Rights Of Disabled People

A Straightforward Guide to...

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• Publisher: Straightforward Publishing Digital
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781847165909
• Topic: Law
• Subtopic: Law Theory & Practice
• Index: Law

A Straightforward Guide to the Rights of Disabled people is a comprehensive overview of the law and practice as it affects people with all types of disability. It includes information on the rights of disabled children.

Chapter 1

The Law and Disability

The law and disability

In general, the wide body of laws that protect all people in the United Kingdom will apply to disabled people. Such laws can include consumer law, employment law and family law. However, in certain important respects, the law that applies to disabled people, and gives an extra layer of protection is the Equality Act 2010. This law is wide ranging and incorporated many previous Acts, such as the Disability Discrimination Act, and also clearly defines discrimination. Below is a summary of the Act. However, as we go through the book continuous reference will be made to the Act as it applies to the many areas of life, such as employment and transport, that directly affects disabled people.

The Equality Act 2010

The Equality Act 2010 prohibits discrimination against people with the protected characteristics that are specified in section 4 of the Act. Disability is one of the specified protected characteristics. Protection from discrimination for disabled people applies to disabled people in a range of circumstances, covering the provision of goods, facilities and services, the exercise of public functions, premises, work, education, and associations. Only those people who are defined as disabled in accordance with section 6 of the Act, and the associated Schedules and regulations made under that section, will be entitled to the protection that the Act provides to disabled people. However, importantly, the Act also provides protection for non-disabled people who are subjected to direct discrimination or harassment because of their association with a disabled person or because they are wrongly perceived to be disabled.

The Act defines a disabled person as, simply, a person with a disability. A person has a disability for the purposes of the Act if he or she has a physical or mental impairment and the impairment has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities

This means that, in general:

ο the person must have an impairment that is either physical or mental

ο the impairment must have adverse effects which are substantial

ο the substantial adverse effects must be long-term and

ο the long-term substantial adverse effects must have an effect on normal day-to-day activities

Definition of ‘impairment’

The definition requires that the effects which a person may experience must arise from a physical or mental impairment. The term mental or physical impairment should be given its ordinary meaning. It is not necessary for the cause of the impairment to be established, nor does the impairment have to be the result of an illness. In many cases, there will be no dispute as to whether a person has an impairment. Any disagreement is more likely to be about whether the effects of the impairment are sufficient to fall within the definition and in particular whether they are long-term. This is a crucial fact.

Whether a person is disabled for the purposes of the Act is generally determined by reference to the effect that an impairment has on that person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. An exception to this is a person with severe disfigurement. A disability can arise from a wide range of impairments which can be:

ο sensory impairments, such as those affecting sight or hearing;

ο impairments with fluctuating or recurring effects such as Rheumatoid arthritis, Myalgic encephalitis (ME), Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), Fibromyalgia, Depression and Epilepsy;

ο progressive, such as Motor neurone disease, Muscular dystrophy, and forms of Dementia;

ο auto-immune conditions such as Systemic lupus erythematosis (SLE);

ο organ specific, including Respiratory conditions, such as Asthma, and cardiovascular diseases, including Thrombosis, Stroke and Heart disease;

ο developmental, such as Autistic spectrum disorders (ASD), Dyslexia and Dyspraxia;

ο learning disabilities;

ο mental health conditions with symptoms such as anxiety, low mood, panic attacks, phobias, or unshared perceptions; eating disorders; bipolar affective disorders; obsessive compulsive disorders; personality disorders; post traumatic stress disorder, and some self-harming behaviour;

ο Mental illnesses, such as depression and schizophrenia;

ο produced by injury to the body, including to the brain.

Persons with HIV infection, cancer and multiple sclerosis

The Act states that a person who has cancer, HIV infection or Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a disabled person. This means that the person is protected by the Act effectively from the point of diagnosis.

Certain conditions are not regarded as impairments. These are:

ο addiction to, or dependency on, alcohol, nicotine, or any other substance (other than in consequence of the substance being medically prescribed);

ο the condition known as seasonal allergic rhinitis (e.g. hayfever), except where it aggravates the effect of another condition;

ο tendency to set fires;

ο tendency to steal;

ο tendency to physical or sexual abuse of other persons;

ο exhibitionism;

A person with an excluded condition may nevertheless be protected as a disabled person if he or she has an accompanying impairment which meets the requirements of the definition. For example, a person who is addicted to a substance such as alcohol may also have depression, or a physical impairment such as liver damage, arising from the alcohol addiction. While this person would not meet the definition simply on the basis of having an addiction, he or she may still meet the definition as a result of the effects of the depression or the liver damage.

Disfigurements which consist of a tattoo (which has not been removed), non-medical body piercing, or something attached through such piercing, are treated as not having a substantial adverse effect on the person’s ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities.

