Thankfully cinemas now cater for disabled people and I went to the local cinema last week to see a movie. It was a shame that I picked Wednesday as it was Orange Wednesday and queued up for 45 minutes. I did feel sorry for the people who were standing!

Buy Movie Tickets Online is the website that I seen the trailer for Inception on. A film with an interesting plot line but very long so I was I pleased I had brought my own comfortable seat along and did not need to suffer from the hard cinema seats.

There is a special deal for disabled people that buy one ticket and go in free plus level access, so it was great to go for a night out with no need to wory about getting in or out. It was a night when I felt sorry for the poor able bodied people who were queuing up and enduriung 2 and a half hours in hard cinema seats!

Two weeks later, 4 tonnes of hardcore and a further 4 tonnes of sand and cement the building work of my ramp is completed. Now it sounds like a big construction job and it was but it has empowered my ability to be able to get out of the house on my own.We had the front levelled out and a discreet ramp fitted.

No longer do I need a helping hand to go over the thrsehold.
I do not even need handles on my wheel chair!

I have a level access door which basically means it is like a standard double glazed door without the 3 inch step to get in and out! ow for anybody that uses a self propelled wheelchair they know what a difference this can make. In the last week I have been out everyday even if it is just to catch some of the very little sun we have in the UK.

I have met neighbours I have never seen before, went round to my neighbours for a coffee! I basically went out the house wheel round and they were in the back and surpised to see me so we had a coffee!   So my new ramp is more than just a ramp it has becomne a way of life!

Now our bathroom to wet room conversion is complete I thought I would let you how it has all gone.

In my last post I explained what I thought the wet room conversion could do for me. The most important thing was getting some dignity and independence back. As a wheelchair user, my regular bathroom was just not suitable and made life unnecessarily difficult. I am glad to say that the new wet-room has lived up to and exceeded my expectations.

While the work was being done, the house was a bit chaotic as quite a lot of building work needed to be done. For example the door to be made wider, the airing cupboard had to be removed and a wall was reinforced for fitting grab rails . Now I don’t have to do a really tricky manoeuvre to get into the room; there is plenty of space to just roll in.

So that a pedestal-free wash basin could be mounted on the wall, the existing stud partition wall had to be made stronger. This also meant that grab rails could be fixed firmly to the shower wall.

With no bath in the room, there is so much space. Before, if I went in forwards I had to go out backwards; now I can turn around 360 degrees!

I can now reach things on shelves without asking for things to be passed to me. I can even see myself in the new low-down mirror (some would say this is not a good thing!)

The sink has taps with easy grip handles that I can turn easily. The shower controls are low down and very easily to operate.

I have a new self propelled shower chair. All I do is transfer into this (it is like a wheelchair, but very lightweight and the seat is like a toilet seat) then roll straight under the shower. The first time I had a shower in the new wet-room it was quite emotional. I hadn’t been able to get a shower in over 3 years, so to have a proper shower was just amazing. I stayed there for quite a while – I think my wife thought I had taken root! I really can’t explain how good it is too feel running water again.

The shower chair is great as it means I can also use the toilet easily. I just roll over it, with no need for a transfer onto the toilet. This makes life MUCH easier!

I am very pleased with the new room as it not only helps me immensely, but it doesn’t look like a ‘disabled’ bathroom. I worked closely with the workmen and have exactly what I wanted and needed. I didn’t want something that looked like it belongs in an hospital in my home. Just because I have a disability doesn’t mean I don’t have taste!

I am now in control of my own personal hygiene. That is priceless!

It is great that physically disabled people can attend and enjoy so many more events than they used to. Incredibly, if you can navigate the tents and muddy fields, you can now use a festival-ready off-road mobility scooter at Glastonbury!

We thought we would take a look at the other disabled friendly considerations that the Glastonbury festival made:

The site

There is little they can do about the site itself. Glastonbury festival is spread over green fields and farm land – so the weather plays a huge part in how accessible the site is to everyone.

Campsite

There was a disabled campsite located onsite, with special facilities, run by an experienced team who were on hand throughout the festival.

Campervans

If you can’t camp, but wanted to go to the festival, there were some spaces available for campervans and caravans in the disabled campsite.

