Welfare Reform on the Web (September 2004): Services for the Disabled - UK
CONSULTATION, COMMUNITY AND EMPOWERMENT: LESSONS FROM THE DEAF COMMUNITY
H. McLaughlin, D. Brown and A.M. Young
Journal of Social Work, vol.4, 2004, p.153-165
The article offers a critical examination of the conceptual basis of service user consultation through an analysis of a practice example derived from work with the Deaf Community. It demonstrates that consultation is not a neutral event: it can be used either as a means of empowerment or a mechanism for social control.
THE CENTRALITY OF IMPAIRMENT IN THE EMPOWERMENT OF PEOPLE WITH SEVERE PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENTS. INDEPENDENT LIVING AND THE THREAT OF INCARCERATION: A HUMAN RIGHT.
S. Houston
Disability and Society, vol.19, 2004, p.307-321
Research aimed to identify and define what independent living meant to people with severe physical impairments, rather than accepting definitions enshrined in current government policy and legislation. Data were gathered from interviews with 10 respondents living in the North East of England. They associated independent living with being given adequate funding, with living in their own homes, and being independent of family and friends.
DEAF PEOPLE: EVOLVING PERSPECTIVES FROM PSYCHOLOGY, EDUCATION, AND SOCIOLOGY
J.F. Andrews, I.W. Leigh and M.J. Weiner
London: Pearson, 2004
This book is an examination of the psychology of the deaf community through history, current topics and the personal experience of the authors. The deaf person's perspective is important because it is the deaf community that is most impacted by the decisions professionals make, whether in school, in the clinic, or in the family.
DISABILITY AND DISADVANTAGE: SELECTION, ONSET AND DURATION EFFECTS
S.P. Jenkins and J.A. Rigg
Journal of Social Policy, vol.33, 2004, p.479-501
The article analyses the economic disadvantage experienced by disabled persons of working age using data from the British Household Panel Survey 1991-1998. It finds three sources of disadvantage amongst disabled persons: pre-existing disadvantage amongst those who become disabled; the effect of disability onset itself; and the effects of remaining disabled after onset. It shows that employment rates fall with disability onset and continue to fall the longer a disability spell lasts. However, income falls sharply at onset but recovers subsequently due to social security benefits.
THE NEEDS OF PHYSICALLY DISABLED YOUNG PEOPLE DURING TRANSITION TO ADULT SERVICES
B. Ko and G. McEnery
Child, vol.30, 2004, p.317-323
The article examines the needs of and provision of for health services and housing adaptations for, physically disabled school leavers in Newham and Waltham Forest. Fourteen young people were assessed by the authors during their last year of school in order to identify their needs in preparation for a transition to adult services. Forty-nine potential referrals to adult services were identified, but 17 could not be made as such services did not exist within the adult system. The article concludes by recommending a number of changes to the transition system, including improvements in information systems, a revised menu of services and closer involvement of general practitioners.