Articles Tagged ‘Wheelchair’
I thought I had better write a blog tonight before the birthday celebrations kick off this weekend. 27 tomorrow and I have felt both 17 and 37 through parts of the past year, guess it averages out hey. Its been a mega year:
I was pretty unwell for the first prolonged time of my working life in the winter months
The car was an absolute nightmare throughout winter too
I picked myself up with an amazing trip to Mexico – dolphins and scuba diving
I started a new job at Scope straight after
I setup my first ever disability event (‘Sunnier Days’ starring Natasha Wood and Sophie Morgan)
I also carried out some consultancy projects around Personalisation and social media
Had articles published on these subjects in …
Read all of My Priorities – now I’m 27!
This is an article I have written for an international medical journal. It acts as a reminder of why I keep this website flowing. It also shows the amazing support the JTSMA and Scope have given me and others. Furthermore being quite sensitive I do like a reminisce! Hope you like it.
Having read the article written by Patrick Moeschen I was inspired to contribute to the social model discussion and how this perspective also enhanced my story. My name is Martyn Sibley, I have type 2 Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), I live in London and I am now 26 years old. Like Patrick, my upbringing was ‘normal’ and very much a can-do approach. Having used a wheelchair since 3 years …
Read all of My disability is not the problem
Anna has always wanted to be a schoolteacher: “I’ve just always known that’s what I want to do. My friends don’t know what they want to do, but for me it’s always been clear.” To get an idea about what this would involve, Anna has been volunteering at a local school over the summer, working five days a week.
This commitment is even more inspiring given that Anna, who has cerebral palsy, needs a powered wheelchair to provide her with independent mobility. Her previous power chair, provided through local contacts would break down frequently, often leaving her stuck for several hours until her parents could arrange to pick her up. In March, Priority, working with Newlife funded a new powered wheelchair …
Read all of Anna’s ambition: to be a Schoolteacher
Amelia is 4 years old and lives in the centre of Exeter. She really loves arts and 
crafts, playing with her friends, horse riding and making people laugh.
In 2007 Amelia was diagnosed with Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type II. This neuromuscular condition affects people in different ways. Amelia was able to walk on her own until she was 18 months old, when her condition deteriorated and she now needs a wheelchair to move around independently.
In June 2009 Amelia was given her ‘Koala’ Permobil powered wheelchair, through the support of The Priority Trust. As soon as she received the chair, she worked out the controls and just got on with using …
Read all of Amelia’s Story
Until recently, Amy was reliant on her manual wheelchair which she used to self-propel. However, Amy was not able to push herself over long distances and Amy and her family realised that her manual wheelchair would not allow her to enjoy the same level of independence as her peers when she started secondary school.
Amy’s family approached their local wheelchair service but they were unable to provide Amy with a powered indoor/outdoor wheelchair which would meet her needs.
For Amy to live an independent and active life she needed a wheelchair that met her social, educational and clinical needs. Through the support of The Priority Trust Amy has recently received an …
Read all of Amy’s wheelchair
Guess what??!! The car broke down again last night. The same problem as last time, no battery and just wouldn’t start. I think quite rightly I have ranted on this recurring subject. However I promised myself these posts would not let me get too down or angry but explain the positives of the trials and tribulations I go through. The quick update is that it has gone to a different garage who I hope will sort this once and for all by the end of the week. Taxis to get to work until then.
What I do want to do is an overarching blog on transport bouncing off of an interesting book I’m reading. Its by Ben Elton and called …
Read all of The car broke down again, and other transport stresses
At work I often deliver training on the issues faced by disabled people and I find there are many who do not see why there are issues for disabled people.
When I explain why, they then ask why others are not doing more. Here, I want to explain this ‘issue’ for anyone else who just hasn’t had the bigger picture explained to them.
For me, I didn’t really see an ‘issue’ either when growing up. Sure I worried about leaving my primary school mates to go to the only accessible secondary school 20 miles away. Sure my wheelchair broke down and it distressed me being stuck. Sure I worried if girls would accept my disability in relationships. But the point …
Read all of So what’s the issue about disability?
A little while ago I was looking to buy a new powered wheelchair. After receiving demonstrations from various companies, I never felt entirely convinced that I was receiving the full picture on whatever I may end up purchasing. A salesman is unlikely to say much about the bad features!
I searched the internet to see if I could find any views or thoughts about particular wheelchairs, but only ended up finding a scattering of blog / message board postings and a handful of sites with some generic comments on particular individual wheelchairs.
I found this quite surprising, since it is possible to find detailed user reviews for nearly every product imaginable, but yet could not find anything particularly substantive or informative for …
Read all of Abilient.com
Keira, a three-year old girl has recently been provided with her first powerchair, with the help of Priority. The SnapDragon powerchair, made with her specific requirements in mind will help her develop and be as independent as possible.
In September 2008, when the Occupational Therapist from Dragonmobility first met Keira at the request of Keira’s OT, she was shy, withdrawn and clinging. She had undergone a lot of medical interventions in her short life, and at the age of 2 had a natural tendency to cry and ask for cuddles when presented with anything new.
Keira has an undiagnosed neuromuscular condition which causes severe weakness, particularly in …
Read all of A new power chair for Keira
Apologies for being away from my blogs. I had a much needed break in Lanzarote back at easter, while following on from this I have set up new fundraising campaigns and sponsored events at Scope. On top of this I have been looking at running for local council next year. Anyway needless to say lifes been busy but here’s a blog from the holiday.
Having travelled to the Canary Islands many times before this wasn’t a difficult journey in terms of disability related. However there are a couple of things I’d like to touch on.
Firstly the reason I have been so many time to these islands (beyond more guaranteed sunshine) actually is wheelchair related. Whenever in the past I have looked …
Read all of Getting away….to Lanzarote
