Employers feel the politically correct language of disability can be a barrier to employing more disabled people, a survey suggests. Remploy, an employment services provider for disabled people, said most of the 400 employers polled believed in working towards a diverse workforce. But some complained a lack of understanding of the terms to use when describing disabilities put them off.
Plans to close factories which employ disabled workers are expected to be announced later. The Remploy company says it wants to cut costs and place more disabled people into mainstream employment rather than in sheltered workshops.
A £340m package to help families looking after disabled children has thrown the spotlight on the difficulties faced by carers. Parents at whom the funding is aimed described the challenges they confront every day.
The parents of an eight-year-old girl with cerebral palsy have raised the money needed to send her to China for a revolutionary new treatment. Kishor and Priti Tahiliani, from Bournemouth in Dorset, want to take Vaishnavi to Beijing to have stem cells injected into her spinal cord. They needed to raise £18,000 for two months of the treatment, which is not available in the UK.
A former lord mayor of Bristol who has osteoarthritis has criticised the city council for not granting her a parking permit for disabled people. Councillor Brenda Hugill applied for a Blue Badge because she suffers severe knee pain and has difficulty walking. But she said she was told her condition did not entitle her to a pass.
Commenting on today's Government announcement of extra funding to help families with disabled children, Liberal Democrat Children and Family Spokesperson, Annette Brooke MP said:
