Author: simonstevens74

simonstevens74 http://dysabledandproud.wordpress.com Disability Consultant

Disabled People have a responsibility to work

There are two things disabled activists tell me when I tell them that all people with impairments can contribute to society in one way or another, ideally in terms of paid work.

The first thing they say is ‘disabled people want to work but …’. My response to this is that if people really want to work, they will. For everyone with a specific level of impairment who is not working, there is likely an example of someone who is working.

Therefore the issue is attitude as people either choose for themselves or they are educated by others to believe a level of ability that is irrelevant to their impairment.

Disability is increasingly a learned political identity used to justify exclusion, especially for people with long term health conditions. The media continues to pour out cases of people with health conditions being rejected for disability benefits, and so the inferiority identity, to ignite pity and anger from a public who fears their own frailty which seeing people with impairments portrays.

The second thing activists say is that ‘of course they believe disabled people should be supported to work if they want.’. This appearing to be a begrudging statement as it does not challenge their belief most people with impairments are unfit for work/society.

They appear to argue people with impairments are not socially responsible citizens but still demand the parts of equality that suits them. Everyone indeed has the ability to do or not do anything they are capable of doing so long as they take responsibility for the consequences.

If anyone else refuses to work or look for work then they will not financially be supported by the state. They may indeed have the legal right not to work but they may have a moral responsibility to work for their families and others to provide a good income.

The only real way route of poverty on a personal level is to obtain paid work. If we continue to allow a self-definition of disability to permit a culture of lifelong state dependency and reward for passivity, the world becomes an unfair place. I believe in the principle that work should play but I am also aware it is often not that simple.

Having an impairment should not by default give disabled people the right not to work. When society and the media argue for ‘mercy’ for people with minor impairments, consider them, in kindness, burdens of society. we must wonder how they regard people considered to have severe impairments.

Some activists see paid employment as the enemy of disabled people and supporting people into work as an abusive practice. I believe employment can instead be a liberation as it fulfils people’s need to be valued. It is therefore both a right and a responsibility.

If people really believe in the inclusion of all people with impairments, the notion of the responsibility to seek employment as a goal to seek for everyone must be a norm. Right now, the assumption is often most people with impairments can not work unless proven otherwise, and this is what we need to challenge.

If you like my blog article, have a look at some of my products;

Achieve Support – https://www.simonstevens.com/achievesupport
Having Pride (My Life Story) – http://www.balsy.me
Stevens’ Manifesto – https://www.simonstevens.com/manifesto
Understand Assistance – http://www.understand.tips
Understand Dysability – https://www.simonstevens.com/understanddysability
Understand Inclusion -https://www.simonstevens.com/understandinclusion

or visit my website at http://www.simonstevens.com

Donations are always gratefully received via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/simonstevens74
You can also email me at simon@simonstevens.com
or follow me on Twitter at @simonstevens74

People need families NOT carers!

In terms of this article, the term ‘Carer’ is defined as members of families who have been define as carers by themselves or others because they are regarded to provide assistance to other family members who have impairments in a manner that is considered as above and beyond what society expects of them which society should reward.

As I have written before, the term is a relevantly new social construction that has worrying consequences for how society regards family relationships in terms of people with impairments that has actively denormalised people with impairments’ inclusion into family life by reinforcing notions of otherness and exclusion.

Religions across the world designed marriage centuries ago to solve a number of social issues including how people support each other. ‘In sickness and in health’ in the marriage vows is not just empty words but a mechanism and commitment to look after your family in terms of health and impairment.

These responsibilities remained a family affair unchallenged until the creation of the NHS in 1948, when the UK government started to take greater responsibility of people’s health. Until the early 1990s, social care was very limited and only often involved residential care. The Community Care Act required local authorities to provide home care and laid the foundations for modern social care.

During the next 20 years, the term carer was created to recognise the needs of families, especially those not receiving formal support. It started as a good idea that grew with the rise of carer focused charities and saw the recognition of carer’s rights in the 2014 Care Act. It has now in the era of identity politics become a strong political identity which is fighting for attention and resources directly against disabled people’s inclusion.

A carer is perceived to look after someone who is mostly dependent on them. The existence of a carer with a voice requires someone who is dependent on them which society treats as voiceless, denying them the personhood many people with impairments have fought for. Carers are often pitied for having to care for people regarded as not full citizens. This is a power struggle where a powerful carers movement, based within the whole welfare framing of people with impairments, is winning against the inclusion of people with impairments.

