THE QUARTERly - Newsletter of the 25% Group - summer 2006

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA)

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) protects disabled people. The Act sets out the circumstances in which a person is "disabled". It says you are disabled if you have:

· Mental or physical impairment

· This has an adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities

· The adverse effect is substantial

· The adverse effect is long-term

At least on of these areas must by substantially affected:

· Mobility

· Manual dexterity

· Physical co-ordination

· Continence

· Ability to lift, carry or move everyday objects

· Speech, hearing or eyesight

· Memory, or ability to concentrate, learn or understand

· Understanding of the risk of physical danger

There are some special provisions, for example:

· If your impairment has substantially affected your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities, but doesn't any more, it will still be counted as having that effect if it is likely to do so again.

· If you have a progressive condition and it will substantially affect your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities in the future, you will be regarded as having an impairment which has a substantial adverse effect from the moment the condition has some effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities (cancer, HIV infection and multiple sclerosis are covered effectively from the point of diagnosis - no mention of ME/CFS).

It's really important to think about the effect of your impairment without treatment. The Act says that any treatment or correction should not be taken into account, including medical treatment or the use of a prosthesis or other aid (for example, a hearing aid).

The important thing is to work out exactly how your impairment affects you. Remember to concentrate on what you can't do, or find difficult, rather than what you can do.

This information was taken from the Disability Rights Commission's website at www.drc-gb.org, Tel: 08457 622 633.