In May I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression. As I said in the beginning, I knew that I had mental health issues from the age of 16 or 17, but I thought that it was temporary. I thought and hoped that it was just because of teething problems relating to major changes in my life, like transitioning from school to college, but I couldn’t have been further from the truth… In the last few months, my mental health has become a lot worse. Probably a combination of things happ

I don’t have many friends; I only have three or four really good friends, and they mean the world; I honestly don’t know what I’d do without them. Two of them have seen me at my best and worst times, and I know they will be there for me through thick and thin, even when the world feels like it’s crashing down on top of me and I can’t begin to explain what’s going on. Neither of these people realise how amazing they are, nor do they realise how much they mean to me! I’ve alway

At college, I made one friend in the class, but even though this may sound horrible, I didn’t feel like she was a true friend, more of an acquaintance. I had this person around for a few hours at my parent’s house once, and to be honest, I didn’t feel one hundred per cent comfortable with her, and I realised that I only made friends with her because I thought it was the “right” thing to do at that age and my college encouraged me to make friends. Soon after my second year of

Written between 27 May and 12 December 2024 I only remember having three friends throughout primary school, and we soon drifted apart once we moved to senior school.   Looking back on my life at senior school, I now realise that I only had about three or four friends throughout the five years I was there. I didn’t realise this then, but I didn’t have conversations with other pupils apart from my immediate friends. I have struggled with my mental health for many years, more sp

I can walk with bare feet, but as you read in my last post, I wear ankle-foot orthoses, better known as A.F.Os or splints when I’m walking in my frame because I don’t have full control over my tone, therefore sometimes I walk on my tip-toes when I concentrate on other things. At one point, I saw a physiotherapist who said that this was spasticity and although I do have spasticity to varying degrees in different parts of my body, and in my opinion, I don’t think she fully unde

Did you start singing Pink’s “Walk of Shame” when you read the title of this post? Anyway, as you may know, I can’t walk without some kind of support, however, I walk most days when the weather is good. I bought my walking frame in 2019, thanks to the amazing people who donated to my fundraising page. I didn’t get much chance to use it until I got my flat because there was no room around my mum and dad’s house, but since I’ve had my own home, I’ve had more opportunities to go

Carrying on with my last post, about the switches on my clipboard on my bed, although I learned approximately where my switch for my lamp is, I still have problems with finding it in the dark because I have to feel for it with my foot whilst my foot is under the covers… So, to help with this, I bought some glow-in-the-dark stickers. I bought different-sized circular stickers and one big roll of glow-in-the-dark tape, I bought both because I didn’t know which would be best. Th

Although I only really use my bedroom for sleeping in and storing my clothes, standing frame and electric wheelchair, there are quite a few bits and pieces that I have gathered to maximize my independence and to make it more accessible. I have always struggled with keeping my quilt up when I am in bed, especially during the summer months because I have a lighter tog duvet when it’s hotter and as the summer quilt is thinner, it moves more when I move. I have a double quilt so

Welcome back! When I was living with my mum and dad, I also liked to be as independent as possible because that’s how I was brought up...

I store my DVDs and other bits and pieces in my TV unit drawers. Being neat and tidy is great, but there was a bit of a problem with...

When I was living with my parents, I called them when I needed help, but when I moved, some carers said that they didn’t hear me when I...

There are many different types of equipment and gadgets out there and even the smallest and simplest thing can mean the difference...

This is the final part of Barriers to Communication, and in this part, I'm going to talk about tone of voice, along with a side topic......

I have always struggled with recognising facial expressions. Some people say that I am good at reading facial expressions, but I’m not...

Barriers are a part of life, and unfortunately, if you have a disability, barriers crop up regularly in day-to-day life. There are...