All the World’s a Stage… Last – Second Childishness and Mere Oblivion?

This soliloquy from Shakespeare’s As You Like It has special resonance for me today. I came across author Terry Pratchett, much admired for his Discworld novels on the radio. He has spoken recently of his diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative brain condition usually affecting older people. I have a long standing interest in this area which started in 1990 when I was studying to be a Social Worker and worked in a placement at a very progressive Elderly Person’s Home in Bransholme, Hull. Moreover, on a personal note, as a Type 1 Diabetic of 32 years now, I have a higher than average risk of developing the condition myself.

The programme gave coverage to Pratchett’s discussion with a number of others with the disease, and a carer, who were discussing the personal impact of the condition. I feel I must congratulate BBC Radio Five Live for the piece, as the nature of the dementia means that the limited media exposure granted before could only be usually given to the carers rather than the victims themselves. The contributors discussed the challenges, problems and positives they face and the programme was very moving. I would encourage everyone to listen to the discussion. Terry Pratchett and Alzheimer’s

It seems that much of the improvement, or perhaps more accurately, the slowing of the progress of the condition, belongs to drugs such as Aricept (donepezil). There has been much controversy in the UK that this medicine has been denied to many patients with early onset Alzheimer’s on grounds of cost. I think, as a disabled person, very optimistically of the change from the Medical Model of Disability to the Social Model. Society can, in many ways, now treat us with more equality. However, in this 21st century, I believe there is a rise in something that I call the Economic Model of Disability. Here many disabled individuals are denied improvement in their conditions through costs of treatment and/or poverty because holders of resources see situations entirely through Cost/Benefit Analysis spectacles!

 

 

 

 

 

Blade Runner Can Run and Run

Oscar Pistorius, athlete with a disability rather than disabled athlete, will compete against athletes without a disability in the Beijing Olympics. Lets hope this will help the world as a whole focus on his abilities and his training rather than the blades, which just seem to give him a level playing field instead of an advantage.

I had some dealings a few years ago with a double amputee who chose the operation when he was a child to help his mobility after his legs were gravely injured in a fire. He felt that walking on prosthetics gave him the ability to walk which would have been denied to him if he had kept his very damaged and painful legs. A level playing field…

 

 

Brum, Brum, Dizzy, Drizzle

Sad day today! After about a week of glorious weather here in Swansea it had to rain when my car was about to have its scratch fixed… I hope I will get sun in 10 days time when the new appointment is booked.

We went to see Speed Racer yesterday. I loved it, as I seem to have more interest in the plot now I’m learning to drive. Moreover, from an equality point of view, it was great to see almost as many female drivers as male in the races. Hurrah

The film was very colourful, though perhaps TOO colourful, as the whizzing primary colours and strobe lighting effects gave all of our party, including yours truly scrumptious (Chitty Chitty Bang-Bang), a dizzy headache, unfortunately one that persists even now in my case

Epilepsy has not been one of my conditions in the past, and I hope it won’t be one in the future. I would be terrified of losing control of my body to a seizure, and I admire those who cope with the condition every day. My friends with epilepsy find it frustrating that it is what is known as a hidden disability and it doesn’t get the recognition that more obvious physical ones get. It seems to be a conundrum that the social model of disability has a problem if it can’t recognise a disability exists, doesn’t it?

It’s not the pain that kills…

 

 

This morning I can’t sleep by reason of pain and as my codeine isn’t working at 4:15am BST – I’m awake and listening to the radio. There has just been a piece from one of the BBC’s Afghanistan correspondents, and it has me musing again…

I’m complaining to myself about the pain caused by my disability and the lack of the  effect that a relatively small amount of opiates isn’t having. However, Afghanistan produces the most amount of opium in the world; Governments try to stop production, exportation, processing and supply as heroin. However, I still need a little of it for a restful night.

The interview was about the hidden face of opium consumption, the use of it by Afghanis themselves, something that doesn’t seem to make the headlines. There were a number of heartrending instances mentioned. These included the fact that mothers feed opium to children to keep them quiet while they work and people that are forced into urban shantytowns to find nonexistent work use it to escape the worst of hunger and despair. The correspondent said that corruption is rife and journeys are punctuated with numerous official and unofficial checkpoints demanding bribes for safe passage. 

Millions have been donated in aid and yet people are starving. Perhaps then a plentiful supply of opium is a valid escape from despair in this case. Puts my complaints in perspective, today at least.

 

My Own Wetsuit/Transportation Device

After speaking about Pierre in my last Blog, let’s broaden the subject a little I was musing about wetsuits, not being the most boyant of beings myself (in my first school, I was awarded a Great Endeavour Badge for trying and failing to swim but not giving up – otherwise known as sinking a lot!)

Pierre’s wetsuit helps him cope with life and as a modern disabled person with Cerebral Palsy, I also need things to help me to deal with a world which doesn’t quite fit me. I have a stick which helps me walk without falling over, but like Pierre, this medical help doesn’t complete the job. Pills and potions didn’t seem to help him, and my limited mobility is only safeguarded not improved in the modern world.

The world is more and more motorised, towns seem to be planned for motorists. Getting from place to place is difficult on public transport and parts of my town are inaccessible to most pedestrians, let alone those with a disability. So, I needed a figurative wetsuit. As Star Trek type transporters weren’t available, my wetsuit is a wonderful Emotion Red Nissan Micra Mobility Car, and I will take my Driving Test in a couple of weeks.

You could say that I’m beginning to float at last…

Je M’appelle Dizzy

 

Hi, this is the first entry in my own Blog, and I’m really happy to be talking to you.

As a disabled person, I am given an interesting perspective on myself, news, events and other happenings and through this you are able to see it too…

I was interested to hear about Pierre the Penguin this week

“What can be cuter than a penguin? A penguin in a suit! Pierre is a 25-year-old penguin and probably the world’s most chic delegate in the animal kingdom, after he received his very own wetsuit.
The biologists at the California Academy of Sciences came up with the idea as a solution to Pierre’s problem: after going bald, the venerable penguin refused to enter the water with the other penguins, which was a clear sign that something needed to be done.

Although perfectly adapted to an aquatic life, penguins rely on their plumage, which helps them withstand the low temperatures in the cold waters naturally found in their environment.
Pierre is actually a Jackass penguin (the name comes from the sounds they make, similar to those of donkeys) who desperately needed a solution to keep warm.” (efluxmedia.com)

He lacked the ability to do something that the others could, so he had a disability. But luckily, the fact that humans aren’t penguins helped him out here. Humans need to keep warm in the cold water because they, like Pierre, are bald. Humans use wetsuits, therefore Pierre needed a wetsuit. A reasonable adjustment to his life that worked. Go Pierre Go…