Disability news round up: vulnerable people and dwarf actors

A particularly large number of disability related stories made the news this week.

A charity worker called for a full investigation into the deaths of a vulnerable couple whose bodies were found in their Warwickshire home. Helen Mullins, who was learning disabled, and her husband Mark had struggled with the process of claiming benefits and are reported to have lived in extreme poverty. They are believed to have killed themselves in an apparent suicide pact.

The Guardian claimed Welfare reforms could force 600,000 off incapacity benefit and out of the benefits system altogether. A study released this week, described by the paper as "the first independent attempt to quantify the impact of more stringent medical tests and the greater use of means testing", found that Government measures 'will impoverish vast numbers and cause untold distress'.

And the forthcoming appearance of Warwick Davis in the new sitcom Life's Too Short prompted comment about the dwarf actor dilemma.

Elsewhere in the news:

Dying to stay warm? The state must take responsibility (Mail Online)

Disabled benefit? Just fill in a form: 200,000 got handouts last year without face-to-face interview (Mail Online)

Absconder suicides prompt Commons mental health debate (BBC News)

Teenager's film on having autism (BBC News)

Paralympics: Will London hotels provide for disabled? (BBC News)

New communication hope for head injury patients (BBC News)

Malian musicians Amadou and Mariam stage blind date (BBC News)

On the brink of a mental health revolution (BBC News)

The strange and curious history of lobotomy (BBC News)

What is life like for a teenage prodigy? (BBC News)

Bionic legs help Elena to walk (BBC News)

Comment is free: Disability hate speech has no place anywhere - not even online (The Guardian)

Blog: Tackling disability discrimination takes more than wheelchair ramps (The Guardian)

Stem cells transformed into brain cells to treat Parkinson's disease (The Guardian)

Diary of a bipolar breakdown (The Sun)

Autistic children 'have too many cells in brain region responsible for emotional development' (Mail Online)

Paracetamol linked to increased risk of asthma(Huffington Post UK)