Coping with disabilities

Things do vary a bit when if, like me, you're disabled such as the times you are able to get about on foot, the "plastic" feeling I get in my bones, the trials of trying to read fast moving information screens when you struggle with reading and so on.

I recieved very little practical support in school either in the classroom or life skills education on managing your disability and indeed it is deeply ironic I find following younger peoples sites better use for talking about the very things and strategies we never got back then.

Services for adults with disablities are patchy at best and reductions in local authority funding in recent years haven't helped.

One thing I had found difficult is the relatively low toilet which with limited strength makes it difficult to raise and get oneself steady on your feet but getting an adaption to raise it with grip bars has actually helped a good deal apart from just feel more comfortable.

Trangeley enough I've never had an assessment made in all my life!

1981 and making your mind up

Some years do hold certain memories and sometimes I talk a bit about them on here but 1981 was one for being the year I  had moved up to the Sixth the academic year beforeso what was going on outside school was more important than it had for most of my previous years.

Much went on that year from the shocking attempt to assassinate President Reagan who'd been sworn in to replace Carter amid much concern, a ultimately doomed Royal Wedding between Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer that we all followed and rioting in many of Englands major cities in the summer, the comments I made to one teacher proving ahem...interesting.

It was a great time for the arts even if funding issues raised the heads bring forth the arguments between grass roots community art and the big institutional galleries theatres and ballet while the music scene had one of its finest years across many genres.

I may of been "In the sixth" but for me somethings remained very much as they did for years such as my reading tastes, play and generally feeling more a young child in "big" school.

Television taste were a mixture of children's programming such as cartoons and series and some more family shows such as Blakes 7, Tomorrow's World, Top of the Pops and Ask The Family while I continued to watch Blue Peter which then had the second "dream team" of Simon Groom, Sarah Green and Peter Duncan who later went on do much for Scouts.

Overall it was an interesting, colourful year even if it was difficult managing expectations of an older boy with still being one on the inside.

Changes on Blue Peter

It's been an odd kind of a week with events not anticipated but it's time to return to a topic from earlier in the year and that television show.

For a few weeks after the controversial announcement that live from the studio Blue Peter was to end the show had repeats to which the BBC did not explain to the bemusement of the shows young fans and then returned.

That return showed a more overt magazine style show recorded outdoors edited seemlessly with just the program intro and outros added although it is said come September bits will be recorded with an audience and edited in to whole the show rather than the show presented withe the audience dropping in prerecorded footage.

So how is this going down?

The move to more an adventure feel in the program is appreciated and personally reminds me of the 1970's  to 90's Blue Peter although sadly we don't have two eposides a week for that "Oh what are they doing this week?" feel we looked to where sometimes the show had looked too routed on the indoors more childrens general entertainment show.

It seems to have refreshed the show giving it a clear focus on challenging and informing children so we'll see how things look in september.

mm

More thoughts on Dandy Summer Special

It's been a challenging week physically and for that matter emotionally but as remarked on Monday reading this years Dandy Summer Special it was a bit underpar because for some reason D C Thomson effectively made it a compilation of Jamie Smarts take on Desperate Dan exclusively.

That may of been in the mistaken belief that actual children would sooner read those mid to late 2000's versions because they enjoy Jamie's newer work for The Pheonix but with those there's no long established backstory when it comes the story or set style guide in the way that D C Thomson have had for all their comics.

Thus you see them as a all new thing where handling legacy series brings conflicts from those who used to older styles and those who are coming in cold.

The other thing was there were no other comic series in it where the Dandy has a big legacy of the including of course Bananaman who when the Dandy folded as a weekly, got transferred to the Beano and just two three page strips of him would of helped.

Plus it does link to the modern Beano.

But the other thing was we lacked the iconic Korky The Cat and Keyhole Kate that I'm sure today's children could relate to and really that's where they got it wrong I feel although I do have high hopes for the upcoming Annual.

kk