More Than Not So Neet!

There has been a report by the Liberal Democrats, one of the political parties in the UK today, saying that 20% of young people in the country are Not in Employment, Education or Training (otherwise known as NEET). They are obviously worried about this, as these individuals are potentially part of a lost generation.

However, the situation is even worse for those of us with a disability. 60% of Disabled People are unemployed. Many of them, like myself, would like to work, but do not get the opportunity. Since redundancy in August 2005, the prospects of my own employment seem to have virtually disappeared. Pain and lack of mobility does make my job prospects very slim.

I understand the cost of 2.6 million people on Incapacity Benefit is a large drain on resources especially in economic downturn. However it seems that those who are forced to claim Incapacity Benefit, including myself, are vilified by a Government which seems to regard the majority of claimants as benefit cheats. The situation makes the process of making continuing claims, even by the vast majority of genuine recipients, very difficult.

To help disabled individuals back into work the Government has a scheme called Pathways to Work. I was inducted onto this program but have been frustrated and irritated by whole scheme. It provides cursory job seeking skills and support but ties claimants to an external Jobs Broker with no time and no resources to actually get a job for clients. It just appears as if they are doing something, and that is enough for Government payment. For instance, a client with a disability cannot do any voluntary work to revive work skills that is not within a voluntary organisation authorised by the Jobs Broker. How much more are these circumstances going to be duplicated when more and more of these schemes are contracted out to companies/charities for profit – and there has to be profit, otherwise why respond to the tendering process.

The unfortunate individual assigned to me has admitted she has no vacancies suitable. Although she can’t admit it, she is unlikely to ever have. It is really terrible that I have had a couple of offers from people who would like to use my skills while I’m waiting around, but because they are companies, they don’t fit the profile and I miss out again.

Suppose they should rename the scheme “Static Car park to Work!” We vulnerable “cars” are taken from sight and “sheltered” but we are never going to get anywhere unless proper resources are given to the scheme!!!

The Blue Genes Time Bomb

I’ve been in very reflective mode recently, with the anniversary of my mother’s death at age 41 releasing a number of memories, both quirky and sad…

I was distraught at 16, holding her on her last morning during a severe asthma attack, until I was moved out of the bedroom by the GP attempting resuscitation. My mother had contracted tuberculosis, a rarity in 1980, and because of asthma from her childhood, didn’t really have a hope of recovery. In her family, chronic asthma skipped a generation, passing from her grandmother to my mother. tick-tock, tick-tock… It is also present in a couple of my nieces and nephews, but with the hope of improved medication, they have a good hope of avoiding fatal asthma attacks.

I am now 42, a year older than my mother was, and yet on the morning of her death, a relative said that she thought that it would have been me to die before my mother. I suppose she had a bit of a point. I was born at 27 weeks, weighing less than 2 kg, given only 5 minutes to live and the almost inevitable cerebral palsy afterwards, due to the infancy of neonatal care in 1966. Follow that with meningitis as a toddler, Type  1 diabetes at 10, with all its hypoglycaemic comas and an accidental medical personnel-induced hyperglycaemic coma which sent me into intensive care 60% dehydrated, and doing a very good impression of an Egyptian mummy! tick-tock, tick-tock!

There is no doubt that the asthma gene eventually played a major role in the death of my mother. My development of type 1 diabetes, where my own immune system caused the disease. It destroyed the smallest, most delicate and, as research into the side effects of diabetes is now showing, one of the most important organs, the Islets of Langerhans within the pancreas, which produce insulin. tick-tock, tick-tock…

This consequence of this genetic destruction, with the visual, kidney, circulation, hearing, dementia, depression and other problems that we are told are in store for us if we don’t try to slow it down, is a genetic time bomb of nuclear proportions. tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock…. BANG

Roll on stem cell technology, our best help for genetic disarmament!!!

Mirror, Mirror in Others’ Faces…

I know there has been a great fuss recently about giving disabled children dolls with a disability so that they have a toy to identify with. But to be fair, the dolls must mirror a true image of the disability, otherwise these dolls will only reinforce the negative image held by some in society.

Parents with children with Down’s Syndrome have certainly reacted negatively to the concept, as it looks as if the dolls for their children’s condition are very stereotypical, and therefore quite negative – showing the worst aspects of the condition. Surely that is what the dolls should be counteracting? Having a doll should be a normal thing, but it can’t be if the disability is only a stereotype…

I think that it is fine for those disabled children that wish to have dolls with a disability, but I don’t think they should be a mandatory ‘gift’ from progressive professionals. Also, I hope that access isn’t restricted to the disabled alone, as I think it would be a useful tool for other young children who have limited knowledge of illness and disabilities.

I’m sure the debate will continue, and I will be very interested in how it progresses…

The Backbone’s Connected to Just about Everything Else!

mmmm… twisted around one day last week and heard and felt a click. Then came the pain… I’m not surprised that back pain is a major source of incapacity, but what is worse, I’ve found that my back is connected to so many other bits of me – arms, shoulders, neck and feet – that it’s making it’s presence felt more than I would like it to. Back pain hurts a lot. Still, at least I’m able to feel pain in my spine, so not all is bad.

You may have gathered that I’m not put together like most humans… It just gives my friends even more evidence that I’m an alien!!! I have a severe curvature of the spine, giving me a rather interesting 18th century drunken pirate’s gait, even though I’m sober (honest guv – well most of the time anyway!). This means that most osteopathic or chiropractic routes seem to be out of my reach as they will do more damage than good and definitely not the one that allows someone to walk up and down your spine – is that called Shiatsu?

One thing though, as I can bend down even less than usual, I seem to be becoming very unlucky. I dropped a number of knives on the floor and shouldn’t pick them up because its bad luck, but if I don’t I’m going to cut myself, or the cat is going to cut her paws… etc. etc. Maybe the backbone’s connected to just anxiety after all