PGP / SPD My story:

Sarah Wingfield speaks on the attacks on the Disabled Community in the UK KawaiiDollDecora.uk #disabilitytiktok #disabilityawareness #government #britain #kawaiidolldecora Video:

You want to know real heartache? I had to sign my child over to my parents when he was two years old and undergoing cancer treatment because I believed that was the only way to protect him from a system I no longer trusted. So please do not tell me that children are never separated from their families without serious failings by the parent. I have lived through a situation where disability itself was treated as a reason to question my ability to parent. There are also families of disabled children who have spent years trying to explain unexplained bruising, fractures or other symptoms before an underlying condition is finally identified. When professionals misunderstand disability or rare medical conditions, the consequences for families can be devastating. In some cases, by the time a diagnosis is reached, relationships and placements have already been profoundly affected. My son was, and is, incredibly precious to me. I became disabled during pregnancy and used a wheelchair, includin...

“Why don’t you just get paid work?” Ah yes… because apparently nobody facing disability, inaccessible workplaces or discrimination has ever thought of that one before. 🤣 This is exactly why I talk about systemic ableism. The assumption that someone who isn’t in conventional paid employment simply isn’t trying completely ignores the barriers disabled people can face when trying to access, remain in, or create sustainable work. I am trying to build paid work for myself. I create, advocate, support people, develop projects and work towards making what I do financially sustainable. The issue isn’t a lack of effort. It’s the confidence some people have in judging a life they haven’t taken five minutes to understand. Ask questions. Have a different perspective. Discuss difficult subjects. But assumptions aren’t facts — and “just get a job” isn’t a solution to systemic barriers. 💪🏻✨ #DisabilityAdvocacy #Ableism #SystemicAbleism #DisabledAndWorking #DisabilityAwareness #AccessibilityMatters...

When Benefits Become a Weapon Against Disabled People: What disabled people have to put up with online is genuinely exhausting. Today someone commented that anybody receiving benefits should remember “who’s paying for them” and be grateful, and that attitude is exactly the problem. Benefits are not charity handed out personally by random strangers. They are part of a social security system designed to support people through disability, illness, unemployment and hardship, because any one of us could need that support at some point in our lives. Receiving benefits does not mean somebody else owns you, gets to speak down to you or gets to decide how grateful you should be. It also ignores how much disabled people contribute, including through work that is completely unpaid. I spend a huge amount of time advocating, supporting communities, creating resources, raising awareness and helping people navigate difficult systems. Disabled people volunteer, care for others, run support groups, cam...

PIP and Universal Credit reforms risk destroying disabled people’s independence and routes into work: I’ve written to Andy Burnham about the impact PIP and Universal Credit reforms could have on disabled people who are already trying to work and remain independent. For me, further cuts or restrictions wouldn’t push me into employment — they could make me homeless, bankrupt and destroy everything I’ve been building towards becoming self-employed. PIP helps cover the extra costs of disability and supports independence. Councils, the NHS and charities simply cannot absorb the consequences if that support is removed. Disabled people need meaningful consultation, proper impact assessments and safeguards against poverty, debt and homelessness. You cannot claim to support disabled people into work while taking away the very support that makes work and independence possible. #SystemicAbleism #DisabilityRights #DisabilitySupport #PIP #UniversalCredit #StrongerTogether My email: PIP and Universa...

I Emailed the Prime Minister to Demand Action on Systemic Ableism I emailed our Prime Minister because I can already see disabled people being targeted. Our community deserves to be supported—not blamed, punished or harmed further. Disabled people face entrenched barriers in employment, higher living costs and persistent discrimination, yet public debate too often treats us as the problem. This is what I sent: " Dear Prime Minister, I am writing to urge your government to take meaningful action against systemic ableism and create stronger incentives for employers to recruit, retain and promote disabled people. Disabled people continue to encounter significant barriers to employment, including inaccessible recruitment processes, discrimination, inadequate workplace adjustments and assumptions about our abilities. Even when disabled people secure paid employment, many experience lower pay and fewer opportunities for progression. Disability also brings substantial additional living c...

