Hello again,

Thank you very much to Ami, otherwise known as The Undercover Superhero for nominating me for a Sunshine Blogger Award. I have never been nominated for a blogging award, I’m happy I’m on the list. Alongside other fabulous names.

Please take a look at Ami’s blog:
https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/94899509

The Rules
Thank the person who nominated you and provide a link back to their blogging site
List the Sunshine Blogger Award rules and display the logo on your site
Answer the Sunshine Blogger Award questions
Nominate 11 other bloggers and ask them 11 new questions
Notify the nominees about their nominations

Ami’s Questions

1. Who brings sunshine into your life?
My Mum

2. What’s your favourite song?
I am going for Blondie, Maria

3. What makes you truly happy?
Being in Cornwall. The second best county. I love Yorkshire, but Cornwall will always make me happy. Can I live there?

4. What’s the best decision you’ve ever made?
No idea.

5. What are you known for by your friends and family?
Ask them…my mum said sunshine lol.

6. What do you love best about what you do?
I like doing what I do because it allows me to be able to be a to share my passion around accessibility.

7. What are you most proud of?
Proving those people who thought I couldn’t wrong. I remember getting a piece of paper with my predicted GCSE grades on them, and being quite sad about it. My form tutor told me to ‘ignore those letters on that paper, because those people don’t know you, I know you. And I know you’re going to get your GCE’s’ and I did. Then got my A Levels, then my Degree and now a job and Volunteering.

8. Where is your happy place?
Can I chose Cornwall again?

9. If you could have lunch with 3 celebrities, who would they be?
Judi Dench, obviously. She’s a national treasure. Plus she was in As Time Goes By….if you never watched it, are you even British?
Eddie Izzard I love his comedy and his book made me cry.
Michelle Obama, no I’m not being all just picking her. I read her book, I think she’s a fabulous role model and she is a woman who will not be silenced.
Can I have pudding with Julie Walters? Her book was brilliant and it fell apart while reading it round the pool side. I referred to it a ‘Mi Julie’. She’s a fabulous comedian and I will always think of her as Mrs Weasley or Brendas mum from Dinner Ladies.

10. What’s your favourite holiday? E.g. Easter, Christmas, etc.
Christmas

11. Got any plans for the summer?
My Birthday and Durham with my mum 🙂

My Nominations

1) Ami Tricker
2) Luke Sowden
3) Chloe Tear
4) Neurodivergent Rebel
5) Dan White
6) Diffusing The Tension
7) Start Seeing CVI
8) Cane Adventures
9) Philippa Claire
10) Pippa
11) Hannah

My Questions

1) If you had an all expenses paid trip, where would it be?

2) If you could live in any Mythical World which would it be?

3) What was your favourite children’s book?

4) What is your favourite colour?

5) Who makes you smile?

6) Winter, Spring, Summer, or Autumn?

7) Why did you start to become a blogger?

8) If you had to pick a Friends character to live with who would it be?

9) Would you chose to see the future if you could?

10) Would you rather go to space, or under the sea?

11) Coffee or Tea?

Thank you again to The Undercover Superhero. Thank you to all the people I’ve nominated for brightening my day. I’m thankful that even though social media can be a horrible place at times, that I have managed to find your blogs and be able to interact with you.

I have many health conditions and each of you helps me to deal with them a little easier. Giving me insights into how you cope and manage makes me feel like there are people out there who know how I feel.

Have fabulous day!

randomlyanxious@gmail.com
Twitter @PhilippaB
Instagram @VisuallyImpairedPip

I am unsure who started the # when I call myself disabled, but to whoever did, thank you. I just asked on Twitter if anyone knows. …
I know who started it… @Imani_Barbarin!!! Thank you.

The great thing about Twitter for me is that there is a place to meet other disabled people. I can put questions to the general community or reach out to those who experience the same disabilities as myself. The ability to find disabled people using hashtags is wonderful. I have found some great people and been involved with some amazing conversations this way.

One of the best hashtags this past few weeks has been #WhenICallMyselfDisabled. I love this because it has been a great way for disabled people to shout about their experiences of using the word disabled. As well as being able to explain what they mean when they say they are disabled.

I am in no way stealing this #, I am just trying to express what this # means to me.

My friends would not describe me as disabled, but they know I am. I believe for them it’s just something in the background. For that I am grateful. They know my limitations and when we’re out and about help me a lot.

So when I wrote on Twitter what I mean when I call myself disabled I was OK with the response from a friend that “I’ve never been “disabled”…” to them I was happy with that. Some may think otherwise, but for me I was not bothered. I have known this person for a very long time and lived with them whilst at University.

