Imagine how ashamed of my body I would have been as a girl, being told that it was offensive enough to merit removal
Mental health cuts ‘put lives at risk’
Cuts to adult mental health services in England have started damaging the quality of care given to patients, a report suggests.
The review by the King’s Fund think tank found there was now “widespread evidence of poor quality care”.
Researchers linked this to the use of unproven, cheaper services in a bid to balance the books.
Thank you, disability campaigners, for the difference you’ve made to my life
Without people like Jane Campbell, who fought for the Disability Discrimination Act 20 years ago, I can’t imagine where I would have been today
I was 11 months old when the Disability Discrimination Act became law, 20 years ago this week. As I approach my 21st birthday, it’s sobering to think that when I was born, there wasn’t a single piece of legislation protecting the rights of disabled people in the UK and that as I lay on the floor with my soft toys, people just like me – but infinitely more courageous – were out on the streets fighting to be recognised as equal. From where I sit now, it is hard to believe.
It is even more sobering to consider what my life may have been like without the act. Of course it’s impossible to know, yet I am certain that I would not have fared as well as I have.