Around 14,000 blind and partially sighted people in Wales are missing out on a total of £34m a year in benefits, according to a charity.

RNIB Cymru said people desperately need specialist help and were under-claiming by an average of £45 per week.

Funding problems mean its welfare rights service is only available in five out of 22 Welsh council areas.

Local government leaders said ensuring access to services was important to councils but budgets were very tight.

On Tuesday, the RNIB will take a campaign to change the situation to the Welsh assembly.

RNIB Cymru welfare rights team leader Michele Richardson said many people are living in poverty unnecessarily.

The last two years have placed exceptional pressure on council budgets, leaving them with no option but to make difficult and often unpopular decisions over service delivery Welsh Local Government Association

She told the BBC Politics Show: “I’ve actually been in somebody’s house where they’ve lived on cereal because they haven’t been able to afford to buy proper food. And that wasn’t even with milk. Its very very sad.”

Having initially been refused disability living allowance, Linda Rhodes’ six year old daughter Angharad now receives that benefit after Ms Richardson took on her case and helped overturn the decision.

Angharad, who lives in Holyhead, Anglesey, was born with bi-lateral Peter’s anomaly, which affects the development of her eyes.

She also had cataracts on both eyes and microopthalmia, which meant her eyes stopped growing.

In addition she has glaucoma, where too much presssure in the eye damages the optic nerve leading to loss of vision, and nystagmus, which is an uncontrollable wobble of the eye.

RNIB Cymru’s intervention proved crucial as the additional benefits money the Rhodes family received enabled Angharad’s vital medical care to continue.

Michele Richardson helped the family with their appeal

Angharad must attend regular appointments at Moorfields eye hospital in London and Alder Hey children’s hospital in Liverpool.

Mrs Rhodes said: “It actually helps in order to go to the hospital appointments. Without it, then we probably would have had to stop the hospital appointments.

“We just couldn’t afford the travel. It’s £100 a time going to London plus accommodation costs as well and then we (also) go to Alder Hey. It just was so expensive.”

The situation’s been getting worse not better. Services which were operating in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Merthyr and Angharad’s authority Ynys Mon have stopped due to lack of council funding.

Wrexham AM Lesley Griffiths believes fellow assembly members will respond to the charity’s call.

She said: “I’m sure assembly members right across Wales will be lobbying their local authorities as we speak because its an extremely important issue and we all have constituents who are visually impaired and need that extra assistance.”

A Welsh Local Government Association spokesperson said:

“Ensuring vulnerable people get access to the services they need and deserve is important to every Welsh council. Indeed, hundreds of support services are being delivered every day across Wales.

“The last two years have placed exceptional pressure on council budgets, leaving them with no option but to make difficult and often unpopular decisions over service delivery.

“Unfortunately, we already know from budget reports that the next few years are going to be even tougher.

“All decisions made over local service delivery are taken by Wales’s twenty-two councils, with each council taking into full consideration the full range of its service pressures and the budget available.”

Thousands of people with autism in England are failing to get the diagnosis and specialist help they need, the National Audit Office says.

Most local authorities do not know how many adults with autism live in the area and provide no specific services.

Yet better support in areas such as housing and employment could save the taxpayer millions of pounds in the long run, a report concluded.

The government is due to publish its first autism strategy later this year.

The report found that , for those with ‘high functioning’ forms of autism such as Asperger’s Syndrome, access to support for housing, further education and employment can be particularly hard.

Three-quarters of local authorities have no commissioning plan in place for specialist autism services and 65% struggle to find appropriate housing.

The report also found that children with autism are often abandoned by specialist services when they turn 18, due to a lack of adult services or a proper transition plan.

GPs say they need better training to be able to diagnose autism and manage patients better.

There is also a lack of expertise at job centres, with only 200 of 500 disability advisors trained to help people with autism, the report said.

Mark Davies, NAO director of health value for money studies, said there would be people in their 40s and 50s who had never been diagnosed with the condition.

“We would like people to look at our report and the modelling we have done because we think there is a good case for having more specialist support.”

Care services minister Phil Hope said the first ever autism strategy would be published at the end of 2009 and a study was being done to work out exactly how many adults have autism in England.

“Our commitment to do this will have the force of law – in the first ever Autism Bill going through parliament.”

AUTISM IN ENGLAND An estimated 400,000 adults have autism Half of those do not have a learning disability Only 15% are in full-time employment

Geoffrey Maddrell, chairman of Research Autism, agreed there was an “appalling” lack of joined up and accessible provision for adults with autism.

