Don't Call Me Crazy, BBC Three - part of It's A Mad World

I'm not interested in TV programmes about celebrities, so they are getting married, having babies, spending money, flaunting themselves, so what.

What I like programmes about REAL people and you couldn't get more real and more raw than the young women on 'Don't Call Me Crazy' on BBC Three last night which launched the channel's 'It's A Mad World' series of programmes looking at mental health issues affecting young people in Britain today.

The programme told the story of a few of the young women in Manchester's McGuinness Unit, where clearly dedicated staff worked hard to try and support them on the path of getting back into the world again.

But their job is not easy because in spite of the fact that the women featured were articulate, insightful and beautiful, and sometimes comic and fun loving too, they are plagued by demons of depression, self harm, suicidal thoughts/attempts and eating disorders.

I couldn't help wondering what has to happen to make a child grow into a young person with such huge issues to contend with but young people today do have so much pressure and so much to contend with, in an increasingly difficult world to live in because of financial, housing and employment worries.

The honesty and courage those young women had to share their experiences with viewers was astonding and I hope that at the very least they've gained something positive, for themselves, from being part of the programme. 

Disability Now article - The Growing Pains of a Disabled Parent

No one warns you how hard it is to be a parent, let alone the parent of a disabled child. 

I was talking to another parent of a disabled child the other day and I basically admitted I 'wing' it - I try things out, see if they work and if they don't move on to plan B, C, D... til I find the solution. 

Sure, there's some input from the 'professionals' from time to time but the bottom line is that the 'winging' it that us parents do is the only real way forward.  He totally agreed, saying he did the same, which was somewhat reassuring!

My latest Disability Now article about the trials and tribulations of being a disabled parent of a disabled child is now up on their website:

http://disabilitynow.org.uk/article/growing-pains-disabled-parent

My latest articles: Wheelchair dancing and an interview with ex serviceman Rory Mackenzie

I've got two articles in the latest edition of the Motability magazine 'Lifestyle'.

The first is about wheelchair dancing [see page 35] and increasingly popular pastime and sport for wheelchair users, and the second is an interview with a great guy called Rory Mackenzie [see page 46] who was injured in Iraq but has gone on to do so many exciting things:

http://digital.edition-on.net/links/6716_lifestyle_79.asp

A Special Kind of Mum - BBC THREE programme preview

Check out my preview of the BBC THREE programme 'A Special Kind of Mum' which goes out at 9pm on Tuesday 26 March and is repeated a couple of times after that, see preview for details:

http://www.disabilitynow.org.uk/article/preview-special-kind-mum

Worth a watch I'd say as the issue of disabled parenting doesn't get a lot of coverage.

Comic Relief or Comic Flop?

I must admit I didn't watch the entire BBC 1 Comic Relief output but I definitely saw enough.

I laughed out loud at two bits - the first was the Master Chef sketch with Dame Edna in it, I just think s/he is brilliant and the second was when James Corden introduced "David who went to school in a mankini, yes he's a primary school teacher... now under surveillence by Social Services..." or some such similar wording.  Hilarious.

What was not quite so hilarious, or in fact not hilarious at all, was the Peter Kay sketch.  Don't get me wrong Peter Kay is one of the funniest people around and I liked the idea that he was doing the opposite to what everyone else does on Comic Relief day ie instead of being active he was doing a sit in.

But that for me was where the humour ended as he was shown being pulled around the country by a group of short statured people.  Why by short people? It was simply unfunny, demeaning and stupid.

As short statured actress Kiruna Stamell points out in her open letter to the BBC/Comic Relief [see link below] some of the money Comic Relief raises goes to anti-bullying projects - but where's the positive representation of short statured people in the Peter Kay sketch?  How would a short statured child have felt about watching that I wonder?

Apparently Zoe Ball also thought it hilarious to make a joke about 'midgets' and Ricky Gervais managed to add his tuppence to deriding disabled people too.

Where are all their quips and digs at black people, gay people, women?  Nowhere that's where.  So why do these comedians/presenters think it's still OK to insult and dehumanise disabled people/short people in the name of humour?

When I challenged the Comic Relief press office on this, this was their total brush off of a response:

Comic Relief aims to raise as much money as possible to help vulnerable people here in the UK and in the world’s poorest countries. The night of television is a light hearted and entertaining programme which does not aim to offend. The BBC has full editorial control of all content on BBC channels and platforms and  the programme is made by the BBC, not Comic Relief.  Please contact the BBC with enquiries about the night of television.

I was insulted for the first time in my life on Saturday purely on the basis of being short statured, coincidence after Comic Relief's coverage on Friday?  You decide.


To read Kiruna's letter to the BBC/Comic relief in full follow this link, she's going to make an official complaint but I suspect she'll get the usual response along the lines of the above:


http://kirunastamell.net/2013/03/16/dear-bbc-and-comic-relief/