Disregard of disability access eg1 Tesco's petrol station

I went to a petrol station today [Tesco's by the way] which has installed pay at pump facilities. This would be all well and good if they were at a height I could reach.

To add insult to injury there's no way of avoiding having to access the panel because you have to press a button on it to declare whether you want to pay at pump or at the kiosk.

To acheive this I have to precariously balance on a ledge, pulling myself up on the bottom of the pump to reach my choice. Physically I can do it, just, but it's also the sort of manouvre that could easily go wrong and cause me an injury.

Tank filled I went to pay. I was then greeted by an enormous step into the shop. Great.

I asked why on earth they didn't have a ramp and was told that the council were aware of the issue and are doing something about it - er just how long ago did the DDA [Disability Discrimination Act] kick in? 1995, yes that's a wopping 14 years ago.

I then stated that the pay at pump facility isn't accessible either - "ah yes, we've got round that one by having service call". I believe this is some system where disabled muggins has to sit in their car and wait for help, presumably not possible in the dead of night [yes disabled people do go out at night] when there's only one person locked into the petrol station kiosk.

I'm sorry this isn't an acceptable solution for me - I don't want to have to rely on someone else to do a task I can do myself anyway. The solution is not to install the pay at pump facilities at an inaccessible height, hardly rocket science and it wouldn't cost the garage any more either.

Archie starts school

Well it seemed like yesterday that our little scrap of a baby was born and this weekend marked the end of his first week of primary school. Next week the real test begins as he steps up from going half days to all day, I'm not sure what that will do to him on the tiredness front...

The transition has been amazingly smooth, I guess we have to credit Archie [and maybe ourselves a bit] that he is confident enough and articulate enough just to step into a new environment and get on with it. What was crucial was that it was the right environment for welcoming and dealing with a disabled child.

The school has risen to the challenge with thought and enthusiasm which has been great. They asked my advice on how to explain Archie's disability to the other children and they have also consulted with Mike and myself about how to get round various access issues eg using the toilet.

They are going to get in an OT but we have been quite clear that we don't want him to have any 'special' [spazzy looking - as it always is] equipment. So far so good really.

What's clear is that Archie is set to become his school's internal celebrity - Mike says whenever he picks him up all the children [even the older ones] are saying goodbye to him, using his name. I do hope that in a way the fact that they have Archie in their school means that all of the pupils there will at least have a bit of understanding about disability that they might not have done otherwise.

Two Little Boys article in Sept 09 'Junior' magazine

Check out my latest article in Sept 09's Junior magazine. The article talks about my experience of having one disabled and one non-disabled child and is accompanied by some nice photos of all of us.

http://www.juniormagazine.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=209

We're just about to move again, Archie is due to start school and Ben will start a new preschool once the dust has settled I'm hoping to get back into writing a bit more... watch this space.

A cover girl at last!

It's not quite Vogue or even Cosmo but Archie and I are on the front cover of the Summer 09 edition of Transport for London's magazine 'getting there'.

The photo of me on my mobility scooter with Archie beside me relates to the article I wrote in the magazine about mobility scooters, profiling 4 scooter enthusiasts. So if you get the magazine have a read - otherwise I'll try and sort out a link!

In spite of having to turn my attention to house renovations at the moment I'm still managing to keep some brain cells working by writing some articles and I must admit I do get a kick out of it which is great; I really want to be one of those people who loves what they do for a living rather than someone who just moans about their job.

Once I've got the new house sorted, [deadline Christmas?] Archie installed in school and Ben in preschool [both deadlines Sept] I should be able to find a bit more time to develop my writing even further. Watch this space.

Society Guardian online article about young carers

Been so busy trying to sort out house renovation plans that I forgot to post my latest Guardian offering:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/joepublic/2009/jun/26/young-carers-support

Have a read and make a comment....