A Different Way Of Thinking

In his latest documentary series called ‘The Trap,’ shown on BBC2, Adam Curtis made some remarkable claims about the increasing self-diagnosis of psychological impairments alongside his equally imaginative ones about the benign effects of state bureaucracy.

He suggested that while, in the 1960s, sociologists and self-designated ‘radical’ psychiatrists rejected diagnostic categories as tools of oppression, people in the twenty first century are now oppressing themselves by embracing these labels ... read more

The chances are you have never heard of Anne McGuire, who is Minister for Disabled People, in the Department for Work and Pensions. The position has existed for more than thirty years and has been occupied by John Major and William Hague, among others, but has made surprisingly little impact.

The most dramatic event in its history probably came in May 2005, when Liz Blackman was seemingly appointed to ... read more

It’s time to talk about sex. I make no apologies for this. One of the problems that arises when discussing disability in relation to sex is that subcultures exist in which members of some impairment groups, such as wheelchair users, amputees, or people with restricted growth, are treated as fetish objects. A common reaction is to be disgusted and hence to regard any attempt to broach the topic of disabled ... read more

Among the things that non-disabled people find the most difficult to understand are those campaigners who say that they do not want to be cured of their impairments. If anything, this claim is hardest to stomach for people on the political left, wedded as they often are to notions of public healthcare, scientific progress and psychological malleability.

We are often accused of being in denial. Surely, we are asked, ... read more

When David Blunkett appeared on Mastermind, his specialist subject was the rather non-cerebral choice of the Harry Potter novels. This may seem to be surprising until the very limited range of literature available in Braille and audiobook format is taken into account.

Cases like these reveal an oddity or, dare I say, hypocrisy about the importance attached to literacy. We are always told how vital it is that children ... read more

When this blog appeared for the first time on the New Statesman website, I experienced a feeling of self-consciousness, especially about the biography on the right hand side of the page, which is both longer than those of other contributors and written in the first person.

Partly this is because, like many with autism, I am quite a private person and I knew that my friends, and indeed strangers, would ... read more

The recent headlines about ‘Ashley X’, the girl who was given hormones to prevent her growth, not to mention a hysterectomy, threw up the usual conflict between the medical establishment and its critics which arises in such cases.

However, I was struck by another opposition it reflected, one that is seldom discussed, and that is the one between disabled people and our parents. By this, I do not mean ... read more

The introduction of electronic voting in the recent US mid-term elections resulted in fears that some people had been disenfranchised. It was suggested that as many as 18,000 votes may not have been counted in a congressional race in Florida which was won by a margin of just 369.

Ironically, this new system was introduced following another close result in the same state, during the presidential election of 2000, in ... read more

Disability is regarded by many commentators as being a fringe concern and we receive precious little coverage in the mainstream media, in comparison with many other sections of society.

On the one hand, disabled people would not welcome the obsessive treatment that is given to Islam by the national press, but it would be nice for our existence to be at least acknowledged once in a while.

This ... read more

Hi, my name is James Medhurst and I am disabled. However, before you try to visualise me, I should point out that I am not sitting in a wheelchair and nor am I accompanied by a cute yellow Labrador. In fact, I have a high-functioning form of autism which is similar to, but not quite the same as, Asperger Syndrome.

This means that I have a great deal of ... read more