Who lives in a care home like this?

I've been spending some time wondering why I haven't written very much on the disability rights front and more importantly about the Government's proposed changes and cuts to disability benefits. To be honest I think it's because I've felt utterly devastated by the proposals. But maybe that is what some in the government want, and many of their policies seem to be framed in a way which endorses the view of disabled people as passive recipients of care, benefits and help from the "Big Society." I don't want to fall into that trap. It's not quite that simple; that isn't the full picture because some in the Government are keen on personalisation and disabled people being at the centre of decision making - how can they support both things?

I'm not an expert on social care policy and I'm not much of a campaigner either. There are so many others who do this kind of thing better than me. If you are interested in finding out more about social care policy, disability and politics then I recommend reading Rich Watts insightful, erudite and entertaining blog Arbitrary Constant

If you are interested in campaigning, disability and politics then you can't go wrong by checking out the Broken of Britain blog

But after delivering 2 days of training on personalisation in Essex I feel moved to write about just one aspect of the cuts and changes to disability benefits.

Removing the mobility component of Disability Living Allowance from those who are in residential care.

Well you can see how this idea came about can't you. Some bright spark said "So if someone's in a care home they aren't going to be travelling about much are they? They probably don't event know what day of the week it is poor things. It's a waste of money to pay for "mobility" if everything is brought to them in the care home."

It's the kind of "thought" anyone might have if they:

A, don't think about it for very long - and hey who wants to think about old and disabled people living in care homes that smell of pee and boiled cabbage

B, haven't ever had to live, work or spend any time in a residential care home

C, have a very narrow view of who lives in a care home

D, has no concept of human rights (see A and the not wanting to think about unpleasant things)

So if you want to be narrow minded, bigoted and only interested in making a quick buck then yes stopping the mobility component for disabled people in residential care might make some kind of sense.

Who lives in a home like this?

So who lives in residential care homes? Here is a sample of some of the kind of people who live in residential care:

• Armed forces personnel injured in Afganistan and Iraq - they live there whilst being rehabilitated but also because they can't find suitable accessible accommodation to move into or it takes 18 months to 2 years to sort out the funding and work to make their existing homes accessible
• Someone who has a spinal injury or brain injury from any kind of accident they may be in residential care for all the reasons given above
• People with complex impairments and health conditions such as MS, motor neuron disease - they may be living in residential care for the reasons above and because they need specialist medical services which aren't delivered in the community
• People with learning disabilities who may want to live independently but the support package needed to enable this is seen as "too difficult"
• Older people with complex impairments and conditions like Altzeimers

What is the mobility component of DLA used for?

On the training course I was just delivering, some real examples of how the mobility component of DLA is used by disabled people living in residential care were given. For example it pays for a taxi to take someone with their support worker to the shops, or to the cinema, or theatre, or to visit family rather than them always having to come to the care home.

So you ask why isn't the care home or social services providing this kind of service? It's just not the best way for social services or the residential homes to use their resources. They may employ a driver to organise trips away but they have to involve more than one person to make them efficient. So its expensive and it doesn't provide choice or control for the disabled person.

Having the mobility component of DLA allows the disabled person to have control over where they go, when and how.

If you were a young soldier back from Iraq with a spinal injury are you going to want to wait for the social services mini bus to take you to the pub once a week or would you rather go to the pub with your mates when they go?

What message does this send out?

What worries me most is that just the proposal to cut mobility allowance from disabled people in residential care sets a frightening example. It sends out a message that disabled people in residential homes are not part of the community like you or I. They are essentially defined by the home they are trapped in. They don't need to be part of the community, they are shut away and forgotten. They don't have the right to be mobile.

If you are able to I ask you to please use the tools on the Broken of Britain blog to contact your MP and respond to the consultation which closes on 14th February. It's not too late.

I chose the photo below which I took from my study window just before I started writing this, because I think it's both bleak and hopeful.

Guitars and stargazing

Yesterday I bought myself a guitar. It's about 10 years since I have properly played a guitar, but I have been wanting to take it up again for some time now. I was delivering training in Croydon yesterday for Action for Children volunteers. On my way to the training venue I passed by a large music shop with a huge selection of guitars. I popped in just to see if there was anything I liked. The shop assistant (who had hair down to his waist, though I suspect it was permed, the spiral curls were just too perfect!) was very helpful showing me lots of different guitars. The one above which I bought seemed the easiest to play, the right size for me and had the best sound. The guitar is an electro acoustic Tanglewood, rosewood reserve. Its quieter than my previous guitar but a bit livelier I think. I've just got to go through the first few weeks of pain while I build up calluses on my finger tips and strength in my fingers.

As well as taking up guitar again I have been doing a bit of star gazing thanks to Jason buying some really cool binoculars which came with a smaller free pair so we have a pair each. We've had a couple of clear nights recently and I've been able to find stars I've not been able to see for years. Orion of course is incredibly bright at this time of year but with the binoculars I could see one of the nebula within the constellation of Orion.

A couple of weeks ago there was a partial eclipse at dawn which I was able to see. The photo before is of the sky just before the eclipsed sun rose. It was really quite beautiful.

Rookie

I am dedicating the first post of 2011 to my very old but very happy cat, Rookie.

The picture above is of her in her younger days though when I got Rookie from the Cats' Protection League in 2004 she was described as an old cat because she was 11. The woman from the Cats' Protection League said that not many people want to take on older cats, but it didn't bother me. Rookie needed a home because her owners were moving into rented accommodation and couldn't keep a cat on any more. Her original owners called her Tootsie but I just couldn't bring myself to call her that! I just kept thinking of Dustin Hoffman in drag. so I had to think up a name that sounded like Tootsie but meant something to me. In the end I chose Rookie because it was the name of a bar/coffee shop in Amsterdam that I liked!

Rookie is a very demonstrative, vocal and quite emotional cat. She's part Siamese like the cat I had previously Mr Shoo. (The tale of Mr Shoo is a sad one so I'll save that for another day, but no finer cat than Mr Shoo ever lived and he came to a very tragic end.) Rookie likes to talk and tell you what is on her mind, she has a rather hoarse guttural miaow which means feed me, a sharper miaow that means I'm here, a pitiful miaow or wale which means make a fuss of me, and even a delicate mew which means thank you for giving me a catnip toy. Rookie also has a host of little grumbling and murmuring noises which mean all sorts of strange and unfathomable feline things.

Rookie likes being made a fuss of, tuna, cat nip, the sun, sleep, Whiskers supermeat, climbing in boxes and staring through windows. Rookie hates birds, dogs and other cats, with the exception of Oliver the cat below who she shared a house with for 3 years when she lived at my parents place. She didn't like Oliver at first but after she had bullied him into submission she tolerated him just fine. Now that Rookie has left to live with me again, Oliver is delighted. In the picture below he is doing a fine impression of hypno toad.
Rookie is quite old now at 17 and she has got very skinny, but if anything she has got more characterful as she has aged. She still treats the world with disdain, generally looking appalled by everything from the state of her food, to the weather outside. She is getting a bit senile I think and occasionally adds to her state of disgruntledness a measure of bewilderment. But every night with out fail she clambers up on to the settee to curl up between me and Jason to purr and snore. She's a very content cat who gets a lot of fuss and attention to a level that my Mum thinks is excessive but I do come from a family where my Great Aunt had individual hot water bottles for her cats. (And she lives in Australia!)