Title:

Disability Issues

Publish Date:

January 2011

ISBN:

978 1 86168 580 3

Covering Ages:

11 to 14 years

Issue Description

Many people throughout the country are living with some kind of disability. This book looks at what constitutes a disability under law, at the different challenges faced by those with physical and learning disabilities and at the discrimination and inequality which may be faced by people living with disabilities.

The information comes from a variety of sources, including government reports and statistics, newspapers 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 are two pages of activities relating to the articles and issues raised in that chapter.

Price:

£5.95

Quantity:

Key Facts

• The Department of Social Security research report Disability in Great Britain (published in 1999) says there are nearly 8.6 million disabled people in Great Britain. Some disability groups argue that this figure is too low, as many people are not included in the statistics because of the problem of defining disability. (page 1)
  
  
• There are 1.5 million people with a learning disability in the UK. Like all of us, they are individuals who want different things in life and need different levels of support. (page 6)
  
  
• Fewer than one in five people with a learning disability works (compared with one in two disabled people generally), but we know that at least 65% of people with a learning disability want to work. Of those people with a learning disability that do work, most only work part-time and are low paid. (page 8)
  
  
• The Equality Act 2010 makes it unlawful for an employer to discriminate against or harass a disabled person. Also, an employer must make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. (page 14)
  
  
• Two in five (40%) disabled people have experienced difficulties accessing goods and services in the last twelve months, with around a quarter of all disabled people (23%) directly identifying their experiences as discriminatory. (page 17)
  
  
• 56% of disabled people surveyed by the charity Leonard Cheshire Disability had an income of less than £112 per week. (page 20)

return to top of page

Table of Contents

Chapter One: About Disability

Disability awareness, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), Learning disabilities, The experiences of siblings growing up with a disabled brother or sister, Activities.

Chapter Two: Disability Discrimination

Disabled people’s rights in everyday life, Disability and the Equality Act 2010, Disabled people’s access to goods and services, Current acceptable language for disability, Unequal treatment, Links between disability and poverty more pronounced, Barriers disabled children and young people face, Patients with learning disabilities ‘receive poorer care’, Activities.

Key Facts

Glossary

return to top of page