Re: TOT: Blind physiotherapists
tony sayer
Very interesting article x posted to uk.Arthur;!..
>>This is meant as irony, by the way. The abuse we blind get has now increased
>>substantially since the Gov had its spin doctors on the scroungers idea.
>>Are people really that thick that they cannot detect real from fake
>>disability?
>
>There are some disabilities where the condition varies. Some of these
>conditions are know as "episodic". I used to know a woman who was aged
>30 when I first met her. She had suffered from joint pains and
>restricted mobility since she was a little girl. It took years for her
>condition to be correctly diagnosed. Eventually she was seen by a
>leading expert. He recognised it as Palindromic Rheumatism. It is named
>palindromic because it comes and goes. It is not continuous.
>
>Wikipedia says of it:
>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palindromic_rheumatism
>
>Begin quote
>
>Palindromic Rheumatism (PR) consists of sudden and rapidly developing
>attacks of arthritis. There is acute pain, redness, swelling, and
>disability of one (usually) or multiple joints. The interval between
>recurrent attacks is extremely variable and how long the attack lasts is
>also variable. There is no joint damage after attacks.
>
>Due to the symptoms of PR and the nature of the attacks, diagnosis can
>be difficult or take time. The symptoms can be similar to many other
>forms of arthritis or other auto-immune diseases. It is often a case of
>eliminating the other conditions before getting the correct diagnosis
>due to there being no specific test for PR diagnosis.
>
>End quote.
>
>My friend's condition varied in that way. Some days she was able to get
>around normally. Other days she had to stay at home. If she had been
>assessed in a single session with a government doctor she would have
>been classified as disabled or as not disabled depending in whether she
>was having an attack of the disease at the time the doctor saw her.
>
>There are other conditions in which a person might pass a test for their
>ability to perform certain physical tasks. However, their disability
>might mean that they cannot perform those tasks repeatedly in the way
>that a non-disabled person could.
>
>A person's ability during an assessment session with a doctor is not
>necessarily typical of their ability all day and day after day.
>
>Some people with disabling conditions may be incorrectly classified
>because the docotor is extrapolating from what is seen in a brief
>session. The person's ongoing condition may be better or worse than seen
>in the session.
>
>Scroungers take advantage of this because they can act disabled while
>being assessed.
>
--
Tony Sayer