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Accessibility

Beginners Guide to the Motability Scheme

Beginners Guide to the Motability Scheme

Mobility is freedom.  Whether it be a device like a wheelchair or a walker, or something like an adapted van, being able to go where you need to is freeing.  These things are expensive!  In the case of an adapted van, you have to pay not only for the van itself but also any modifications you might need.  For wheelchairs and scooters, you might need custom seats, straps, or any number of things.  They say you can’t put a price on freedom, but somehow it’s still expensive.  Thankfully there’s The Motability Scheme, which gives assistance to those who are in need, and are already receiving other services.

What Does The Motability Scheme Do?

The motability scheme allows you the freedom you need by helping you pay for mobility devices–whether they be a van, wheelchair, or scooter.  These are leased vehicles, so you will turn them back in when your lease expires.  They will also help cover any adaptations you may need to make your vehicle work for you.  The beauty of motability is that you can pick your dealer, so you have options.

Am I Eligible?

The number one question with every scheme, “am I eligible?”  In order to qualify, you must already have a higher rate mobility allowance.  To get more information on the higher rate mobility allowance (HRMA) click here.  Also, please note that due to the current pandemic, this program is not currently taking new cases until July 1, 2020.

How Does the Motability Scheme Work?

You choose the vehicle, then exchange your higher rate mobility allowance.  You choose the vehicle and price that works for you and your budget.  Leases are three years, or five if you are leasing a wheelchair-accessible vehicle.  Motability takes care of insurance and maintenance, and will cover up to three named drivers so you can have other people drive if necessary.  As their website says, all you need to do is pay for fuel!

Cost of Running Your Car

Though most of your expenses will be covered by The Motability Scheme, there are a few things you will need to keep in mind, and potentially pay for.  You will need to pay a fixed amount of any claim for loss and damage, known as an insurance excess.  This is outlined in the RSA Motability Cover Insurance Booklet.  You are also responsible for any parking or speeding tickets, and any theft of personal property within the car, such as wheelchairs, jackets, and mobile phones.

Having the freedom to get to doctors appointments, to the grocery, or just to a friend’s house is something that should not be taken for granted.  It can be expensive to drive, especially when you need a special vehicle to do so.  Programs like The Motability Scheme are important and can offer the freedom disabled people need to live happy, fulfilling lives.

BT Basic: Your Guide to Low-cost Phone and Internet Service

BT Basic: Your Guide to Low-cost Phone and Internet Service

One of the nice things about living in the modern world is that we can communicate with anyone almost instantly via phone.  For people with disabilities, having the ability to use the phone is extra important as we may not be able to physically go places as easily.  Whether it be PCAs or our doctors, or even friends and family, there are a lot of things that we need to keep up to date on.  Phone plans can be expensive, especially when you might not be able to work full-time due to disability.  Luckily, BT Basic is a service that provides low-cost phone service to those that qualify, giving people more independence.

Do You Qualify for BT Basic Phone Service?

Like most things we discuss here, there are requirements you must meet in order to receive BT Basic.  These requirements are that you must be getting one of the following benefits:

In addition, you must also be the named account holder to apply.  

What BT Basic Offers

BT Basic allows for individuals, not just the disabled, who are low income have access to a phone line.  There are specifics, however, like other phone plans.  Under BT Basic, you will get:

  • Local and national UK phone numbers that begin ’01’, ’02’ or ’03’ 
  • UK mobile numbers ‘07’
  • ‘08’ numbers
  • International calls

What Doesn’t BT Basic Cover?

Like most services, there are certain things BT Basic won’t cover under the discounted rate.  The two things BT Basic does not cover are:

  • Calls made through the operator 
  • Premium-rate numbers

For these calls, you will be charged the standard BT rate, which you can find on their website here.

How Much Does it cost?

Having phone access is great and necessary, but it can cost a lot.  BT Basic is discounted, but by how much?  What are the fees associated with it?  BT Basic will charge you either monthly or quarterly, and you will be charged:

  • Low monthly line rental of £5.16 that comes with a call allowance of £1.50. You also get free weekend calls to 0845 and 0870 numbers (up to 60 minutes).
  • Monthly ‘Price Cap’ of £10 for calls starting 01, 02, 03 and UK mobiles starting 07 and to 08 numbers. Which means, after you have used your £1.50 call allowance, you pay a maximum of £10 a month for calls to the above numbers.

On their website, they state that these numbers are subject to change if they feel you are going over the £10 a month, but they will contact you first.

BT Basic + Broadband

In addition to a phone service, you can also get broadband internet for a discounted rate.  When bundled with the phone service, it will cost £10.07 a month.  You won’t need to pay a connection charge, but you will need to pay a postage fee to get the connection hub sent to your home.  Under BT Basic + Broadband, each month you will get:

  • 15GB usage, which typically means you can:
    • browse the internet for up to half an hour a day
    • stream enough video to watch one standard definition film a month
    • Upload 100 photos to Instagram or Facebook a month
    • Listen to 100 music tracks (or ten albums) a month
    • Play online games for an hour a week
  • BT Virus Protect & BT Parental Controls
  • BT Wi-fi, with access to over five million public wireless hotspots in the UK. See our help section for BT Wi-Fi  

If you go over your monthly limit of 15 GB, you will be charged extra and be notified via email.

