ATR has long advocated that since disabled and deaf people were given major inclusion and access laws, we have less now than before they were enacted. It is as if once laws were on the statute, we stopped making sure they worked properly.
The Deaf area ignored this, and campaigned solely for themselves, with recent successes via a BSL Act, which wasn't needed in Wales, because the local government there had accepted the inclusion law day one, they also blurred the definitions between the individual and the collective, by using a master-stroke that was so simple, the systems never saw it coming, they just capitalised a single letter (d, to D), then, all, became one. A minority became the majority by default, a sensory loss became a way of life and a right, and a cure or alleviation, cultural genocide. Unfortunately it also created divisions, by Db, language, and way of social life, defeating own inclusion policies.
It labelled most with deafness and hearing loss, with a culture they never had, and a communication format they never used, which caused many to actually LOSE support, because systems had bought into the hype of the minority, and re-applied it wrongly, all emphasis was on support they didn't use or want.
Support and funding went to the minority instead. The rest of the UK government/business has clearly not accepted or endorsed, access and inclusion laws. Even when going to court, no precedent is being set so other disabled unable to speak for themselves, could benefit, the individual being paramount, meant all have to go to court one at a time to get needs met. The disabled/deaf communities just lobby for another Act or law. Grassroots find legal action is impossible. HM Government had removed free legal aid.
The biggest issue we face today is a total lack of real awareness, and the state dismantling the welfare state, and attacking the most vulnerable. Despite various charities and others going it alone, they all appear to have failed, and by own admissions, as campaigns complain society (Whoever they are), are not aware of what they need to do, but still taken £M's in funding with them, with nil, to show for it, least of all awareness.
Others quickly realised there was a profit to be made from us, non-disabled people set up courses online, many with zero awareness or qualifications themselves, via training, and 'lessons' in awareness, etc, and they now run most of not it all. Just sub-standard and biased/poor awareness tips. Disabled/deaf became a commodity to be exploited, and others got the work and got paid for it and still do. Charity became corporate, a business, and the bottom and their relentless line was to keep us all reliant, if not on the state, on charity itself. The state helped them along, by offering less and less support themselves, so many had to rely on charity.
Funding has not produced awareness or any advances. Given so many random areas joined the awareness bandwagons, setting up 'hubs' as a catch-all, centre for awareness, they endorsed 'political' campaigns and approaches to awareness, campaigning as if access and inclusion laws didn't exist at all, when the reality, was they just didn't work. This was obvious in the 1990s when Disability Act demands were well advanced. However, Charities reneged on grassroots fearing lack of own support, and persuaded the government to adopt the Act, but agree to water down any effect it might have.
The real aim of charity, was kudos and funding for set ups run by a few, on a computer somewhere.£1000s vanished overnight as no checks were made on them. The systems then proceeded to endorse nothing with us, or to include us, and disabled memberships of leading campaigns became selective and isolated in approach. Deaf do this, Blind do that, mental health do another etc. Nobody seems to understand we cannot succeed this way, united we stand, divided we fall etc... Our biggest enemy y is our own refusal to support each other. cest la vie has made us all reluctant to say 'Look, this isn't working, you going that way, and us going the other, we need to go together.'
