blondina1
21-08-2008, 07:41 PM
Thought I would share this with you. Got this into my inbox today...
Thursday 21 August 2008
Hiddendisability - epetition response
We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to promote inclusion by society of “Hidden” disability such as Autism ensuring that it is catered for and understood,on an equal basis with physical disability.”
· Read the petition (http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/hiddendisability)
· Petitions homepage (http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/)
Read the Government’s response
The Government is committed to ensuring that everybody has the opportunity to participate fully in society and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 supports that aim by providing protection against disability discrimination.
Provided that a person with a physical or mental impairment meets the definition of a disabled person for the purposes of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, they will benefit from the protection of the Act regardless of whether or not the impairment is one which is immediately obvious. This is because the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 does not specify particular impairments which would be covered by its provisions but looks, instead, at the effect of the impairment on the individual. In general, for the purposes of the Act, a person is a disabled person if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
One of the key principles underpinning the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is that of reasonable adjustment for disabled people. Where a person or organisation, such as an employer, or a provider of services to the public, has a duty to make reasonable adjustments, that duty applies equally to all disabled people protected by the Act. Guidance on the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act can be downloaded free of charge from the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) website (http://83.137.212.42/sitearchive/DRC/the_law/legislation__codes__regulation/codes_of_practice.html).
A number of awareness-raising campaigns, aimed primarily at small and medium sized organisations, have been undertaken in recent years, in order to help employers and service providers to recognise their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act. These campaigns have not focused on any particular types of impairment, but have clearly explained that the provisions of the Act apply to all disabled people who meet the Act’s definition of disability, including those with less obvious impairments.
The Government’s Office for Disability Issues communicates about disability across government and to external stakeholders. In its communications it makes every effort to emphasize the scope of those covered by the Disability Discrimination Act and it uses examples of different impairments to highlight particular points. It also uses imagery of both visible and non-visible impairments to re-emphasise the wide range of disabilities. The Office for Disability Issues chairs the Images for Disability initiative and uses this to encourage other communicators in Government to adhere to these same principles. Further information on this initiative can be found at http://www.officefordisability.gov.uk/resources/imagesofdisability.asp (http://www.officefordisability.gov.uk/resources/imagesofdisability.asp)
Thursday 21 August 2008
Hiddendisability - epetition response
We received a petition asking:
“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to promote inclusion by society of “Hidden” disability such as Autism ensuring that it is catered for and understood,on an equal basis with physical disability.”
· Read the petition (http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/hiddendisability)
· Petitions homepage (http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/)
Read the Government’s response
The Government is committed to ensuring that everybody has the opportunity to participate fully in society and the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 supports that aim by providing protection against disability discrimination.
Provided that a person with a physical or mental impairment meets the definition of a disabled person for the purposes of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, they will benefit from the protection of the Act regardless of whether or not the impairment is one which is immediately obvious. This is because the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 does not specify particular impairments which would be covered by its provisions but looks, instead, at the effect of the impairment on the individual. In general, for the purposes of the Act, a person is a disabled person if they have a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on their ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.
One of the key principles underpinning the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 is that of reasonable adjustment for disabled people. Where a person or organisation, such as an employer, or a provider of services to the public, has a duty to make reasonable adjustments, that duty applies equally to all disabled people protected by the Act. Guidance on the provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act can be downloaded free of charge from the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s (EHRC) website (http://83.137.212.42/sitearchive/DRC/the_law/legislation__codes__regulation/codes_of_practice.html).
A number of awareness-raising campaigns, aimed primarily at small and medium sized organisations, have been undertaken in recent years, in order to help employers and service providers to recognise their obligations under the Disability Discrimination Act. These campaigns have not focused on any particular types of impairment, but have clearly explained that the provisions of the Act apply to all disabled people who meet the Act’s definition of disability, including those with less obvious impairments.
The Government’s Office for Disability Issues communicates about disability across government and to external stakeholders. In its communications it makes every effort to emphasize the scope of those covered by the Disability Discrimination Act and it uses examples of different impairments to highlight particular points. It also uses imagery of both visible and non-visible impairments to re-emphasise the wide range of disabilities. The Office for Disability Issues chairs the Images for Disability initiative and uses this to encourage other communicators in Government to adhere to these same principles. Further information on this initiative can be found at http://www.officefordisability.gov.uk/resources/imagesofdisability.asp (http://www.officefordisability.gov.uk/resources/imagesofdisability.asp)