn’t disabled people not living in what we class as being ‘institutional care’, it is disabled people living independently & being included in the community on an equal basis with others.” (Jun, Making Rights Make Sense)

Sussex disabled man breaks silence after being imprisoned and kept in 'squalor' by wife for years. (May, ITV News Meridian)

The Disability Serviceland Song “a song about control, power and self-determination. Staring Ellie Goldstein.” (2022, Open Future Learning)

Brother, do you love me? The cry for help that sparked a care-home rescue mission. (2022, the Guardian)

Disabled People trapped waiting years for vital home adaptations (2022, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)

Great video on how support workers can enable a social life (2022, Open Future Learning)

A new book, open access, Deprivation of Liberty in the Shadows of the Institution on how restrictive practices from institutions continued as services were provided in the community. (2022, Bristol University Press)

My Freedom A retrospective on the 10th anniversary of abuse reported at residential facility Winterbourne View. "My freedom means I go to bed when I want." (2022, Bemix)

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Conditions in Institutions

Inside the "barbaric" mental health units holding autistic adults and children. “Nearly 2,000 adults and hundreds of children with learning disabilities or autism are being held in mental health units, with an average stay of more than five years, despite repeated abuse scandals.” (Jul, Politics Home)

Learning-disabled and autistic people are being neglected and tortured. “Across the UK, revelations of institutional abuse keep mounting up, yet people are still being denied basic respect” (Apr, the Guardian)

The shameful legacy of the Lennox Castle hospital Scotland's largest institutiono for people with learning disabilities, which closed 20 years ago. (2022, BBC)

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15 years of advancing disability rights: the UK’s international development progress and a path forwards. “Global crises alongside cuts to Official Development Assistance (ODA) continue to disproportionately impact people with disabilities”. (Jul, Bond)

UK government strategy: Sightsavers calls for further action for women and girls with disabilities. (Mar, Sightsavers)

On the new International Development Strategy, People with Disabilities don’t have the luxury of time “there is no observable strategy to focus concerted efforts on eradicating poverty and improving the lives of the most marginalised.” (2022, CBM UK)

Meeting the Ambition of the new FCDO Disability Inclusion & Rights Strategy (2022, CBM UK)

Launch of a new development policy, FCDO disability inclusion and rights strategy 2022 to 2030. See a blog post welcoming the new strategy from CBM UK. (2022, Gov UK)

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Are we receiving the justice we deserve? With support from disabled magistrates, a report on inaccessible courtrooms. (Jun, Magistrates Association)

No longer free to be Deaf: Cultural, medical and social understandings of d/Deafness in prison: “there is little room for a cultural model of Deafness in prison, and in consequence, prison becomes medically deafening for Deaf prisoners.” (2022, Disability and Society)

Pushing at the Boundaries of Legal Personhood. “Could we then imagine a framework of legal personhood that recognises persons with removeable parts?” (2022, Frontiers of Sociolegal Studies)

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I learned to love my disabled body – why can’t my non-disabled friends love theirs? (Sep, the Guardian)

‘I cried with anger’: the trials and torment when travelling with blindness. “‘Help’ ranges from being accused of faking it to being offered a wheelchair. That’s why society needs to be educated about the nuances of sight loss.” (Aug, the Guardian)

Not Getting Better: Polly Atkin talking about her book, Some of Us Just Fall (Aug, Lighthouse)

Why I'm not faking being sick: I'm faking being well. “A woman who is ill and disabled wouldn’t wear make-up or care about looking fashionable.” (Aug, Brain Lesion and Me)

Ellie Simmonds on finding her birth mother: ‘During this journey I cried so much’ (Jul, the Guardian)

Rosie Jones on death threats, anxiety and anger:

“Rosie Jones always wears earphones when she’s out alone. She jokes it is for pleasurable reasons – “a chance to listen to Steps” – but it is actually to block out something much more menacing: when strangers see her walk down the street with her movement affected by cerebral palsy, they shout abuse at her.” (Jul, the Guardian)

‘Disabled is still seen as the worst thing a person can be’: Why Disability Pride Month is a vital celebration of what it means to be disabled (Jul, Glamour)

