DEMOS Project - Module: Disability Awareness

Module : Disability Awareness : Appendices

Oliver's alternative questions to assess disability statistics compared with those used by the OPCS in 1988

The OPCS survey of 1988 used a standard set of questions to obtain information about individual's impairment. Oliver (1990) has criticised the approach taken by the OPCS because the main focus of the questions was based on a medical model of disability. Oliver suggested it would be more appropriate to ask questions that focus on the societal barriers that disabled people face in their lives:

This table compares OPCS questions to Oliver's alternative questions
OPCS	Oliver
Can you tell me what is wrong with you?	Can you tell me what is wrong with society?
What complaint causes your difficulty in holding, gripping or turning things?	What defect in the design of everyday equipment like jars, bottles and tins causes you difficulty in holding, gripping or turning them?
Are your difficulties in understanding people mainly due to a hearing problem?	Are your difficulties in understanding people mainly due to their inability to communicate?
Do you have a scar, blemish or deformity which limits your daily activities?	Do other people's reactions to any scar, blemish or deformity you may have limit your daily activities?
Have you attended a special school because of a long-term health problem or disability?	Have you attended a special school because of your educational authority's policy of sending people with your health problem/disability to such places?
Does your health problem/disability prevent you from going out as often or as far as you would like?	What is it about the local environment that makes it difficult for you to get about in your neighbourhood?
Does your health problem/disability make it difficult for you to travel by bus?	Are there any transport or financial problems which prevent you from going out as often or as far as you would like?
Does your health problem/disability affect your work in any way at present?	Do you have problems at work because of the physical environment or the attitudes of others?
Does your health problem/disability mean that you need to live with relatives or someone else who can help or look after you?	Are community services so poor that you need to rely on relatives or someone else to provide you with the right level of personal assistance?
Does your present accommodation have any adaptations because of your poor health/disability?	Did the poor design of your home mean that you had to have it adapted to suit your needs?

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