Nothing has changed for these Sheffield people with disabilities after the Toyko Paralympics
But switch from the sport pages of this week’s Telegraph to the front pages and there is rather a different theme.
A blind student who achieved top grades at A-Level had to quit The University of Sheffield as the support he should have been provided with from the start was not there.
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Hide AdIt is heart-breaking to read how this has impacted his life.
‘I was hoping I would be able to make something of myself’, said Daniel Swain.
“The teaching materials didn’t meet accessibility standards - under law they should have.
"It was shocking to hear they weren’t ready for a student with a disability. “It’s just not good enough at all."
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Hide AdRead Daniel’s story as our big read on pages eight and nine.
And the experience of Charlene Harris-Hextall is equally shocking to hear.
After having her leg amputated due to cancer, the wheelchair Charlene uses is too big to fit through the doorways in her current Sheffield home, and when her husband is at work, her property becomes a fire hazard as she cannot easily leave by herself, or even navigate from room to room.
She said: “I am stuck in the living room all the time. It is awful looking at four walls. I feel like I am back in lockdown.”
Charlene tells her story on page 17.
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Hide AdNationally parents have also spoken of how many playgrounds still have no equipment that can be used by children with disabilities. In 2021.
And the barriers to physical exercise for disabled people, despite the Paralympics, remain almost impassable.
It’s great that Sheffield has gold Paralympic medals to shout about.
But it all seems a bit hollow when some people still aren’t able to get out of their living room, doesn’t it?