Disability can affect anyone, of any race, class or sex. What really counts are the forces that subsequently come into play. It is important to recognise that the concept of disability ultimately rests on a social judgement. This is the judgement which sets a threshold below which someone who deviates sufficiently from the norm is considered disabled. Like most social judgements of this kind, however, the threshold or norm is ambiguous and not always clear. Thus, there is now a growing belief that the condition of disability is a status forced on people by society as a whole and that it is able-bodied people who make the disability decisions that affect the lives of disabled people. Where, then does this leave disabled people who also happen to be black or Asian? In Britain today most Asian people are on the receiving end of racism, most of it institutionalised racism.We define this racism as follows:

"All attitudes, procedures and patterns - social and economic - whose effects not, necessarily conscious, are to create and maintain the power, influence, and well-being of white people at the expences of black and Asian people". Translating back to our previous concept, the able-bodied correspond to white and disabled to black. Black or Asian disabled people face a double disadvantage: that of being Asian and disabled. Many professional practitioners and policymakers recognise this as an undisputed fact. More importantly many victims can give ample testimony to it. But exactly how many are there? who are they? where do they live? and so on. No national organisation dealing with disability can give any sort of answer. Neither can any Government department or office. It is extremely doubtful whether any local authority can supply all the relevant data and statistics for its area. So who cares? is the outlook completely bleak?

The answer is no. FAST is a unique voluntary organisation established as a Charitable Trust, that has taken steps to try and ensure that services reach disabled people from a range of Asian communities.
Working within a Constitution, FAST's services will be open to all people within Greater Manchester, as FAST strongly supports equal opportunities policies, and the philosophy behind equal opportunities, FAST's services will be open to everybody, regardless of, race, sex, gender, colour, disability, and age.
Fast is committed to providing a quality service to Asian disabled people through modern methods, rather than out of date methods. FAST will use the most modern equipment and ideas in the advancement of the people we will support, in education, recreation and medicine, in order to make our work relevant to the needs of today's world.

Fast will provide disabled Asian people and other disadvantaged Asian groups with a voice that can represent their needs within statutory organisations. At present no such combined group working for and with Asian disabled people exists. FAST will provide the constitutional framework in which oppressed voices can express their needs, advance as a group socially, economically, and culturally, and improve the quality of care.