The paralympics (an alternative headline story)

The BBC posted an article about the upcoming paralympics. In it, there is a lot of references to how far we have come as a society since those times and how enlightened our attitude towards disabled people are. I want to re write the article using London 2012, because its been bugging me how mis representative it is of disabled peoples day to day life in 2012.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19366834

The 2012 Paralympic games in London is set against a backdrop of great change for disabled people across the UK. Thanks to the current government the Welfare Reform Act is threatening the income of tens of thousands of disabled people, and combined with the other cuts being implemented  is causing a serious deterioration in their quality of life.

Despite London having one of the best transport systems in the world, over half of it is still inaccessible to those people who use a wheelchair. The tube is partly step free, but even then wheelchair users are unable to alight the train without assistance. London buses, and taxis have ramps (when they work) but are limited to one wheelchair user, and on a bus, if a pushchair is using that space then the person has to wait for the next bus (despite this being illegal).

Despite the paralymic park being completely wheelchair accessible, the hotels around london are far from ideal. Access through the kitchen on a pallet lift is not a 21st century definition of access, but it happened (http://benefitscroungingscum.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/two-girls-one-wheelchair-21st-century.html). Disabled people do unfortunately have to take it for granted these days, having to book train assistance 24 hours in advance, but it not turning up and being forced to throw themselves off the train to get off. Its not dignified but they get on with it http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EYTcFjkLWA.

Despite the modern paralympics being borne out of a doctors assertion that sport was therapy, disabled people live in fear of going to the gym, or any sort of activity. Thanks to the DWP and the daily mail, the seemingly consistent stories of disabled people playing sport (of all things!) and defrauding the government of benefits has been etched into the public conciousness resulting in disabled people not able to enjoy sport. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2114356/Waterslide-disability-benefits-cheat-caught-camera-luxury-south-France-holiday-forced-sell-house-pay-thousands.html Despite the fact that it is benefits such as DLA that are actually enabling some of the GB athletes to take part.

Thanks to the hours and hours of TV coverage, and channel4s superhuman style adverts,  peoples attitudes are going to become even more hardened to disabled people on benefits. Crys of "well they can do it, why can't you" will be heard across the country, and the scrounger rhetoric will become entrenched. In the last 3 years attitudes towards disabled people have become a whole lot worse, with hate crime on the rise and discrimination becoming commonplace. This is despite the laws designed to protect disabled people.http://www.scope.org.uk/campaigns/disability-discrimination/disability-hate-crime

Thousands of disabled people would be grateful for any job, as would any able bodied person. However, the jobcentre still attempt to put disabled people who are highly qualified into meaningless training schemes or inapropiate low paid work.

Despite the great sporting event going on, thousands of disabled people are at risk, from cuts and a poor quality of life. Thanks to the implementation of ESA disabled people are committing sucide as they can not cope with the barriers being placed in their way. Behind the games, people are organising protests, doing whatever they can to highlight the plight of disabled people, who after 50 years are still on the margins of society and still struggling to have equality. http://www.dpac.uk.net/2012/08/latest-information-on-atos-games-week/