Frances Ryan
@DrFrancesRyan
Guardian journalist. Commentator of the Year 2024. Author of Who Wants Normal? (pre-order) and Crippled (out now). E: [email protected]
Four years on an iPhone in bed later, Who Wants Normal? is finally out in the world today. Part memoir, part guide, it features 50+ of Britain’s best known disabled women. I hope it makes you laugh, possibly cry, and feel seen. Order all formats here: linktr.ee/WhoWantsNormal
I’ve been here more lately because of the welfare bill as I know many disabled readers rely on X but I’ll be stepping back now to sometimes-posting. Shockingly, this place isn’t pleasant for minorities with a Guardian profile! Find me on the Blue app and Insta. With Mabel photos.
Thank you @HurstPublishers for my copy of @RachelCDailey’s Ramping Up Rights! I can think of a few politicians and pundits who could do with reading this.
“Watching nurseries bring back Covid hygiene protocols while medics urge people to get vaccinated, it feels as if we’re blindly going over an old routine, scrubbing surfaces with disinfectant and denial.” My col. on measles and repeating the same mistakes theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Another petty counterproductive move from Starmer. Punishing MPs who stood against a widely unpopular policy won’t endear him to the public or improve discipline in the party. It just makes him look like he hasn’t learnt a thing from the disability cuts. Because he hasn’t.
“There’s a longstanding practice in UK politics to force disabled people to fight for basic rights – a kind of gladiatorial scrap in which the Colosseum is replaced by the set of Good Morning Britain.” Today’s col. on the fallout of more ‘welfare reform.’ theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Brilliant from @DrFrancesRyan 👏👏👏 Also check out the book Who Wants Normal? theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
It worries me how many people misunderstand “1 in 4 people are disabled” as “1 in 4 people can’t work or are on benefits.” This is BTL on today’s column who presumably regularly reads and engages. Yet they still genuinely think a quarter of adults aren’t working due to illness?!
“When the political and media class wish to leave disabled people hungry and dirty, the disabled community must explain why we should be allowed to eat and be clean.” Today’s col. reflects on a tough month and what it all means for disability in the U.K. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
“In Trumpian times, we need joyful narratives around disability more than ever.” To mark the audiobook of Who Wants Normal? coming out in the US, I wrote a guest essay for @SFdirewolf @DisVisibility on the shared fight for rights across the Atlantic. wp.me/p4H7t1-2njz
I beg of the blue ticks still in my mentions to understand 1 in 4 people having a disability is *not* the same thing as 1 in 4 people being on disability benefits. This is not hard, lads! Watch literally anything other than GB News! Google for 45 seconds!
The number is neither here nor there. We simply cannot write off one in four people and abandon them to welfare dependency. We expect and demand a contribution and a bit of individual resilience. People with disabilities can and must contribute and be financially independent if…
I’m touched to win the Public Understanding Award from the @SocialPolicyUK - given to the journalist facilitating public understanding of social policy. As an ex-academic now in the murky waters of British media, I know ideas on poverty and inequality are more needed than ever.