I would never suggest family members are not providing support but some of this is the support all families provide each other. Being too heavily focus on the carer identity and the rights it brings can stop many people fulfilling their family roles. People need their husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, sons and daughters more than a carer who is perceived wronged by maintaining a relationship.

As opposed to family members, the wronged carer is perceived to know best and often unlawfully encouraged to make decisions on behalf of those dependent people. I fear that the public pity for carers without hesitation will make the ‘mercy killings’ of ‘loved ones’ by ‘carers’ more acceptable, especially as it fits in nicely with the left wing portrayal of people with impairments as naturally defective.

We need to support people with impairments to reclaim their families from a powerful charity led carers movement to halt a slow acceptance of eugenic policies.

If you like my blog article, have a look at some of my products;

Achieve Support – https://www.simonstevens.com/achievesupport
Having Pride (My Life Story) – http://www.balsy.me
Stevens’ Manifesto – https://www.simonstevens.com/manifesto
Understand Assistance – http://www.understand.tips
Understand Dysability – https://www.simonstevens.com/understanddysability
Understand Inclusion -https://www.simonstevens.com/understandinclusion

or visit my website at http://www.simonstevens.com

Donations are always gratefully received via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/simonstevens74
You can also email me at simon@simonstevens.com
or follow me on Twitter at @simonstevens74

Wheelchairs and Personhood

The wheelchair has been the symbol for disability issues since the 1960s. This is because spinal injuries were dominated in the wounded of World War 2 and the Vietnam wars, making wheelchair users, especially paraplegics, a political issue and drive for change. Clearly, over the years the meanings of impairment and disability have grown to encompass many more conditions.

However, the wheelchair remains the most identifiable notion of impairment and disability in terms of social barriers. This means anyone who uses a wheelchair is easily identified as a ‘disabled person’, which can have a significant psychological and social impact for them.

For newly impaired people with impairments and those with progressive conditions, the point on their journey when they need to consider using a wheelchair is likely to be an emotionally significant event for them because it may be the first time they have needed to confront their identity as a disabled person.

The disability identity has historically been linked with weakness, inferiority, vulnerability, otherness and other traits. The media, both in terms of the news and fictional material, have historically heavily relied on negative stereotypes and often use disability as a one-dimensional metaphor, although the portrayal of people with impairments in the media is slowly improving. This backdrop as well as where someone is in their acceptance of their impairment can cause their adopting of a wheelchair to be an emotional event.

While I used to mostly walk as someone with cp, I am now mostly a full-time wheelchair user. Using a wheelchair in the long term can become an important part of someone’s public identity. At age 45 I have almost forgotten what it is like to walk full time and I find it hard to picture myself walking but that could be the same with a lot of things as we all grow older. As an aside, it is more evidence that cerebral palsy is not as non-progressive as I and many others was told when we were younger.

I believe many people with mobility impairments choose to use a mobility scooter rather than a wheelchair because of the stigma associated with a wheelchair. even when it is not the most suitable option. I feel too many people are trying to use mobility scooters as wheelchairs to avoid using a wheelchair when they are two very different devices. In terms of public transport. this identity denial is causing real practical issues as scooter users demand the same level of accessibility as wheelchair users.

Wheelchair and personhood is an interesting subject at many levels and there should be an open discussion in the public debate on issues involved to assist in improving the understanding of a whole range impairment issues by the general population as the subject can be more normalised.

If you like my blog article, have a look at some of my products;

Achieve Support – https://www.simonstevens.com/achievesupport
Having Pride (My Life Story) – http://www.balsy.me
Stevens’ Manifesto – https://www.simonstevens.com/manifesto
Understand Assistance – http://www.understand.tips
Understand Dysability – https://www.simonstevens.com/understanddysability
Understand Inclusion -https://www.simonstevens.com/understandinclusion

or visit my website at http://www.simonstevens.com

Donations are always gratefully received via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/simonstevens74
You can also email me at simon@simonstevens.com
or follow me on Twitter at @simonstevens74

The psychology of Pride

Before I begin to start this article I should explain this is simply my own ramblings on the subject rather than any well researched academic piece. However, as I was searching for a suitable feature image I quickly read that under Christian belief that Pride was one of the 7 deadly sins, and that is a good starting point.

