By Carolyn Weston
27/03/2024 Disabled United
Opinion
When I heard the announcement that Government was restricting disabled people’s access to fund equipment and how we can spend our Individual Funding, I was dismayed and confused.
Recently, I attended a forum about “Engaging Good Lives” informing us we now have self-determination and can make our own choices about our lives.
Last year, I purchased a special lens for my reading glasses and upgraded my screen reader for my computer with my funding allocation but today I can’t do this anymore.
For me, adaptive equipment and other blindness supports are equally important as my need for a wheel-chair or walking-frame. Government expects us all to interact with the internet and bank, pay bills, attend meetings, etc online but I and other blind people can’t do that without adaptive technology.
Let blind people take our rightful place in today’s society.
Carolyn G Weston QSM
Invercargill disabled woman