I got my census yesterday and it was all very straighforward until I got to question 23 - Are your day to day activities limited because of a health problem or disability which has lasted, or is expected to last, at least 12 months?
My first problem with this question is that health problems and disability have been lumped together. Having a disability doesn't necessarily mean you have a health problem and visa versa.
My second problem was the utter subjectivity of the answer options:
yes, limited a lot
yes, limited a little
no
Well I knew no wasn't the right answer but does my disability limit me a lot or a little? I found that impossible to answer. Am I just supposed to use my own judgement, am I supposed to be comparing myself to others or should I be answering with a view to the fact that they are supposed to be using the results to plan services?
Why on earth couldn't they just be direct about it as they were with the ethnicity and religion questions?:
Do you have a health problem, yes or no?
If yes, is it heart related, asthma, cancer etc?
Do you have a disability, yes or no?
If yes, it is a mobility, visual, learning etc disability?
It just makes me think that they aren't in the slightest bit interested in collecting any useful information or statistics about disability at all because given the question they just won't get any useful/accurate information it's just too woolly and subjective.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Children's book about disability...
I've written a non-fiction book about disability primarily for teachers teaching 7-11 year olds.
About 2 years ago I sent it off to several publishers, some replied saying it didn't fit into their current lists, others didn't even respond. Now with several house moves and a house renovation out of the way I've decided to revisit the idea and send it off to a few more publishers.
Although there are some teaching resources about disability they are either quite old or along the lines that disability is 'special'. I'm hoping my book is different - it is based on the social model of disability [where barriers in society present more of a problem to disabled people than their disability per se] and it includes lots of excercises to engage children and generate interest, insight and knowledge.
If children understand and accept disability that would be such a huge step towards eradicating poor attitudes and discrimination towards disabled people in later life.
The trouble is that disability is hardly the glamourous, wacky, trendy subject that publishers really want but I know there is a need for this I've just got to find the right publisher who can see there is something in this... Any publisher suggestions would be welcomed!
About 2 years ago I sent it off to several publishers, some replied saying it didn't fit into their current lists, others didn't even respond. Now with several house moves and a house renovation out of the way I've decided to revisit the idea and send it off to a few more publishers.
Although there are some teaching resources about disability they are either quite old or along the lines that disability is 'special'. I'm hoping my book is different - it is based on the social model of disability [where barriers in society present more of a problem to disabled people than their disability per se] and it includes lots of excercises to engage children and generate interest, insight and knowledge.
If children understand and accept disability that would be such a huge step towards eradicating poor attitudes and discrimination towards disabled people in later life.
The trouble is that disability is hardly the glamourous, wacky, trendy subject that publishers really want but I know there is a need for this I've just got to find the right publisher who can see there is something in this... Any publisher suggestions would be welcomed!
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Being a parent
Being a parent is no mean task. Fact.
Add to that being the parent of a disabled child. Some days I feel juggling with chainsaws might be easier.
All parents want their children to have friends and be popular. Nowadays, to encourage friendships to form children go on 'playdates' where they go round to a friends house after school or a friend comes round to their house. This scenario poses a dilemma for me because my son Archie, who has the same disability as me, often comes home from school practically dead on his feet.
Sometimes he can get through the whole thing purely on adrenalin, other times it's all too much and watching him struggle and the resulting frustration is so hard sometimes.
I'm just hoping that as he gets older his stamina will grow, but I do fear that his peers will always be a step ahead of him... There doesn't seem to be much guidance on these sort of parenting issues - maybe I should be writing THAT book, but do I actually know any of the answers?
Add to that being the parent of a disabled child. Some days I feel juggling with chainsaws might be easier.
All parents want their children to have friends and be popular. Nowadays, to encourage friendships to form children go on 'playdates' where they go round to a friends house after school or a friend comes round to their house. This scenario poses a dilemma for me because my son Archie, who has the same disability as me, often comes home from school practically dead on his feet.
Sometimes he can get through the whole thing purely on adrenalin, other times it's all too much and watching him struggle and the resulting frustration is so hard sometimes.
