These days when it comes to helping with the boys' homework I am pretty hopeless! It is a stressful enough event with a full complement of communication skills so when I tried to help with jakes maths homework the other week, Jake only just beat me to breaking down into floods of tears through sheer frustration!
However this week, I was able to offer a little more help. He had been asked to find a poem which dealt with a dilemma. They just trip off the tongue, don't they? No. And they certainly didn't off a 9 year old boy's. A boy who lives in a house of boys more interested in poo than Poe!
Just as I was about to delve into Google with various permutations of words including "child", "poetry" and "dilemma" I had a better idea.
So the next day Jake was packed off to school with a printout of what has to be the best example of poetry on the subject of dilemmas; Should I Stay or Should I Go by the celebrated poet, Strummer.
It was apparently received well!
.
Wednesday, 26 May 2010
Thursday, 20 May 2010
Thanks....
.... to everyone who have left comments recently. I look out every day for email notifications of them being left so they are always read. Although I enjoy writing the blog, I probably wouldn't make the effort to write it if it wasn't being read and hopefully enjoyed by someone. If you are following it but tend not to comment, remember they can be left anonymously, so you can be as disparaging as you like with complete impunity! Keep them coming.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
The reason for having wheelchair 3rd party insurance
So with the sun shining and my cold finally gone, I managed to get out on my other chair yesterday, what could go wrong. Well actually, nothing really. Apart from the usual choking session on an iced bun and suffering the patronising palace staff, it was a very pleasant day with my mum in the sunshine.
OK, sorry, have to elaborate on the guide in the palace who was called to help escort me to the lift. Having finished talking to the senior citizen in her wheelchair who was also seeking the lift, she approached me.
Now, maybe it was her overhearing my incomprensible slurrings to my mum, my slumped posture in my chair or the wonky smile I responded with after she said "OK Dear?" to me, but whichever it was, she decided to put to good use what she had been trained to say when dealing with a halfwit. After confirming that it was her expert opinion a lift would be required to get me to the 1st floor, she wanted to explain I would need to wait while she escorted the first wheelchair before escorting me. "It will be 5 (holding up open hand) minutes (pointing at watch ) before I can take you " she shouted, annunciating every syllable, thus covering the options of me being blind, deaf or simple. The fact that she felt the need to repeat the process... twice, suggested that she had concluded I fell into the latter category.
It was all wasted on me anyway (as I ignored her and simply followed on the (w)heels of the other wheelchair) because knowing where the lift was, it would save 5 minutes by simply waiting at the lift and not a 5 minute walk away. When you have a terminal illness every minute counts. And, more importantly I wanted her to know that not only was I not simple, I was smarter than her. Petty? Maybe, but when your only fully working faculty is overlooked, you feel the need to put it in the spotlight.
By the time we had reached the lift, my cunning plan had been spotted, but I was only rewarded with "OK You wait here, I will be back down for you in a minute, DON'T WORRY " Instead of ramming 250kg of wheelchair into her frigging legs, I did my crooked smile and made my "OK" noise. However, after subsequently being told that I would need to reverse my chair out of the lift I had driven into forwards and enthusiastically commended on how I (with limited mental ability ) managed to turn 90 degrees while reversing out, I regretted the missed opportunity.
OK, sorry, have to elaborate on the guide in the palace who was called to help escort me to the lift. Having finished talking to the senior citizen in her wheelchair who was also seeking the lift, she approached me.
Now, maybe it was her overhearing my incomprensible slurrings to my mum, my slumped posture in my chair or the wonky smile I responded with after she said "OK Dear?" to me, but whichever it was, she decided to put to good use what she had been trained to say when dealing with a halfwit. After confirming that it was her expert opinion a lift would be required to get me to the 1st floor, she wanted to explain I would need to wait while she escorted the first wheelchair before escorting me. "It will be 5 (holding up open hand) minutes (pointing at watch ) before I can take you " she shouted, annunciating every syllable, thus covering the options of me being blind, deaf or simple. The fact that she felt the need to repeat the process... twice, suggested that she had concluded I fell into the latter category.
It was all wasted on me anyway (as I ignored her and simply followed on the (w)heels of the other wheelchair) because knowing where the lift was, it would save 5 minutes by simply waiting at the lift and not a 5 minute walk away. When you have a terminal illness every minute counts. And, more importantly I wanted her to know that not only was I not simple, I was smarter than her. Petty? Maybe, but when your only fully working faculty is overlooked, you feel the need to put it in the spotlight.
By the time we had reached the lift, my cunning plan had been spotted, but I was only rewarded with "OK You wait here, I will be back down for you in a minute, DON'T WORRY " Instead of ramming 250kg of wheelchair into her frigging legs, I did my crooked smile and made my "OK" noise. However, after subsequently being told that I would need to reverse my chair out of the lift I had driven into forwards and enthusiastically commended on how I (with limited mental ability ) managed to turn 90 degrees while reversing out, I regretted the missed opportunity.