“With the correct employment support and mentoring, many of these adults can sustain long-term education and career paths in various sectors.

“But at present this is not happening in many places.”

Mark Lever, chief executive at the National Autistic Society, said the government could not ignore the “huge cost savings and benefits”, identified by the NAO.

“Neither the government, people with autism nor the taxpayer are getting value for money from existing autism services and support, leaving those affected by the condition feeling isolated, ignored and often at breaking point.”

Professor Simon Baron-Cohen, an expert in autism at the University of Cambridge, said even when people were diagnosed they were often left “isolated, unemployed, lonely, and at risk of developing potentially preventable secondary depression”.

“The hope is that this report will lead to a step change in how we meet the needs of this invisible group in our society.”

Says loving father and charity worker John Hogan. I couldn’t agree more with him.

Whatever my feelings may be about disabled criminals, I still find these stories shocking and unacceptable.

A disabled prisoner was unable to wash properly for over a year because staff refused to carry him to the showers, a damning report revealed today.

Another disabled prisoner went six months without a shower because of a lack of staff “trained” to push his wheelchair, an official inspection found.

Inspectors said HMP Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight, where both men were held, lacked “basic levels of safety and decency”.

Juliet Lyon, director of the Prison Reform Trust, said today that she had called on the Prison Service to comply with its responsibilities under the Disability Discrimination Act.

She said she was writing to Director-General Phil Wheatley, Secretary of State Jack Straw and Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, to ensure the service does comply.

She said: “The Ministry of Justice is breaking the law by allowing Parkhurst and other jails to be used as an inhumane, double punishment for disabled people.”

Thanks to the Guardian for alerting me to this:

Families in the UK with disabled children feel excluded from society due to a shortage of services and negative attitudes, according to a charity survey published today.

Nearly 70% of families with disabled children found that understanding – and acceptance – of disability among those in their community is poor or unsatisfactory, the organisation Contact a Family reported.

The study of 615 families with disabled children revealed that almost half had experienced problems when vital support services – such as short breaks, key workers or childcare – were unavailable.

More than 60% of respondents said they did not feel that professionals listened to their concerns and a similar proportion believed that their roles as carers were not valued by society.

Srabani Sen, Contact a Family’s chief executive, said: “It is shocking that in the UK today, attitudes towards disabled children, from professionals and members of the public, are among the barriers preventing families from leading ordinary lives.

“Families with disabled children have enough challenges to overcome to secure the support they need without also having to cope with prejudice and ignorance.”

The charity, which marks its 30th anniversary this year, is calling for campaigns to raise awareness of the needs of families with disabled children, a stronger focus on disability awareness in schools and more widespread disability equality training. Welcoming investment in short breaks services (which provide parents with regular breaks from caring) in England, the charity expressed its concern that they should be sustained in future budgets.

There are estimated to be 770,000 disabled children living in the UK. The number has risen significantly since the 1970s due to medical advances and increased diagnosis and reporting, according to Contact a Family. Between 1975 and 2002, the disabled child population rose 62% while the general population increased by just 7%.

“Families with disabled children want the same things as other families,” said Sen. “They want to see their children reach their full potential, they want to be included and accepted by their community and they want to enjoy time together and have fun.

“For this to happen, professionals need to recognise each child’s capabilities rather than seeing only disability. They must also recognise the value and expertise of parent carers. And every one of us needs to be more understanding and accepting of disability.”

I’m very pleased to be able to say my parents and I never had any such problems. You are, as always, very welcome to share your thoughts in the comments below.

Thanks to BBC News.

Educational institutions in Wales are “not meeting the needs” of young people with autism, a study suggests.

A report by the Welsh assembly’s cross-party autism group (CPAG) revealed 75% of schools surveyed felt there was a lack of adequate local help available.

Some 58% described further education provision in Wales as inadequate.

The National Autistic Society Cymru said the absence of support for autistic young people and their families was “sometimes devastating”.

The study, A Snapshot of Autism Education Provision in Wales, is based on information gathered from 33 education providers.

These include special schools, mainstream schools with autism resources and further education (FE) colleges.

It follows concerns raised in a number of CPAG meetings that young people with autism in post-16 and further education were missing out due to a lack of organisation, awareness and understanding.

The report examines topics such as the role of the Welsh Assembly Government’s strategic action plan on autistic spectrum disorders, released last year.

It also looks at cooperation between local agencies, schools and colleges; and disparities between state and independent provision.

The report also looks specifically at issues affecting young people with Asperger syndrome, a condition on the ‘higher end’ of the autism spectrum.

