My Opinions as a Disability Rights Activist

I believe that everybody on our planet should have their own rights respected.  They should live the life that they choose to and this means that I have strong opinions about the importance of self-care, both physically and mentally.  This is something I believe that everybody should engage with in their lifetime.  However, with the rat race of today's high paced society, somebody’s achievements may be viewed as not always good enough. 

There is a big focus on our need to survive, therefore Capitalism and money can often bring in greed, psychological stress and worry.  In my opinion, this is even more poignant for disabled people. As I have explained in other sections of this website, personally I am mentally independent but physically dependent on another person for almost everything. Therefore, myself and my family have experienced two types of negativity.  One, people use the medical model and presume that I am not able to do anything at all, for example, they ask my PA if I can eat at which point I respond to say ‘yes’ and tell them what I would like to eat.  Opposite to this, we have the other situation, where general public, due to lack of education, assume that because I am mentally independent and have gained a Masters degree that I am physically independent.  This could not be further from the truth. I will never live independently, without care, in fact I will need it for the rest of my life. This is why I am a member of the re-shaping our Futures Alliance, which is a large organisation made up of several disabled persons organisations that are campaigning for a National Independent Living Service (formally closed by the Government in June 2015) to be put back into place enabling disabled people to live their life to the fullest, have the care support they need and live independently in  their own homes. 

As I have mentioned above, I believe in Equality of Opportunity for everybody.  I think the social model should always be used and society should be adapted around the needs of the disabled person and not the other way around.  I want to be an advocate for the social model, disabled people, carers, Personal Assistants and particularly unpaid carers, family and friends as well as, young carers who are supported by organisations such as Carers UK and the Carers Trust.