When the loving care stops
As some disabled youngsters live their dreams at the Paralympics, others face spending their days in homes for the elderly
A happy outcome: Jamie Gill with his parents Anna and Howard
5:04PM BST 02 Sep 2012
In many respects, Jamie Gill is just like any other young adult. He has a “wicked sense of humour, and a particular fondness for blondes, wrestling and chocolate”, according to his mother, Anna. Jamie, 21, also has mitochondrial disease, a progressive genetic disorder that affects every system and organ in his body, in particular his muscles and brain. As a result, he is confined to a wheelchair and has problems communicating, although he can feed himself if someone cuts up the food. He also has diabetes, epilepsy and osteoporosis.
Paul Burstow: increasing the use of telehealth and telecare technologies in the UK
Paul Burstow MP gives an overview of the Whole System Demonstrator programme and discusses telehealth innovations in the UK and abroad.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/48601461[/vimeo]
DLA is a lot more than money
The real issue with losing DLA is the validation
Sunday, 2 September 2012
DLA paperwork. I’m going through the process again because, naturally, auto-immune arthritis has no cure, nor does fibromyalgia…but the goal-posts to what being disabled means has changed and now, unless I’m stuck in bed and cannot even blink, I’m not really disabled anymore. This is what the new descriptors are doing. I haven’t got a shade’s chance at midnight in passing this. My only blessing right now is my son is currently in the clear till 2014…and unless there’s some miracle in autism he’s going to be fine and capable of continuing to receive it; residential status pretty much secures that for him. I can breathe easy for that, at least.
