Welcome to our monthly disability news update……remember to keep coming back each month for a regular review of all things Inclusion, OT, DDA & disability related!!

We’ve mainly been working with KCC Occupational Therapy Department this month helping them to meet their PI’s and assessing client’s for equipment and adaptations but we’ve also been fortunate enough to work with the following other clients on both OT & DDA related work:

• Perse School For Girls(DDA)
• Argent Rehabilitation (OT work)
• Kynixa (OT work)

BBC 3 Television Show Opportunity:

We have been contacted by Love productions this week who are currently looking for participants for a brand new TV series commissioned by the BBC called ‘Models Uncovered’ which will examine disability and the perception of beauty within the fashion and modeling industry. Please see the information provided by them below along with their contact details and do contact them for further details if you think you know anyone that might be interested….could be a wonderful experience for the right person!!

“Are you or someone you know BEAUTIFUL, DISABLED and convinced it’s time the world took notice?

Models Uncovered is an exciting new prime time series for BBC 3 looking for disabled models who have what it takes to succeed in the world of fashion and beauty.

If you’re female, aged 18-30, and think you could turn people’s perceptions on their head and become the next Kate Moss or Naomi Campbell then get in touch…

For an application form and further information, please Email modelapplication@loveproductions.co.uk Or Call or Text 0207 067 4865 ”

General News:

Crackdown on Blue Badge misuse

Local authorities estimate that up to half of Blue Badges are used fraudulently. The most common misuse is by a relative of the disabled person, but local councils face many difficulties when attempting to spot this kind of abuse of the system, because they need to prove that the driver was not picking up or dropping off the relative.

Wandsworth Council in south London has resorted to the use of video surveillance to catch the culprits. In a recent case, Mr Lodhi was given a three-month suspended jail sentence, fined £1,000, ordered to pay £1,989 in costs and also had to carry out 100 hours of community service. On six occasions, he was filmed using his wife’s Blue Badge to park in designated accessible parking bays near his company’s offices. He later pleaded guilty to all of the fraud offences when they were heard at the Crown Court.

The Times Online website examines this issue in more detail.

Improvements to Blue Badge information service

Improvements are currently being planned for the Directgov Blue Badge parking map from February 2008. The Blue Badge parking map currently provides information about Blue Badge parking bays in 64 UK towns and cities, including the exact location, number of spaces and any restrictions and exceptions. It also covers red route parking bays in London and lists accessible petrol stations and their service facilities.

From Feb 08, there will be a substantial increase in the number of areas covered, and there will be additional information available on accessible toilets, accessible train stations and Shopmobility sites.

Find out more about this scheme by visiting Directgov’s website.

Taxi firm fined in DDA case

A taxi company based in Walsall in the West Midlands has been ordered to pay £665 in fines, costs and compensation after it refused to pick up a blind couple with their guide dogs. When Paul and Susan Nicholls telephoned ABS Aldridge taxi company after attending their daughter’s wedding in June 2007, a member of staff at the taxi firm refused to pick them up. When they telephoned again, they were told they would be charged double the regular fare to use a minibus. As a result, the owner of the taxi firm, Suhil Dad, was fined for contravening section 31A of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA).

Read about this case on AOL’s website.

Disability Discrimination Act report

The ODI has published a new report entitled Analyses of data from the ONS Omnibus Survey. It explores trends in awareness and effectiveness of the DDA since its inception. There are two sections to the research: a full report, containing a detailed breakdown of the statistics, and a summary report summing up the overall findings.

The results are summarised under the following topics:

• awareness of the DDA
• access to goods and services
• transport
• disabled people covered by the DDA who have no access difficulties
• rental, sale and adjustment of premises
• people aged over 75
• disabled people who are not in paid employment

Overall, the report shows that people with disabilities tend to be less aware of the DDA than people without disabilities. This is something that needs to be tackled, as disabled people need to know what their rights are before they can recognise that they are being discriminated against. The research also shows that there has been a reduction in the number of disabled people who face difficulties accessing goods and services, although a third of them still encounter barriers.

One of the most notable threads throughout the research was the ‘consistent gap in the experiences of those in paid work, and those not in paid work, throughout the analysis.’ The statistics have also been broken down by gender, age and type of disability to help identify the extent to which these variables can affect people’s experiences.

Minister for Disabled People, Anne McGuire, said: ‘It is reassuring that awareness of the DDA increased considerably between 1996 and 2006, as it plays an important part in protecting disabled people from discrimination in all areas of their lives. I’m particularly pleased to see the Act making a real difference to the everyday lives of disabled people – whether it’s getting on a bus or going to the corner shop.’

Download the report from the ODI website.

Disability guidance for line managers

The Employers’ Forum on Disability (EFD) has launched a new guide advising line managers on how to approach attendance management. Entitled Attendance management and disability: Line manager guide, this publication is the latest addition to EFD’s series of guides for line managers.

The guide explores the following topics:

• recognising the signs that an employee might have a disability
• identifying when absence might be disability-related
• making changes to enable staff with disabilities to be as productive as possible
• avoiding discrimination against disabled employees

For further details about the guide email publications@employers-forum.co.uk.

Inclusion are based around London, Kent, Surrey, Sussex and cover the whole of the south of the UK. We also cover up to the midlands and over towards the south west of the country – please contact us for further details or for free support and advice around any DDA or Occupational Therapy issues.