Disability news round up: welfare reform, hate crime, Paralympics

The Welfare Reform Bill is going through parliament and being closely followed by many disabled people.

On Wednesday there were anxieties that moving the debate from the floor of the main chamber meant it might get less scrutiny and we saw

wheelchair-using baronesses Grey-Thompson and Campbell appealing that the proposal to move it to a smaller committee room would mean it was less accessible for disabled spectators and for the viewing public at home.

The Equality and Human Rights Commission released a report this week on disability hate crime concluding that the cases which make the national press are just the tip of the iceberg. It finds that low level harrassment seems to be accepted.

In a rare bit of light-hearted news, it was announced on Thursday that London, Belfast, Edinburgh and Cardiff - the UK's capital cities - will host Paralympic flame lighting events starting August 24th next year. After separate relays, all four flames will unite at a special ceremony at Stoke Mandeville, spiritual home of the games, on the 28th; it will be taken to London from there.

Elsewhere in the news:

Scale of cuts has 'no bearing' on services for disabled people (The Guardian)

Welfare Reform: Nice idea but more attention needed (The Huffington Post)

PM backs MPs' criticism of health regulator (BBC News)

Henry Winkler, the Fonz in Happy Days, appointed OBE (BBC News)

Report calls for more failing care house protection (BBC News)

Asylum's demolition marks end of era in mental health (BBC News)

London 2012: How Stoke Mandeville put Paralympics on the map (BBC News)

Bristol's deaf community feel under siege (The Guardian, Comment Is Free)

Why are Britons so gloomy in middle age? (BBC News)

'Shy' children at risk of being diagnosed with mental disorder (The Daily Telegraph)

An essential service to thousands but the number in classes are plummeting: the death of lip-reading (Mail Online)

New device that heats lungs gives hope to asthma sufferers (Mail Online)

Personality disorders: one of the most controversial and misunderstood areas of mental health (The Independent)

Health service for prisoners with learning disabilities (BBC News)