Disability Issues: Discrimination, Employment
Living with Cerebral Palsy
Content Provided by Scope
Employment
Many employers still favor non-disabled job applicants over disabled ones. This
happens for a variety of reasons ranging from fear or prejudice to
misunderstandings about people’s abilities or the supposed costs of employing a
disabled person.
Whilst some major companies are practicing equal opportunities there are still
instances of prejudice towards disabled colleagues among other employers or
fellow employees. Once in employment disabled people do not always have the same
promotion prospects as non-disabled colleagues and they may have to work harder
to maintain their position within the organization.
Families/carers
In 1995, Scope published the results of its
study into carers’ lives - one of the largest studies ever undertaken - in
Disabled in Britain: behind closed doors - the carers’ experience. (13)
The needs of individual families and carers
differ widely. This partly reflects the type of support available to them, and
partly the needs of the person for whom they care (ranging from young carers and
young disabled children, to elderly carers and elderly relatives being cared
for). In this factsheet, we are only able to give a partial picture of the needs
of some families/carers.
Emotional/psychological needs
Carers, whether family, friends or employees,
play a crucial role in the lives of disabled people. As well as being a
potentially rewarding and satisfying role, caring for disabled people can be
stressful and is often undervalued (14), in both economic and status terms.
Caring for a disabled person also affects
other members of the family, especially siblings. Parents may feel guilty about
not giving enough time to siblings, and siblings may also harbour feelings of
resentment about this. Three-quarters of respondents in Scope’s 1995 survey (15)
who cared for disabled children aged between 6 and 15 felt they sometimes
neglected other family members, as opposed to 50% who cared for someone aged 65
or more.
Physical needs
Caring for a disabled person can be hard work.
Many carers feel both physically tired and mentally fatigued because of the
effort involved in obtaining and providing the services needed. Carers often put
their own health and safety at risk through physical activity necessitated by
lack of equipment, or through the mental worries brought about by the constant
anxiety.
Financial/economic needs
‘Caring costs’, said Scope’s 1995 report on
caring (16). It found that many respondents bear the bulk of the costs
themselves: their careers suffer; they experience financial hardship and are
frequently stressed and unwell.
Scope’s publications list
contains many useful items in addition to the reports listed above. Many of the
publications and leaflets can be downloaded from the website. Bulk copies or
priced publications can be obtained from Scope’s Library & Information Unit.
Tel: 020 7619 7342. Email:
publications@scope.org.uk
Scope website:
www.scope.org.uk | 
