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Teaching diversity within school
Last month I attended a diversity and equality charter launch. This event involved all of the schools in my local area who came together and created a charter that they all would follow. As part of the event, each school gave their own presentation, covering issues on disability, gender, sexuality, age and ethnicity. The afternoon was so moving to be a part of, the fact that these schools (mostly primary) were covering such poignant topics with a high level of maturity was really special. It’s not like I expected them to be immature, more the fact that I was never taught this when I was younger, making it appear like…
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University Halls are no more!
After spending 9 months living in university halls while completing my first year I cannot believe how fast it has gone! I honestly can’t! I remember moving in like yesterday and how a group of strangers became friends. Like many things, when you have a disability these type of experiences will be slightly different to others- but that doesn’t mean I have not learned a lot. University halls mean independence for a lot of people, it is often the first time we leave home, moving away from family and friends we have grown up with, for me this was no different. Yet my independence wouldn’t have been safe without the correct…
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Assignments, social attitudes and a lot of coffee!
Now you wouldn’t class this as your typical ‘student Saturday night’, but here I am writing a blog post and in all honesty it is probably a better option considering how busy my week has been! Halfway through the second semester of university can only mean two things, reading week (AKA no lectures for a week) and assignments. One of the assignments that I completed this week was about social attitudes, more specifically the attitudes around disability, which actually made me stop and think. We live in a world where disability is often betrayed as a negative, it is seen as a weakness. When in reality is that really true?…
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University updates…
So, how is university going? The simple answer to that question would be that it is going very well! With the run up to Christmas being surrounded by assignment deadlines, coming to the end of my first modules and buying presents, the thought of how it was all going totally slipped my mind. As you can imagine the Christmas period was a great time to meet up with friends who I hadn’t seen since we all parted in September, going our separate ways and starting a new journey. Now I find myself just about to start the third week of the second semester, where on earth has time gone?! Unfortunately, I…
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Adventures of a vintage tearoom
In reality I try to be a ‘normal’ teenager (whatever that actually is) and last weekend was no exception, so off I went to a vintage tearoom with a friend. I had never been to this little cafe before but from pictures it looked so adorable, and I wasn’t going to turn down the opportunity to get a good coffee any time soon. However, when I am involved things never seem to go plan, because that would be far too simple wouldn’t it!? I’ve always said, unless you use a wheelchair, or are with someone who uses one then you won’t realise how inaccessible this world actually is. You won’t…
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The adventure begins!
It has nearly been two weeks since I started university and it has gone so fast! It has been so busy and so action-packed that it’s only now, when I’ve stopped and relaxed, that it has all hit me at once. After the crazy weekend beforehand, moving into university didn’t really register until the car was all packed up and we were about to set off. I have been to a few open days at my university, and even a summer residential as preparation, but this was the actual thing- and definitely no turning back now! The halls that I have moved into are brand new, this does mean that we…
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Ending summer with a bang!
If you regularly read my blog then you will be aware that summer started with a bit of a bang (quite literally, and resulted in a hospital admission), but that’s enough about that! However, the end of summer seems to have also ended with a mad final week with not a lot of time to actually think about what was happening! I think during summer I have been quite good at pacing myself, not doing too much at once, but still trying to get out of the house and see people. On the other hand, that has certainly gone out of the window towards the end- safe to say I am…
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Going on a night out with Cerebral Palsy
Unfortunately, we can’t lose cerebral palsy when on a night out with friends, we can’t even give it to someone else for an hour or two- it likes to tag along. This is itself can pose some extra challenges in a number of ways, and you thought picking what to wear was the biggest dilemma! Like many teenagers I love going out with friends and having a good time. I enjoy picking something nice to wear (even if that can take forever) then doing my hair and makeup, probably spending far too long in front of the bathroom mirror in the process! So I am completely ready and now just…