As one parent told the CPAG: “My son will be leaving education soon. We are having to look for a college in England.

“There is nothing suitable in south Wales for him to go to (post-16) so we are having to look in England for places that aren’t too far away.”

REPORT FINDINGS 75% of schools feel that there is a lack of adequate local provision of services for the young people they support. 57% of state schools feel out-competed by the independent sector. 58% said there is inadequate FE provision for young people on the autism spectrum in Wales. 75% of schools think there are specific issues for young people with Asperger syndrome in accessing ongoing support in college. Source: A Snapshot of Autism Education Provision in Wales

Commenting on the report, Janet Ryder, assembly member and CPAG chair, said the report offered “a useful insight into the problems faced by young people with autism in Wales, as well as problems faced by the education providers themselves.”

She said: “Some cases of good practice have also been highlighted, which we hope will serve as examples elsewhere in Wales.

“In many cases, if these institutions have an improved understanding an awareness of autism, coupled with suitable guidance, the problems young people face can be addressed.”

Shirley Parsley, national coordinator of the National Autistic Society Cymru, said the issues highlighted in this report were daily realities for young people with autism and their families in Wales.

She said: “We are told of parents who have had under a week between hearing a decision on a placement, and their child beginning college.

“Autism is much more common than most people think. It affects over 25,000 people in Wales. Of these, 6,000 are children and young people aged under 18.

“Missing out on the right support at the right time can have a profound – sometimes devastating – effect on these youngsters and their families.”

CPAG was established in 2002 to bring individuals, families, professionals and AMs together to discuss autism issues.

The report is being launched at an event hosted by the CPAG at the Senedd Building, Cardiff Bay.

Thanks to BBC News.

The future of an all-Ireland centre for children with autism has been left in doubt after some of its financial backing was withdrawn.

On Monday, the Irish government said they could not fund the expansion of the Middletown Centre of Excellence because of financial pressure.

Education departments in Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic have been equally financing the project.

The centre was approved in 2002 but has only opened in a limited way.

It is understood that £6m has already been spent on the centre.

It currently carries out research and training for professionals who work within the autism field, but the eventual aim had been to take children in.

The next stage of building a residential block for assessment and therapy, and employing extra staff, is now in doubt because of the shortage of funds.

Building work was due to begin in the autumn with the facility to open in 2010.

The Irish Minister for Education and Science, Batt O’Keeffe, said it was unfortunate that the pressure on government finance meant he could not provide the funding required.’

In a statement Mr O’Keeffe said the current economic climate meant the Irish government “had to thoroughly review all educational projects and programmes”.

“In the current circumstances, we cannot do all we would wish to in terms of enhanced services,” said Mr O’Keeffe.

“The decision doesn’t mean that funding is being withdrawn from Middletown.

“The department will, of course, keep the expansion of the Middletown Centre under review in the context of improved economic circumstances.”

However, NI Education Minister Caitriona Ruane said she was very disappointed and has called on him to stand by commitments made and reverse his decision.

“We can’t afford not to continue with the project,” she said.

“This project has to go ahead, this project will go ahead. It is important, especially in times in economic difficulties, that we don’t disadvantage our most vulnerable children, our children on the autistic spectrum.”

The two ministers are due to meet at the North South Ministerial Council, which is being held at the Middletown centre on Wednesday.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

I know that I’ve had readers from Ireland who have autistic children in the past, so if any of you are around, you are more than welcome to discuss this story in the comments below.

I’ve just seen these letters that were written to the Guardian in response to their article on police reactions to DisAbility hate crime. I thought some people might find them interesting. Your comments, as always, are very welcome below.

I found a link to this at the EHRC’s Facebook fanpage.

The UK’s leading adoption charity has been forced to apologise for using the word “retarded” in its guide to adoption for gay couples.

The Pink Guide to Adoption for Lesbians and Gay Men, brought out by the British Association for Adoption and Fostering (BAAF), cited a gay adopter who condemned critics of same-sex adoption as “retarded homophobes”.

In the book, the carer advised would-be adopters: “Don’t worry about society. Children need good parents much more than retarded homophobes need an excuse to whinge, so don’t let your worries about society’s reaction hinder your desire and ability to give a child a loving, caring home.”

The extract was quoted on the BAAF’s website. The word “retarded” was later removed after it provoked an angry response from the learning disabilities charity, Mencap. The BAAF also said it would pulp the 100 advance copies of the book already received, and amend the rest of the print run to remove the word.

