Able and Disabled

Hey All! As you will have gathered from my last post, very few things make me as happy as Winnie the Pooh. It is one of the things that I turn to for comfort when I am most overwhelmed and it has been something that has bought me joy for as long as I can remember. This last week is one that I found particularly overwhelming, and at times I have most definitely struggled and found myself feeling especially overloaded. For this reason I felt like writing something a little lighter today and I thought I would tie one of my very favourite things to one of the key themes of this blog: mental health. One only has to step foot into the world of the internet to find many theories about the various characters of Winnie the Pooh representing different mental illnesses. I'm not entirely sure how much I agree with the illnesses attached to certain characters and like many retrospective theories about children's media I think that these theories can be a little stretched. However, one ...

Hey All! I am someone who often struggles with anxiety and feeling overwhelmed in some capacity. For me this sense of being overwhelmed that can lead to me sometimes having a bit of a meltdown can be caused by a few different things, including sensory overload, social overload and life stress. When and if my anxiety and capacity for becoming overwhelmed results in a meltdown this can be incredibly draining both emotional and physical, requiring time to recover. This capacity for overload has been an aspect of who I am for as long as I can remember. However, one thing that I find can be a great comfort and aid when either avoiding or recovering from overload are my particular strong interests. For me these can go beyond just hobbies or likes, these are the things that ground me when everything is too much and are the things that I could indulge in endlessly. Today I thought I would tell you about a few of my most passionate interests, and maybe give you a fact about each. 1. Winnie ...

Hey All! Truthfully, I have spent my fair share of time in Hospitals for both extended treatment and more immediate surgery. Some operations and treatments, while not exclusively reserved for individual conditions, can be somewhat more closely tied to disability and chronic illness. The distinction I wish to make is between treatments particular familiar within disabled communities and those which can easily come with age or less persisting illness. Many of my earlier experiences with surgery and treatment will have been far more familiar to those with similar disabilities, including cerebral palsy. In particular, physiotherapy and botox spring to mind. However, my experiences with bunion removal during year eleven and thirteen felt significantly different, primarily because this is a common procedure performed upon disabled and able-bodied folks alike. The removal of bunions is a procedure that is not as closely linked to disability as many of my previous experiences, with the dev...

Hey All! Tonight's episode of Holby City (my absolute favourite soap opera, being the only one I follow) was a show dedicated to marking the 70th anniversary of the NHS. That's why despite the time, I thought it would be the perfect moment to write this particular post. If no one objects the following post will simply be me gushing over the NHS and all it has done for me personally, sorry not sorry! I think it's incredibly easy but dangerous for any of us with access to the NHS to take its services for granted. This is especially true within today's political climate, with certain individuals currently in power pushing for privatisation and allowing cuts that will only put our national health service under increased pressure. Indeed, less funding and support, as well as the potential loss of staff due to Brexit, have left our NHS fragile. However, some take this as a cue to criticise rather than support those who keep the NHS alive despite the interference of those ...

Hey All! As mentioned in my blog post this time last week I was preparing for a day out that would be the first step of an amazing opportunity! The big news I had been keeping under wraps was in fact that I have been chosen to participate in this years 'Scope for Change' programme, a six month project that will give me the skills to be an even more capable and avid activist for the rights of disabled folks. The purpose of this programme is to provide me with the networks and techniques to be an influential campaigner. Many involved within the UK Disability community will be more than aware of the work and significance of Scope as a leading national charity, meaning that excited does very little to describe how I feel about the prospect of this mind-blowing opportunity! My personal reasoning for participation in the programme, as a large proportion of my Facebook friends will know, is because I want to help create a world in which everyone finally understands that not all im...

Hey! Tomorrow I am travelling back into London for the day (I am currently home for the summer) for an event. Because of this absolutely amazing but potentially tiring day out I'm planning to get an early night, meaning this might be a slightly shorter and more concise post. Therefore, I thought this would be the perfect time to share my - tips for a day out when also dealing with chronic pain, fatigue, anxiety and potential overstimulation. I may seem particular but it's all entirely necessary for me to enjoy my trip. 1. Do any preemptive pain management methods recommended to you - for me this means possibly taking my medication to prevent pain rather than ease it, or this might just mean packing a few essentials (deep heat, pain killers, etc.) Of course when taking medication always follow the doctors instructions! 2. Do any planning that will put your mind at rest - I can experience reasonable anxiety if things feel unknown or out of my control and this can cause me t...

Hi All! Sorry for the delay in writing this post. As you may have noticed I try to post here at least once if not twice a week, but it has been about a week and a half since my last post. However, I hope that the following story will explain my slight absence. While disability does not always make it impossible, it can make it difficult to achieve certain childhood milestones; climbing trees, learning to swim, being on a school sports team. Indeed, all these goals are still achievable but I think it would be wrong to deny that their attainment may be less simple and for this reason I think that the success of some should not devalue the struggle of the individual. For me one of these struggles was learning to ride a bike. Cerebral Palsy does not remove one of their right to ride the two wheeled vehicle, but my natural lack of balance and poor coordination had never lent themselves to this particular skill. I had tried over the years but with little success. Possibly the moment whic...