IDSA was formed following an informal discussion in June 2004 between a group of disabled Iranians, parents and guardians of disabled families in London on their personal experience of lack of services on disability issues.

This discussion formed the foundation for extracting more information verbally within the Iranian community living in the UK, mainly inner and greater London area.  Within three months IDSA's interest grew from 3 to 10 people, and is still growing.

The lessons learnt in short experience have led us to divide the disabled people’s problem to two main categories.

• Unfamiliarity with the language and culture of the UK.
• Unfamiliarity with rules and regulations

[The problem mentioned above could be helped by our translators and advisers as well as other related organization, not only to help this group with the language barriers but also the information provided to them may help them to be more independent and have less contact with the officials in different organisations in the UK.]

The community continues to seek advice from existing agencies that provide services to the Iranian community on matters such as Asylum seekers and other social activities. It was found that the Iranian community has been involved with other issues and disability has not been given the same attention. The mainstream Iranian community is not aware of the social model of disability and has not put disability as a priority. The IDSA set about seeking the support of business men and other high profile Iranians who have either direct or indirect experience of disability.

Based on figures from different Iranian groups there are over 200,000 Iranians and other Persian speaking people living in the UK. Half the Farsi speaking live in great London. 

Considering the history surrounding the migration of Persian speaking people in the UK, e.g. from war- torn communities, IDSA believe that a large number of the community are refugees and asylum seekers or new immigrants, some of them have lived through war zones and hostile environments suffering from depression, anxiety and stress. There is an average of 20% of their community with an impairment of some sort. This figure is higher with mental health impairments due to the long lasting effect of migration, such as shell shocks. Physical impairments are due to war wounds within the asylum seekers, birth defects etc. 

IDSA’s uniqueness will be to provide a service in accessible format to its community who are isolated due to the many barriers that they face providing an understanding of their migrations cultures and needs.