As a wheelchair user I sometimes find having conversations in public. Not because I can’t speak or am very shy, but because it’s hard to hear.
Being in a wheelchair means that you’re lower down than everyone else. I’m only four ft 10in but I don’t find this quite so hard when I’m on my walking frame but I still sometimes struggle.
Continue reading “Having conversations as a wheelchair user”
It feels like things are changing here in NicLand, and that is most definitely a good thing.
It’s now been three years since I finished my multimedia journalism degree and a lot has happened to me since then. When I graduated I felt mentally and physically stronger than I had ever done. I could walk further and do more for myself than I had been able to in the past, and my anxiety and low moods weren’t impacting on me anywhere near as much as they had done when I was studying for my A-levels and in my first year at uni. Yes, I was scared about what the future might hold, but more than anything, I was excited.
Fast forward two years and the story became very different. Even though I’d done work experience, an internship and a bit of freelance work, I still hadn’t found a fulltime job. I wasn’t getting out much during the week because everyone around me had jobs, and that meant that I spent a lot of time alone with my thoughts. I spent far more time focusing on my worries, my anxieties and everything and my OCD-like thoughts about germs. I started showering up to three times a day and changing my clothes, worrying that they would have germs on them that would infect the house. I spent a lot of time crying and not a lot of time sleeping. To put it bluntly, I was a mess.
I drop things. I drop things a lot. Usually at really awkward times like out in public or in the shower.
Let’s just say that picking things up of the floor without falling over and ending up on the floor myself isn’t my strong point.
Just thought I’d share these.
So I did have some Botox at the appointment I had with my consultant yesterday. I made a video talking about how it feels for me when I have it done.
viewfromawalkingframe 