Frances Ryan

One of the fundamental ideas behind this book is a crucial concept to understand when it comes to Disability Justice: When sweeping changes are made, we must pay attention to the overlooked and vulnerable. Britain has often prized itself on the phrase "A Civilization is Measured by How It Treats Its Weakest Members", and it historically brags about pioneering disability rights. Yet when the economic crash of 2010 came, the disabled were endangered by Austerity measures which gutted the welfare system to "protect the country's economy".

The book centers on a very interesting and important idea: the danger of pity. Many people feel as though they support disabled people by calling them "special needs", talking about how they're inspiring, et cetera. This is bad for lots of reasons: 1) Disabled people don't have special needs, they have human rights like everybody else. It's not an autistic child's fault that school isn't accessible to them, that doesn't make their needs special. 2) Pity =/= respect. When the chips are down, British people turned on the disabled as "leeching off the system". This is because when they treated them as subhuman pets or sources of heartwarming videos, they never viewed them as equal beings. Without viewing them as valid human beings, it's easy to demean them. 3) Disabled people aren't living for you. They are not designed to create viral videos on America's Got Talent, they do not want to teach you a valuable life lesson about "appreciating what you have". They are trying to survive, live like everyone else and pursue their own independent goals.

So, what have we learned? When we cut back on welfare or try to "tighten our belts", it will inevitably damage the most vulnerable. We can avoid this by respecting and listening to disabled people, rather than treating them as inspirational or as evil. And, the wealthy will always step on the backs of the vulnerable to line their pockets. No country is immune.
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In austerity Britain, disabled people have become the favourite target. From social care to the benefits system, politicians and media alike have made the case Britain's 12 million disabled people are a drain on the public purse. In Crippled, leading commentator Frances Ryan exposes the disturbing reality, telling the story of those most affected by this devastating regime. This includes a paralyzed man forced to crawl down the stairs because the council wouldn't provide accessible housing; the malnourished woman sleeping in her wheelchair; and the young girl with bipolar forced to turn to sex work to survive. Through these personal stories, Ryan charts how in recent years the public attitude towards disabled people has transformed from compassion to contempt: from society's most vulnerable to benefit cheats. Crippled is a damning indictment of a safety net gone wrong, and a passionate demand for an end to austerity measures hitting those most in need.… (plus d'informations)