[lee5595]

Hi all. Looking for advice from anyone living in Sweden with SCI or had experience of upping sticks from the UK and living in another country. Things such as access, standards of care, house adaptions, benefits etc. Doing a bit of early groundwork so any info/help would be grateful.

Cheers

This post has been edited by lee5595: 03 September 2008 - 06:42 AM

[WilliamLX]

lee5595, on Sep 3 2008, 07:41 AM, said:

Hi all. Looking for advice from anyone living in Sweden with SCI or had experience of upping sticks from the UK and living in another country. Things such as access, standards of care, house adaptions, benefits etc. Doing a bit of early groundwork so any info/help would be grateful.

Cheers

I think that things like access, standards of care etc are likely to be better than in the UK. However I think it would be rather cheeky to expect to move to a foreign country (in which you have not paid tax etc) with a major disability and expect them to pay you benefits. After all we get rather irate here in the UK when Johnny foreigner tries that in the UK.

[topperf]

Hehe, William's most definitely got a point ...

But if you choose to ignore that:

Find a Swedish girl first, marry her, then move over there, this will give you a much better starting point than just moving there, and you will have someone to explain you how to work things out.
then start to enjoy being in gimp heaven - Sweden is top 3 for people with disabilities - maybe #1 ? (it's a close run, Scandinavian countries in between.)

[JT80]

finding yourself a swedish girl is the best piece of advice written on these boards in over a year.
they rock.

[topperf]

Oh yes.

[HiltonP]

topperf, on Sep 3 2008, 12:34 PM, said:

. . . Sweden is top 3 for people with disabilities - maybe #1 ? . . .

What do you base this comment on?

I'm curious, because in 2006 I was investigating puting together a holiday to Sweden and I found the access levels to be quite poor (hotels, lodging, etc), information on disabled travel was almost impossible to find, printed guides like Rough Guide / Lonely Planet / etc gave them the thumbs down, and even the Swedish tourist websites say that access is limited.

Did I miss something?
Did they miss something?
Did Swedish tourism miss something?

I'd still like to visit Sweden, but what I saw and read put me off.
I went to Australia instead, a real pleasure in a wheelchair!

[topperf]

I read a European survey somewhere - I don't remember where, and to be honest I'm not shure about Sweden. I am certain that Denmark was placed very high up (I live here, and I'll vouch for it:) the thing is (sadly for danish) Sweden normally ranks a wee tat higher up in most cases.
This was what I based my statement on, and sorry! I might be a little off on this one.

[Webwych]

The best report I've seen with regard to European attitudes to disability was this one:

http://news.bbc.co.u...and/7326009.stm

I thought it mentioned Sweden, but it doesn't. However, Denmark comes out of it really well.

[lee5595]

WilliamLX, on Sep 3 2008, 09:55 AM, said:

lee5595, on Sep 3 2008, 07:41 AM, said:

Hi all. Looking for advice from anyone living in Sweden with SCI or had experience of upping sticks from the UK and living in another country. Things such as access, standards of care, house adaptions, benefits etc. Doing a bit of early groundwork so any info/help would be grateful.

Cheers

I think that things like access, standards of care etc are likely to be better than in the UK. However I think it would be rather cheeky to expect to move to a foreign country (in which you have not paid tax etc) with a major disability and expect them to pay you benefits. After all we get rather irate here in the UK when Johnny foreigner tries that in the UK.

I do value your comments WilliamLX, however, as i'm sure you can appreciate we are all in different situations with regards to family, benefits, housing, work etc, so i feel it unfair (although you said in the nicest possible way) to suggest we are spongers without knowing anything about our situtation. Like i said i do value your comments but was looking for a little bit more than 'are likely to be better'

Cheers all

[WilliamLX]

lee5595, on Sep 5 2008, 01:45 AM, said:

WilliamLX, on Sep 3 2008, 09:55 AM, said:

lee5595, on Sep 3 2008, 07:41 AM, said:

Hi all. Looking for advice from anyone living in Sweden with SCI or had experience of upping sticks from the UK and living in another country. Things such as access, standards of care, house adaptions, benefits etc. Doing a bit of early groundwork so any info/help would be grateful.

Cheers

I think that things like access, standards of care etc are likely to be better than in the UK. However I think it would be rather cheeky to expect to move to a foreign country (in which you have not paid tax etc) with a major disability and expect them to pay you benefits. After all we get rather irate here in the UK when Johnny foreigner tries that in the UK.

I do value your comments WilliamLX, however, as i'm sure you can appreciate we are all in different situations with regards to family, benefits, housing, work etc, so i feel it unfair (although you said in the nicest possible way) to suggest we are spongers without knowing anything about our situtation. Like i said i do value your comments but was looking for a little bit more than 'are likely to be better'

Cheers all

Oh well you could always re-register as Sponge Lee Square Pants ;)

[Webwych]

The question of migrating and benefits is really interesting, because I personally would like to leave England so I can put myself in a better position to get off benefits and get a job I will be in for a long time!

Anyone else feel the same way?

[lee5595]

Webwych, on Sep 5 2008, 03:18 PM, said:

The question of migrating and benefits is really interesting, because I personally would like to leave England so I can put myself in a better position to get off benefits and get a job I will be in for a long time!

Anyone else feel the same way?

Totally agree Webwych, although not a deciding factor, this is on my 'find out more before you go' list. After all we are all supposed to be part of the 'European Community' aren't we?

[sjean423]

I am only basing this on one person, a para who lives in sweden. But acccording to her it is very in accessible. And no one she knows who is disabled works. The general attitude seems to be that if you are disabled, you simply stay home and do not go out.

[topperf]

Quote

you simply stay home and do not go out.

I think this is a very individual decision and definitely not something the Swedish society expects of you.