Friday, 14 May 2010
Feeling crap
Just a quick entry to voice how pissed off I am having sh...y cold. Haven't enough puff to blow nose or sniff effectively, can't reach nose with hand to wipe, sneezing results in me biting my tongue and I feel crap. Just thought I would say.
Friday, 7 May 2010
Biffy Clyro
Last night we went to see Biffy Clyro at Hammersmith. We had been given tickets for Christmas by Tracy's brother, David and his then fiance Becky (they got married just after Christmas). We have seen Biffy Clyro before and they had put on a good show. For once we made it in time for the support, which turned out to be two bands. The first, Rolo Tomassi were interesting - a fusion of thrash metal and progressive rock with a keyboard player whose ipod probably had an unhealthy percentage of storage dedicated to Rick Wakeman! The female lead singer literally screamed her way through the set. I'm sure that they will have a devout fan base, but I can't see them headlining V or Reading any time soon. Saying that, at least they were memorable which is more than can be said for the second support, The Twilight Sad. I can't tell you much about them as I switched off after a couple minutes and started writing my next blog entry in my head! Biffy Clyro came on around 9.30 and played for a crowd pleasing 90 minutes. A good mix of tracks from their more commercially successful last 2 albums, some older ones along with a simple but very effective light show made for a good gig.
Thursday, 6 May 2010
Independence of the Seas for the disabled
As blogger seems to be well searched by Google, I have added this entry for other disabled people conteplating a cruise on Royal Caribbean Independence of the Seas. I hope the information is useful for any disabled passenger as well as anyone specifically with MND Motor Neurone Disease ALS. Getting on and off the ship was easy enough, although depending on tides, it could be quite steep, but help was always on hand.
Getting around the ship was no problem. Automatic doors almost everywhere with the exception of deck 13 going to sports deck. The corridors down to the cabins are wide and wider still outside disabled cabins allowing the biggest chair or scooter to turn in. The door into the room is heavy with no automatic opener which means wheelchair users will need assistance. The disabled cabins are very spacious with room for wheelchair and hoist without them getting in the way. The shower room / toilet is also a good size but toilet and shower seat are small so getting on them with hoist sling on is tricky and if, like me you have body core weakness, they are not the easiest to sit on. There is also a small ridge on the door threshold making it hard to wheel a hoist in. The bed is comfortable, but although a large double, it is comprised of two singles so you can't sleep in the middle for extra security. There are both 110v US and 230v European sockets. There are alarm buttons in bedroom and bathroom but if your arms are as weak as mine they are unusable.
Lifts are big, easily accommodating 2 wheelchairs. Call buttons are well positioned and pressable with nose or forehead, but wheelchair users might struggle with buttons inside as they are positioned in the corner on either side of door (see blog for how I managed ).
Access around the dining areas was good, however my only real complaint with the ship was height of the buffet food selection. From a wheelchair it is difficult to see much of the food and the labels were high up making them difficult to read. For MND sufferers with eating difficulties, not being able to see the consistency of food is a real pain.
Finally, wheelchair spaces in the main theatre and ice rink are limited and with the relatively high number of disabled passengers, you need to get there early - upto an hour for ice shows and more popular theatre productions, but they are worth the wait.
Despite some of the issues, I think for disabled people cruises are a supurb holiday option, particularly if you can depart from and return to your own country. please read the preceding blog entries for more info on our holiday.
Getting around the ship was no problem. Automatic doors almost everywhere with the exception of deck 13 going to sports deck. The corridors down to the cabins are wide and wider still outside disabled cabins allowing the biggest chair or scooter to turn in. The door into the room is heavy with no automatic opener which means wheelchair users will need assistance. The disabled cabins are very spacious with room for wheelchair and hoist without them getting in the way. The shower room / toilet is also a good size but toilet and shower seat are small so getting on them with hoist sling on is tricky and if, like me you have body core weakness, they are not the easiest to sit on. There is also a small ridge on the door threshold making it hard to wheel a hoist in. The bed is comfortable, but although a large double, it is comprised of two singles so you can't sleep in the middle for extra security. There are both 110v US and 230v European sockets. There are alarm buttons in bedroom and bathroom but if your arms are as weak as mine they are unusable.
Lifts are big, easily accommodating 2 wheelchairs. Call buttons are well positioned and pressable with nose or forehead, but wheelchair users might struggle with buttons inside as they are positioned in the corner on either side of door (see blog for how I managed ).
Access around the dining areas was good, however my only real complaint with the ship was height of the buffet food selection. From a wheelchair it is difficult to see much of the food and the labels were high up making them difficult to read. For MND sufferers with eating difficulties, not being able to see the consistency of food is a real pain.
Finally, wheelchair spaces in the main theatre and ice rink are limited and with the relatively high number of disabled passengers, you need to get there early - upto an hour for ice shows and more popular theatre productions, but they are worth the wait.
Despite some of the issues, I think for disabled people cruises are a supurb holiday option, particularly if you can depart from and return to your own country. please read the preceding blog entries for more info on our holiday.
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