Pride is seen as self-promotion and a trait that can easily lead to arrogance but I believe Pride when properly defined is very positive as it is an expression of the inner satisfaction with where they are in life. The church may oppose pride because if people are confident within themselves as individuals then they may no longer seek solace in God, and therefore their power over them and the larger society is lost, and this is exactly what we have seen.

For myself, Pride has been a key coping mechanism in establishing my self-identity as someone with significant cerebral palsy. My impairment, particularly my speech impairment, drooling and spastic movements, has the potential to provide low self-worth in a mainstream setting. A youthful unawareness and denial common in many active and aware people with cp seems to overcome this through a natural development of pride.

Pride is, therefore, a cornerstone of developing a personality that shines beyond and compensates for physical appearance. If Pride is frown upon in this context then it is because it has subverted the perceived natural order of society that keeps people with impairments and others in their place. This is why the Gay Pride movement has had a stronger influence than other forms of protest because it shows a self-satisfaction of identity as opposed to playing the victim which is more frustrating to its prejudiced audience.

Pride works when it values diversity and freedom, where someone is saying they are happy with who they are without imposing it on others. Identity politics does not always stay in this realm and it is when pride is used to proclaim superiority against other people that problems arise. This is when Pride becomes arrogance and can be an ugly trait that is currently common in younger people where their expression of identity is regarded as a significant political statement.

However, Pride can remain an expression of satisfaction which should be worked towards. Many individuals do not understand their personal journey and story because they have been pushed to conform to the expectations of others like family and peers, and even when they do, they may not be following it. Pride can, therefore, be seen as an expression of being on track with their journey and the liberation to themselves it brings.

We should have pride in the notion of pride as self-identity in a diverse world. It can lead to arrogance and trouble with others but it does not have to if we teach people from an early age the power of pride and how best to use it.

If you like my blog article, have a look at some of my products;

Achieve Support – https://www.simonstevens.com/achievesupport
Having Pride (My Life Story) – http://www.balsy.me
Stevens’ Manifesto – https://www.simonstevens.com/manifesto
Understand Assistance – http://www.understand.tips
Understand Dysability – https://www.simonstevens.com/understanddysability
Understand Inclusion -https://www.simonstevens.com/understandinclusion

or visit my website at http://www.simonstevens.com

Donations are always gratefully received via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/simonstevens74
You can also email me at simon@simonstevens.com
or follow me on Twitter at @simonstevens74

Wheelchair users, please stop disrespecting public transport

In the last 45 years, I have seen the accessibility of public transport for wheelchair users and people with other impairments improve in leaps and bounds on many fronts. It is obviously not perfect and there is still a lot of work still to be done in some areas, but it can not be denied that it is very different to when I was a child.

The important point to understand is the case for accessible transport was won many years ago around the world as a general policy and now it is an issue of implementation. This means that any new transport or transport hubs. including renovated ones, are absolutely likely to consider accessibility issues from the start.

The problem is the existing pre-accessible transport and hubs. They will be renovated in the end but it is a matter of time, costs, resources and priority. Therefore any campaign for accessible transport should focus on these factors.

While I accept public transport is not perfect, I do not think it is fair for wheelchair users to endlessly berate the system on what are general difficulties. Sometimes a broken toilet is just a broken toilet, and if someone has to wait for another bus because there is another wheelchair user is in the allocated space, it is simply the reality and norms of a system which can not be perfect however much it tries not an anti-disabled conspiracy.

Also, if a wheelchair user has to wait for a ramp off their train, it may be because staff are over-stretched and can not be in two places at once, or there was a communication difficulty with the boarding station. This is the same with airport assistance. These are not the crimes of the century and do not need to be reported in the media when there is an angry tweet from a wheelchair user.

I never book assistance when I use the train because I believe if you are patient, polite and respectful about their role and limitations, staff will mostly always be helpful in putting you on the next available train. And if you can’t get me on the next train, I smile and tell them its fine as I wait a bit longer. This requires a selfishness attitude which some wheelchair users try not to show.

I am not saying current wheelchair users should accept second best but rather to appreciate a little more the battles that were fought and won by wheelchair users before then which has provided accessible transport and their opportunity to moan about these smaller elements.

Going forward, the battles ahead will involve the conflict with parents and their battleship sized pushchairs as they seek to share, or not share, the spaces wheelchair users legally fought for, and have a right to. Another controversial issue is mobility scooters and whether this form of road transport should be allowed on public transport never designed to handle them.

