Step into the irreverent world of disabled cartoonist Crippen aka Dave Lupton, who has been in the vanguard of disability arts movement for more years than he cares to mention. His work has appeared in mainstream press, on TV and film and is now probably the best Disabled cartoonist in the world!

Second class health care

28 March 2009

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You may remember a few weeks ago (30th January to be precise) I addressed the poor standard of health care for people with learning difficulties. Well you won’t be surprised to hear that The Health Service and Local Government Ombudsmen has directly linked the poor care of two Disabled people to their eventual deaths. The Ombudsmen had looked into complaints made by the charity Mencap representing families of the six Disabled people who died between 2003 and 2005. They found one Disabled man...

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Millionaires?!

24 March 2009

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Did you hear that organisations run by Disabled people are to receive a million pound boost to run themselves and help Disabled people to live fuller and more independent lives? Yes, that’s right, you heard me correctly. The government is giving money to us crips to continue doing what we do best – working with other crips. Great eh, and there’s no catch apparently! Care Services Minister, Phil Hope announced that twenty-five "user-led" organisations, which include Southampton Centre for...

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Speedy crossing!

20 March 2009

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Having stated that he wants to work towards making his city the access capital of the world (in time for the 2012 Olympics) it’s now clear that Mayor of London Boris Johnson was referring to making the capital more accessible for motorists. He’s planning to introduced ‘speedy street crossings’ which means that crossing times for pedestrians will be cut by up to six seconds along with a reduced number of green man phases. This will mean that even reasonably fit pedestrians will have to...

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Sex and Sexability

16 March 2009

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OK boys and girls, due to public demand (well, the crip public anyway!) I've just posted a new book about the sexuality of Disabled people onto my web site. The link to the info page is: www.daveluptoncartoons.co.uk/crippen/news.html The idea for the book has been rumbling away on the back burner for some time and I've gradually added cartoons and text to the rough outline as different thoughts arise. Not that it's the only thing I'm thinking of you understand, although when you get to my age...

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Smile please!

15 March 2009

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Many of the anti-charity cartoons that I’ve created over the past couple of decades have tended to hit out at the Leonard Cheshire Foundation (LCF) and I’m often asked why that is. Where to begin? Well, apart from the fact that I’ve known quite a few people who have been ‘incarcerated’ (their description) in LCF homes and have told me about the lack of any mechanism that allows for them to have a say in the running of the establishments, and therefore their lives, I also take...

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Things in common

6 March 2009

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One of the things that really gets up my nose is when people assume that just because I’m Disabled, I must therefore enjoy being with other Disabled people and will get on with them like a house on fire.  I can remember one occasion when I’d been invited to a small gathering by some friends and I was introduced to a guy who had some form of muscular impairment. I was using a power wheelchair that evening and the assumption was that both being Disabled we’d have a lot to talk about....

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Safe and sound

4 March 2009

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A visually impaired Wandsworth man who’s has been away at a rehab centre for a while is due back home in a couple of day’s time. Great news eh?! Well, so you’d think until you read an email that’s been put out by the Direct Action Network (DAN) asking if any one’s free to act as an advocate for him when he does return home. The problem it appears is that his Social Services have decided to make life at home easier for him. They’ve come up with a way to stop him from bumping into...

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Ken Lumb

3 March 2009

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I've just received the sad news that Ken Lumb, a great mate and Editor of the Manchester Coalition magazine died recently in hospital. Ken was a tireless worker within the Disabled people's movement and will be missed by us all. A celebration of his life is being held at Manchester Coalition's HQ on Tuesday 10th March.

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