Bearing the brunt

People with disabilities are feeling the effects of the government’s austerity policies more than most – and they are having a real adverse impact on their lives, as Mary O’Hara has found out: As the mother of a 20-year-old with a number of learning disabilities, Yvonne Newbold has learnt a thing or two over the years about fighting for adequate funding and appropriate care for her child. But while it has always been a battle to access the range of help needed, she is emphatic that austerity cuts have made the circumstances of families like hers much tougher and that,