I remember the DLA ads on TV very clearly, Ian Dury in his fabulously down to earth, no nonsense way, told you that if you were disabled you could get this new benefit. It didn't matter if you were in or out of work; it wasn't to do with work. This was revolutionary. This Disability Living Allowance was to meet the extra costs disabled people face in life in general. Ian Dury was cool so it must be good. Still I didn't want to apply - I would have been 17 or 18 in my final year of A-Levels when my Mum persuaded me to apply before I went to university. I reluctantly applied.
I was reluctant because although Ian Dury was cool, being disabled wasn't in my 18 year old head. I didn't even feel that disabled but the person at the DLA helpline reassured me that it was meant for people like me who are visually impaired. They pointed out that as I was leaving home for the first time I'd need the DLA for the extras I'd need to buy that in the past my parents had just provided for me.
Back then DLA was new and they even got in touch with me after a year to see if I should actually apply for more DLA now that I'd spent a year living away from home, had I encountered new difficulties or barriers in my life? Well I had so they upped my DLA. Can you imagine that now a days?
My vision is never going to get better and in fact it is slowly getting worse at the moment, so I've never been bothered by DLA for routine check ups, it would be a waste of their resources, as they know from my consultant that nothing is going to improve my sight. I can of course get in touch if things get worse. (Ofcourse the proposed reforms would change this.)
So what has DLA done for me?
Mobility - being visually impaired I can't drive so I have to rely on public transport, DLA contributes to public transport costs and in particular taxis. Where I live in Bedfordshire my nearest bus stop is half a mile a way and they only run Monday - Saturday 7AM - 5PM so taxi's are a must on dark winter nights or when I have heavy shopping. I also have to have shopping delivered. I can't manage to carry shopping the mile and a half home, not a big weekly shop anyway. So online shopping is a blessing but they charge. DLA can pay for that charge (not the shopping), or a taxi to bring the shopping home.
Care component - well DLA is never going to pay for a carer, but it does help me to pay for things which help me do day to day chores or just live normally. I have an alarm clock which lights up and has a large display. It's not dead expensive but I could buy a non accessible alarm clock much cheaper but it would be no good for me. Gadgets in the kitchen have to be accessible to me. The more accessible something is the more it will cost because it is likely to be bigger or more specialist. It even comes down to mobile phones. I could never use a blackberry or something similar so until Iphone's came out I couldn't use a smart phone.
The iPhone is just so accessible for me it has revolutionised my life. I'm not kidding. It has access features built in to it so I can see the screen, enlarge the screen, have it speak to me, I can talk to it. The most liberating thing is the googlemap with gps. I am never lost now. I was always losing my way not being able to read signs. I hated going anywhere new because I would inevitably get lost, I'd miss signs or just not be able to read them at all. Now I can enlarge the map so I can read it. I can switch to street view to see if I recognise the landmarks around me. I can follow exactly where I am on the map with the little blue flashing light. I can plan journeys in advance and feel confident. This one little device has given me so much freedom I don't feel disabled any more when it comes to finding my way around.
DLA allows me to buy these things which may be a bit more expensive than what I'd normally spend, but they make the environment more open to me, more accessible and give me so much more freedom.
I can't thank DLA enough!
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