Core Forms of Ableism 🌸 -Sarah Wingfield  Independent Disability Advocate  1. Individual Ableism Direct attitudes, beliefs, or actions from a person. Name-calling, mockery, slurs Assuming disabled people are “less capable” Speaking over or infantilising someone Ignoring access needs or boundaries 👉 This is the most visible form—but not the only one. 2. Interpersonal Ableism How ableism shows up in interactions between people. Dismissing someone’s lived experience Comparing disabilities (“others have it worse”) Gaslighting symptoms or needs Tokenism or performative support 👉 This often hides behind “opinions” or “debates” but causes real harm. 3. Institutional Ableism When systems, organisations, or policies disadvantage disabled people. Workplaces refusing reasonable adjustments Schools not supporting learning needs Healthcare dismissing symptoms Legal systems lacking accessibility 👉 This is where the Equality Act 2010 (UK) should protect—but often fails in practice. 4. St...

Disabled people are being failed again and again. Stop removing support from disabled constituents. Stop the hateful misinformation in the media. Stop ignoring systemic ableism. Many disabled people want to work and contribute, but accessible, fairly paid opportunities are still being denied to us. And even when disabled people do get into paid work, the UK disability pay gap was 12.7% in 2023 according to the ONS.  That is not fairness. That is discrimination built into the system. Some of us are already doing huge amounts of unpaid labour — advocacy, care, community work, creative work, emotional labour — while also managing the extra daily costs that come with disability. Those extra costs are real, and cutting support only pushes disabled people further into hardship. Around 5 million people were receiving either PIP or DLA under DWP policy ownership at February 2025, showing how many people rely on disability-related support.  Disabled people deserve dignity. We deserve a...

Meta Support Fails to Hold Their Own Misuse of Policies and Procedures to Account I have now reached the point where silence speaks louder than policy. After my account was demonetised by Meta over an image they classified as “sexual in nature,” (a chatGPT image falsely categorised as such) I followed the correct process. I asked for transparency. I asked for the legal basis. I asked for accountability. What I received instead was dismissal. Despite repeated, clearly written requests grounded in UK law, Meta support has refused to provide the most basic information required to justify an income-affecting enforcement decision. This is not a misunderstanding. This is not a disagreement over taste or content. This is a failure of governance. What I asked for (reasonably and lawfully) I formally requested: The specific policy provision relied upon to classify the content as sexual Confirmation of whether the demonetisation decision involved automated decision-making, human review, or a com...

 They call them “compliance officers” — the ones who investigate UC claimants. But with benefits comes no privacy, no autonomy. You can follow every rule, abide by every law, and still find yourself targeted because someone made you their hobby… someone decided to stir trouble just to watch the fallout. I am compliant. And yet here I am, facing an invasive UC interrogation anyway. Oh well. A waste of time for both of us, I suppose. People still think benefits are “easy.” They think disability support is some kind of luxury. They have no idea that the system is built on suspicion and ableism, not compassion. I hate this system. And I’ll keep calling it out — loudly. Sarah Wingfield Independent Disability Advocate #disabilityinclusion #strongertogether #disability #disabilityawareness #disabilitysupport #disabilityrights Alt text: A brightly coloured 3D avatar with long pink and purple pigtails wearing pink headphones. The avatar has bright makeup, a small nose piercing, and a lip pi...

  Today I signed and shared a petition forwarded to me from Sarah: Changing the Narrative, on Facebook. It was a real life acknowledgement of the systemic barriers regarding housing disabled individuals, and how most bungalows are 65+. I signed it, shared it and I sent the following email to my MP.  If you'd like to sign and share it, please use the link below and if you need to, you can use my email as a template for your own. Good luck 🤞🏻 we are going to need it to change this issue. 🙏🏻 ---- Subject: Support for Petition on Accessible Housing for Disabled People Dear Alan Strickland, Anita, I am writing to you as one of your constituents and as a disability advocate to ask for your support regarding an important petition I have signed:  https://petition.parliament.uk/signatures/159851268/signed The petition calls for the Government to require social housing providers to ensure that all disabled people, regardless of age, can access ground-floor or accessible housing...