ABSTRACT
The chapter explores how the actions of a small group of disabled students in the United States motivated the development of a growing network of activism across the United Kingdom (UK) during the 1980s and 1990s. In the UK, the issue of group control therefore became a defining issue in transforming attitudes towards disability throughout the 1980s. The establishment of the Independent Living Fund in 1988 was intended to enable a small number of disabled people to receive cash payments to buy in personal assistance to support their needs. Disability Living Allowance was introduced in 1992 as a non-means-tested and non-taxable payment that formed the main source of benefit for working-age disabled people. During the post-war era UK community care services that were established to support disabled people lacked a cohesive framework. The more punitive approach to disability support has also been a feature of Employment and Support Allowance. Its implementation came about under the Labour government, replacing Incapacity Benefit.