Applying to BT Basic and BT Basic + Broadband

Now that you know what the services offer, how do you apply?  They can be reached at 0800 800 864 during their working hours of 8am-6pm Monday-Friday to ask for an application.  They will start your application process, and you’ll be given forms to fill out.  They are going to need the following information to prove that you qualify:

  • your date of birth
  • your National Insurance number
  • confirm the benefit you are receiving
  • remembering to sign and date your application before returning it in the pre-paid envelope. 

After the forms are submitted, they will be reviewed as quickly as possible and you will be contacted if they have any further questions.  

Phone and internet are basic necessities in today’s world.  Luckily, for disabled people and people who are low income, there is an affordable option.

Beginner’s Guide to Accessible Home Adaptations

Beginner's Guide to Accessible Home Adaptations

Your home should be the one place that is accessible to you.  It’s where you spend the majority of your time, so you should be able to do everything you need to do independently.  For some people, this means having lower countertops in the kitchen so they can cook while sitting in their wheelchair.  Other people might need grab-bars in the bathroom, or wider doorways.  Home modifications such as these can be expensive to pay out of pocket.  There are ways to get funding for these adaptations, and today we’re going to discuss how and where to get started.  As always, this is not the only way to go about getting funding, but it’s a great place to start!

Figure Out What You Need

You know better than anyone what you can and can’t do, and what you could do if things were made accessible.  If you’re like me, you’ve probably got a list of ways your home could be more accessible.  Write this list down, have it somewhere you can reference later so you don’t forget anything.  There’s nothing worse than getting your long list of modifications approved only to find you forgot the ramp to the back door, and have to start the process over.  The The National Health Service, or NHS, will help with:

  • fitting a stairlift or a banister on the stairs
  • adding a bath lift, walk-in shower or a rail you hold to pull yourself out of the bath (grab rail)
  • widening doorways
  • lowering kitchen worktops
  • putting in an outdoor ramp or step rail
  • security, such as outside lights and intercom systems

Home Assessment

After you come up with a starting list of adaptations you would like made, the next step is to schedule a home assessment with the NHS.  During the assessment, an occupational therapist will come to your home and discuss your needs with you, and want to see the kinds of things you are struggling to do.  This is so the therapist can get a good idea of what adaptations they recommend.  The nice part about this visit is that the occupational therapist might come up with cheap adaptations you hadn’t thought of before!

I also recommend during this visit to have a friend or family member present.  That way, you can have a second set of ears and eyes to help you remember what the therapist says, as well as someone who can take notes while you are talking.  If you don’t have the ability to have a friend or family member at the assessment, you can get an advocate to help you.

What the NHS Covers

The NHS usually covers each adaptation that costs less than £1,000.  This includes things like grab rails, concrete ramps or steps, and motion-activated lights for the front of your home.  Small, cheap adaptations can be free.

Bigger Home Adaptations

There are some adaptations that are more expensive, like widening doorways or fitting a wetroom.  For these, you can turn to grants such as Disabled Facilities Grant or Independence at Home.  Additionally, a Home Improvement Agency may be able to help you find funding in your area.

Unhappy With Your Assessment?

You may not have gotten everything you thought you needed out of the at-home assessment, for any number of reasons.  That’s okay, that decision isn’t the end.  You can and should file a formal complaint with the local council.  Their website should have a formal complaints procedure.  If you are unhappy with how the council handles your complaint, you should then go to the local government and social care ombudsman.  They are an independent person who look into complaints of different organizations.

Further Help and Advice

There are a lot of resources for adapting your home, and a lot of advice given out on the best way to go about getting to a fully-accessible home.  Here are a few extra resources to get you started.

Beginners Guide to Accessible Transportation

Accessible Transportation

Disabled people, especially those with mobility aids, have a few extra hurdles to jump through when it comes to transportation of any kind.  Whether it be by bus, by train, or by personal vehicle, you still need to have certain accommodations made.  Luckily, these accommodations are already made available in most situations.  Busses and trains are accessible, and there is special parking available for the vehicles of people with disabilities  Not only that, but did you know that there are discounts, and often free transportation, to disabled people?  This article will detail how to get an accessible blue badge for your personal vehicle, as well as a disabled person’s railcard and bus pass.

Blue Badge

Your blue badge is something you display with your vehicle that allows you to park in designated parking spots, often closer to entrances.  These badges are easily obtained here.  The accessible parking spaces have room to the side and sometimes rear of the vehicle, making entering and exiting safer and easier.  Because these spaces are limited, it’s illegal to park in them without the badge, as well as the sectioned off areas around them. 

Remember, not everyone who has the badge has a visible disability.  Just because someone looks fine on the outside doesn’t mean they don’t qualify for the badge.  The person may be having a good day, but still can’t walk far.  Or maybe they’re going to pick someone up who does need the space.

