Hands up all those who know what to expect if it’s your first time buying a house; being transported in an ambulance, giving birth, taking a new baby home, finding yourself without a job, navigating the disability services for a loved one, or in my case, your child. I may have missed it or someone forgot to give me the handbook but in none of these situations was I handed a manual to say exactly how it should go and what to expect. In these situations, and countless others, you wholly rely on professional strangers’ guidance at that moment. It’s not until you find yourself in those situations again that you find out if it was a great and correct experience or a wrong and bad experience.

No one tells you – I repeat NO ONE! There could be multiple reasons for this; is it on purpose to save money? they can’t be bothered that day or they genuinely don’t see the need to. The day I entered the world of disability with my second-born daughter this has always been my truth. I just didn’t know until I knew! The single most important source for this was the other parents not knowing, we were all floundering about in the dark not knowing what was out there to help and support us. In the early days, we used to tell each other about our children’s equipment and services; in this way, we started to know.

The sensory group at our local hospital was great and the service providers would be inundated with requests when we discovered that such and such had new special shoes that helped with development in our children – yes, please. The hydro pool sessions to help with muscle tone – yes please, the amazing therapies available to help with growth and development – always found out from other parents. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not being entitled here, I was being educated in all the ways I needed to know to make sure my girl had the best life possible in every way I could and can – isn’t that what we all want for everything and everyone? This blog is all about that – a platform to explore and share everything accessible everywhere.

We are off to The Big Event at the NEC in Birmingham 19th &20th of May to explore opening up the world a bit more for a full-time wheelchair user requiring 24/7 care. I am a bit excited to find the possibilities and a little scared of the limitations. In the meantime, look out for the next article on everything accessible everywhere.