Hi I'm Alan Desborough or Des. I've been disabled all my life and now I'm near to getting my pension. I have seen a lot of changes in my life towards disabled people and I have always been a part of that change.
My first involvement in the politics of disability was when they were opening 28 King Henrys Walk Hostel. I was on the advisory group and it was a revolution for an advisory group for disabled people in the early seventies to have a disabled person on it. The Medical Model of Disability was still dominant and I couldn't understand why we needed a matron and why the legislation that said that residential establishments were for people who needed care and attention was interpreted as in need of being looked after. As many people know when it opened King Henry's Walk was a revolution and I'm glad to say I played an important role in that revolution. In many ways it's where I developed my independence and learnt about facilitation which enabled me to control my life by using non-disabled people as my hands and legs. Now we never got a matron and we always told the medical officer where to go when he talked about locking our drugs up. In many ways facilitation changed my whole life because I was no longer dependent on non-disabled people running my life.
I then went on to Dial-a-Ride which was conceived in Islington despite political problems of the council at the time. I was press officer for the Federation of London Dial-a-Rides that established the service across London and Im very proud to say that not only did we force the Thatcher government to fund Dial-a-Ride in London post GLC but we also got the government to establish a disability unit within London Regional Transport. Getting a small mention in the transport legislation was a revolution in 1984 because disability was still seen as a social services issue.
I then went on to the Campaign for Accessible Transport. What fun it was going around the West End looking for roads to block and hold up buses but in the debates that led to the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act it all became worthwhile (I was in the Gallery of the House of Commons to see the government introduce DDA Part V Access to buses, trains and taxis). I have also done a lot of work on access to the underground and I regret that the work in the mid nineties was never taken forward.
Also in the early nineties I did a degree at North London University. This was a very important part of my life. Its incredible how much I learned and also, despite the fact I was now in my forties, it was the first time I had done anything with non-disabled people and that was very important to me. I learnt lots about all kinds of stuff.
Throughout all this time I have been involved in independent living. Many times over the last twenty years there have been threats to my twenty four hour facilitation service but Ive always managed to maintain my independence. It has even enabled me to get my degree.
The disability movement is very dear to my heart. I think we have achieved a lot in the last twenty five years. Liberating ourselves from the charity model of disability to the civil rights movement we have today. I was delighted when last year I got the job at The National Centre for Independent Living (one of the leading organisations in the disability movement) to spearhead the latest campaign of the movement a Right to Independent Living for every disabled person across impairments and age groups. I love changing the world and I have.
When Im not working for the disability movement I love folk music. They say its my disease but Im never happier than when I am at a folk festival gossiping to friends. I also love travel. In fact Im a very active person.
Alan Desborough
