You may not be disabled yourself but you probably know someone who's disabled, even if you don't realise it. Many disabilities are obvious but equally many are not. Some disabilities are physical, some mental. Some don't require frequent treatment, some do. Disability is as varied and diverse as the stars in the sky but they all have one thing in common - the impact on the people living with them.
Some of the impacts are pretty clear. Having a disability probably means you have to adapt your life in some way. It may mean you need regular medication, it may mean you need adaptations to your physical environment or you may need help from someone to do everyday tasks. Some of the impacts are not so clear. Many people with disabilities become depressed as they try to come to terms with being perceived as different from everyone else and actually being different from how they once were. Many people have difficulty finding work or have to give up their jobs.
We hear stories on the news of people involved in terrible accidents or atrocities that have left them disabled in some way and maybe we think "How would I cope if that were me?" and we shudder and feel relieved that it's not us needing a wheelchair or a guide dog and so on. One thing we don't often think about however is the cost of being disabled, and by cost I DO mean financial cost. It's bad enough to live every day with a disability, for your life to be turned upside down, for everything most people take for granted to be a challenge but to suddenly realise that it actually costs you money to be disabled it quite an eye opener.
There are a lot of wrong assumptions are what you get for free if you're disabled. For example, it is assumed that all disabled people get free prescriptions. In fact, you only get free prescriptions if you have one of a few specific conditions such as diabetes or thyroid disease. The vast majority of long term conditions requiring medication DO NOT qualify for free prescriptions. I have to take 5 different types of drugs every day. Based on current charges that costs £41 a month. Every month. For the rest of my life. That's nothing compared to the amount of medications and treatments some people have to pay for.
It is also assumed that any adaptations you require are paid for by the Government. Again this is not true. Some things are provided but cut backs mean that local councils, who are primarily responsible for making adjustments etc, just don't have the funds to provide people with all that they need. So the cost of anything above and beyond the basics falls to the disabled person.
The thing that really bites financially though are the things that most people wouldn't even think about. Those with difficulty walking have to pay for taxis where most would walk or use public transport and those that rely on a car, have to pay for extra petrol for trips that most people would do on foot. People who have difficulty using their hands have to pay extra to buy ready prepared food because they can't use a peeler or a grater or lift pans. People who have continence issues have to pay for extra washing products. If you are unable to work, you will probably pay extra in fuel costs because you're at home and use more electricity or gas to keep warm and to see. All these little extras add up over the course of the months and years and yet remain a hidden cost.
Now I know what you're thinking "ah but disabled people get benefits for all that stuff". Firstly it's a MAJOR assumption to think that all disabled people get benefit. Some don't need it. Some need it but don't get it because successive Governments have made it increasingly hard to qualify. Many get it but find it doesn't cover the costs involved because contrary to popular belief it isn't a fortune. The Government would have us believe that disabled people are getting money that they don't need which is why they're trying to cut disability benefits by £30 a week. Just think for a second what £30 a week means to you. A takeaway for the family? A night out at the pictures? Some new jeans? But what if £30 a week was the difference between being warm and cold? What if it were the difference between eating and starving? Or the difference between taking medication and not? Life and death......for the sake of £30 a week.
I do not know a single disabled person, myself included, who gets benefit that they do not need. Forget the indignity of having to prove over and over again that you really are disabled to even qualify for benefit. Forget the incomprehensible delays in actually receiving any help. Disabled people need their benefit just to have a semblence of a normal life. To do the things that everyone else takes for granted. And like so many things in modern life, it costs. No one wants to be disabled. No one asks for it and we would give up our benefits a thousand times over to not be disabled. But we can't. So stop and think for a moment when you read in the paper how much it costs the country to care for disabled people and remember the hidden costs for the people who are actually affected. Us.
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