Toilets

There were adapted toilets at locations throughout the Festival site.

Viewing Platforms

There were viewing platforms at the some of the stages with access ramps, for use by disabled festival goers.

British Sign Language Interpreters

DeafZone were onsite offering a free Interpreting service.

Event Mobility

Event Mobility was hiring out both electric and manual wheelchairs.

It all goes to show – don’t let disability get in the way of living your life how you want to. If you can get there and get around – enjoy yourself!

What made it all the more special was when the main headline act made a heartfelt plea during his performance at Glastonbury asking for increased accessibility for disabled people.

“Make It Accessible”

Stevie Wonder said,

“I want you to encourage the world to make things more accessible for those who are physically challenged. Make it more accessible. Let there be nowhere that I can’t go being blind, that someone cannot go being deaf, someone cannot go being paraplegic or quadriplegic. Make it accessible so that we can celebrate the world as well as you can.”

Stevie Wonder is a United Nations Messenger of Peace and has often spoken out for the rights of disabled people.

You are SO RIGHT Stevie – thankyou!

When you see someone using a wheelchair or scooter – do you ever see past their wheels to stop and think why they need help with their mobility?

I was one of those people who saw someone in a wheelchair and thought they had always used it and used it all the time.

When I started to use a wheelchair myself, I did so because I couldn’t walk far or stand for long. Using a wheelchair made life so much easier. It meant I could get out of the house and do things like everyone else. One day I was in a clothes shop and stood up to reach something I wanted to look at. As I stepped out of my wheelchair, there was a woman next to me whose face said it all. She thought I was a fraud, and how dare I use a wheelchair if I could stand up!

This made me think. People who use mobility aids do so for so many reasons.

• Getting older
• Sporting injury
• Accident
• Medical condition or disability

And mobility problems can be from birth, is a degenerative condition, or can become a problem at anytime in someone’s life.

No one wants help with doing everyday things. Sometimes though, using a simple aid can make a huge difference. Whether it is a bathing aid, kitchen aid or walking aid, if it helps you get more out of life, gives you more confidence and helps you to be safer – then it has to be a good thing.

I heard a woman commenting about a mobility scooter user. She was saying that they were just being lazy. They could walk “fine”. She didn’t stop and think about why they were using a mobility scooter. I don’t know what the reason was either, but just because you can walk it doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t use mobility equipment. Without using a scooter that person may have had to stay in the house that day. No one should be prevented from getting the most out of their life by disability or age.

As a young person I was reluctant to use mobility aids and equipment. I was wrong and am so glad I changed my view. Sometimes disability is not visible, so people don’t offer to help you. I found that in this situation a walking stick not only helped me to get about, but it was also a sign to everyone else that I was unsteady on my feet. Before I used my walking stick I just looked drunk when I walked. When I used my stick I had so much more confidence as I no longer looked drunk, I looked like I had problems walking. Passers by were not judging me anymore. My disability was visible.

After struggling for too long with bathing and even getting into our bathroom, we are finally turning our bathroom into a wet-room.

I am a wheelchair user and the bathroom is the most difficult room to use. Everything is designed for someone who is able-bodied. I have lots of mobility aids; like a bath board, shower chair, handgrips and rails, which have made a difference, but it is still just far too difficult.

The problems we have at the moment.

• The furniture – the toilet and the sink are in the wrong place.
• I can’t easily get into the bath which has a shower over it.
• I can’t roll my wheelchair properly under the sink as the pedestal gets in the way.
• The bathroom cabinet goes above the sink – but it just too high.
• The toilet is too close to the wall at the side.
• The controls for the shower are too high.
• The bath takes up so much room, and this means that there is so little space left that I can’t turn my wheelchair around once I am in the bathroom.
• The door is only just wide enough for me to roll through.

