Seventeen-year old Mohamed Khatria, from Leicester, lost his sight in 2005. He uses a guide dog, Vargo, to get around, but, because dogs are regarded as unclean in Islam, he cannot take her into the Al Falah Mosque. This means that Khatria can’t attend the Mosque himself, so he has now requested the imams (religious leaders) at the Mosque to review this rule. They have agreed, and they hope that this will set a national example.

Ibrahim Mogra, a senior imam at the Muslim Council of Britain, emphasised that Vargo would not be allowed into the mosque’s prayer hall and Mr Kharia would be expected to wash before praying.

He admitted that some Muslims may find the idea difficult to accept, so the MCB are taking time and care to consult scholars in the UK and abroad. They are hoping to get written acceptance of this exception, so that any individual who feels uneasy about it can be assured.

Personally, I am very happy to hear that this exception will be made. I am a Muslim and proud of this, but before that, I am a person with a DisAbility. So I strongly believe that no one has any right to stop anyone going anywhere because of anything to do with their DisAbility. By not accepting Mohamed Khatria’s guide dog, these imams are preventing him, and other blind people, from safely entering their Mosque. 

An employer or head teacher who did this would be accused of breaking the Disability Discrimination Act. I’m not saying that imams should be accused of this, or that every Muslim should celebrate this exception. All I am saying is that this is the 21st century, the year 2008. Guide dogs, like wheelchairs, are a fact of life in England today. If wheelchair users can be pushed to the synagogue on the Sabbath, then I, personally, don’t see why guide dogs can’t be allowed into Mosques. You may not agree, and that’s fine. But before you make up your mind, here’s something to consider. If you feel   uncomfortable praying with a dog, you will, in these cases,  be making a fellow Muslim feel uncomfortable while he is praying. Last I checked, that was a far worse crime than praying with a dog.

Exactly one week ago, I posted on my blog about my views on compensation that is provided to families when their children are left with Cerebral Palsy due to hospital negligence during labour or shortly after birth. My post talks about how physical health is priceless, and how no amount of compensation can ever be enough to make up for the problems and the pain caused to people with Cerebral Palsy and their families. I suggest, in this post, that what the government, and hospitals, really need to do is improve maternity wards, and the care that they provide to pregnant women during labour, and to newborn babies after birth.

So I was very, very pleased when I heard news reports about a review of all the maternity units in England, which was recently carried out by the Healthcare Commission.

A survey of 150 NHS Trusts by the Commission has found low staffing levels and poor facilities in some hospitals.

The report revealed some trusts had as few as two beds available per 1,000 births, meaning that each bed was used, on average, by more than one woman in 24 hours.

The report found that some hospitals were far worse staffed than others, with a ratio of fewer than 23 midwives per 1,000 births, compared with 40 per 1,000 in the most generously staffed units.

Healthcare Commission chairman Sir Ian Kennedy said many hospitals had made improvements already as a result of the review but problems remained.

“There is no doubt that the report contains some tough messages,” he said.

“There is clearly more to be done to improve the quality of clinical care as well as the experiences of women.”

As a result of this report, the government has said it will provide £330m for maternity wards. They are also planning to recruit 4000 midwives by 2012. Government critics, however, have said that women have had to put up with failings for too long.

In my opinion, this report should have been carried out a very long time ago. I do not completely agree with the view that the promised improvements are too little, too late, however. Of course, they come too late for Andrew Dixon, Callum Robertson, Daniel Kay, Owen Johnson, and all others who have been left with severe Cerebral Palsy as a direct result of hospital negligence or a lack of facilities on maternity wards.

However, if these improvements take place, and if they mean that even one mother and newborn baby receive a high enough level of care in the maternity ward to prevent Cerebral Palsy, they will have come on time. So I sincerely hope that the government can keep these promises. If they do, they might just save themselves some money by reducing rates of disability in the UK. Nothing would make me happier than to see that happen.

In 2000, Mike Spindle, a British engineer, was going on holiday when his flight from Luton airport was delayed. In the airport lounge, Spindle noticed a fashionable teenage boy in a traditional, boring wheelchair. Struck by the contrast, he immediately started planning what would, eight years later, become this:

The trekinetic wheelchair

It’s cool enough to make me wish I needed a wheelchair! My reaction is the same one I always have to progress on anything DisAbility related: About time, too! Stylish sports cars have existed for decades, yet, according to one expert, when it comes to wheelchair design, wheelchair users can often feel like second-class citizens.

