Posts

Crossing The Street

Have you ever been out and about, perhaps walking in your local area and just randomly crossed on to the other side of the road? the answer is of course yes, it’s a god given right, you likely do it without even giving it a second thought, it comes naturally, automatically, you look both ways and you see it’s clear before crossing the road – however for disabled people with mobility issues this isn’t always possible. Going down the street in my motorised wheelchair causes me little disruption, the national highways agency and local councils have gone to great lengths to ensure that public pathways are accessible for all. Of course many people have had dropped kerbs inserted onto driveways to make it accessible for cars, but this causes an unusual problem for people like myself, camber on public walkways send wheelchairs off at uncomfortable angles at sometimes this carries an element of risk if a wheelchair is on a significant camber. Most of the time this is easily overcome and re...

Public Transport - Why are you so frustrating?

  Today I’m going to be discussing the topic of public transport. As the name suggests public transport is designed to be “accessible for all” but sadly, this hasn’t always been the case, particularly in my own personal experience. Like many other disabled people, it’s not the price tags that put me off from using public transport, it’s rather the public spectacle that boarding public transport creates   and the lack of support. When talking about a lack of support, overall it’s the infrastructure that lets a lot of public transport down. Buses for instance are a classic example, where I’ve found some drivers reluctant to assist with helping you board due to the length of time the process takes, that and on occasion, there may be someone already in the allocated space for those with access requirements, so given the lack of provision this makes things incredibly frustrating and buses a limiting experience. Train operators however for a long time had a business model which ...

Why Me?

  Why me? This is a question which I’ve asked myself a lot over the years, I didn’t ask to be the way I am? I didn’t ask to face the obstacles I have to overcome every single day, I didn’t ask to “battle the system” I didn’t ask to “justify” myself – but it is what I’m faced with, constant questions, constant challenges that always link back to the same question “why me?” I am a firm believer that things happen for a reason, decisions are made for a reason, paths in life are selected for a reason and I consider my personal situation to be no different. I was put up for adoption at birth, and I was initially fostered into the most loving and caring family you could ever have wanted to be a part of, we were always provided for, clothed and watered but that didn’t come without questions either. My adoptive parents have always been open with me about my adoption and the circumstances which surrounded it, my adoptive mum actually had a child with severe disabilities himself, my br...

Welcome to my first blog

  Hello one and all and welcome to my opening blog. For a while, a number of people have been speaking to me about how I should document my life, after all they believe that I have a story to tell, a story which hopefully will open up people to the world of living with a disability. Throughout my series of blogs, I'll be documenting my many achievements, the trials and tribulations which I've faced, how I've overcome many obstacles, my journey into parenthood and much, much more. I believe that my stories, and life experiences have the ability to open up others to a different perspective, I'm very grateful for the opportunities which I've been given, but I feel that now it's time to open up to a much wider audience. If you have any topics which you would like me to cover, please feel free to suggest some topics! I will be posting WEEKLY every Monday! Thanks for taking the time to read this brief introduction to my new blog space.  Until next...