Published in The Independent (February 11th, 2013) On the day I was born in 1962, the number of British centenarians was in three figures. Since then numbers have […]
Disability / Health / Policy
What the NHS needs even more than money – a dose of kindness
Published in The Daily Mail (December 5th, 2012) Even today, 19 years on, I can still remember every second of the day my world crashed in. It was […]
Disability
Put people with learning difficulties at the core of society
Published in The Observer (December 2nd, 2012) Another day, another outbreak of hand-wringing over how to protect vulnerable people from abuse in so-called care homes. Yesterday, it was […]
Disability / Social care
Killing kindness with red tape
Published in The Independent (October 9th, 2012) Kenny’s life in not easy. He is blind, unable to speak, needs help with eating and drinking and suffers seizures that […]
Disability / Health / Policy
Prejudice in the NHS is killing people with disabilities
Published in The Guardian (September 15th, 2012) Imagine it was your son or daughter, your brother or sister, your mother or father. They arrive home from hospital and […]
Disability
The best Paralympic legacy: an end to this disabled apartheid
Published in the London Evening Standard (August 28th, 2012) After the wondrous joy of the Olympics, London is preparing for the Paralympics. Another opening ceremony, another 11 days […]
Disability
It’s not just the bad apples – it’s our rotten society’s attitudes
Published in The Independent (August 9th, 2012) The details are disturbing, a horrific blast from the darkest days of the past. Lonely people with learning difficulties punched and […]
Disability
Able and willing
Published in the New Statesman (April 19, 2012) Mark Cooper is struggling to find work. He had a good offer from Lehman Brothers but on the day he […]
Disability
Disabled are at the mercy of ministers and media
Published in the London Evening Standard (February 7th, 2012) What would you think if you heard the Home Office was colluding with newspapers to fuel hatred against gay […]
Disability
The demonisation of the disabled is a chilling sign of the times
Published in The Observer (December 4th, 2011) Peter Greener endured a barrage of hate from his neighbour. Sometimes, it was eggs thrown at his house, stones thrown at his […]
Disability
What my disabled girl has taught me about life
Published in The Daily Mail (October 16th, 2011) My wife came home the other day from a shopping trip to buy presents for my daughter’s birthday. It was […]
Disability / Policy
For our disabled daughter, a way out of the labyrinth
Published in The Guardian (March 11th, 2011) Nothing prepares you for the birth of a child with profound and multiple disabilities. There is the shock, the depression, the […]