what do I want to be when I'm older?

Hi,

So today I was really stuck on what to post for you guys, I asked someone who reads my blog for ideas, not mentioning disability, and she said what about 'what do you want to be when you are older?' And the more I think about it, I see that disability advocacy comes into my future quite frequently.

Mainly,I sort of want to be a disability writer, maybe on this blog or something bigger even, I feel that in this day and age and in the future,media will be a key way to voice my opinions because quite frankly not many people will fully take me seriously, whether that's because my speech is slightly impaired or they don't understand what I'm on about ,when I speak in front of them- it's always been that way and for the foreseeable future I don't see much change too that sadly. But blogging is something that even if it's not my main job it's going to be a side project (also 2500+ views WOW!) the more I write on here, the more confidence I gain which is vital if I want to be a somebody one day.

Also, I feel that people can read this blog,let it sink in but then forget the message. This is probably because most of the people reading this don't know me so they don't have that association with the fact that there is a person who writes this instead of a robot, meaning that they don't have a personal connection between me and them away from the blog. That is why I want to when I'm older, maybe even now, talk to people about disability for example the ways of patronising people, how to act around disabled people and the fact we are the same as anyone else. 

Even if it is just my own school that I may have a talk with, it will hopefully mean that people can put themselves in our shoes and they will have a better understanding of disability because its not taught that much at schools today, so when it comes down to it my generation won't have a proper understanding and that's when the problems start for many people.

So I bet you weren't expecting that, but that's what I want to do! It may not be a 'proper' job in some people's minds but I guess I want to make a living out of something I can't change about myself which is understandable when you have to put up with it every day,you may as well.

Byeeeeee 

patronising people

Hi,

Right. This really annoys me; not a lot actually makes me want to scream at people but this does. People who know me well,will know this already, when it comes to patronising someone, I get angry with a deep passion.

If I asked you 'who do you think patronises people the most?' You may say bullies or ignorant so or so's but what if I said it was (some) teachers? I know it sounds weird but from what I've experienced teachers can be the worst patronisers or they can be really understanding and nice- there's no in between.

For example my old Y6 teacher was really patronising and I know she didn't mean to be but it always made me feel like, I don't know what else to describe it, but weird and sort of cold. She would always say something like 'you're an inspiration.' For doing something ordinary- she wouldn't say that too my class mates when they were doing exactly the same thing. The worst thing is I didn't realise what it was until the day I left that school,by then it was to late for me to say something. So I didn't. 

Since then, things have changed a bit. Most of the teachers at my secondary school know the way I am and sort of leave me to get on with the ordinary work and they know if I need help, I will just ask! But there's still a minority of them that treat me like I'm four. Normally it's the teacher who is a supply/student or a teacher who hasn't taught me/hasn't read my blog before. 

I'm not blaming anyone but in today's society we are subconsciously judging people's mental capacity on their looks. So for me, having right-sided hemiplegic cerebral palsy, the first judgements aren't that good. I love proving people wrong. So if a teacher was to be patronising I would do my absolute best work and show them, honestly some reactions are priceless, they can't believe that a SEN kid can do level 7 work. But I prove them wrong every time. 

I do wish that some teachers would try to have an open mind but I can't change their opinions, which sucked at first; not everyone can change I've expected that now.

I could go on about different patronising people but this was the most dominant one that sprung to mind.

Byeeeeee

Why I am so open about my disability?

Hi,

I thought I would write this post because there's a lot of stigma attached to disability and I try to be as honest with people about my condition as I can because I feel people need to educated in the way they treat people with ,especially physical, disabilities.

One of the main reasons why I'm so open about my condition is cause its every day thing for me and I know no difference. In my family, I'm not the only one who has disability, my mum has bilateral dysplasia which affects her hips,so I've grown up around people who also are disabled, so its something we talk about a lot at home, I feel this gives me the courage to talk to people about how disability affects me from two perspectives: as a disabled person myself and as a daughter of a disabled person which is very Important.

I choose to be open. It's not like I am being forced to be or anything, I could just get on with it by myself but that's not who I am. The world is full of ignorant people- I could of called them a lot worse, a whole lot worse- but the point is I want my generation to learn now so when they are in the big bad world they aren't afraid to ask questions and more importantly not to be discriminative against us or indeed anyone. In my opinion That should just everyday common sense; what hurts the most is that it can come from people who you are friends with and they don't even know what they are doing to you in your head, I learnt that the hard way in PE. 

