Hello all,

It is the start of Disability History Month here in the UK. The theme for this year is life and death. How fun.

It is interesting that this theme would be the topic when the government have been having conversations around Euthanasia. I’m not going to get into that here because it is a very difficult topic.

My point is this topic alongside the current conversations surrounding our benefits system seem to fit in with this theme of life and death.

When you then consider the long waiting lists within the NHS for services such as mental health support this years theme seems quite interesting.

I’m going to focus more on the life side of this years theme, lets focus on giving Disabled people a quality of life which enables us.

Disabled people have a right to exist. We have a right to life.

We should not be looking to go backwards in terms of Disabled peoples access needs. Just because someone is Disabled does not mean they are lesser than.

Disability is a group which anyone of us can join at any time. Often as people get older they will develop some form of Disability. We need to ensure all Disabled people have access to dignity at every stage of life. We, as a society, also need to start seeing mobility aids as items which empower us. Which give us independence.

One of the sections on the DHM website shows you the themes since 2010. I would urge you to go back and see what some of those themes were. I know I will be revisiting those themes to see the journey the movement has been on.

I think there is importance surrounding the topic of death, but I do not have the spoons to cover it. Just remember to respect everyones opinion on this topic and remember to ensure Disabled people are included in this conversation.

Everyone deserves respect, dignity and choice.

Thank you for reading.