Our achievements in public transport should be generally celebrated for the liberation and inclusion it brings, not berated as some form of disability moaning conformity.

If you like my blog article, have a look at some of my products;

Achieve Support – https://www.simonstevens.com/achievesupport
Having Pride (My Life Story) – http://www.balsy.me
Stevens’ Manifesto – https://www.simonstevens.com/manifesto
Understand Assistance – http://www.understand.tips
Understand Dysability – https://www.simonstevens.com/understanddysability
Understand Inclusion -https://www.simonstevens.com/understandinclusion

or visit my website at http://www.simonstevens.com

Donations are always gratefully received via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/simonstevens74
You can also email me at simon@simonstevens.com
or follow me on Twitter at @simonstevens74

Being a role model

I believe a role model is someone from their actions who inspires others directly or indirectly to be themselves in living their own stories and reaching their full potential.

While everyone can be a role model by deliberately aiming to help others,  the best role models are those who are naturally inspiring yet mostly humble about the power they have. They often have natural leadership skills and they are able to listen well to others. Good role models are not idolised like superheroes but rather quietly respected for the contribution that they make to others.

I believe I have always been one of these role models since I was a young child and long before I understood I was one or indeed understood the very notion of a role model. I think as an independent thinker, as a friend described me as yesterday and someone who is very difficult to miss due to my physical appearance and emotional presence.

Being a role model is nothing like being famous although it is possible to be both. There is little glory to being a role model and you can be met with criticism from those who are in the process of growing their story as they see you and your confidence as a direct challenge to their current way of thinking.

Role models may drop pebbles in the pool of life that ripple out, but they will not see many of the effects of their actions. Their actions may assist many people in many ways the role model and others may not see or understand, and this assistance may not provide benefit to individuals until years after the interaction with the role model has occurred.

Being a role model can come with great responsibility when people look up to you and it is important to be aware of your interaction with others, especially when they seek information, advice or support. This does not mean having to be morally perfect but I would suggest keeping truthful to your world perspective, provide accurate information on factual issues you have knowledge about or suggest where they can get accurate assistance from.

Clearly, there is a responsibility to ensure you play your contribution in keeping people who are potentially in a vulnerable situation as safe as they can be by not providing false information, scaremongering or offering dangerous suggestions on how they should behave. In the same way you can indirectly assist someone with your words and actions, you can also harm them.

I wish disability ‘leaders’ who make wild accusations about the benefit assessment based on one sided evidence were aware of the impact they make to listeners in terms of fear, stress and distress, potentially contributing to suicides.

Role models come in all shapes and sizes from all backgrounds, their role is often silent, but an important one in inspiring the next generation to be successful.

If you like my blog article, have a look at some of my products;

Achieve Support – https://www.simonstevens.com/achievesupport
Having Pride (My Life Story) – http://www.balsy.me
Stevens’ Manifesto – https://www.simonstevens.com/manifesto
Understand Assistance – http://www.understand.tips
Understand Dysability – https://www.simonstevens.com/understanddysability
Understand Inclusion -https://www.simonstevens.com/understandinclusion

or visit my website at http://www.simonstevens.com

Donations are always gratefully received via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/simonstevens74
You can also email me at simon@simonstevens.com
or follow me on Twitter at @simonstevens74

Acceptables, Defectives and the Worksky

A lot of ‘disabled’ activists assume all people with impairments are united in their often left wing aims and objectives and have similar experiences of impairmentism, based on their own experiences. They become defensive when you try to explain that due to the broad nature of impairment and the broad range of society it affects, unity is absolutely impossible.

I would like to propose to in the current social and political environment, there are 3 types of people with impairments. These are Acceptables, Defectives and the Workshy. I have deliberately chosen these terms to be provocative and because they accurately describe what I am trying to explain.

Acceptables are people with visible impairments that society are able to cope with and currently enjoy a level of fashionability in the media, especially if they are able to conform to the norms of society. This is the group of people with impairments, especially younger people with impairments, many ‘disability’ charities like Scope use to sell their messages in a clean and sterile manner that makes everyone feel good.

I would never suggest Acceptables do not face problems or discrimination although it is unlikely to be anywhere near what was experienced by the previous generation. They are often unaware of this and as sometimes as from the last generation it can often be frustrating for me to hear about things they take for granted.

Defectives are people with impairments which society generally find uncomfortable as individuals do not know what to do when they encounter them. Defectives may include people with speech impairments, jerky movements and facial disfigurements as some examples. I would consider myself to be a defective. 