I'm just hoping that as he gets older his stamina will grow, but I do fear that his peers will always be a step ahead of him... There doesn't seem to be much guidance on these sort of parenting issues - maybe I should be writing THAT book, but do I actually know any of the answers?
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
A philosophical disability question...
Yesterday my now 6 year old son Archie [who has the same disability as me] asked me if I was disabled when I was a baby? The question had me slightly stumped because of course I was born with my disability but as a baby was I strictly speaking a 'disabled baby'?
OK some of my milestones might have been later than 'normal' but whether that really affected my then quality of life or justified being stamped with the label 'DISABLED' at that point I wasn't quite sure?
When does disability per se kick in? Is it when you start slipping away a bit too far from the norm [medical model of disability]? Or is it as you are increasingly subjected to a world that isn't accessible to you [social model of disability]?
NB The Medical Model of Disability is where the person's disability is blamed for what they can't do and the solutions are mainly medical eg surgery, physiotherapy and the like. However many Disabled people prefer the Social Model of Disability which refers to the way that they are more 'disabled' by society - by a lack of access, poor attitudes and bureaucratic systems.
Take Archie - he is now significantly shorter than his peers but of course this only becomes an issue in an inaccessible enviroment.... His most obvious difference now as a 6 year old boy is that he is significantly less mobile than his peers which means he's increasingly likely to be left out of riotous playground games and perhaps this is the sort of thing that will make him feel disabled?
I think it's probably fair to say that his experience of being a disabled child is starting to kick in more now and the interesting bit of how to deal with that [positively] is yet to come, tips on a postcard please...
OK some of my milestones might have been later than 'normal' but whether that really affected my then quality of life or justified being stamped with the label 'DISABLED' at that point I wasn't quite sure?
When does disability per se kick in? Is it when you start slipping away a bit too far from the norm [medical model of disability]? Or is it as you are increasingly subjected to a world that isn't accessible to you [social model of disability]?
NB The Medical Model of Disability is where the person's disability is blamed for what they can't do and the solutions are mainly medical eg surgery, physiotherapy and the like. However many Disabled people prefer the Social Model of Disability which refers to the way that they are more 'disabled' by society - by a lack of access, poor attitudes and bureaucratic systems.
Take Archie - he is now significantly shorter than his peers but of course this only becomes an issue in an inaccessible enviroment.... His most obvious difference now as a 6 year old boy is that he is significantly less mobile than his peers which means he's increasingly likely to be left out of riotous playground games and perhaps this is the sort of thing that will make him feel disabled?
I think it's probably fair to say that his experience of being a disabled child is starting to kick in more now and the interesting bit of how to deal with that [positively] is yet to come, tips on a postcard please...
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Work life balancing act
Gosh what a neglected blog... Probably due to my new laid back approach of not pretending I am 'super disabled mother housewife writer' all rolled into one anymore.
Actually the only thing I have cut right down on [as I can't really cut out all the other roles] is the writer one. I found trying to work on top of trying to do everything else [including overseeing a house renovation] was tipping the balance for me.
I think for a while I was trying to prove I can be like all those amazing [non disabled] working mothers but I realised it was making me unhappy and TIRED.
Now my youngest is going to pre school more I do have more time and the idea of working is creeping back into my consciousness. But I'm going to make sure that I don't take on too much and slip back into trying to be 'disabled super mum' - it makes a great story on the surface but if underneath it makes you unhappy what's the point?
Actually the only thing I have cut right down on [as I can't really cut out all the other roles] is the writer one. I found trying to work on top of trying to do everything else [including overseeing a house renovation] was tipping the balance for me.
I think for a while I was trying to prove I can be like all those amazing [non disabled] working mothers but I realised it was making me unhappy and TIRED.
Now my youngest is going to pre school more I do have more time and the idea of working is creeping back into my consciousness. But I'm going to make sure that I don't take on too much and slip back into trying to be 'disabled super mum' - it makes a great story on the surface but if underneath it makes you unhappy what's the point?
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