Ismail Kaji, a Mencap spokesperson, said: “As someone with a learning disability, I find the word retard highly offensive. It is unacceptable and a disgrace that a state-funded agency is using such outdated, discriminatory language. There would quite rightly be outrage if a racist word were used in a government pamphlet – so why is abhorrent disablist language so often overlooked?”

The BAAF admitted that the use of the expression was “not appropriate”, but stressed this was a quote from an adopter and did not reflect its views. A spokesperson said: “The use of the word ‘retarded’ is not appropriate and it is regrettable that we put that up there.

“It has now been removed from our website, but we do still stand by the sentiments behind it. It is strong language but they are not our words, they are the words of the carer. It just reflects the strength of their feeling against the homophobia in society. This is how same-sex couples feel.”

I’d just like to add that, of course, I agree completely with Ismail Kaji.

This is a great idea that will be a great help to many people. It should have been thought of long ago.

Most Londoners take it for granted they can use a phone to call 999 whenever they want, but deaf people can face difficulties.

A national trial is being launched this autumn to help deaf people send text messages to contact the police, ambulance, fire rescue and coastguard.

The new system will allow hard of hearing people to send a text to 999 to contact the emergency services.

If the trial is successful the service could be up and running in 2010.

For the estimated nine million deaf and hard of hearing people in the UK the new service will transform the way they call for help in an emergency.

Currently deaf people can use a textphone to contact the Metropolitan Police, London Ambulance Service and London Fire Brigade via Text Relay.

The service, run by Royal National Institute for the Deaf (RNID) and paid for by BT, enables people with textphones to type a message to an operator who makes the voice call on their behalf.

The downfall of this system is that a hard of hearing person without a textphone nearby would have to find someone to call 999 on their behalf.

BT advises deaf people who use an ordinary phone to call the emergency services to try to make as much noise as possible or tap on the handset, but there is a danger the operator could cut off the call if they do not believe it is genuine.

This is not a topic that I know much about. My DisAbility means that I can’t take public transport by myself, so I usually travel by car. Still, having an interest in statistics, this information at the BBC Ouch blog caught my attention.

Trailblazers, an organisazion for young DisAbled and able bodied campaigners aged 16-30, recently carried out an undercover investigation called End of the Line.

To compile the report, over 100 young disabled people from all over the United Kingdom spent the past three months going undercover on the nation’s public transport system. Between them, they racked up over 200 journeys. But what did they discover? These are some of the key findings:

• Wheelchair users pay more to use public transport than non-disabled people, because of a lack of choice in accesible transport.

•On the railways, over half the stations used lacked basic disabled facilities; the same was true on board the trains.

• On a third of bus journeys, the mystery commuter was unable to board the first bus which arrived at the bus stop.

• Two out of five of the young disabled people involved in the investigation were forced to pay more to use a wheelchair accessible taxi, compared with their non-disabled counterparts.

The full report was presented to MPs at the House of Commons last week, and the young campaigners called on the Government, local authorities and transport providers to review their accessibility policies.

As I said, I don’t have much experience in this area. So, to anyone who reads this and uses public transport in England, whether you are DisAbled or able bodied, please share your experiences with me. Do these findings reflect them?

I’ll admit that, since I have a physical disability, I don’t usually blog about learning difficulties or disabilities. However, I feel that this issue can, and does, apply to people with both types of disability, so I’m going to cover it.

On Sunday, the Guardian learned that many disabled victims of crime are being failed by the system.

The article highlights the case of a teenager with learning difficulties who has been a victim of crime. The police were blamed for not taking the victim’s claims seriously enough, and were forced to apologise.

Last month Gareth Williamson, 19, became the latest victim of crime to receive damages after the police accepted they were guilty of “serious failures” in their investigation of a repeat robbery of the teenager.

Williamson received £70,000 including legal costs from Northamptonshire police after they did not adequately investigate the reported crime, despite the fact that it was caught on CCTV and confirmed by several witnesses.

His mother, Alison Williamson, said: “As soon as it was mentioned to the police that Gareth had special needs, it became obvious not much was going to be done. It’s unbelievable the way he was treated – we all felt totally failed.”

Williamson, who was robbed twice within two months, said he was deeply affected by the failure to investigate his attack. “I was not believed because I had learning difficulties and as a result the people who attacked me have still not been brought to justice,” he said.

Chief Constable Peter Maddison admitted, in a letter sent on his behalf, that the police made “basic errors” in investigating the complaint and provided an “unacceptable” level of service.

Tony Murphy, a partner at Bhatt Murphy solicitors who represented Williamson, said: “It should not have required litigation for the police to honour its duties to people with disabilities in Northamptonshire. Sadly, I am dealing with these kinds of cases nationwide.”

