Disabled

Does Osteoarthritis class as a disablement?

Comments

  • dreamdaisy
    dreamdaisy Member Posts: 31,520

    Ah, along with the A, C and F words we have the D word. I think that anything which stops you living in similar way to the healthy majority can be classed as a disability. Some disabilities are temporary (e.g. tummy bugs) some more debilitating whilst they last (e.g. headaches) some longer term (broken limbs) and others with no end, like arthritis. Some disabilites cause little or no pain but are very visible, others cause immense pain and are not.

    I am in my 24th year of two kinds of arthritis, in constant pain and not afraid to use the D word because, compared to the norm, I am. So what? Yes, it affects my life and has changed how I do things but it never has, and never will, affect what I get from life. I am fortunate, however, in that I have done the hard yards with work (which was simplified by being self-employed) and can now enjoy doing the stuff I want to do rather than the stuff I had to do. Well, I could until covid 19 and I decided to shield. I regard myself as diseased but, by the usual measures, healthy.

    As I have deteriorated I have aquired the kit necessary to help me do more and go further. I began arthritis when I was young enough to still have plastic thinking, I was able to see the use and value of aids and my lack of vanity was useful too. Am I disabled? Yes. Does it matter? No, because I live in an age with all manner of things there to help me help myself to do better. DD

    Have you got the despatches? No, I always walk like this. Eddie Braben
  • MoWW
    MoWW Member Posts: 75

    Hello @bondy104

    There are only a few conditions where you would be automatically protected under the Equality Act 2010 - HIV infection, cancer or multiple sclerosis.

    The guidance on disability under the EqA can be found here;

    It is not the condition you are living with, but how it impacts on you. The criteria is detailed on the Government website.

    'You’re disabled under the Equality Act 2010 if you have a physical or mental impairment that has a ‘substantial’ and ‘long-term’ negative effect on your ability to do normal daily activities.'

    Disability Rights UK also have a range of if factsheets and information that may help you. https://www.disabilityrightsuk.org/how-we-can-help

    Hope this is of help.

    Mo

  • bondy104
    bondy104 Member Posts: 6
    Thank you for your help, u hope I didn't offend anyone with the D word. I'm trying to get my head around what I do next. Its getting worse for me and I'm just trying to look at options.
    Thanks again
  • historynut
    historynut Member Posts: 28

    I've got OA in my hips, knee spine and neck. I didn't class myself as disabled until i realised that my life was impacted in such a way. When i applied for a blue badge I ended up asking myself questions about how far i can walk and how easy i cope with day to day living. Until i wrote it down in black and white, i hadn't realised the extent to which my life had been impacted.

    Other people didn't use the term, i have started to but its taken me a long time to get used to it. I don't think i ever will. Not even my own parents really thought about me being disabled, until they realised the support i needed. I still don't think they believe/understand it.

    Do i make a joke with my wife about skipping ques at theme parks -yes.

    Do i wish that wasn't the case - yes.

    Someone said to me something useful about the process 'this is challenging your own view of what a disability looks like'. It clicked then, between all the medications, pain and stress, my life has impacted. I need assistance and help

  • Airwave!
    Airwave! Member Posts: 2,468

    Disability is not something in our minds it’s a reality that we have to accept, a very real word with no undertones to it, go to the cliff edge and shout it out without apology. It’s not a ‘D’ word.

    I can cycle but my walking is restricted, I can surf but not swim easily, I can cook well but not stand for long, I am good at many things and not able to do many other things, am I disabled? If I can’t do as an able bodied man can then I am.

    it’s a grin, honest!

  • Mike1
    Mike1 Member Posts: 1,992

    I often refer to myself as a cripple especially when speaking to someone I haven't met before, the normal reaction is that I then get chastised and told it is not a politically correct term to which I giggle. I can be a bit of a "b" at times 😁