 Issues Today Volume 4: Disability
Editor: Lisa Firth
Publisher: Independence Educational Publishers
Price: £5.95
Cover: Paperback
Pages: 32
ISBN: 978 1 86168 401 1
Published: July 2007
10.8 million people in the UK are disabled in some way, and many will experience discrimination and inequality in their lifetime. They may have trouble accessing education, transport and employment, among other things, and disabled people are more likely to live in poverty. This book looks at problems faced by disabled people, and at their rights.
The information comes from a variety of sources, including government reports and statistics, newspaper and magazine articles, surveys and polls, academic research and literature from charities and lobby groups; articles have been tailored to an 11 to 14 age group. Additionally, at the end of each chapter is a page of activities relating to the articles and issues raised in that chapter.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Disability Issues
Disability Issues, Disability in the UK, Adjusting to disability, ‘Hidden Lives’, Learning disabilities, Transport options for disabled people, Not seen, not heard, Learning together for the better, Disability benefits, Ross’s story, Activities.
Chapter Two: Equality and Rights
Equality rights, The disability symbol, Choosing schools, The Disability Discrimination Acts, The care gap, Resources for disabled children, Disability – the global picture, Disabled people and poverty in the UK, Disability and employment statistics, Activities.
Key Facts
Glossary
Acknowledgements
• According to the 2001 census results there are 10.8 million people (of all ages) in the UK who have a long-term health problem or disability, which limits their daily activities or the work they could do. They make up 18.5% of the population. (page 3) The official figure for young carers in the UK is 175,000 but Barnardo’s fear that this is a marked underestimate. (page 5) Around three-quarters of teachers thought young carers hide their situation from teachers (72%) and other school children (75%). (page 5)
• 1.5 million people in the UK have a learning disability. Nine out of 10 people with a learning disability get bullied. (page 7) A survey of parents of disabled children revealed 60% said they had no choice of school for their child and out of these, 44% were unhappy with that option. (page 18)
• Special Educational Needs
• Britain’s social care system is creating a ‘care gap’ that is leaving millions of people with no control over their lives, the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) has said. The situation is set to worsen, the DRC cautions, as the gap between those needing support and those actually receiving it widens. (page 20) Research shows that 70% of parents of disabled children struggle to give information to their children about their impairments and what is happening to them. (page 24) The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that disabled people make up 10% of the population. Disabled people account for 15-20% of the world’s poorest. (page 22)
• 77 per cent of those polled said they would not find it offensive to see a disabled person hosting a mainstream TV programme and only 9 per cent said they wouldn’t want to see people with facial disfigurements and ‘severe’ disabilities in programmes such as soaps or quiz shows. (page 24)
• There has been an increase in the number of working-age people reporting a disability; from 6.2 million in Spring 1998 to 7 million in Spring 2005. (page 24) |
