what is the cost of being disabled?

I am writing this when there is much uncertainty in the world for disabled people. The government is making it their mission to hit disabled people with unnecessary cuts and attacks on benefits for disabled people that, contrary to the story the media feeds the general public, are not abused. Only this week, approximately 8000 people joined the Hardest Hit March to protest against the devastating attack on disabled people. Disabled people as a whole have always been some of the poorest people and this is only set to get worse.

For many, every day is a fight, made worse by the fact they can't afford to live. To live with a disability means expenses that the average person can't even contemplate. I have always tried to live as 'normal' and 'full' life as possible, but unfortunately, this has always come at an extra cost, financially, emotionally and physically. I will focus on finances for now as this is a very hot issue that all disabled people can relate to.

From a very young age, if I wanted to live a good life, this would come at a cost. To make my life easier, I have always required specialist equipment, and unfortunately, at times, I have been expected to find the money; for example, to get a wheelchair that I feel meets my needs, I have always had to top up with my own money to get the chair that meets my actual needs. 

When I was a child, my mum had her own problems with her back, I was assessed for a new wheelchair, and my mum was told that her needs weren't taken into account even though she was the person who always had to get my wheelchair in and out of the car. This led to my mum having more problems; it was decided that a wheelchair would be purchased for me privately so that it could both meet my needs and those of my mum. I kept this wheelchair till I was driving, where I learned that even this wheelchair, although much lighter than what I had previously been used to, was still almost impossible to get in and out of the car on my own. 

So, I went through the whole process of applying for funding again. This time, I went for a wheelchair they offered me simply because it seemed marginally better than the one I was using. This was the last time I made this decision, and ever since, I have topped the money up to get what I need to live, as what is deemed suitable sadly falls very short.

 It is worth noting at this point that my current wheelchair cost around £3,000, and the NHS only gave me £1,800; I was fortunate to get some funding from "Access to Work", which helped bridge the gap, the future of "Access to Work" is uncertain making it more difficult receive funds for what is needed.

My wheelchair has to last me 6 years, and I have to meet all the costs of maintenance. A pair of trainers might last 6 months if you are lucky for £100 if you're splashing out. If you damage your leg it heals and the NHS help you fix it, if my chair gets damaged I have to pay. If someone can explain how that is fair, I would like to hear it.

Growing up, other extra costs I experienced included getting taxis everywhere rather than using a bike or bus like many friends could. When I was growing up, the majority of buses were inaccessible, and although this has improved, there are many occasions when this is still sadly the case, so it is always made much more challenging for me as a disabled person to catch a bus. 

In fact, there was a time recently when I started to get the bus into town to save me driving. Only to find that I could not get on the bus, not just because it was inaccessible but because there was a mother with a buggy who wouldn't collapse it to allow me on. This is okay on a glorious sunny day, but on days when it is cold and wet, it is no fun to wait much longer for a bus than my able-bodied counterparts.


A subject often overlooked by disabled people is that of sport; as a child, I was lucky that my school regularly encouraged me to get involved, even helping me to purchase a sports chair (albeit quite basic). Unfortunately, that was not and has never been my experience outside of school. I have always been keen to be involved in sports. Unfortunately, I learned early on that this was nearly impossible concerning disability sports. Not only was I sent round the houses when wanting information I soon realised that to have the same opportunities as my able bodied peers it was going to be very expensive for me.

 For example, if someone wants to take up running, all they need to get is a pair of running shoes and off they go. For a disabled person to have the same opportunities, they need a specialist sports racing wheelchair. This is the same for many sports for disabled people. Recently I started learning how to play wheelchair tennis and I am lucky to have a sports wheelchair which I got some 15 years previously which is amazingly still in reasonable nick. 

As you can imagine technology has come on a great deal since I got this wheelchair and so if this is something that I want to get good at I will have to get a better wheelchair which could cost me anything in the region of £1500. For my able-bodied counterparts, you guessed, all they need is their tennis racket, tennis ball and some trainers cost £100. It is worth noting that DLA is not designed for this; it is only for care and mobility (I'm clearly not allowed hobbies). So, is it really fair that it costs me more to live, through no fault of my own, yet the state makes it harder for me to live by taking the smallest amount of money away from me that I need for my extra personal needs.


OK, so you may be thinking, why do I need to get involved in a sport like this, and you now have a car, so you don't need to worry about the inconvenience of buses? That is not the only cost. Due to my disability, I am very grateful to be entitled to a Motability car because if I wasn't, I would never be able to afford to drive once I have insurance and tax. I must remember the most crucial aspect for me, and that is the gravely expensive adaptations that I require I have no choice about whether I want to drive and still have some independence that is on top of the actual cost of the car. 

My husband recently brought a car, his decision was simple, small, cheap, low mileage. It would need to be automatic, big enough for me to put my chair in, ensuring the gap between the door and chair isn't too big ... I could go on. Motability is a massive lifeline for me, which by 2013 could be taken away. Motability is a charity for those who don't know, and in exchange for my car, I give up the higher-level mobility component of my DLA.

It is also an unfortunate fact that when a disabled person would like or even can work, this is rarely made possible due to the opposing view about disabled people, with people focusing on what can't be done rather than what can be done. Disabled people often require a much more understanding, forgiving environment to be able to work effectively, which is very unlikely in the world that we live in.

 A recent article in the Guardian speaks of this problem and the more significant issue of how disabled people are in society. The article is here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/may/14/disabled-face-increasing-hostility-strangers, it shows that with the Government constantly labelling us as work-shy, drug addicts who drink too much we pay the price from strangers who know nothing about us. 

One of the worst is, in fact, Maria Miller MP, who is the Minister for Disabled People! Indeed, even the Guardian, one of the better newspapers, gets its facts wrong. It mentions that DLA is people who are physically unable to work; this is incorrect. As already mentioned it is to help with care and getting around., it is the least abused benefit.

So, as you can read from this blog, there are numerous additional costs involved with being disabled and, in particular, a wheelchair user. If only a member of the Government would sit up and take note. It is ironic that on March 26th 500,000 people marched through London, on May 11th around 8,000 disabled people marched though London both in protest at Government cuts. Are we really all wrong?