I am hoping the new wet-room and adaptations will help with the following:

• A wider door will let me get into the room more easily.
• A completely flat floor, will mean I can just roll under the shower.
• A sink with no pedestal will mean my wheelchair will fit underneath comfortably.
• A toilet that has plenty of room all around it will help me with transfers.
• Sensible grab-rails that are in the right place for me will make a huge difference. Not only so I keep my balance in the shower (when I shut my eyes I feel dizzy, so being able to hold on to a grab-rail with one hand while I wash my hair will be invaluable) but also so I can transfer to the toilet more easily..
• No bath – so there will be so much more room to move.
• Shelves and storage that I can reach will be so helpful.
• Shower controls that I can operate myself will be an obvious but important help.

I am looking forward to the new wet-room. Instead of asking for help all the time, (or worse, not being able to wash myself) – I will get my independence and dignity back.

Once the building work is done, I will write another article reviewing how good (or bad) the new wet-room is.

It’s bad enough that I need to use mobility aids – but why do they so often have to look so ugly?

I am young (I’m in my 30’s) and I need help in the house. I have done for 3 years, and about 2 years ago I decided it was high time to stop struggling and do something about it.

I had two choices.

I could get a carer to come in and do loads and loads of things for me. This was not practical – the cost would be huge and my dignity, self respect and independence would have gone out of the window.

I could get some mobility aids to help me do the things that I  needed to do, but had difficulty doing on my own.

Really, I had no choice. I had to get some mobility aids. However, when I looked through magazines and the internet for equipment I needed – I was depressed and shocked. I didn’t want to live with such ugly equipment around me. Just because I have a disability doesn’t mean I don’t have taste.

Everything seemed to be so basic, have absolutely no design qualities and often was made out of ugly grey plastic. OK, they probably did the job. You could argue that mobility aids don’t need to look good they heed to help people get more out of their lives. I wasn’t satisfied with that though. I wanted choice. So many choices had been taken away from me. I wanted control over how my house looked. I didn’t want my Fiancée living amongst such awful aids either. Just looking at some equipment made me feel very old and disabled. No one should be made to feel like that by a piece of plastic. It’s so unnecessary.

My advice is shop around for mobility aids. Sometimes you can be pleasantly surprised. Chrome seems to be cropping up more and more. Manufacturers seem to be taking more care in how items look, not just what they do. I read that 1 in 3 people in the UK are disabled or are close to somebody who has a disability. [Source: Office of National Statistics Census 2001] And that the 10 million disabled people who live in the UK have a combined annual spending power of over £80 billion. [Source: DWP 2004] No longer do we have to make do with aids that other people say we have to use. We have the power to say no, and that we want better.

Some people will just need 1 or 2 mobility aids to make a big difference in their life. Others need so much more. Sometimes social services will help, sometimes not. My advice is always shop around for what is best for you and what you are happy using.

Most people in the UK love the warm weather and the summer. Afterall we are British and we always talk about the weather! However  hot summers can be one the toughest time for disabled and the elderly. I have MS and dread the summer when the temperature gets too hot I stop functioning and start to slow down.

Heat has an effect on the body’s central nervous system and can cause the nerves to fire slower than normal and create that lathargic feeling everybody gets when the temperature rises.

Tips on stayling cool

Stay in the shade – If you are outside always try and stay in the shade. Not only will this stop you getting sun burnt but it will also keep you cooler. The same indoors keeping the curtains closed in rooms that have the sun shining in will keep the house cooler.

Drink plenty of water. In the summer we need to drink more water than we would usually. Keeping bottled water in the fridge can be an excellent way of cooling down quickly. As can eating an ice lolly.

I love to get in a cool bath and use my bath board to assist me in transferring in to the bath to cool down.

Cavity wall insulation will keep your home warm in the winter but it will also keep your house cooler in the hot summer. As the bricks are heated by the sun the heat is not transferred in to you home. Elderly and disabled people qualify for the Warmfron grant and will get insullation free of charge.

Cold water and a flannel are a great way to quickly cool down. Letting the cold water run a little will ensure you are getting colder water and placing the flannel on your forehead and neck will make you feel a lot cooler quickly.

Wearing white will also keep you cooler. People in very hot countries are often seen wearing white trousers and loose white shirts.

Keeping an electric fan on will keep you cool, even on the first setting the breeze and movement in the air  keeps you feeling cooler.