One of the first users of a Trekinetic chair, James Foster, 36, says:

“The Trekinetic is an awful lot faster than a standard wheelchair and a lot better once you get off paved surfaces as well. I’m always camping, fishing and kayaking and I’d never get to some of the places I go without it. In a conventional wheelchair you are always looking down at the ground, taking care to spot possible obstacles such as stones or tree roots, but in the Trekinetic, you don’t need to bother. The drum brakes are great for holding the chair back and steering it when going downhill. The chair is good at getting over kerbs, as well; with the large wheels at the front, you don’t need to use the “wheelie” technique you would in a normal wheelchair to get the small wheels over the kerb. It also helps break down a lot of barriers. People won’t normally approach someone in a wheelchair but everywhere you go in the Trekinetic, it leaves a wake of turned heads and quite a few people come up to ask you about it. At the Isle of Wight Festival last year, I could hardly move because of the interest in it. I for one wouldn’t go back to using a conventional wheelchair.”

What a great review! A big thanks to Mike Spindle from me. He is obviously my favourite kind of person- sensitive, understanding and able-bodied. A very rare, but wonderful, combination.  I’m sure that, someday soon, the Trekinetic will be a major player in the global mobility scene.

Dolls with Down’s syndrome. What a brilliant idea!

These dolls are designed with the aim of giving Down’s children a toy that reflects themselves as they are, and not the mainstream version of physical perfection trailblazed by the likes of Barbie and Baby Annabel.

About time, too. If you want to teach a disabled person that, actually, they’re DisAbled, well, you’re not going to have much luck if you take them to toyshops filled with blonde, blue-eyed beauties called Barbie. Ask me. As a young DisAbled female, I wasn’t much into dolls. I used to think there was something wrong with mine, because they had straight knees!

I spent my childhood sticking my Barbie dolls in drawers, while trying to do physio on a teddy bear because he, at least, could bend his paws.

Then, one day, a little too late to really be in my childhood, along came Share-A-Smile Becky, Barbie’s friend… in a bright pink and purple wheelchair! I was a young teenager, but my first thought was “what a wonderful idea!” Of course, I bought her. That was the start of many hours spent making sure she was comfortable in her chair, because “I know how it feels not to be!”

One nine-year-old girl with Down’s, according to the article, pointed at her Down’s doll and said this is me.

Share-A-Smile Becky was me-and my best friends. I only wish she’d been created years ago- so that we- and our mainstream female friends- could have known that dolls bend their knees, too!

So, parents, whether she is DisAbled or not, I’d like to ask you to buy a Down’s doll- or Share-A-Smile Becky- for your daughter. You see, these days, acceptance- and inclusion- both begin in the toyshop.

And I, for one, will be buying these dolls for as many girls as possible!

I hope this is passed by Scottish Parliament. The abuse of Blue Badge parking spaces ‘drives’ me mad (pun intended!). I only wish that this would happen in England.

I was very happy and very impressed to read that these propsals would  be a hallmark for the type of country Scotland wants to be – thoughtful of others and caring for people with a disability.

I have to say, while I’m here, that I was very impressed with the wheelchair access in Scotland when I went there on holiday a few years ago. Now this is enough to make me wish I lived there! 

According to this article, the new series of Big Brother UK, which starts on Thursday, June 5th, will include a blind housemate.

Being physically DisAbled, I am thrilled by these reports. I have waited nine series to see a physically DisAbled housemate in the Big Brother House. As much as I loved the 2006 UK winner, Pete Bennett, who has Tourette’s Syndrome, this condition is not my idea of a physical DisAbility. I could be wrong about that, though, so no offence to anyone if I am. That is just my opinion.

“BB is ready to take a blind person into the house.

“Everything possible has been done to make sure the person settles in and is not sidelined. The house has been designed in an accessible way.

“Bosses plan to do everything in their power to make sure the person’s stay is comfortable and enjoyable.”

I am hoping against hope that these reports turn out to be true. I have no doubt that if they do, countless DisAbled people across the UK will be glued to BB9, and will be backing this housemate to win. One thing is for sure. I will be one of them. And I will be following the housemate’s progress closely on this blog, right through to their eviction… or victory. Watch this space! 

First there was Heather McCarter’s children’s book about talking wheelchairs, David and His Wheels Go To The Park. Now, the latest offering from a mother of a boy with Cerebral Palsy is Blue Sky July by Nia Wyn. It’s up for the Wales Book of the Year award. Here’s hoping she wins, and wishing her and her son loads of luck in the constant challenge that is life with a DisAbility. 