Defectives are by their nature are likely to experience more difficulties and discrimination than Acceptables. Also, there are likely to be fewer defectives than acceptables due to the severity of their impairments. The means their needs and requirements may not receive the attention deserved, and in the current social and political climate this is likely reducing. which is another story.

And then we have the workshy. These are people with minor impairments and this is something I will not take that away from them as they face a range of health and other difficulties. However, whether they face social difficulties or discrimination that makes them worthy to consider themselves ‘disabled’ is a different matter.

And here we have the current political and social crisis in terms of disability identity as the point where an impairment creates a social barrier and therefore disability, and indeed where when sickness becomes an impairment. This means a lot of people who are sick now consider themselves as disabled and feel they have an experience of discrimination equal to defectives. which is not the case.

The workshy often only see disability in terms of receiving benefits, and they are currently those with the loudest voice in terms of disability because they are most affected by the welfare reforms as in their eyes they see disabled as being automatically unfit for work which the other groups may not.

This article is a simple overview of the impairment and disability landscape on what is, in reality, a very complex issue. 

 

If you like my blog article, have a look at some of my products;

Achieve Support – https://www.simonstevens.com/achievesupport
Having Pride (My Life Story) – http://www.balsy.me
Stevens’ Manifesto – https://www.simonstevens.com/manifesto
Understand Assistance – http://www.understand.tips
Understand Dysability – https://www.simonstevens.com/understanddysability
Understand Inclusion -https://www.simonstevens.com/understandinclusion

or visit my website at http://www.simonstevens.com

Donations are always gratefully received via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/simonstevens74
You can also email me at simon@simonstevens.com
or follow me on Twitter at @simonstevens74

Ugly Duckling Syndrome

Ugly Duckling Syndrome is a concept I created many years ago, in my early 20s, as my attempt to explain my experiences of people as the only child with significance impairments at an all-boys mainstream school in 1985 from age 11 to 16.

I believe the metaphor is self-explanatory. The ducklings are other children without any visible impairments, while the swans are people with cerebral palsy.

Since I was around children without impairments, I had no cultural reference to having cerebral palsy, and therefore saw myself as an ‘ugly’ child without impairments who looked a bit different. I knew I had all these funny labels but I did not know what they meant.

It was not until I was 17 that I started to fully understand what being ‘disabled’ meant and started to begin the process of becoming a swan as someone with cerebral palsy, which took me many years.

I was an ugly duckling because I was forced to normalised by my environment and conform to the non-impaired norms of the school, ‘passing’ as non-impaired as best as I can regardless of what I actually needed or what would have helped me have a better experience.

Over time I learnt to denormalise and stop conforming, becoming the swan as someone with cerebral palsy, accepting both my in terms of my identity and the lifestyle I needed for a better life. This including starting using bibs, nappies, harnesses, helmets and so on, which have all helped me in various ways. These and many other items took time to accept as I gradually became more confident with my cerebral palsy identity.

Look back, I wished I had worn a helmet at school as at a time I was mostly walking, I often fell over changing classrooms with 1000 other children doing the same. I also wished I wear a bib or painting type smock at lunchtime so I did not get mess down my uniform as this did not help the situation. Finally, I wished had a full boilersuit for after school pottery as it was not pleasant going home by taxi covered head to toe in clay on my school uniform!

I am sure I am not the only child with significant who meant to mainstream education who experienced Ugly Duckling Syndrome, even now. although I do not have heard anyone else talk about it. I am sure children with various impairments now have their needs better understood and do not have to normalise as much as I did.

I believe there should be more research on the psychological and social experiences of children with significant impairments both in special schools and mainstream education so we can all better understand their experiences and how we can make improvements their life experiences and opportunities.

If you like my blog article, have a look at some of my products;

Achieve Support – https://www.simonstevens.com/achievesupport
Having Pride (My Life Story) – http://www.balsy.me
Stevens’ Manifesto – https://www.simonstevens.com/manifesto
Understand Assistance – http://www.understand.tips
Understand Dysability – https://www.simonstevens.com/understanddysability
Understand Inclusion -https://www.simonstevens.com/understandinclusion

or visit my website at http://www.simonstevens.com

Donations are always gratefully received via paypal at https://www.paypal.me/simonstevens74
You can also email me at simon@simonstevens.com
or follow me on Twitter at @simonstevens74

Why in 2019 will Emergency Ambulances not take wheelchairs?