Bus Pass

A disabled person’s bus pass entitles you to free accessible bus transportation on local busses in England, though other parts of the UK have their own passes.  Unfortunately the providers for these passes vary by where you live in England, so check here to see if you qualify and how to apply.

Railcards

A disabled persons railcard does not give you free rides like the bus pass, but does give discounts.  The card needs to be renewed every 1-3 years, depending on which option you choose.  For more information, go to this website for a full breakdown.  You may qualify for a railcard if you:

  • receive a disability related benefit, including Personal Independence Payment
  • are registered as deaf or use a hearing aid
  • receive Attendance Allowance
  • are registered as having a visual impairment
  • receive Severe Disablement Allowance
  • have epilepsy
  • receive War Pensioner’s mobility supplement
  • receive War or Service Disablement pension

Community Transport

There are other modes of transportation if any of these do not work.  For example, social cars, dial-a-ride, or taxicard schemes.  There are shopmobility schemes that could even lend scooters and wheelchairs for around town centers.  These services can vary depending on location, so check the website before relying on it being at your destination.

Getting around town, and even to another town, can be difficult with a disability.  You’ve got to plan ahead and make sure your entire trip is as accessible as possible.  Hopefully, with these resources you can make sure your trips are more accessible to you.

Flight, Accessibility, and All Wheels Up

Flight, Accessibility, and All Wheels Up

Flying can be nightmarish for everyone.  Between getting through security and hoping your bags don’t get lost along the way, everyone has a story they tell.  As much of a hassle as it is, flying allows for easier travel and lets people travel the world. However, as it stands now, airplanes are not easy — and sometimes impossible — for people in wheelchairs to navigate.  Why is that? What kinds of things are keeping flight from being accessible to people with disabilities? Who’s leading the charge in making flights accessible? Today, we’re going to discuss the current situation with disability and flight, and introduce you to a wonderful organization called All Wheels Up who is working to make flights wheelchair accessible.

Flying with a Wheelchair

As it currently stands, wheelchair users can’t sit in their own wheelchair during flight.  This alone makes it impossible for a lot of wheelchair users to fly, because wheelchair seats are usually designed with the person’s body in mind.  Some wheelchair users aren’t able to sit up by themselves, without the aid of their modified chair’s cushion and straps to support them. If they were to want/need to fly, the most they could do is take the cushion off their chair and sit it on the airplane’s seat, and have someone flying with them hold them steady the entire flight.  

Liabilities

Flight attendants help people with disabilities board on and off the plane, but they are not trained to lift.  People with disabilities each need to be lifted a certain way. Not doing it properly can lead to injuries to both the attendant and the person being lifted.   You can’t lift one person the same as another, because our disabilities affect us all differently.  

That’s not even to mention the wheelchair itself — precious cargo. The chair is stowed away along with everyone’s bags, often carelessly, and you have to pray it doesn’t get broken during the flight.  Unlike a lost or damaged suitcase, a disable person cannot run to the local store to buy a new chair to hold them over during their trip. In 2008, one airline spent upwards of $1.5 million on wheelchair repair/replacement. Since then, it’s only gone up.  Wheelchairs are not cheap, and they are vital for independence for many people.  

What about the ADA and other Disability Rights Laws?

This can’t be right, can it?  Airlines should be accessible!  We’ve talked about the ADA. Surely they’ve stepped in to make air travel more accessible, right?  Unfortunately, at least here in America, airlines don’t fall under the ADA’s jurisdiction. The Air Carriers Access Act (ACAA) was written four years prior to the ADA, and supersedes it.  

All Wheels Up

The last time I was on a plane was 2002, and I know that as it stands today that I would not be able to fly now.  Sitting up unassisted is impossible, as is having someone hold me steady enough for a whole flight. It felt like all hope of me ever flying again was lost.  Until a few years ago, when I heard about a non-profit called All Wheels Up.  

All Wheels Up is not just an advocate for people with disabilities who want to be able to fly. They are the only organization funding research to make it possible for wheelchair users to remaine in their chairs during the flight.  Founded in 2011 by Michele Erwin, All Wheels Up has already done multiple crash tests, one in 2016 and one in 2019, to show it is possible to let passengers fly in their own wheelchair. Erwin first encountered these problems when she experienced these difficulties first hand, attempting to arrange a trip with her son who is a wheelchair user with SMA.  

All Wheels Up proposes using similar restraints to the ones that are used in other forms of public transportation, as many of those already exceed FAA regulations.  The problems they are currently facing is funding and awareness. The airlines are unaware of how much money they could save by allowing wheelchair users to stay in their chairs, and All Wheels Up needs funding to do their research.

How Can I Help?

This organization is great!  Flying should be accessible to everyone!  How can you help? In our interview, I asked Erwin, and she said that while there aren’t any big things needed at this exact moment, following their social media is key.  Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.  They also have a newsletter to keep you informed on any big news that may come up.  They also accept donations, because they need funding for research.

Flight should be accessible.  After over 100 years, it’s time for a change.  All Wheels Up is leading the charge, so let’s give them the help they need to achieve this goal.