The BBC has really improved it’s coverage of, and attitudes to, DisAbility over the time that I’ve been blogging. This is something that I have thanked them for many times.

I have another big thanks for them today, because they have now added subtitles to all programmes on all of their main channels. This means that these channels are now 100% accessible to Deaf, deaf and hard of hearing viewers. (Thanks to this excellent article on BBC Ouch for explaining the difference between Deaf and deaf to me. I promise to make the distinction in all future posts about this DisAbility).

This is great progress in the fight to make the hearing world accessible to all those who can’t hear. Great news!

Channel 4 is trying to push disability into the mainstream – and get more disabled people working behind the camera.

About time too! Side note- did anyone else get the ‘push’ joke? Ha, ha.

This is an interview with a few DisAbled filmmakers, and Alison Walsh, Channel 4’s disability editor. My favourite bits:

“More and more [disabled] people in television are working on films – and not just being the subjects of documentaries about how amazing their disabilities are,” says Walsh, who has rheumatoid arthritis. “Although these sorts of films are good they cannot tell the whole story.

“As a disabled person you constantly feel that you’re having to teach people, but that is changing. Employers should be – and increasingly are – looking at a disabled person and thinking, what can this person bring, and then, when there are practical difficulties, realise that there are ways round them.”

Thank you very much. Again, about time too!

C4 has extended its researcher training programme and is aiming to introduce disabled people into commissioning and other areas where they are underrepresented, such as press and marketing. Walsh is doubling from three to six the broadcaster’s yearly accessibility placements for the disabled. The BBC similarly offers specialised work placement schemes for disabled people through its Extend programme – with many of those on the scheme going on to further work within the corporation.

Thanks agan, C4, and thanks to the BBC as well!

Pushing disability into the mainstream means that the days of specialist programming such as BBC’s From the Edge, C4’s Same Difference and ITV’s Link are over. “They did a job but specialist programmes made disabled people feel other and outside,” adds Walsh, who says she is “not a big fan” of employment quotas for disabled staff in broadcasting.

“I would rather see us encourage disabled talent in other ways than tick boxes and set targets. The best way to tackle prejudices is to put a disabled person in a team working on a television project and lead by example. If you work with a disabled person you discover that they were not different to anyone else and have something different to bring to the party.”

I love the name Same Difference, as you all know already, but not much else about the idea behind it. I couldn’t agree more with Walsh!

The book review in Sunday’s Observer doesn’t say whether the main character is represented positively or not, and I can’t say because I haven’t read the book. But I’d love to, since the main character has a DisAbility, Asperger’s Syndrome. I’ve always wanted to read books with DisAbled main characters, and hoped that they would be available for the mainstream. It’s about time more of them were written. Thank you very much from me, Claire Morrall.

Someone must have complained to the scriptwriters of Neighbours about the number of times that they have previously forgotten the Ability in DisAbility, because I am very pleased to report that they have finally made huge improvements in their coverage of my favourite subject.

Susan Kennedy has just been diagnosed with MS. Brilliant move by the scriptwriters to give a recognised DisAbility to a recognised character who has always been so ‘normal.’ She’s such an old favourite that the mainstream will always love her, DisAbility or not, so in the process of her storyline, hopefully they will realise that even if you become DisAbled, your old ‘normal’ self never  really goes anywhere.

The real surprise here is Briget Parker, who has sensationally ditched her good friend and one-time love interest Declan Napier for not being able to accept her DisAbilities, and is now seriously considering dating a boy called Josh, who is in a wheelchair! She met him at hydrotherapy, which they call physiotherapy, but no one’s perfect. At least they’re trying very hard, and I thank them for that and hope they keep it up! 

I interrupt this attempt at blogging about DisAbility to inform you, my lovely readers, that Neighbours in the UK has moved from BBC1 to channel Five after 23 years.

Now the real reason for this post. Miracles really do happen. It has brought a wheelchair with it! A wheelchair that is attached to a teenage boy called Josh, who, so far, doesn’t appear to have any hope of a miraculous recovery… or crutches. I love his character already, after he hilariously informed two mainstream teenage females today that “You guys are so brave because you don’t let your condition get you down!”

Classic. Okay, so these idiots thought he was “Hot… for a guy in a… you know…” and that ‘it’ (him being in a chair) was “a waste.” But then, nothing and no one can go from terrible to perfect overnight… At least the scriptwriters at  Neighbours are finally making some effort to represent disability positively. I can only hope that it lasts. And that Josh, his wheelchair and his classic sense of humour stick around on Ramsay Street for a very long time to come…