Author Topic: Disability Discrimination Act. (Read 22556 times)

busy_lizzie · « **Reply #40 on:** July 20, 2005, 13:49:24 »

Was really good to read your mail Trenchboy and organicartist and to hear how beneficial allotments have been for you both. I had Chronic Fatigue about four years ago and at one stage couldn't walk very well or very far. When I took on an allotment three years ago people thought I was mad. Here I am three years later, hale and hearty again and I am sure it is thanks to my allotment. I used to sit on a yoga stool to weed and dig with a trowel. I am sure being in the sunshine and breathing in the fresh air gave me energy and gradually built up my strength and enthusiasm for life again. Growing things is a very life enhancing thing whatever your disability. :) busy_lizzie

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #41 on:** July 20, 2005, 23:09:54 »

I had chronic fatigue and a back injury; the last traces of both vanished no long after getting my plot.

daveandtara · « **Reply #42 on:** July 21, 2005, 21:27:27 »

hi, i've been very interested in this thread. now i'm gonna add my two penneth.
i am not disabled. however, to look at things a slightly different way, someone in a wheelchair is not excluded from gardening because his legs don't work. gardens can be at any height, on raised beds or in baskets. what a shame then if he is excluded from gardening because someone else chose the width of the path without considering him! that's what the legislation is for. it's not to make disabled people a priority. it's only to give them the SAME rights of access that able bodied people have.
sounds fair to me.
Tara xx

the_snail · « **Reply #43 on:** August 10, 2005, 06:43:40 »

I dont know if this has been mentioned but why not find a derelict piece of land and make it into a large or a small closed of aera comunity garged. I dont have to be called and allotment and you could I suppose get funding for that! Comunity garden for the desabled? Just a thought. As stated on this forum council land is council land and it is up to the council how they run it! Trust me I know!

The_Snail

jaggythistle · « **Reply #44 on:** August 11, 2005, 02:23:20 »

1 Thing I hate is having a label attached (community garden for the disabled)
I have a hidden disability I am deaf don't normally tell everyone point I would
like to make is this I would like to see 1 helluva lot more done for us all with
any type of disability just the same as all "normal" whatever that is take a lot
of things for granted..... As for the legislation regarding the enforcement of the
DDA and the criteria involved there are different areas of get out clauses in
different parts of the country so until they all start singing of the same hymn
sheet I think you will find that (a)there will be no prosecutions done on a rapid
manner (b)I personnaly think its not so much councils baulking at having to put
monies in to this ........as its the fear of being taken to court and being persued
by a court case for compensation this is the kind of world we live in these days

Lance you hit the nail right on the head when you said "its a shame the
legislation had to come in" but I think that it was truely needed and it should
have been brought in years ago...................... ok I better stop ranting !!

daveandtara · « **Reply #45 on:** August 16, 2005, 13:17:34 »

something else to consider,
it is estimated (by certain, well respected, nationwide disabled rights groups) that the expenditure of large companies making legal challenges and generally trying to impede disabled rights legislation has amounted to more than three times the cost of implimenting the new rules.
seems they REALLY don't want disabled people working for them and will pay treble to try and keep them out.
now if that's not active discrimination i don't know what is, and clearly changes in law are the only way to ensure these companies act fairly.

Trenchboy · « **Reply #46 on:** August 17, 2005, 01:10:03 »

Dave n' Tara

Spot on.

Some of us disabled people aren't obvious to the bigots, as we don't have wheelchairs/walk strangely/whatever. But once they realise something's not quite right the eyes glaze over and absolute bollo... comes out of their mouths.

It's as ifanyone unable to run a 4 minute mile(oops I'm that old I remember that distance)is subhuman - or that someone with learning difficulties doesn't understand the spoken or written word.

When you actually get to see these captains of industry they have beer bellies and exhibit all the signs of impending cardiac arrest or stroke. Does make me laugh.

