Raising awareness of, and supporting, young people with long-term health conditions
We have grown up hearing the importance of “walking a mile in someone else's shoes” in regards to empathy. Whilst not even realising it, as a society we have been wearing the shoes of people with chronic illnesses and disabilities for the past couple of months now in many respects. It is really important we … Continue reading Your “New” Is My “Normal”
This blog post features Beth, Laura, and Ally from LUNA talking together (on video call because of social distancing life!) about their experiences of being diagnosed with long term health conditions. They talk about how they found this, and the similarities and the differences in their experiences. What was your experience of getting a diagnosis? … Continue reading Diagnosis Experiences: A Conversation Between friends
When answering ‘what have I lost or gained because of disability?’ is difficult because I don’t have one. I have not had to deal with the struggles of diagnosis, hospital stays, and always putting my health before everything else – it hasn’t been central to my day-to-day life. I’ve never had to face the same … Continue reading Lost and Gained: Ross
Having a long term chronic illness can result in feeling like you are ‘ losing’ lots of things. Being diagnosed at a young age perhaps lessens these feelings; growing up you only pick the things which you are capable of. For instance, I never really have engaged in sport, apart from climbing from time to … Continue reading Lost and Gained: Beth
Hospital stays are a seemingly inevitable part of having a long term health condition, and can be difficult for lots of different reasons. There’s the isolation, stress, worry, missing out on things and the fact that you usually feel completely rubbish. We are writing this, Beth and Ally as both patients and visitors, and Ross … Continue reading Managing a Hospital Stay
Written by Jack Schofield P.E. two letters in succession which fill most able bodied people with dread. But those with physical disabilities a whole wave of emotions flood them. Hi, I’m Jack. I’m a part time – full time wheelchair user and have been since the age of 7. When I was in primary school … Continue reading What I have Gained: Disability Sport
Last weeks post touched upon just how big a problem accessibility is, and how isolating and demoralising it can be for individuals up against it, and how widespread a problem it is in a way you may never have noticed. This makes having friends who both support you with this and share the anger and … Continue reading Accessibility: Being Part of The Solution (2/2)
So, what is accessibility. The dictionary definition of accessibility is ... ‘The quality of being able to be reached or entered’ However, accessibility can often be defined by what ‘inaccessibility’ means. Inaccessibility means being unable to go out alone due to cobbles, kerbs with no drop downs and degrading pavement stones. Inaccessibility is saying that … Continue reading Accessibility: A conversation we need to have. (1/2)
Hello! To finish off this month’s topic of socialising I (Ross) decided to do something a little different and ‘interview’ Ally and Beth. I asked them 4(ish) questions and they asked me a couple questions at the end, trying to gain a greater perspective on the issue. I’ve tried to highlight a few of the … Continue reading Socialising, A Conversation With Friends (3/3)
Socialising is a minefield for all young people; but as set out in our first post, its particularly tricky with a chronic illness or disability. However, with chronic illness and disability other challenges present themselves. For instance, for some people looking at bright screens may be difficult however friendship ‘group chats’, planning and networking all … Continue reading Socialising- Some Top Tips! (2/3)
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