Although, unfortunately, few of us need any proof of the amount of racism that exists within our police force, other forms of prejudice, including disablism, are another matter. Gareth Williamson’s case makes me wonder, being brought to public attention, as it has been, so soon after discussions of police behaviour during the G20 protests, whether the police are the real lawbreakers in England. They certainly don’t seem to have any trouble breaking the Disability Discrimination Act! If they are our real lawbreakers, is there a point in us having a police force at all?

To those readers of this post who are disabled, or the parents or carers of a disabled person, please share any experiences you may have of how the police handle disability hate crime in the comments below.

Thanks to The Goldfish:

Spring has brought more tourists to the White House — and more protesters. The tourists are being kept away from most of Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the building because protesters in wheelchairs have chained themselves to the front of the White House gate.

The protesters wear bright yellow shirts with the logo of a group called ADAPT, which is protesting what it calls “the institutional bias in Medicaid that forces people with disabilities from their homes and families into expensive institutions and nursing homes.” The protest forces visitors to the Northwest Gate — the main entrance — to either cancel their appointments or wind their way around to the Southwest Gate.

Update at 1:31 p.m. ET: Online, the official ADAPT Twitter feed has updates from outside the White House. The updates show a strong swing in mood over the day. From about three hours ago: “adapt reps are inside white house to meet with administration on passing the cca!” The “cca” is the Community Choice Act. From one hour ago: “tell everyone u know that adapters are dominating the white house fence now, the meeting did not go well.”

From about half an hour ago: “45 of our brothers and sisters are chained to the white house fence FOR YOU.” Then the feed reports receiving two warnings from police. From a minute ago: “about 45 50 adapters are staying at the fence. they are about to be arrested.”

Updated at 2:46 p.m. ET: ABC News has a report from outside the White House: “Police have started to arrest some of the disabled protestors picketing outside the White House right now. Almost all of the 400 demonstrators are in wheelchairs.”

The brief offers a concise description of the Community Choice Act — “a bill that would amend the Social Security Act to provide those with disabilities and older Americans the ability to use federal funding for community-based attendant services instead of just for nursing homes” — and its background in Washington.

(Posted by David Jackson and Patrick Cooper; photo by Ron Edmonds, AP)

The mother of a prominent ME sufferer and campaigner has been charged with the attempted murder of her daughter.

Lynn Gilderdale, 31,  was found dead at her home in Stonegate, near Heathfield, East Sussex, on 4 December.

Sussex Police said Kathleen Gilderdale, 54, of Stonegate, had been charged with her daughter’s attempted murder between December 2 and 4.

She has been bailed to appear at Brighton Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday.

Following Ms Gilderdale’s death her family issued a statement through Sussex Police which described her as “young, beautiful, loving and caring.”

Ms Gilderdale was diagnosed with ME, also known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, aged 14. The condition left her bedridden.

The ME Association estimates that 250,000 people are affected by the condition in the UK.

Thanks: BBC News.

A man with Cerebral Palsy was refused entry into a pub because doormen thought he was drunk.

Matty Thompson, 18, was enjoying a night out in Whitley Bay, County Durham, with his sister and friends when a doorman allegedly barred him from entering Breeze because of the way he was walking.

When his sister Katie, 20, objected to the bouncer’s complaint that ‘He can’t walk, he’s drunk’, the teenager was apparently asked to produce a medical card as proof of his disability.

His mother Jenette Thompson said: I’m absolutely outraged. They just can’t treat people with disabilities and learning difficulties like  that and call him names. He was very upset about it. He told me he was called names. It’s sheer ignorance on their part.

Mr Thompson says that he was immediately refused entry into the pub because of the way he was walking. One of the bouncers then contacted other nearby pubs to tell them not to let him in.

Not surprisingly, the incident has upset Mr Thompson. I’ve had similar comments made to me, so I know how he feels.

A spokesman for CP charity Scope, who I completely agree with, said: A disabled person should not be denied access to any premises or  facilities because they are disabled. Disabled people have the same right to go into pubs and clubs as anyone else. More needs to be done to get the public, and especially those who work in customer service, to truly understand and appreciate difference so that  discrimination against disabled people becomes a thing of the past.

A spokesman for Dukedom Leisure, which owns Breeze, had no comment.

Personally, I’d like to see these bouncers lose their jobs. Until that happens, I have three words to say to them. Disability Discrimination Act. That’s the national law that exists  for very good reasons. They broke it during this incident.