And finally the one good part of the summer is the ability to go out on the road in my heavy duty mobility scooter and feel the wind in my hair even though I am only doing 8mph the breeze is welcoming.

It sounds so simple. It is basically a small piece of strong plastic about 3 inches high. It is wedge shape and goes down to nothing at one side. It is just under 3 feet wide, The same width as a door and it has made a huge difference in my life.

What am I talking about?

A threshold ramp.

Before I got one, getting out of the house was a huge hurdle. The lip on the door was only 3 inches high, but it could have been 1 inch or 17 inches – any lip stopped me from getting out of the door in my wheelchair. Even a matchstick on the floor feels like a tree stump when I roll over it. I had no chance with the door. I would come to a grinding halt. Well, that is not exactly true – I would come to a split second stop.

The threshold ramp solves my problems in getting out of the house.

• It is not too steep to be able to get up it on my own.
• It is extremely light and portable (made of fibreglass) so it can go in the car in case it is needed to help me when I am out.
• It is bright yellow – so I always know if it in position or not.
• It has raised bumps on it – so there is no slipping even if my wheels are wet or muddy.
• It is strong enough to feel secure going up and down it everyday.

If you are need to get somewhere that hasn’t installed a disabled access ramp; then your own portable threshold ramp can often be the way to get in! I have used my ramp to get into friends houses more easily.

I never realised quite how useful my ramp would be.

More on ramps…

Height

• Threshold ramps come in different heights depending on the height of the threshold lip and the width of the doorway.

Weight

• Threshold ramps are able to carry different weights.
• Some are suitable for manual wheelchairs, others electric wheelchairs and mobility scooters.

Folding threshold ramps.

• These go up one side of the door, over the threshold then down the other side. This is great for getting from one room to another where there is a door with a lip in the way. My conservatory is like this. Now I can get to all the rooms in my house, which gives me the freedom I want and need.

You can get ramps that help you to get into vehicles, with your wheelchair or scooter.

Ramps can be fixed and permanent, or lightweight and portable. Depending on the location and use.

Have a look at our article  Information on choosing a ramp for more about ramps.

My wife has had MS for about 15 years now. For the first few years she managed quite well. She had problems walking, but a walking stick was all she needed. In the house she puts her hands on the furniture to steady herself. She calls it ‘just her way of dusting!’

Over the past couple of years I have seen her walking get slowly worse. It is terrible to watch her struggle. Sometimes when we were walking to the shops, she had to sit down half way there. She said, that her legs just stop. I must admit I didn’t really understand it. I tried, but I couldn’t imagine not being able to just put one foot in front of the other. I don’t mean to sound cruel. I would watch her grab hold of things to help her not fall over.

She started not wanting to go out as much. Then she didn’t want to go out at all, unless we took the car. I tried to tell her the exercise would do her good, but she said it didn’t work like that.

We started to argue more……….

Then I suppose I started listening properly to what she was saying. She wasn’t just getting lazier. She really couldn’t walk like she used to. She said her legs felt a cross between concrete and jelly. That made no sense to me but I know it would be hard to walk if your legs felt like that.

I wanted to help her. What she missed the most was going to the local shops, and going round to her sister’s house. We were never blessed with children but we have two young nephews whom she adores and she just loves spending time with them.

She needed to be independently mobile again. The solution was staring us in the face. A mobility scooter.

I did some research. She needed the seat to swivel, to help her get in and out of the scooter. The controls weren’t too important as her hands were fine. Her favourite colour is red, and I knew she would love a scooter in red. (I wasn’t complaining at this either as my football team wears red!) I found out that you can add a walking stick holder to the back of the scooter and this sounded ideal. My essentials list was not very long, so I had plenty of scooters to choose from.

She knew what I was planning on buying for her. But when it arrived she was totally stunned and amazed. She was pleased with how easy it was to drive. Most importantly though, she was delighted at how much more confident she felt going outside. She was equally delighted that she was not completely exhausted when she got back to the house. MS ‘fatigue’ can be totally debilitating, and using the scooter minimised amount of time she spent totally exhausted.

I am so glad I finally started to understand my wife’s condition, and could do something practical to help. It is an added bonus that I have got back some points in being a good husband, and my wife is so much happier.