We’d landed. Joe and I were both mentally prepared for what was to happen next. Pearson Airport, in it’s wisdom, has completely carpeted the very long passageway from the gates where international flights dock to the Canadian Customs hall. It had been my determination, for months, to prepare to do this trip under my own […]
I know I look unhappy. I know my face at rest gives the impression that I’m a sour, maybe even bitter, person. I’m none of those things. Long before I became disabled I had to deal with bartenders, and wait staff, and General J.T.C. Public who would either be wary of me of want to […]
Joe had gone to park the car and I was pushing myself into the Metrocenter, a really large mall close to our hotel in Newcastle. There was a slight rise and I was working to get myself up and over to the accessible door. An elderly woman and her son with an intellectual disability were […]
I lay in bed this morning, waking up a few minutes before having to get up. I could see my wheelchair, parked off to the side outlined by the faint light of morning. I felt this powerful sense of gratitude towards it. Even in the dimness of the light, I could see the wear and […]
I had the opportunity day before yesterday to teach a kind of ‘train the trainer’ session which focused on the abuse prevention curriculum that I developed, and then refined later, years ago. Several people with intellectual disabilities came along, volunteering to be taught in front of an audience of staff, and, to a one, they […]
Just after picking up a ready meal at the grocery store, I left Joe to go and use the loo. I was pleased because it was a very long push from where we had finished shopping and, because the store wasn’t really busy, I got up a real head of steam. It felt good to […]
I was pushing myself down an aisle at Tesco here in Newcastle and I was slowing down because a young man with a little girl was standing, texting something into this phone. The little girl was looking at me coming, looking at the space that was left for me and then looking back up at […]
We arrived in the custom hall and I busting for a pee. We found the loos and it was immediately evident that we were back in the UK. I love the accessible toilets here, it’s one of my favourite things, as a disabled person, about the place. Nice, though medical looking, toilets. I made use […]
It all started very early in the morning. We’d requested a ride such that we’d arrive at 6AM but we were offered a ride that would get there at 5AM with a pick up time of just after 4AM. So when the alarm went off we woke and then moved with blistering speed. Even so, […]
The plane landed and I looked at Joe and said, “Here goes!” I was excited by the prospect of taking on Heathrow, I had done laps, I had lifted weights, I had visualized the push. I was met on board by two men offering to get me off the plane, through customs and on to […]
