Action Blog
Viewing entries posted in April 2010
A voyage on the high seas: yachts, dinghies and blind sailing
Life is a certainly a journey and there are many ways to get to wherever you are going. Although I started out with two feet on dry land, they have not remained there, as I had a rather life changing experience when I set foot on a yacht for the first time some 20 years ago. I was invited to Haling Island on the South Coast as part of an annual event, which is still going strong, called “Blind Week”, where kind yacht owners allow a couple of blind people to take the helm and crew their boats, spending a week afloat learning to sail. It was mind-blowing.
Why having a visual impairment has made me a better parent
When Martin was born, my eyesight was ok. When I think about it, I was probably partially sighted, but this was not official because at that time I did not know what those words meant. I was firmly in the mainstream and the words 'impairment' and 'disability' were not in my vernacular either. But as my eyesight started to diminish to the point where I was rapidly moving to the disability side of the street and registered blind, I was pretty convinced, although Mark did assert otherwise, that I was not going to be able to be the parent to Martin that I wanted to be and this scared the living daylights out of me.
Upping the age - and the spin!
For as long as I can remember, us hard-done to men have worked all day and then come home to the hunting and lighting the fire right up to the age of 65. Meanwhile our womenfolk, who have the far easier tasks of having babies, bringing up children, cooking, cleaning, washing and ironing have been able to retire at 60. Life has been so unfair until 1 April this year and the start of State Pension age equalisation. In our wildest dreams, we men thought equalisation meant reducing the male retirement age down to 60, but wise politicians recognised that wouldn’t have been in our best interests. The change itself has been well publicised, but what does it mean?
Prejudice, bigotry, discrimination? It may be 2010, but love is still the answer
I suspect that I may never really be able to succeed in expressing my gratitude to the people in my life who have enabled me to get to where I am, to maintain my hopefulness and to have the strength and resolve to know that this human rights advocacy mission that I am compelled to pursue is going to far exceed my lifetime.
What do you want? - A fist, a truncheon or a nightmare?
The three main political parties have published their manifestos prior to the coming elections. All address issues of State Retirement Pension, Winter Fuel Payments, Tax Credits and getting people off benefits and back into work. Here’s what they are saying on these issues in a nutshell:
The Normality of Difference; Attitudes towards disability from the inside out
As I started out this blogging journey filled with the excitement of my fantastic trip round East Asia and Nepal and how it was just the tonic to restore independence and optimism to an inhibited and uncertain soul, lacking in self-confidence. But with the New Year came the reality of a more normal daily life and, with it, the potentially daunting reintegration into working life. I was going to have to face up to some harsh realities and subject my newly rediscovered confidence to a more rigorous test than any of those I had encountered on my wondrous holiday.
If social inclusion is the agenda, can someone please explain to me how disabled folk are going to get affordable housing?
I have been pretty resolute in my assertion that politics is just not my bag, so the decision to contradict myself and venture into an area in which I am no expert and which anyone who adheres to the laws of social etiquette will tell you is a big no-no, has not come lightly, but when I get a bee in my bonnet, there is just no point in trying to fight it.
Give Carers the Credit
Anyone who has had to provide care to another person knows how demanding on time and emotions this is can be. Until now only some carers have been able to get a National Insurance credit paid whilst caring. From 6 April 2010 a new 'Carer's Credit' will be available. This is not a benefit it is a National Insurance contribution (what we used to call 'a stamp'). Read on to find out more.
Debunking a few myths about what it means to be registered blind
I am really not trying to be flippant and I don't want to seem to be riding rough shot over an issue as important as what it means to be registered blind, but I think I have just had my fill with the barrage of ill-considered questions about my eyesight and have decided its time to do some myth debunking, but because the inspiration for doing such a thing has been driven solely by people who ask questions about it when they have clearly not consulted even a single brain cell, I am apologising in advance if any tinges of sarcasm seep through.
One man’s journey of sight loss
Well hello and welcome to my very first blog for Action for Blind People. I hope to bring some enjoyable and valuable insights into my life as I go about living it.
Tag cloud
accessibility, apple, assistive technology, beauty, benefits, braille, burnley, christmas, confidence, coping, digital inclusion, disability, disclosing disability, discrimination, dla, dwp, education, employment, esa, family, fashion, grieving, guide dogs, holidays, human rights, inclusive design, inclusivity, independence, independent living, iphone, life, lifestyle, living with sight loss, money, pension, people, personal independence payment, registration, respect, rp, sailing, shopping, sight loss, social inclusion, technology, travel, vi people, web accessibility, welfare rights, work,
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