Reach For The Stars With Abbie

 Get Over Yourself... We're Only Disabled Hey my lovely readers, hope you are well. We are back for another chapter, chapter three is about speech. People who has a disability may also have a speech impairment. This can mean they have many different ways to communicate which supports them to be a part of society and allows them to have their say and have a conversation with people around them and in the community.   I hope you enjoy this chapter! Chapter 3 Ask us to repeat what we’ve said rather than guess People diagnosed with a physical or learning disability may also have been diagnosed with a speech impairment/ disorder.  These are called Apraxia and Dysarthria speech disorders.  Apraxia is caused by the part of the brain related to speaking being damaged.  Dysarthria is when the muscles of the mouth, face and respiratory system have become weak or tough to move.  This is why people sometimes may find it difficult to understand what someone has said.  If this happens, people

  Get Over Yourself... We're Only Disabled  Hey my lovely readers... hope you are well. Another week and another chapter is here, below is chapter two 'Say hello to us rather than stare at us'.  This was quite difficult to write, as I didn't want to scare people or tell people off for being rude or ignorant but I felt that this was important to write about.  As I say below, I am not blaming people for staring or asking questions as this gives them a chance to learn and understand different disabilities. I hope you enjoy chapter two!  Chapter 2 Say hello to us rather than stare at us This is something I see most days. It saddens me to say it but when I, or other disabled people, go out in a public place, people walk past and stare or give us a funny look like we shouldn't be out.  Well, that’s how it makes me feel. I always thought that it was only children that stare at people like us because they are just being inquisitive but I’ve had adults stare or give me

  Get Over Yourself ... We're Only Disabled  Hey my lovely readers... Hope you are well. As some of you may know, I wrote a book a few years ago however, I couldn't get my head around getting it published so I thought long and hard about how to share it with you all. Therefore, I thought about sharing one chapter a week on my blog, so this week I will publish the "All About Me" and the first chapter.   This was written in 2018, so some of details may not correspond to what you know of me today. All about me: Abbie Smart Hi, my name is Abbie Smart.  I was diagnosed with quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy at the age of one, after I had a fit when I was born.  It was recognised because I wasn’t reaching my milestones, such as crawling, walking at all or talking as well as I should have been.  I am a wheelchair user and I use a walker.  I drive my own wheelchair and have done since I was 6 or 7 years old.  I attended mainstream primary and secondary school and have achieved 5 G