The Act says that, except for the provisions in Part 12 (Transport) and section 190 (improvements to let dwelling houses), the provisions of the Act also apply in relation to a person who previously has had a disability as defined in the Act. This means that someone who is no longer disabled, but who met the requirements of the definition in the past, will still be covered by the Act. Also protected would be someone who continues to experience debilitating effects as a result of treatment for a past disability.

Definition of ‘long-term effects’

The Act states that, for the purpose of deciding whether a person is disabled, a long-term effect of an impairment is one:

ο which has lasted at least 12 months; or

ο where the total period for which it lasts, from the time of the first onset, is likely to be at least 12 months; or

ο which is likely to last for the rest of the life of the person affected

Special provisions apply when determining whether the effects of an impairment that has fluctuating or recurring effects are long-term. Also a person who is deemed to be a disabled person does not need to satisfy the long-term requirement.

The cumulative effect of related impairments should be taken into account when determining whether the person has experienced a long-term effect for the purposes of meeting the definition of a disabled person. The substantial adverse effect of an impairment which has developed from, or is likely to develop from, another impairment should be taken into account when determining whether the effect has lasted, or is likely to last at least twelve months, or for the rest of the life of the person affected.

Normal day-to-day activities

In general, day-to-day activities are things people do on a regular or daily basis, and examples include shopping, reading and writing, having a conversation or using the telephone, watching television, getting washed and dressed, preparing and eating food, carrying out household tasks, walking and travelling by various forms of transport, and taking part in social activities. Normal day-to-day activities can include general work-related activities, and study and education-related activities, such as interacting with colleagues, following instructions, using a computer, driving, carrying out interviews, preparing written documents, and keeping to a timetable or a shift pattern.

The term ‘normal day-to-day activities’ is not intended to include activities which are normal only for a particular person, or a small group of people. In deciding whether an activity is a normal day-to-day activity, account should be taken of how far it is carried out by people on a daily or frequent basis. In this context, ‘normal’ should be given its ordinary, everyday meaning.

A normal day-to-day activity is not necessarily one that is carried out by a majority of people. For example, it is possible that some activities might be carried out only, or more predominantly, by people of a particular gender, such as breast-feeding or applying make-up, and cannot therefore be said to be normal for most people. They would nevertheless be considered to be normal day-to-day activities.

Also, whether an activity is a normal day-to-day activity should not be determined by whether it is more normal for it to be carried out at a particular time of day. For example, getting out of bed and getting dressed are activities that are normally associated with the morning. They may be carried out much later in the day by workers who work night shifts, but they would still be considered to be normal day-to-day activities. The following examples demonstrate a range of day-to-day effects on impairment:

ο Difficulty in getting dressed,

ο Difficulty carrying out activities associated with toileting, or caused by frequent minor incontinence;

ο Difficulty preparing a meal,

ο Difficulty eating;

ο Difficulty going out of doors unaccompanied, for example, because the person has a phobia, a physical restriction, or a learning disability;

ο Difficulty waiting or queuing,

ο Difficulty using transport; for example, because of physical restrictions, pain or fatigue, a frequent need for a lavatory or as a result of a mental impairment or learning disability;

ο Difficulty in going up or down steps, stairs or gradients;

ο A total inability to walk, or an ability to walk only a short distance without difficulty;

ο Difficulty entering or staying in environments that the person perceives as strange or frightening;

ο Behaviour which challenges people around the person, making it difficult for the person to be accepted in public places;

ο Persistent difficulty crossing a road safely,

ο Persistent general low motivation or loss of interest in everyday activities;

ο Difficulty accessing and moving around buildings;

ο Difficulty operating a computer, for example, because of physical restrictions in using a keyboard, a visual impairment or a learning disability;

ο Difficulty picking up and carrying objects of moderate weight, such as a bag of shopping or a small piece of luggage, with one hand;

ο Inability to converse, or give instructions orally, in the person’s native spoken language;

ο Difficulty understanding or following simple verbal instructions;

ο Difficulty hearing and understanding another person speaking clearly over...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• Ch.1 The Law and Disability
• Ch.2 The Benefit System-Entitlements
• Ch.3 Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
• Ch.4 Carers and Help For Carers
• Ch.5 Options for Care-Paying for Care Homes
• Ch.6 Whilst You are In Hospital
• Ch.7 Disabled Children
• Ch.8 Disabled People and Employment
• Ch.9 Disabled people and Education
• Ch.10 Tenancy Rights and Rights in the Home
• Ch.11 Disabled People and Travel
• Ch.12 Disability and the Armed Forces
• Ch. 13 Income Tax
• Ch.14 Useful Contacts
• Index