Housing…

Basically, my search for a place that suits my needs and/or a landlord who is willing for adaptations to be made has been an impossible task. I have considered hitting my head against a brick wall, as that may prove more fruitful. Seems as the private route is a no go at the moment, I thought I’d re-visit the council to see if they were more helpful this time around. Like before, the woman kept repeating the fact that “I was lucky to be on the list” and that there was nothing that could be done to help me. She was completely missing the point that if I wasn’t disabled, I wouldn’t be asking for help to move out because I’d have a decent job.

However, I do have a disability indefinitely (it’s only going to get worse) but no one at the council, or government in general, seem to grasp that idea. I had to ask my social worker to write a letter about my condition in the hope that the housing department would understand my needs. They still were unhelpful but were now blaming the infamous bedroom tax. I wouldn’t be given a two bedroom flat because of the additional bedroom eventhough it would be used by my full-time carer. It’s just another example of why the ConDem policy is completely ridiculous and should be scrapped because if that isn’t discrimination, I don’t know what is.

So, apart from feeling frustrated and hopeless with the whole situation, where am I currently? I’ve been advised to contact a few local housing associations to see if they have any future developments suitable. Aside from keeping my fingers crossed, there’s nothing much else I can do. Especially when Cameron and Clegg seem intent on attacking disabled people by implementing unfair taxes whilst simultaneously cutting benefits. Sounds perfectly logical I’m sure you’d agree.

Bye for now!

Being in a wheelchair…

People (morons) come up to me when I’m out and for some bizarre reason think driving an electric wheelchair is a bundle of laughs but it’s simply not. Not being able to walk is an exclusive club but as you will have realised from reading my posts, it’s nothing to be jealous of. The ‘lucky’ members have one thing in common aside from the obvious fact they are wheelchair. No, it’s not that all disabled people moan a lot and carry a chip on their shoulder. The redeeming feature that sets us apart from the crowd is the detailed knowledge of what it feels like to be in a wheelchair full-time.

My friend tagged me in a Facebook post recently, which included a blog by Louise Brutton (a wheelchair user). I thought I’d share it with my readers because it’s interesting and insightful as well as being humorous. Basically, the post is doing most of my job tonight so I don’t have to write much and can rest ahead of my trip to Swansea tomorrow. Some of the points in the article won’t be news to my loyal fans but there are a few things I want to go into detail about next week.

So, http://www.buzzfeed.com/louisebruton/things-youll-know-if-youre-a-wheelchair-user is the place to visit and hopefully whet your appetite for my future posts.

My post over on fansviewpoint.com this week focuses on the World Cup and more specifically, the controversy surrounding Qatar 2022. FIFA are currently thinking about moving the tournament to winter and I actually think it’s a really good idea (trust me to go against the common consensus). Please read, unless of course football doesn’t interest you in the slightest. If it does, here’s the all-important link: http://fansviewpoint.com/winter-world-cup/

Don’t forget my weekly predictions as well: http://fansviewpoint.com/premier-predictions-6/

Bye for now!

Six degrees of separation…

The theory that everyone and everything is six or fewer steps away has always intrigued me, not least because it has always been proved true throughout my life. Whenever I meet someone new, they are always connected to me some how. Whether that is the fact they’re from St. Albans or support the Arsenal, I have found people who share at least one thing in common with me. The planet us humans call Earth is massive and Great Britain is only a minute island compared to other countries. That’s why, at times, it’s amazing that the world can seem oh so small.

Now, I don’t want to write a long anecdote about meeting someone from the St. Albans area while on holiday. I want to concentrate on disability and how that affects everyone. Even if you don’t know someone disabled personally, just by reading this blog you are getting insight and hopefully as a result feel connected. Most of my posts are prompted by an event and this is no different. On Monday, Liam Byrne MP (Shadow Secretary of State for Work and Pensions) really struck a chord with me by delivering a thought-provoking speech at the Labour Party conference.

The shadow cabinet minister spoke about how “like most families in this country, I know that disability can affect anyone. Therefore it affects us all.” It’s true. No human being is immune to disability. Most people are lucky and don’t inherit a condition from birth. However, it only takes an accident of some sort to completely turn someone’s life upside down. Take Christopher Reeve as an example. The American actor played the role of Superman in 1978 and received glowing reviews. 7 years later, he fell off a horse and was paralyzed from the neck down, proving disability can strike anyone at anytime.

