Recently the Government published a Green Paper on the reform of care services in the UK. It's called Shaping the Future of Care Together and you can read it .
However, Disability Living Allowance (DLA), a benefit which is claimed by many deaf people to help with their living costs, is an area of potential reform in this Green Paper. It is suggested that Disability Living Allowance could be replaced by other forms of payment, or turned into an agreed personal budget administered by local council social services.
Many deaf people are up in arms about this - with messages going around saying that there are 100 Days left to save DLA. The website has mounted a hard hitting online campaign with thousands of people signed up to their cause.
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Some of the See Hear team are out and about today, filming at a maternity unit in Huntingdon with a deaf Midwife. Most of the women she cares for are hearing, but there seems to be a bit of a See Hear baby boom going on - with lots of ourÌýinterpreters, regular contributors and contacts all expecting at around the same time... so we've asked one Deaf woman to make a video diary of her preganancy and first few weeks as a mum... and we're looking forward to seeing how she and her partner cope with the huge change in their lives.
We've had a worrying few days when a member of our team came down with Swine Flu and had some difficulty accessing information and treatment - but she's completely better and back at work now.
Also, you may remember that a little while ago we sent Memnos down to Cornwall to learn to surf, at the Big Blue Surf School, where teacher Becky gives instruction in BSL. We were delighted to find out that a couple of viewers were inspired by Memnos's heroics on the high seas and have gone for lessons themselves. We've also heard from Deaf Surf dude Harry Hilliar, who went to Hawaii to compete in the World Deaf Surf Championships. Harry did well, coming 3rd for the Under 30's short boarding and 3rd for the under 30's longboarding competition. He got through to the open short board final but wasn't placed and is determined to make it to Brazil for the next Championships, in 2011.
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