Blog
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Romania: not just a country of communist blocks
As Daily-Mail readers froth at the mouth about the mythical ‘influx’ of Romanians and Bulgarians expected to descend upon the UK (they might eat your babies!), I for one am hoping that soon, Brits (disabled and otherwise) will soon be descending upon Romania. Contrary to mainstream opinion – Romania is very different to what is…
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Being pregnant and disabled doesn’t get you a seat on public transport
I didn’t always to feel so nervous about assertiveness whilst travelling. I used to think nothing of standing up to bullies at school and intervening when I saw someone being picked on. Even at 17, when I witnessed with horror a load of school kids literally ‘hanging’ a kid by his backpack on a double…
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“I’d have given you the post, but you’re pregnant”
Pregnancy should be a magical, special time. Magical, that is, unless you’re one of the unlucky 2 per cent of women who develop hyperemesis gravidarum, an extreme form of all-day sickness and nausea in pregnancy. Sickness aside, the months of growing a baby inside you and the time after enjoying your little one should be…
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My journey with Hyperemesis Gravidarum
I’ve decided to do a one-off blog about my journey with Hyperemesis Gravidarum. Maybe this could be deemed as pretty self-indulgent and maybe it is, but it’s been so horrendous, it’s all I can think about. That and counting down the days left until I meet my little girl (154, give or take). I’m one…
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DWP: “Workfare does not exist”
As part of an article I am writing for a disability magazine, I contacted the DWP press office to get their take on the various work programmes which are floating about. I didn’t want to present an article that could be accused of ‘reporter bias’, so speaking to them to directly was important. (Although I…
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Questions I hate being asked
One of the Twitter hashtags currently trending today, #questionsIhatebeingasked reminded me of a “conversation” I had with a random guy last summer. It was irritating at the time, and when I remember it, it’s still irritating. It went like this: LONDON BRIDGE *Annie hobbles up some stairs with her stick* Random: Hello. *Annie doesn’t realise…
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Give up yer seat!
I confess to being an angry person. I always have been. My mother reckons it stems from my frustration as a tot when I couldn’t do things other kiddies my age could do. Y’know, like walk or run or climb trees or whatever. Not that there was much tree climbing in Croydon where I grew…
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State-endorsed fascism in Britain – this time they are after the disabled
In some ways, I feel I’ve become a bit too sensitive of late when it comes to “disablist” gags, but maybe I’m just hyper vigilant these days. The smear campaign the DWP and the media are carrying out on disabled people has made me and thousands of other disabled people distinctly uneasy. Why is it…