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Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) and the Pilonidal Sinus (article 1/7) Have you answered this month's poll? I have been asked before whether the pilonidal sinus condition meets the criteria of the Disability Discrimination Act (DDA). For those unfamiliar, the DDA is there to stop discrimination of disabled people and to protect their civil rights. In addition, people who qualify may be eligible for special funding. This can apply to a number of areas such as employment, education and general access. So how does the DDA define a disabled person? The Disability Discrimination Act defines a disabled person as someone who has a physical or mental impairment that has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on his or her ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities. To help clarify the above, the Act provides some additional notes: substantial means neither minor nor trivial long term means that the effect of the impairment has lasted or is likely to last for at least 12 months normal day-to-day activities include everyday things like eating, washing, walking and going shopping a normal day-to-day activity must affect one of the 'capacities' listed in the Act which include mobility, manual dexterity, speech, hearing, seeing and memory Taking a typical case of pilonidal sinus as an example where a person has had an abscess resulting in ‘open healing’ surgery and healing in, for argument’s sake, two months; I would argue that this would not qualify as a disability. Although normal day-to-day activities such as walking and sitting would certainly have been affected, the requirement of lasting at least twelve months has not been met. Also, I have doubts as to whether the effects mentioned would be considered “substantial”. Of course, some people unfortunately have a much different experience of the condition. The condition may last for several years and may also reach an extent where day-to-day activities are greatly affected. In such a case, I believe that the above requirements would be met. The problem though is that this person’s case is unique in that their condition is not typical of most. Considering this, a “standard” response would not be applicable and a “unique” decision would likely be needed. This may result in eligibility or it may not. It is also important to note that the DDA has special rules regarding recurring or fluctuating conditions. Comments avg. rating Steven (Leeds, UK) says... I know how she feels. I have had 26 operations including a colostomy and I have not worked for 3 years, all as a result of this condition. I do not know what to say about your daughter. I feel sorry for her and I hope the operation tomorrow fixes her problems. If you want any particular advice about anything please respond with some specific questions. Yesterday 10:52am Michelle (London, UK) says... My daughter has now had 4 abcess and has had one cleft lift, which failed 5 weeks ago and she had another one drained... Now 5 weeks after her last surgery she is due for another op tomorrow, so what is next for a young 22 year old girl who has suffered since she was 17, can not keep a job as the healing process is too long??? Yesterday 10:33am RSS for this page   RSS for all pages Page 1 of 1  (2 comments) Add Comment