I didn't expect to be writing a "part-2" to my last post but unfortunately changing to my new car hasn't gone smoothly. As I mentioned in my last post when cars have as many adaptations as mine, things tend to go wrong and the hand-over on my new car was delayed due to a problem …
Author: wheelieanacademic
Hi
Welcome to my blog! I'm Steph and I am an early career academic in the UK who is also a full-time wheelchair user which is usually met with surprise when I tell strangers (hence the domain name ;-) ). I am currently working on my PhD entitled "Disabled peoples' conceptualisations and experiences of self-harm" and I am on a 12 month contract as a Lecturer in Education.
I am a strong believer in the social model of disability (although I recognise it's imperfections!) and this blog will be a place that deals with various bits of activism - mostly disability related, and a place to share my experiences of being disabled and a disabled academic.
Thanks for visiting!
Steph x
New Car Day! 🚘 Driving as a full time-wheelie
One of the good schemes the government still does is 'Motability' - I'd even say it's sort of social model based. There are two sides to the scheme - the government bit and the charity. The government side is the bit of the scheme where anyone who gets higher rate Personal Independence Payments (PiP) or …
Continue reading New Car Day! 🚘 Driving as a full time-wheelie
Covid-19
In my last post I wrote about my concerns as someone labelled as 'clinically extremely vulnerable' (CEV), around coming back to work with COVID-19 still circulating, and mitigations all but forgotten. I spoke about the 'away day' that I attended and how well it had gone despite my concerns - well the update to that …
Returning to the office?
Back in February/March 2020, when the world was just starting to realise that COVID-19 was going to cause some serious problems, I was already working from home (for what I thought would be a couple of weeks). I drive from my wheelchair in a heavily adapted car and back then it was time for its …
Puppies and Pandemics
TW: Pet loss In November 2021 we had to say goodbye to my little Yorkie - Neevie. She had been sick for a few weeks with 'Protein-Losing Enteropathy' where they loose fluid into their tummy and become very lethargic and not interested in food. She was only 11 years old which is fairly young for …
I’m back!
Hi Everyone! As you can see I've decided to revive my blog. Hopefully this time things will be a bit less doom and gloom and a bit more balanced (perhaps even positive in places!) It turns out for me, without a lot of care, blogging turns into me just complaining or thinking about all the …
“If I ever need social care I’d rather be bumped off”
It seems that this blog is turning into a record of things that are said to me or around me which I later cannot get out of my head. I cannot stop analysing them, dissecting the consequences and wider implications. Over Christmas I was at a meal with some family members - two other adults …
Continue reading “If I ever need social care I’d rather be bumped off”
#DoctorsAreDickheads
There is a hashtag going around Twitter at the moment which is causing a bit of a stir. #DoctorsAreDickheads was started to share experiences of doctors abusing their power and causing patients unnecessary pain, distress and invalidation - something that disabled people are disproportionately effected by seeing as our lives are often filled with visits …
Access to Work
The Access to Work (AtW) scheme is a government backed fund to help disabled people in their work place to minimise accessibility issues that they may face due to their medical condition or impairment (For more information or to apply see the AtW pages). They can fund equipment, some structural changes to the workplace (e.g. a ramp), provide …
An object to be stared at?
A few weeks ago I was taking advantage of the lovely UK heat wave and having a staycation in the Cotswolds. I always try to time holidays and days out when children are at school so that 1) places are less crowded and 2) I don't get as many people starting at me. I know …
Wheelie an academic 