I think I’ll jus flag this blog entry by my mate Chris up because I think it is pretty sound. In it, Dr. Whitaker writes of his experience as a disabled man, and how he has been able to use that experience to contribute to various boards and schemes. For example, he writes of how, at university, he was able to point out to people how things could be improved in terms of accessibility. I’ve had similar experiences myself. Yet, as chris says, one must always be conscious not to allow ones self to become a token; a stand-in for all disabled people. ”To take my own impairment of cerebral palsy as an example, there are different types of CP and the degree to which it can impact on the lives of people who have it can vary enormously. This means that I always try to speak with care when talking about impairment, as I can only speak with authenticity about my own lived experience, and there will be many other different takes on things out there.” Thus he raises a very interesting point: to what extent can a disabled person speak on behalf of other disabled people. In the case of cerebral palsy, no two people are alike: CP effects everyone slightly differently. Our needs will therefore differ, calling into question the extent one can generalise. To take that a step further, though, it has implications for the old ”us and them” debate: given ‘we’ all have different needs and requirements, and one disabled person cannot necessarily speak on behalf of another, can we really be seen as a coherent group? If not, where does that leave disability politics and culture?