A DNA blood test for Down's syndrome could save nearly all pregnant women from invasive tests like amniocentesis, say experts. Invasive testing takes place in 3% to 5% of pregnant women in the UK - some 30,000 women - and increases the risk of miscarriage.
Annette Brooke (Mid Dorset and North Poole) (LD): "One in five lip-reading classes in England and Wales are threatened with closure next year. Will the Minister reclassify lip-reading as an essential skill rather than a leisure activity, making sure that the classes are accessible to the hearing-impaired and continue to protect their ability to communicate?"
Lib Dem MEP Liz Lynne says the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (yesterday Friday 3rd December) is a timely reminder to the EU Commission and member states to 'keep the promise' to disabled people and end discrimination against them once and for all.
As a week of BBC features looking at the issues facing people with disabilities - Access All Areas - continues, what challenges does the job market give disabled job-seekers? Job hunting at the best of times can be a demoralising process. But if you are disabled and the country is in the midst of an economic downturn, then it can prove utterly pointless.
A disabled woman in a Dorset care home says the government's scrapping of mobility payments will have a "devastating impact" on her life. From October 2012, the £49.50 a week "mobility component" of the Disability Living Allowance, for some care home residents and children, will be axed.
More than £500m could be saved if mental health services in England were run more efficiently, a report says. Better community support, cutting unnecessary hospital stays and reducing sickness absence can all help cut costs, say policy experts.
