Not short of something to say: April 2008

Contact details

As well as being a freelance writer I am also a qualified counsellor and I work for a low cost counselling service in Exeter and for the NHS Gender Clinic also in Exeter.

Simultaneously, I work as a Disability Member of the First Tier Tribunal, Social Entitlement Chamber sitting on disability benefit tribunals on an ad hoc basis.

As a writer I specialise in writing about disability and health.

My articles have been published in the Guardian, Times, OUCH! [BBC disability website], Disability Now, Broadcast, Lifestyle [Motability magazine], The Practising Midwife, 'Junior, Pregnancy & Baby', Writers' News, Able, Getting There [Transport for London magazine], Junior, Community Care, DPPi [Disability, Pregnancy & Parenthood International]. I have also had articles commissioned by Daily Mail.

For more information about me and for examples of my writing please see below.

If you would like me to write an article for your publication, about any aspect of disability, please do get in touch:

emma@emmabowler.co.uk

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Writing and more writing/parenting a disabled child

Haven't posted for over a week mainly because I've been busy researching various writing commissions. The thing I love about writing is the variety, even though I've chosen to specialise writing about disability there is still a whole lifestyle to explore within that - one minute I'm writing about disabled parents or schooling for a disabled child, the next minute it's public transport, Thalidomide, Aspergers or reviewing a book!

More recently some of my commissions have meant exploring the world of parents of disabled children, there's some overlap in experience of course but it is a whole new perspective.

I also belong to this world being the parent of a disabled child and it's now that I can really start to appreciate what a tough job it is.

What I haven't worked out is - is it tougher for me being the parent of a disabled child having passed on my disability or tougher for someone having a baby who has a disability who's never ever encountered disability before then?

Monday, April 14, 2008

Looking Up book review for disability now

Another of my book reviews has just gone up on the Disability Now website:

http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/entertainment/arts/book-review/?searchterm=looking%20up

It was quite a refreshing read as the author who broke his back falling out of a tree wasn't one of these spinally injured people who then wanted to conquer Everest, trek across a desert or sail round the world, he just wanted to get some sort of life back....

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Rough Guide to Accessible Britain review published on BBC OUCH!

My review for the Rough Guide to Accessible Britain went up on the BBC OUCH! website today, I've done a few book reviews recently and quite enjoy them especially if I would have read the book anyway!:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ouch/features/rough_guide_review.shtml

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Disability Now article on BBC Three's series in the making - "Britain's Missing Top Model"

Here's my latest article published on Disability Now website and in April's edition of the magazine:

http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/latest-news2/media-watch-section-test/ground-breaking-or-car-crash-tv

The series hasn't even been made yet but is already causing quite a stir....

On becoming a writer

After over 10 years as a BBC TV programme maker working on disability, documentary, entertainment and children's programmes I left to have 2 children.

Having decided that the full on lifestyle of programme making and being a parent wasn't for me I decided to utilise the skills, experience and knowledge gleaned from my BBC career to became a freelance writer.

Because of my personal experience of disability I chose to specialise by writing about all aspects of disability – from parenting to sport, clothes shopping to legislation, what’s in the news to specific aspects of particular impairments.

All too often the media portrayal of disabled people and disability issues doesn’t quite hit the mark, the tone is off, the language is wrong; the overall effect leaves the public none the wiser.

As a disabled writer my aim is to be positive, informative and accurate, that doesn’t have to mean dry and boring – a bit of humour can go a long way!