The fact that disability affects us all should always be remembered, particularly by the government. The person does not choose to be disabled; the disability randomly picks a target so therefore everybody is susceptible. You might own your house, have a well-paid job and have a partner. Then, disability comes along and puts a strain on everything in your life. Suddenly, your town house is not suitable, commuting to London everyday is not possible and your wife is finding it a chore to be married to a full-time wheelchair user.

What I’m saying is able bodied people need to be mindful about how lucky they are and shouldn’t forget disabled people or leave them out in the cold so to speak because, I don’t wish it on anyone but, you or a loved one could be disabled in the future. It’s just a fact of life.

Bye for now!

Disabled-ist…

After another great weekend (Arsenal won again), I relaxed last night by catching up with this week’s edition of Question Time. Politics is not normally discussed on this blog but there was a particular debate that interested me and I’d like to comment, not so much on the actual issue but the way people talk about it. Everyone who lives in Britain should hopefully be aware that the use of the Niqāb (full face veil) has been in the news recently. My opinion is that it is not suitable to have your face covered in a court for example. Whether you agree or disagree, is giving an opinion inherently wrong? It seems that way.

No doubt, my brother will read this post and say that I got a bit close to the knuckle. However, that is my point. The world walks on eggshells around any subject to do with race. I don’t think anyone’s face should be obstructed in court full stop. It’s not a question of religion because I’d be against a witness testifying whilst wearing a balaclava for the exact same reason. I just believe being able to have eye contact is important in certain situations namely in court, with a teacher at school or in a hospital. Sometimes in life you have to accept that there are appropriate/inappropriate dress codes.

What this debate has proved to me is that people are taking political correctness to a ridiculous level. I know I wasn’t around back then but life is clearly much better now than the 1960’s in terms of equality and that is simply because society is more PC. However, I don’t like the way that people such as Laurie Penny (guest on QT) seem to jump on the hypothetical bandwagon whenever the opportunity arises. If the brigade disagrees with what you say, they just dismiss it as racism, sexism or Islamophobia instead of arguing their point in the traditional manner.

Granted, ‘Wheelchair Boy’ does have a good old moan on this blog but I thought my rants were the star attraction. In all seriousness, I don’t turn around all the time and say, in my best Ali G impression, ‘is it because I is in a wheelchair?’ because that is just a childish way of arguing. I don't speak about disabledism because it's a laughable concept. Just like calling everyone who has an opposing opinion a 'racialist'.If accusations of racism are thrown about like they seem to be in the media, people will live in fear about what is right/wrong to say, hence why I have decided to write this today.

Bye for now!

About Time…

Last night, my sister and I went to see the new Richard Curtis movie at the cinema. It was a Romantic Comedy in the same vein as one of my favourite films, Love Actually and we both would’ve preferred to watch it with a partner but we’re both losers (she’d admit it too) so had to settle for a bit of sibling time. The basic premise was a young man who discovered he could travel back in time and used the newfound ability in different situations throughout life. As you can imagine, the surreal concept made for an interesting plot and of course provided some humorous moments.

I wanted to give a brief review of the film on this blog because it provided some food for thought as they say. It made me fantasise about how I’d like to go back in my life so I could play football once more. Time travel will never happen in my lifetime so it is just a dream, which came directly from Curtis’ vivid imagination. However, there was a deeper meaning behind the playful idea that one could live out certain parts of life again. It was that mantra I try to adopt about living in the here and now because you only get one shot (If you’re like me, the JLS song will be stuck in your head after reading this).

So, I urge my readers to go and watch ‘About Time’ over the weekend. It’s a bit like my blog in that it can be hilarious (others have said that) as well as being thought provoking and emotive. Warning to all my fellow singletons. You’ll leave the cinema desperately wanting a girlfriend/boyfriend and a baby. That may have been just me who had that reaction being the hopeless romantic that I am (bring out the violins).

Before I go to bed, two football posts that I wrote today if anyone is interested. The first one is about Arsenal (obviously) and the shocking news that we do have plenty of forwards: http://fansviewpoint.com/themissingstrikers/ My second post is my weekly guess at the Premier League fixtures for the weekend. I’m usually pretty rubbish so don’t lay out any money on my say so: http://fansviewpoint.com/premier-predictions-5/

Bye for now!