Alison White (no relation) is a mother of a child with cerebral palsy. Her Letter to Louis, published by Faber, is shocking about the callousness or perhaps carelessness of people’s reactions to a mother with a disabled child.
(more…)Welcome to my blog
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Second-hand book dealing: how not to make money
“What did your parents do?”
I say, “My mother was a second-hand book dealer.”
“Did she have a little shop?”
No, she sold books by post in brown paper parcels tied up with string from various rented flats in Brighton. Books are heavy, so moving was always a bit of a struggle.
Her entry in the trade directory read “Established 1968. Private premises; postal business only. Very small stock second-hand and antiquarian books. Speciality: gardening. Catalogues on gardening: 4 a year.”
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Join The Big Butterfly Count: help protect Nature
It makes me a little sick to say this, but, in the 1970s, I used to spend my pocket money on dead butterflies in plastic boxes from The Butterfly Shop near the Brighton Lanes.
I’m not sure that such a shop would be allowed now. I hope not. Different times…
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Should writers get paid?
As a lifelong member of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ), I believe that writers and photographers should get paid for their work. I also think tech giants shouldn’t be able to scrape our creative work to make huge profits out of Artifical Intelligence. Controversial, I know, but that’s why people come (or don’t come) to this blog for my ground-breaking, game-changing, earth-shattering opinions.
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In The Picture: disability representation in children’s books
The retirement of my friend and colleague of over 30 years, Penny Dickinson, has brought back fond memories of one of my favourite projects that we worked on together, In The Picture.
In The Picture was an innovative, 3-year Big Lottery-funded project, created by the wonderful Susan Clow,. Aimed at the children’s book world, In The Picture wanted disabled children to find themselves represented in the books they read.
Since 2006, the impact from this project continues to be profound.
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Why the UK needs a plastic bottle deposit scheme
This hand-coloured litter box outside my local corner shop broke my heart. The label reads, “Please don’t litter. There are 2 bins. If they are full, put your rubbish in this box (thank you). Be proud. You’re saving life.”
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Speaking for Ourselves: experiences of ageing for people with cerebral palsy
In later life, Bill Hargreaves found a new kind of equality:
“What, then, has growing older meant to me? Firstly, a much fuller and more interesting life than I could have imagined. Secondly, because most people of my age suffer from, or are beginning to suffer from various physical ailments and joint and back difficulties, there is now no difference between us. I am as able-bodied as they are, perhaps even more so, for throughout my life I have had difficulties in moving, which they are only now coming to terms with and cannot understand why I can be so cheerful!”
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Speaking for Ourselves: disabled people campaigning for their rights
Independent living is what non-disabled people usually take for granted: living your life, deciding what you want to do and making it happen.
For many disabled people in the twentieth century, living independently was a distant dream. It often came after many years of struggle, and living in institutions, as Pauline Johnson recalls:
“Now that I am older, and I have done it since… since early forties, I feel that to lose so much independence all those years, that you could have lived independently and didn’t…
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Speaking for Ourselves: travel experiences of people with cerebral palsy
After visiting a school for pupils with cerebral palsy (CP), Bill Hargreaves said:
“It’s all very well giving people a piece of paper to say they’ve got an examination pass, but have you told them how to deal with buses? Have you taught them how to use an outside phone? Have you taught them how important it is to get the work done on time? Academic learning is not enough.”
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Speaking for Ourselves: relationships and people with cerebral palsy
One of the common misconceptions about disabled people is that they are somehow not sexual beings. The reality, of course, is that relationships are just as important to disabled people as they are to everyone else.
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Alex White writes 