The disease is back The one that blows my mind And stops me in my tracks The disease, weak at the knees, that takes my breath away. Don’t get me wrong: it’s been there all along. But we’d reached an understanding, or so I thought. That in return for thirty years of loss I’d be allowed a life of sorts. A charmed existence I’ve led these past 12 months. Sitting, miraculously upright, in a chair, at a desk for four hours a day. Typing thoughts, speaking words, changing the world. And touching grass, as the young people say, almost every day. Treading this blessed earth like I was back from the dead. Skin meeting sun. Foolishly imagining I’d won. By sheer bloody-minded refusal to lie low, I fancied I had had gathered enough strings of energy in my bow to prevail over the tides. But no. It turns out it was churning away in the depths of my cells, a rip tide of nerve signals, gathering force. And now the waves are upon me. Wave after wave of massive attack; the disease is back. The
Celebrating International Day of People with Disabilities 2022 I have to confess, this day brings mixed emotions for me. The principle that disabled lives have equal value is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and is celebrated every year on 3rd December. More and more businesses join in the celebrations by inviting disabled speakers, turning on purple lights and renewing their pledge to disability inclusion. And that's a good thing. But I'm always a bit uncomfortable about how little awareness or recognition there is about the background to this day. The principle that disabled people should have equal opportunities to participate in society wasn't handed to us on a plate. It was fought for, and the fight was bitter. Having had the honour to meet, and work with, some of those leaders, and indeed victors, of the Disability Rights movement, I want to play my part in keeping their fight on the record. Since IDPWD falls in Disability Hi