The common theme which I took from this wonderful hashtag was that we as a community have no problem with referring to ourselves as disabled. It appears those in the abled community find it quite awkward when we use the word disabled. We do not see it as a negative thing. We are using the hashtag not to be negative, but to express to the world our challenges and what we need to make our lives easier. We see it as a way to describe ourselves and use it as a way to express our needs as a community.

If you want to learn more about disability then don’t tell the disabled community to not use a word which we choose to use. If you want to learn more about the disabled community ask yourself why you feel so uncomfortable around the word disabled. We are not going to stop using it. I have written about this before in my post Describing Not Defining. This post has its own dedicated page on my Word Press because I do not define myself as a disabled person. To me that would imply that is all I am. Instead I describe myself as disabled. This means that disabled is one of the many words I can use to describe myself.

If you have any questions around disability and it is a genuine question the community won’t hate you for asking it. All we ask is that you respect us as people, don’t be ableist, be kind. We are a community described by the word disabled, we will not stop using the word just because it makes people feel uncomfortable. If you dislike the word disabled, ask yourself why? If you are not disabled and you dislike the word, why are you so upset by it? We’re not.

Thank you again to @Imani_Barbarin. Always challenging perceptions and being an amazing voice for so many people.

If you would like to get in touch you can email me randomlyanxious@gmail.com
I am on Twitter @PhilippaB
I also use Instagram @VisuallyImpairedPip

Hello again,

Today I want to talk about a new law which is currently in effect. The law states that all new electric and hybrid vehicles must emit a sound when trailing under 12mph. This law has been put in place after a campaign by disability groups who are concerned about the welfare of Visually Impaired and Blind pedestrians.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-noise-systems-to-stop-silent-electric-cars-and-improve-safety

(The photo on the left is a busy junction in the centre of London. There is a red brick building, in front of the building is a pavement, in front of that there is the road. The road is a busy junction with a yellow box. A silver car is coming past with cyclist in yellow vests also coming into the yellow box)

This law is a step in the right direction for vulnerable pedestrians like myself. There have been a number of times when I have been out on my own, or with others and I have stepped out into the road when a car has been coming.

I am a visually impaired person with very little concept of my own surroundings. I have nearly stepped out in front of buses, vans and cars. I can’t see very well and use a guide cane to get around. I will always look, look then look again, then step out. I have something called Cerebral Visual Impairment which means my brain does not process properly what my eyes are looking at. Meaning I will not always see what my eyes are seeing. I will write a post about my eye condition in the future. It is not a very well known condition, it is called Cerebral Visual Impairment, but if you would like to learn more please look at the CVI society for more info. Or contact the RNIB.

To give you a bit of an idea of how underrepresented my impairment is: I could only go to one hospital in the whole country to get an appointment to be tested.

A general idea of Cerebral Visual Impairment, if I gave you a piece of Latin to read and you didn’t read Latin,you would be able to say the words, but not understand what the words meant. You would be stuck. That’s what life is like for me.
I might be able to see something using my ‘good eye’, but my brain cannot interpret what it means, or even that’s it’s there. Scary.

So imagine crossing a road with all these quiet vehicles not buzzing around. I step out, and that’s it. We all know how that would end. Not well.

We live in a very visual world, it must be wonderful when you can see it, but when you can’t, it is scary. When you can’t interpret it, it is scary. Those soundless cars are an absolute nightmare. I really rely on my hearing when out and about. But even then, my brain can cut out the noise when I am overwhelmed. Which makes it difficult. I might not cut it out as in stop listening. I just can’t process what I am hearing. It is just one mass of sound. So when crossing roads I really have to concentrate. It is hard enough as it is.

(This image shows two red London buses on the side of the road, and a black car, with a black taxi just behind it. There is also a red scooter just behind the black taxi. Then the other side of the road. With a black bollard- not sure if there is a cycle lane)

This new law could ensure road safety for people like me. But there is a problem. The driver can, if they deem necessary, turn off the feature which allows the car to emit sound. What is ‘deemed necessary?’ I am curious what the guidelines are.

I don’t mean to rain on this parade, the work done by disability rights groups and charities has been amazing and I am very thankful. I love that people have got behind the campaign, written to their MPs and raised their voices to get this through parliament. As a vulnerable pedestrian I am grateful this issue has been raised, and now car manufacturers have to ensure their electric vehicles emit a sound so people can hear them. I feel safer knowing that this is now a law within our country.

Thank you for reading, 
If you would like to get in touch please email: randomlyanxious@gmail.com

You can also follow me on Twitter: @PhilippaB

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In no way am I affiliated to any of the charities I have mentioned in this post, however I want to let you know they are out there, doing amazing work. For which I am very grateful.