The 90s are back why disability simulations are harmful. (Jun, The Accessible Link)

‘I did not expect motherhood to legitimise me’: parenting with a disability – “four families share their eye-opening stories of love and joy” (Feb, the Guardian)

On the Debrief: Don't you have mercy on yourself? How we turn our isolation into connection (Feb, Disability Debrief)

What London Is Like When You're Deaf. (Jan, Londonist)

Why We Need Spaces to Discuss Disabled Joy in All Its Complexity Rather than Inspiration. (Jan, The Spill)

Moving Nowhere Here a poem by Kimberly Campanello. “I must be propped on pillows // to attempt anything at all // other than dream”. (Jan, Granta)

Invisible: Documentary about 6 disabled women activists. (2022, Tend Project)

On living two lives:

“To be as disabled as I am is to have control of your life parcelled out to people you’ve never met and who will never know you. The doctor, the care recruiting firm, the dating agency. I am forever trying to claw it back; a decision made for myself here, a stand taken there. Sometimes I think I am succeeding, I can breathe a little easier. I feel in control - of my career, of where I’m going, of the small but vital details of how I live my everyday life. And then the dam breaks and the water is rushing again, seemingly higher than before. I find myself wondering whether this time it’ll finally flow over my head.” (2022, The View From Down Here)

Disabled people don’t need your outrage – we need you to fight with us for change (2022, the Guardian)

How I found my own disability pride “Disability pride came slowly to me, like dawn breaking on a December morning.” (2022, The View from Down Here)

'Being grabbed, pushed or touched without warning is terrifying when you can’t see' (2022, Mirror)

What Does it Mean to Forge a Body? Autonomy through Disability Cures and Gender Transition (2022, Catch these Words)

‘I’m a TV producer’s dream!’ – Rosie Jones on the trouble with being the poster girl for disabled comedy:

“sometimes think I am the ‘perfect amount of disabled’. I am being facetious but hear me out. I look disabled and I sound disabled, but I am not too disabled. I can appear on a panel show without disrupting the whole programme. There’s no need for subtitles, ramps or additional needs. I’m a TV producer’s dream!” (2022, the Guardian)

“No you’re not” collection of profiles of autistic women (2022, Wellcome Collection)

I'm treated differently depending on what kind of wheelchair I use - on the difference between using a manual and powered wheelchair. (2022, Metro)

Unbound an animation reacting to the phrase "wheelchair bound": "my wheels travel the world, and they dance, whirl in light and colour" (subtitles but no visual description, 2021, BBC)

My Life With Dynamic Disabilities: What You Should Know (2021, Refinery29)

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Mad World: The Politics of Mental Health a book by Micha Frazer-Carroll. (Jul, Pluto Press)

A toolkit to support understanding and supporting mental health in infancy and early childhood. (Apr, UNICEF)

Autistic people are six times more likely to attempt suicide – poor mental health support may be to blame (2022, The Conversation)

The Guardian view on mental health privatisation: unsafe spaces. “Businesses that fail patients while making profit margins of 15%-20% are no substitute for investment in the NHS” (2022, the Guardian)

A critique of digital mental health via assessing the psychodigitalisation of the COVID-19 crisis (2022, Psychotherapy and Politics International)

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Overview

Accessible Electric Vehicle Charging (Jan, Motability)

Blind man and guide dog refused taxis over 30 times. (2022, BBC)

How can electric vehicles be made more accessible to disabled people? (2022, Environment Journal)

‘I have to plan for if I am stranded, if I am dropped, if my chair is damaged’: the perils of travelling while disabled. (2022, the Guardian)

Disabled passengers bearing brunt of travel disruption (2022, the Guardian)

Death of blind man hit by train ruled accident. ‘Matt Stringer, chief executive of the Royal National Institute of Blind People, said the death "was not an isolated incident".’ (2022, BBC) See also other experiences and reflections on access issues at train stations.

Disabled campaigners are to thank for accessibility on the Elizabeth Line “A decade ago, Transport for All campaigned hard for the Line to be accessible, and were successful in securing £33 million additional investment to make this happen” (2022, Transport for All) The Elizabeth Line will make a big difference for me in getting across London. Can't wait to try it out.