Over the last 12 months, I have needed to go to the local hospital for a number of times for a range of reasons. Many of these times, I had needed to go to the hospital by emergency ambulance and here is where the problem is.

The problem is they refuse to take my wheelchair because of ‘health and safety’. I have 2 wheelchairs, an electric one and a manual one. I can of course understand why they may have a problem with my electric one but my manual chair can be folded down. This chair has travelled around the world with me to found itself in places no chair has been before.

Surely, almost 25 years the enactment of the Disability Discrimination Act, ambulance services would have a way of making their legal duty and transporting wheelchairs since they have been about to find money to find solutions to transport obese people!

The Coventry manager of West Midlands Ambulance Service told me to my face they knew they are breaking the law and plan to remain to do so for the long term. Like racism in the Southern states in American, this is evidence of institutionalised impairmentism.

This is not just a matter of policy but something necessary for a smoother hospital experience. Without a wheelchair, I am stuck in the hospital on a trolley or a bed if I am admitted, neither of which my spastic body gets on well with. Since I find it hard to use an urine bottle, or a bedpan, I am basically functionally double incontinent and reliant on nappies, which is not a nice thing.

My wheelchair allows me to toilet independently as well as feed myself as I can not eat in bed due to posture issues. Also, and while neither the doctors nor nurses ever understood this, my oxygen levels are better than I sit fully upright. The effort of maintaining my posture in bed can be exhausting.

So we must wonder why the ambulance service bean allowed to get away with this for so long? Maybe because it is not a priority for the left wing workshy ‘disabled movement’ who is focused on benefits for all, or the old disability movement, focused on academic rights that have no meaning in the real world as they focus on the UN.

There are very few real impairment activicts with my level of impairment and therefore my experiences of the world, and therefore I am left to fight for things like this alone.

These are the stuff I need to fight for each day and history will show me as the winner.

I have finally accepted I have cerebral palsy

It may be hard to believe I did not understand what being ‘disabled’ meant until I was 17, where disability at that time meant being a part of an oppressed minority. I know I had all these funny labels, like cerebral palsy, since birth but as a child I did not know what they meant. I understood I was different but I also saw myself equal to my peers as I never saw how I appeared to others.

Acceptance can come in many forms and at 44 I have accepted I have cerebral palsy with all its physical and social consequences. Obviously, I always knew I had cerebral palsy but I used denial of its full impact to cope.

I have worked with 200 organisations but it has always been specific ad-hoc work only I could provide which was unique and sadly never led to further long term work. This was because of a mixture of my honesty and the appearance I have as someone defective with cp.

I always believed it would be a matter of time before I would find my golden egg, that piece of work that would change my fortune. But I now accept what has become a more hostile and unaccepting world, my appearance as a defective as put a restriction in my ability to obtain work.

I am proud of my many achievements, large and small, and there are more achievements to come, but it is time to retire from politics and other activities where my appearance makes things difficult.

It is time to focus on enjoying life and that means experiencing new things, whether that is food, smells, functional clothing, sporting activities, travel and so on.

It also means returning to the one place I felt I belonged to and that is Secondlife, a virtual environment you need to experience directly to understand. I am reopening a new version of my virtual nightclub, Wheelies, which is probably my greatest ever achievement and my best opportunity to help others.

The understanding that I am reaching the end of my story, and that my cp has limited my employability at this point in history, is not about playing the victim and feeling sorry for myself, but accepting where I am in life. Metaphorically I may be an escaped slave but that does not mean that I will witness the end of slavery.

Accepting paid work may not be a part of my future story, it is about enjoying life, which for me about new experiences. I love my fully accessible flat and I love its location a few minutes walk from town.

So rather than arguing with individuals and organisations about dysability issues knowing they are not ready to hear them, I will rather be enjoying life in secondlife and going swimming as well as doing watersports and many new experiences.

This understanding of myself is also about not fearing enjoying my fetishes, which is a long and complex story. But it basically means I am comfortable to wear a boilersuit going out for a meal, as well as nappy, plastic pants, bib and helmet. I am happy to wear an apron with arms to eat meals to protect my clothes and so on.

Accepting my cp has and will continue to limit my opportunities at this point in history is a positive thing. As someone with hyper-intelligence who has no fears, I now understand it is now time to simply enjoy life and use the power I have as a defective to make the second half of my life as enjoyable as possible.