Well I won't share my harvests with any of them!!!

ken (69) · « **Reply #47 on:** August 17, 2005, 15:25:23 »

Why oh why..do disabled people want to further disable themselves by taking up such hard work as allotmenteering...it's the support people , wifes and helpers, who have to pick up the pieces. There are plenty of absorbing hobbies about, like stamp collecting and guitar playing and storytelling and even mending cars.

busy_lizzie · « **Reply #48 on:** August 17, 2005, 16:30:46 »

Don't understand Ken. Wasn't sure whether this was written tongue in cheek. If people love gardening and can find a way to do it, why not? Doing something you love is the best thing possible for someones health. If it reaches the stage when it is too much then you don't do it.

The same thing applies to able bodied people, they take on an allotment thinking they can cope, but when they find they can't they give it up, its as simple as that. It is freedom of choice to try.

I have mentioned before on the board that we have a blind person on our Site. His is not the most conventional of plots, he has stakes all over, presumably so he can distinguish one bed from the other, but he seems to manage and probably gets a great deal of satisfaction out of it. busy_lizzie

ken (69) · « **Reply #49 on:** August 17, 2005, 17:45:47 »

It's like I've said before, BL., it's the helpers (I am one) who has to pick up the pieces..finish off jobs...explain to the handicapped they they have taken too much on..cope with the tantrums.Mind you I am talking of special needs adults in a group now, and you might be thinking of individuals who perhaps need a challenge.There are plenty of challenges in life without all the graft of gardening.

katynewbie · « **Reply #50 on:** August 17, 2005, 18:43:03 »

Right..bitten my tongue as long as I can whilst reading this thread. First...I do not have a disability. Second..I represent no special interest group. Sooo....

People with disabilities have fought for the right not to be called "handicapped". If a handicap is involved, it is the thoughtlessness of the rest of the world which makes it so.

If people with disabilities wish to garden, abseil, climb Everest or anything else I do not think it is up to me or my fellow able bodied beings to decide whether they can or not.

I think we can all agree that gardening is one of the most creative and stimulating things you can do, and I for one would be delighted if someone with a disability decided to grow stuff at my site.

Right....thats it, nuff said.

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #51 on:** August 17, 2005, 22:51:29 »

I used to work with special needs adults myself, and know what you mean. But not all disabled people have the same disability, and I had clients who would have been well able to handle an allotment if they'd chosen to do so.

ken (69) · « **Reply #52 on:** August 18, 2005, 08:24:40 »

Hi everyone... A little bit of pottering in the garden and gentle exercise on the bike, is all it needs. I used to run marathons and the disabled people participating, should never have been allowed. Just makes their condition worse.Same with doing allotments. But like you say there are a million types of disability.But on a slightly different tack...John Prescott has been charged with finding space for another half a million houses, no way is he going to overlook vacant plots. A letter has probably already gone out to the councils, 'find space for houses'.No way are they going to allow underused allotments (mine has already been sold orf), or give plots to people who might be difficult to shift.

daveandtara · « **Reply #53 on:** August 18, 2005, 11:08:37 »

my eldest daughter has Down's syndrome. this condition is nowhere near as disabling to her as the attitude of people who feel qualified to decide what she should or should not be able to do.
luckily, she has a gobby mother to even the balance somewhat ;D
we are each entitled to our opinions. fortunately, legislation is making it increasingly easy for people with disabilities to ignore negative ones.
my daughter can and will continue to enjoy a full and active life. she will pursue ANY hobby she likes and woe betide any who stand in her way. Down's syndrome doesn't stop her doing anything. bigotry tries to stop her every day.

daveandtara · « **Reply #54 on:** August 18, 2005, 11:18:09 »

and one more thing ;D
Ken, you mentioned steps up everest earlier on this thread. please try this, google the name Norman Croucher. he's a mountineer and has climbed a great many mountains around the world including several peaks in the himalayas. i'm not certain if he's conquered everest yet but i know it's on his 'to do' list.
by the way, did i mention that he's a double amputee?
and no, no-one provided steps ;D
Tara xx