What makes an EV charging station accessible for people with disabilities? (2022, WhichEV)

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Air Travel

New report highlights accessibility issues with airline websites “Key findings from the report highlight that there is overall room for improvement across the board, with a lack of consistent, ongoing consumer research from airlines.” (Aug, Civil Aviation Authority)

Disabled flyers angry at airline 'double charging'. “Nearly 30 carriers contacted by the BBC said passengers with mobility problems must purchase a full-price ticket for a personal care assistant (PA).” (Jul, BBC)

Heathrow failed to meet minimum accessibility standards, a regulator ratings of UK airports. (Jul, the Guardian)

Government pledges change for air travel after #RightsOnFlights campaign. (Jun, Disability Rights UK)

Rights on Flights: the new campaign seeking to make air travel more accessible. Exchange with Sophie Morgan. (May, National Geographic)

Airlines can’t be trusted with disabled people’s wheelchairs. (May, Tortoise)

A campaign for Rights on flights it’s time for the air travel industry to take Disabled people seriously. (Feb, Disability Rights UK)

Heathrow and other airports criticised by watchdog after disabled passengers missed summer flights. (2022, the Guardian)

Airports must stop failing disabled passengers, says UK regulator. (2022, the Guardian)

How airline Apps let down blind passengers “Only one major UK airline’s App works with screenreaders for the blind” (2022, Which)

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Government's latest disability awareness campaign forgets where negative attitudes came from. (Sep, Mirror)

UK Ministry of Justice Treats People with Disabilities as an Afterthought: "Human Rights Act Consultation Exercise Fails Fully to Include People with Disabilities". (2022, Human Rights Watch)

High Court declares National Disability Strategy unlawful due to inadequate consultation (2022, Bindmans)

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Thousands of disabled people lost their vote at local elections, reports suggest. (May, Disability News Service)

MP with cerebral palsy has been mocked and accused of being drunk. (Mar, Independent)

‘I’ve always felt these spaces were ours’: disability activism and austerity capitalism, reflections on an interview with Disabled People Against the Cuts. (Feb, City)

Breaking down Barriers: a report on Improving Disabled Representation & Participation (2022, Disability Policy Centre)

‘Deaf’ Liz Truss – a curious choice of insult reflecting on the Russian Foreign Minister's comments. (2022, Limping Chicken)

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Disability, Sexuality and Consent: How Activists Are Reshaping the Narrative. Beautifully illustrated exploration of relationships, care, legal frameworks and community. (Oct, NYT)

Dating as a disabled woman made me miserable, so I'm building a life without romantic love (Aug, iNews)

Do accessible sex toys exist? Podcast (no transcript, 2022, BBC)

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Paralympic Flame to be created at Stoke Mandeville for all future Paralympic Games (Oct, International Paralympic Committee)

Interrupted views, undignified facilities: challenges for disabled football fans. (Oct, the Guardian)

“I want motorsport to be accessible for disabled people.” (Jan, RedBull)

Did the Paralympic games change things for disabled people? The legacy ten years on. (2022, Spirit of 2012)

Activity levels among disabled people have failed to return to pre-Covid levels (2022, the Guardian)

‘Stare at me because I deserve to be stared at’: Lauren Steadman and the evolution of representation at the Paralympics (2022, the 19th)

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What Are You Looking At? Ableist Abuse in Public Spaces. (Oct, Disability Visibility Project)

An uphill battle from day one: “Non-disabled women are twice as likely as disabled women to have the person they accuse of rape charged or summonsed.” (Jun, Now Then Magazine)

Kaylea Titford’s parents jailed for manslaughter after daughter died in ‘conditions unfit for any animal’. (Mar, the Guardian)

Formal support needs of disabled adult victim survivors of sexual violence. A qualitative research report. (Jan, Ministry of Justice)

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Evacuating or Leaving Ukraine

Ukrainian refugee family with disabled son denied accessible house by East Renfrewshire Council (Feb, STV News)

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