What counts as disability?

Rictina

Why do folk judge you when you get out of your car which is parked in a disabled space ?

One man came up to me & said " do you know that this is blue badge parking only". I`m sure that he was judging me, as I am only young & dont look disabled !

Rictina

Woodyrocks wrote: »

This was the first thing the new psychiatrist I had to see last month said to me - you look very smart -

I also find it odd that I am expected to look like a tramp and not bathe or wear clean clothes just because I have a disability. Yes, there are times that I cannot get out of bed and have no compulsion to open my eyes let alone get washed and get on with 'life' but I know that at least pretending to bother about the way I look goes a little way in fooling myself into thinking I am okay. "If I look like 'them', then they won't know that I am mad" - Most of the times I feel like my PD is written all over me like a weirdo alert going off over my head so I am actually happy when I can use clothes and what not to blend in.

Thankfully, my keyworker has known me for over 9yrs and can attest to the fact that this is one of my way of controlling my external reality and one that is actually encouraged by my therapist.

Hi there.

I `m totally with you on this one. It is wrong !

sfmedusa

Rictina wrote: »

Why do folk judge you when you get out of your car which is parked in a disabled space ?

One man came up to me & said " do you know that this is blue badge parking only". I`m sure that he was judging me, as I am only young & dont look disabled !

It's an unpleasant normality that you're being judged on appearances. I really do wish that people could keep their mouths shut and not make everything harder.

Getting back to the definition of disability, I have disabilities but I am not disabled.

My arm and my back (and a bit of my brain) are disabled, but I get very very annoyed with people who write me off as some form of second class citizen by labelling me in this way.

I'm a valuable member of society, complete with brain, lots of skills and abilities, some opinions and a voice. Whatever else I may be, I am not disabled.

janearanhol

i am so glad i read this forum. i am 43, have severe osteoarthritus in my spine and hips, golfers elbow in both arms ( which i will eventually get operated on when i get up the courage, carpul tunnel in both hands but apparently not bad enough when i went for the exam to warrant an operation, normal arthritus in both knees ( which i have had since i was 17 and told i was too young to be arthritic) spondulosis in my spine also, i have problems walking for any distance without sticks and fybromyoligia and i have just tried applying for dla -again ( got turned down last time) and i am also in the 'you dont look old enough to be disabled' and getting all the looks when i use my sticks. it is so depressing that people still think that way . i have found a novel way of looking more 'normal' - i use my daoughters scooter instead of my sticks which is also handy for carrying my shopping. i am feeling a lot better since i read that i am not as alone as i thought i was. thankyou to everyone.

mymonkeylife

Do the people here consider Depression as a disability?

Lady_K

I would say depression can be a disability depending on how severe it is. With some people it can take over thier whole lives and they are really poorly and not able to do even basic daily tasks so I think it can be a disability definitely

smileyt_2

I suffer from depression and have done all my life, even as a child. I'm not too bad now, although if I stop taking my medication I end up in a right mess. I hate it because it has really limited my life. I can't work full-time or in any job that is stressful (eg target related work) so although I can make ends meet it has really scuppered my chance of earning even an 'average' income. I really hate teh way some people think 'depression' is another term for bone idle or mardy. I am not mardy, there are things I would love to do but I have to come to terms with the fact that some of my dreams will always be dreams. It is extremely frustrating. But life hands you certain cards and you have to find a way of coping. At least everything else is functioning reasonably well!

My advice if you are struggling with DLA forms and the like is to ask for help from the Citizens Advice Bureau or local Welfare Rights Team (local councils often have them) or a disability organisation. I used to volunteer for the CAB and there is a knack to filling in these forms. It doesn't mean you have to lie but you do have to fill them in to let them know what you're like at your worst.

Best wishes to everyone on here :T

sandraroffey

i was given DLA on two things. 1) for my hearing,i have high frequency hearing losss, so i cant hear things like fire alarms and smoke alarms, phones, as well as speech, announcements on trains etc. and 2) for depression. i get the lower rate of both sections and it took 18 months to get it with massive help from the CAB.

couldnt have done it without them.

depression is a valid reason for DLA. but you WILL need help from the CAB. especially with the form filling in. they will even go with you to medicals etc.

exsquaddiegirl

I'm thoroughly confused by the entire disability situation.

