Disability News Round Up By John Pring - Week Beginning 07/11/2011

11/08/2011 06:26:00 pm BenefitScroungingScum 1 Comments

• A report into one of the most controversial of the government’s planned welfare reforms has been given a cool reception by leading disabled people’s organisations.
• Outraged campaigners have attacked the BBC for screening an “offensive” documentary about the benefits system.
• The life of Helen Keller, disability hate crime and the history of the Disabled People’s Direct Action Network are among the subjects that will be discussed and debated during the second UK Disability History Month.
• A disabled activist is threatening to take legal action against the House of Commons after he and other wheelchair-users were refused entry to a debate on accessible transport.
• A sudden government move to cut the length of time benefit claimants have to fill in a lengthy medical questionnaire will make it harder for them to obtain the support they need, say campaigners.
• The Department for Work and Pensions has rewritten rules that were making it harder for disabled people to use a key employment support scheme to find and keep work.
• A disabled businessman was pulled off a tube carriage in his wheelchair and told the underground network was “not accessible to wheelchair-users”, just minutes after being helped onto the carriage by station staff.
• Disabled activists have welcomed a campaigning breakthrough after the government agreed to correct a major disparity in the sentencing of disability hate crime murders.
• A police force has been criticised by an independent watchdog for ignoring two phone calls expressing serious concerns about the health of a disabled man, who was later found dead.
• Campaigners have called for politicians to show their support for inclusive education, to mark the 30^th anniversary of a key piece of legislation.
• Scores of disabled activists have come together to plan the next stage of the fight against the government’s cuts to disability benefits and services.
• A new book exposes how society’s obsession with the idea of “normality” and “perfection” has led to discrimination, hostility, and the isolation and segregation of disabled people.