Also what's the point of hiding your own disability from others? People who are ignorant will Become discriminative towards you, even if they can't tell that they are and that's just hell to be honest. Having a disability, you need to learn to stand up for yourself! Part of that for me is to tell people about your disability and how they need to understand how to treat you. In September,our first English lessons were about writing a letter to our teacher to tell her about us and in my first paragraph I was talking about cerebral palsy,my blog and the way I adapt to different things in class. That really helped me to get across it to her or for other teachers I have talked about my blog and they read it and that helps as well. So basically don't be afraid to talk about disability because it only educates people and that's a good thing.

I hope you liked this 

Byeeeeeeeee 

awkward arm anecdotes

Hi,

So today I don't feel like writing a serious post on disability rights and stuff like that so I've decided instead to tell you some tales about my psycho right arm. Why not? 

Okay then, imagine the scene, year 7 me in PE. I was parked at the end of the bench in my chair and to my right one of my friends was sitting next to me on my right hand-side. She was happily talking to another girl in our class; I don't really remember what I was doing. Then my arm began to jerk about a bit and WHACK! I bumped her on the head. Looking back on that,it really molded our friendship in a weird way and we now see the funny side of it but she does seem a bit terrified when my arm jerks nowadays :\ . 

One of the most memorable things my arm has ever done (and not for a good reason) was on the morning of my 11th birthday. By morning I mean 5-stupid-AM. So obviously my arm wanted to wish me a happy birthday and the best way to do that,in it's mind,was to knock over a cup of freezing ice cold water all over me. Surely NOTHING says happy birthday like that, thanks psycho arm thanks a lot! 

Another thing which makes me laugh about my arm is that I honestly have no control over it at all really,so in lessons it can jerk in the air and look as if I want to ask a question. with student or supply teachers especially, they assume I want something so they say 'yes,Ruthie?' and I'm like 'Sorry,wrong arm' and they look really confused and inside, at this point,I'm laughing my head off.

So there is 3 different arm stories and I have plenty more. Hope you enjoyed them. 

Byeeeee 

Do I actually like PE?

Hi,

Okay then, I've been thing about this for awhile now- 'Do I like PE or not?' And to be honest I have no idea so I thought why not blog it (disability does come into this so its not really just a random trail of thoughts.).

I feel that I'm split on how I feel towards PE, half of me just screams 'DO I HAVE TO DO IT' and the other half is saying  'give it your best shot' and whenever I get ask the question at school I just freeze because I have no idea what to say.

One of the main reasons why I don't like PE is because its the only subject that my disability can stop me from doing exactly what I want to do,if that makes any sense? Like for example I have to take breaks from doing PE and it can bother me because why does CP mainly effect me more in PE than any other subject? 
This gets me annoyed further because my motto is 'I will never let my disability hold me back' and I guess PE is the only thing which I sometimes have too let it in a way.

However, I feel this year is a bit different;that is because this is the first year that my teacher has come to me first to ask something instead of getting a generic answer from someone like 'A child with CP can't do this because......' which I feel makes PE more somewhat comfortable for everyone like me. Also because Miss teaches me RE as well (weird combo,I know) she knows I'm not dumb and she treats me like a non disabled Kid which makes me feel more confident. That shows teachers can make a difference!

I'm the sort of person who wants to have good grades and strives for them but, I hate to say this, I'll settle for alright in this subject,which even then seems impossible but I'll get there.......someday...........

 byeeee

The Hairy bikers!!!!!!!

Hi,

Tonight (06/11/15), I met two of my cooking heroes who I can only describe as 'two northern blokes' ............The legendary hairy bikers!

You may not know this about me, but I LOVE to cook/bake/create random things in the kitchen. Anything between a Victoria sponge to my own chili recipe whenever I get the chance I'm doing something in there, like now I'm writing this post in my kitchen.

So This morning, at school, I completely forgot I was going to see them and in RE my arm was playing up and it set the tone for the rest of the school day: rubbish :(
When I got home, to be honest I was feeling (well I'm not going to swear but you probably get the word I would use) Anyway Mum had a massive grin on her face, so I asked her why and she said two words 'hairy bikers' and almost instantly I felt better.

So at mums Uni the bikers were doing this book tour I guess for their autobiography 'blood sweat & tyres' and they told lots of stories from in the book ad one really touched me.         

The story was about Dave's Mum, when he was a boy his mum was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and sort of became a young carer with his Dad for her.  This was really eyeopening for me because my mum is disabled as well as me and if there is no carer or anything I help out doing stuff that she can't necessarily do and vice versa, so it was really nice for Dave to talk a little bit about it. its something that's really stuck in my mind and made be think that anyone could be in a similar situation as you - even a TV cook! 

I suppose you should never judge a book by its cover

thanks for reading, 

Byeeeeeeeeee

So now I have a walking stick............

Hi,

I've been meaning to write this post for a while now, but I never really got round to it. 