I'm 31 years old, and I've worked full time since the age of 18, first in the armed forces, and since leaving, in civvie street. I broke my SI joint in the military 7 years ago, which is the bit that joins your pelvis to your spine. I had some good treatment from the RAF, and got back to the point where I could run and do my job normally. A couple of years after leaving the service, I started getting problems with that area in the winter. When it was cold and damp, it would be quite painful. This winter, it was a lot worse, and it didn't go away when the weather warmed up. I get shooting pains down the leg on the side of the old injury, and my hips and lower back ache constantly.

My doctor sent me for physio, which I did for 4 months, but we reached the end of what they could do and they said that the pain wasn't related to my fitness, which was better than most of my age group, so there wasn't any more they could do. My GP says that, while I have pain medication and some relaxants to get me to sleep at night, the problem is that I have 'put up with it' for years, and moved my posture to compensate for the injury, which has left me with twisted hips. The only solution is to see a chiropractor, which the HNS won't fund as they've only just started to offer chiropractic and it's only for people who have had the problem for 6 weeks to a year. This will probably cost me about £150 a month.

At this point, a friend told me about the Verteran's Agency, and the fact that I might be eligible for a war pension, because the injury happened originally of operational duty. It took them a couple of months to persuade me that this didn't involve 'ambulance chasers', suing the MoD or saying it was the RAF's fault, and I've now applied for a war pension, which is in progress. All I want it for is to pay for the treatment that would give me a better quality of life.

Now I've looked at the DDA, and apparently, I'm disabled. I don't feel disabled. I'm able to do most things, and the things I struggle with, my husband and I (and my boss, to a degree) have found 'ways round'. I can't sit in one place for more than an hour, so we've given up on going to the cinema, as it hurts too much, and if there's a film we want to see, we ait until the DVD comes out and we can pause it. If I need to travel for work, I take the train where I can get up and move around. My boss and my staff are aware of the problem, and they don't bat an eyelid if I get up in a meeting and start stretching. I've even been known to go into the boardroom, close the door and lie on the table to 'put it all back in place'. Everyone's very cool with that.

The real annoyance is going out. My husband doesn't drive, and I can't drive if I've taken my pain medication. I grit my teeth and do without in the mornings, then take it once I'm parked up at work. I then let it wear off before I need to drive home again. If we want to go out in the evenings, when the pain is worse, then I can't drink and take the medication, and I can't drive without the medication, so we're very much tied to where we can feasibly to get taxis or whether we can afford to book a B&B for the night, as the days of 'crashing' on friends sofas are long gone - I wouldn't be able to walk the next day!

I can't carry shopping bags, or lift heavy stuff off the floor, so we just get the shopping delivered (the nice Tesco man even brings the groceries into the kitchen and onto the worktop for me!). I can't bend and twist in the mornings, so when I swapped my car, I bought an ex-motability one with a dashboard-mounted gearstick and handbrake. This means I can get to work in the mornings as normal. We've moved the kitchen around so I don't have to bend to get anything out, and my husband does the stuff around the house that I can't, like cutting the hedge and getting the vacuum upstairs. My boss got me lumbar supports for my office and home office chairs and cat seat and an ergonomic office chair. The problem would come if I ever had to switch jobs. I'm not sure many employers would be as understanding.

Given all of this, I'm wondering about the entire disability system. I pretty much have it all under control, and I don't need any help, other than what my family, friends and boss provide. With all of this, is there any point in registering my 'disability'? Who would I do this with, and why would I do it?

Invasion

There's actually no way to register your disability anymore in most places, partly because being disabled doesn't necessarily mean you have to call yourself disabled. I feel it to be honest so I'd say that I have a disability, but I try not to say "I'm disabled" I feel it's too much of a label, much as I have issues with mobility, and loads of other things, I'm still me, just a me that needs more help, and a wheelchair a lot of the time. My disability is not me.

An employer has a duty to you to provide what you need at work, including ergonomic seats etc, being 17 and never having been employed I don't know the ins and outs of that, but I'm sure there'll be someone on here that does

The main way people register/prove their disability is DLA, but the minimum for care for that is unable to cook a meal for yourself, and/or need about an hours care- bathing etc. and for mobility either needing supervision in unfamiliar places, or being limited to walking 50 metres or thereabouts.