Archie’s Column
By Archuna Ananthamohan – The opinions of a very opinionated 14-year old Pinner school boy.
here has been much talk and excitement over the ‘Paralegacy’, lately. They say that the disabled have seen huge change to their lifestyle since the events of last year. After celebrating the anniversary of the poignant and patriotic Paralympic phenomenon, you’d think that the oppression of the mentally and physically ill has ?nally come to a halt. As the Games have undoubtedly inspired millions and improved public perception of the paralysed, you’d think that the disabled have been emancipated.
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uses rhetoric that disability claimants are ‘scroungers’ even though their own Department says that the disability bene?t fraud rate is 0.5%. To test claimants, the Government continue to hire ATOS, whose tick-box assessment format and desire to put pro?t over lives has led to the deaths of thousands of disabled people. Meanwhile in Harrow there is a lack of sporting facilities for disabled children. Instead of reciting Wilfred Owen, schoolboys diss each other with Urban Dictionary language often used to mock and victimise the handicapped such as ‘retarded’, ‘mong’ and ‘spazz’. If every individual did their moral duty and helped the community, disabled people wouldn’t need to endure socioeconomic hardship. To the youth who’ve apparently ‘nothing to do’ in Pinner: fundraise and volunteer for Harrow Mencap. Continue supporting local groups such as the Harrow Association of Disabled People, who are preparing for the annual Disability Arts Festival in the Harrow Arts Centre. After all, how a community helps the disabled is a true measure of a society.
So when I look for this legacy in local action, what do I ?nd? I ?nd a woman in a wheelchair begging outside Lidl supermarket, managing without a job on her reduced bene?ts. I then see her using that money to buy cigarettes but that isn’t the point: for many disabled people, the Paralympic Legacy is barely tangible. Last year, hundreds of Remploy factories were shut down. This removed the only source of income for disabled people and stole their livelihoods. Now, they are expected to ?nd a job even when the market discriminates and won’t employ them. The Government
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