Robert_Brenchley · « **Reply #55 on:** August 18, 2005, 11:28:29 »

You've only got to look at my area to see the reason why they want to build so many houses. It was redeveloped in the 1950's and 60's, with, inevitably, jerrybuilt Council flats. Some of the blocks were a new design which was so awful it was never used again; they're still standing, and the roofs are still leaking. But it housed a very large number of people, in quite a small area. Council housing has been run down, by Government policy, since the Thatcher era. So the decent properties have been sold off, and many of the flats demolished and replaced with houses, which obviously house far fewer people in the same area. Populations of areas like this have gone down and down as a result. Those people have to go somewhere. But new housing buld has nothing like kept pace with the rate of demolition. So we get a shortage of affordable housing, and sky-high prices. It's the legacy of 60 years of ill-concieved housing policies; if they'd left the old 19th Century houses in place and concentrated on maintaining and improving them we'd all be far better off.

Norman Croucher isn't the only disabled climber; there's also the American guy (can't remember his name) who had to slice his own arm off when it got trapped by a falling boulder, and still climbs seriously. There have been many who've carried straight on after losing digits to frostbite.

ken (69) · « **Reply #56 on:** August 18, 2005, 12:53:40 »

David and Tara...I have all the sympathy in the world on a personal level, and know all about challenges, but it should be horses for courses.When I'm out cycling or long distance walking, and see someone coming towards me who ought to be in hospital, then I think of all the personal support he needs,and the expense, and the treatment afterwards.Of course I can't stop them doing it, wouldn't want to but feel that alternatives should be pointed out. I have the same thoughts about fit people who abuse themselves with fags and booze, then expect the state to mend 'em....And you won't stop developers and Prescott pushing for councils to sell off what they see as surplus land. It's money, money, money.

daveandtara · « **Reply #57 on:** August 18, 2005, 14:29:09 »

i certainly don't want or deserve sympathy! vikkie is the best thing that ever happened to me, she has brought more joy and sunshine into the lives of all around her than i could possibly express here!
as her primary 'carer' (or mother as it would be for anyone without a disability) i can honestly say that i am not a martyr to her cause, just someone who enjoys her company and basks in her warmth.
there is no reason for her, or anyone else who is not ill to be in hospital.
i do sympathise with you however, if you feel forced to give 'care' that clearly leaves you feeling resentful! my advice would be not to offer care if it makes you feel this way, it must be awful for the recipient to feel such a burden!
Tara xx

Trenchboy · « **Reply #58 on:** August 19, 2005, 00:15:20 »

Tara

Nooo - Ken has absolutely no disabilities, other than his bigotry, arrogance, and bloated self-importance.

How he has managed to get to his esteemed number of years without getting to know and valuing someone who doesn't measure up to those nice prewar aryans over The Channel a ways is simply amazing.

Now, do I insert my inhalers or my crutches? Hmmm - crutches - and sideways?

But am I yet convinced that Ken(69) isn't a clever satirist...? We are all entitled to our views on absolutely any subject, but having visited Belsen-Bergen Camp the other week, I do realise that some people are sometimes more "able" to express those views than others.

Cannot cope with much more from our Ken, so rather than enter any further into a slanging match I will sign off from this thread and get on with my stupid idea of growing vegetables to help with maintaining my substandard existence. Why oh why did my area health authority waste all that money on my transplant when they could have spent it on more worthy people?

jennym · « **Reply #59 on:** August 19, 2005, 03:47:19 »

I have recently had a year at college. The college has excellent facilities for people with all types of disabilities, an aspect of it that I didn't know about until I attended.
If you could see the absolute joy on the faces of some of the very severely disabled people who attend, when they participate in day-to-day gardening activities, and achieve what to some may have seemed impossible, there would be no question in anyone's mind as to the worthiness of making facilities such as allotments and gardens available for all.
I feel that it is unquestionably the responsibility of all more able people to support and contribute towards this.

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Author Topic: Disability Discrimination Act. (Read 22556 times)