If you read my blog a lot then you will probably remember my 'yikes or yay' post about the minor operation I had in the 6 weeks holidays, well it worked and I'm doing physio which will stretch the muscles - so it's all good!

Anyway, I was at a physio appointment a couple of months ago and my physio said instead of using my chair she wanted me to walk more so she measured me up for a stick. SEVEN weeks later my stick finally arrived and I've used it ever since!

Personally, I feel that getting my stick has really boosted my confidence to walk, especially around school,which makes me extremely happy when I walk all day.

I feel that every person has the natural instinct to walk and when you can only just mange to walk to the local stop without support having that stick really makes the difference for me.

Hope you all have had a good week. 

byeeeeeeeeeeee

Happy halloween!

Hi,

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

Although I Didn't go trick and treating,I did carve a pumpkin and no spooky faces this year I did a .................... wheelchair! 

What were you expecting the mona lisa out of pumpkin?

Before you see my version - I based it on this:

And my version:

And with just one hand if I do say so myself I did pretty well! 

the mess.......

well sadly its back to school tomorrow so a 6:45 am wake up and I can't wait not.

Good night 

Byeeeeeeeeeee

How does disability affect YOUR life?

Hi,

So today I thought I would mix it up a little by instead of me writing a post from a disabled person's point of view,I would let one of my non-disabled friends write one.

I gave her one topic 'How does disability affect YOUR life?'

This is what she came up with.........  

"I have grown up with a range of different people. I have always been around disabled people. In this I will share how disability has affected me.
    
 My parents wanted me to grow up with a range of different people. I have always had contact with someone who is disabled from the age of 5. In infant school, there was the boy in my class called Joe. I can't remember what disability he had but I know he couldn't walk without a frame. Also, he was deaf, so we had to learn sign language to communicate with him.  He had a really good sense of humour and lightened the mood every day.
       
My dad was a school governor at the time, and we always used to see him in the playground. He would walk up to our classroom window and start pulling faces. The whole class would laugh and we would sign back to my dad, naughty.  This always made us laugh, and when he laughed we all laughed. Unfortunately, I had to move away, and up to Sheffield.
      
 It was that year that I met Ruthie (Me). We were in year 2. I remember when I first saw her, she was the size of the year 5s, huge smile on her face. She walked towards me. I can remember being terrified of her, but as I got to know her I realised she is just a real life version of the BFG. We became friends. However, it wasn't till around y4 when all the girls fell out, that me and ruthie became best friends. Ruthie a sense of humour is better than anyone I can think of. She makes me laugh, cry (for good reasons), and love. We have helped each other through really tough times. I have no clue what I would do without her.
       
 There was another person in our class, who had a disability. He was called Jude and had autism. At first he had to have his lessons away from us. However, overtime he behaved a lot better and by the end of y6, you could barely tell he was disabled.
       
Then, a few years ago, my auntie had a baby. From very early on, there we complications and we found out that he would have Cerebral palsy. He has had speech therapy, and therapy on the movement of his arms and legs. Now, he can talk perfectly and is amazing at football. His is only 4 years old but to us thinks like a 6 year old. He is so clever and is hilarious.
     
To me I look at disabled people and think that they are no different from you or me. I find them more amusing than most others and they are very switched on."

Personally, I believe we all have some sort of connection to disability in some shape or form, even people who are reading this now - i'm disabled sharing my views on the the internet and you are reading and hopefully thinking about it, that's a sort of connection to disability.

I would love to hear your stories! Comment them below.

Byeeeeeeeeeeee  

World Cerebral Palsy Day.............

Hi,

So sorry that I've been so inactive recently,school happened-I can't help that.

I don't know if you guys know but it is world CP day on the 7th of October, and for me it's a very special occasion as its my first proper CP day.
As it is such a momentous day, why not tell you lot my Cerebral Palsy story?

So it all started on the 16/04/03 the day that changed the world......my birthday.....(what can I say, I'm very modest.) Anyway, I was born at 28 weeks and for the first 10 weeks of my life, I lived in the Neonatal ward of Scunthorpe general hospital.

By the way it was a 12 inch doll dress

4 days after I was born

When I was about 8 Months,my Mum bought me a toy which you sit in and had different activities.It was bright green from what I remember.More to the point,Mum saw whilst I was playing my right arm got stuck in the activities. So she booked a hospital appointment.The Doctor basically they said there was nothing wrong.But but but mum knows best and a few months later they changed the diagnosis and I was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy.

But after all that I'm here,It wasn't easy, but i'm here. And I am so thankful to everyone, my family for supportive, my teachers for letting me doing stuff and the doctors that have help me understand my disability.

link to World CP day website: https://worldcpday.org/   

   

 Thanks for reading 

Byeeeeeeeeeeeeee