FionaK |
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| As you may know, the government is contributing to the gaiety of nations by providing increasingly surreal things to make us laugh. One of the best of these jokes is the fact that ATOS is sponsoring the Paralympic Games which are currently under way. This has posed something of a dilemma for disability rights groups: the Paralympics are a great opportunity for helping to change attitudes to disabled people: so most rights groups support them. On the other hand ATOS are making life miserable/impossible for many disabled people and so there are large scale protests about ATOS involvement. http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/20...lympic-sponsorswww.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug..._medium=twitter It is a sick, really. Hilarious. So lest we forget what ATOS are all about here is another BBC report about one case: www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-19433535The lady concerned has died: while she was in her last illness she had to spend time and energy fighting for her benefit because ATOS said she was fit to work. She did have the benefit reinstated eventually: and died very shortly thereafter. This is not a one off. It is not that she "slipped through the cracks" or was in any way atypical: this is in fact what this system does: at huge cost, both financial and human. You will note that this lady, undergoing treatment for breast cancer, achieved no points on the ATOS assessment. What kind of assessment gives no points for a broken shoulder and no points for a terminal illness? As Helen said, it appears that they are assessing whether you are breathing .... Edited by FionaK - 31/8/2012, 12:03 |
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