Tag Archives: Dyspraxic

My Visit to Red Wings

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A while ago I really wanted a nice new pair of sturdy shoes. Th reason being I have had a pair of really good shoes for nearly ten years. These shoes have started to wear, but they are still useable. I just decided I should save up and look around for a replacement.

I know a few people who have Red Wings, they have told me they are ridiculously comfortable and have never had any problems. They work with all their outfits and they look amazing.
So acting on personal advice I looked online for their shoes. The prices, while expensive seemed like a good investment- if they last you the time people have assured me they will. Hear’s to ten years of RedWings.

The pair I saw online were a petrol shade of blue. The design is 6-INCH MOC TOE WOMEN’S BOOTS 3353. I sat and thought about it for a while and struggled to find places where they had them in stock for me to try on. When I am spending that much money on shoes I need it to be right.

When I went to London to visit my brother we went to the Red Wings shop.It was nice inside. All the shoes neatly on display with storage boxes stacked at the end of the room waiting for peoples new shoes to be taken home.

A PAIR OF pETROL blue shoes with white soles on a wooden floor.

I wandered around and I saw the shoes I was looking at online. The lady asked if we were ok and needed anything. I mentioned looking at this particular pair online and that I was considering buying them, but that I wanted to try them on.


She brought me over the size I would need and asked if I had owned Red Wings before. After explaining I hadn’t and that my brother and some friends owned them she told me how sturdy they are and long lasting. She also mentioned the women’s shoes are made from the leather of a cow because the female leather is a lot softer. Then she explained the insoles had a soft cushion.

I laced them up which was easy, my Dyspraxic fingers were ok with the laces. They felt really comfortable as I wandered around the shop. My toes didn’t touch the ends I felt really comfy. Taking them off I decided to buy them. They were the last pair in the shop and Red Wings were not making anymore of them. That was the universe telling me to buy them.

The shoes are placed in individual bags and then placed into their big box. The lady had to get more bags sent from the mens shop. Someone came round and we placed them in the bag. My brother carried the box as we wandered off to get some tea.

The shoes were amazing and I really enjoyed the customer service. She was not pushy, she chatted to us about the brand and made it feel like a great experience. This is what I want when I go shopping. Especially when I am spending that much on shoes.

I am also in no way being endorsed by Red Wings for this blog.

Homedics Spa Heel Smoother

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Hello all,

I am back again with a post which isn’t as heavy as last time.

If you dint read my last post you can read it here. It was all about Disability Hate Crime and what I have experienced recently. 
In time I will revisit this topic, as it a topic which people don’t aways think about when we talk about Hate Crime. 

Anyway, moving on to this weeks blog. One area of self care which people may tend to forget is our feet. We use them day to day and we can often forget about them. 


A few weeks ago I noticed a rough patch of skin on the back of my heel, then one appeared on my other foot. Yesterday I got out my Homedics Spa Heel Smother to get rid of the dead skin on my feet and make them nice and smooth.

There are a few pads in the box which you can swap between, one is like a normal file to break down chunks of hard skin. The other is like a small piece of rough textured paper, they’re called heel smother buffing discs. This is good for the slightly rougher areas of skin. You can buy these separately.

I decided to use the buffing discs. After struggling a little I managed to get the adhesive off the back and stick it down onto the circular top. This you then click onto the base of the Homedics Spa Heel Smother.

Sitting down I put one leg up and onto my other leg so I could see under my foot. Then I turned on the heel smoother. It has a click button you push side to side so it’s easy to tell which mode you have it on. I only use number two because it is a good speed. After about five minutes my heels were buffed and so were my big toes.

As someone who is Visually Impaired and Dsypraxic this little device is quite handy as all you have to do is hold the heel smoother and move it around. It is shaped like the bottom of pop bottle, rounded edges with grooves so you can hold it easier.

The only issue I have had with it is when I used the metallic piece to get off the harder skin on my big toe. I wasn’t sure how hard to press and for how long. This then lead me to cutting my toe because it had worn away at the hard skin too much.

This was a while ago and I put a plaster on it and limped around for a while. But at least the dead skin was gone.

Over all its something which is very handy to have because it wears down the skin easily enough and its easy to hold.

Unfortunately the model I own seems to be no longer available. You can still buy newer models. Give it a go and let us know how you get on. 

I’m on Twitter.

Dyspraxia

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Hello All, 

This week is Dyspraxia Awareness Week. When I started blogging, over ten years ago now, I started because I wanted to talk about Dyspraxia. Twitter allowed me to meet some people who were also Dyspraxic, which was brilliant. As time went on I started to blog more about Dyspraxia and Dyscalculia and then onto my visual impairment. 

For those of you who do not know Dyspraxia is a Developmental Co Ordination Disorder. It means I find movement and co ordination of movement very hard. I also find it difficult to co ordinate my thoughts so I can appear uncomfortable or not very confident. But I am. 

It took me until I was about nine years old to learn to ride a bike, I still struggle to tie my shoe laces. Buttons are a real difficulty. When shopping for clothes I have to make sure the buttons are doable. Doing everyday tasks when you have Dyspraxia is very hard. 

The best way I can describe it to you is this: imagine you’re just doing a normal thing, like making a list. 

Now say someone comes in and starts talking to you.

Then they start tapping you on the shoulder as well. 

Now someone else has come in and is also talking to you. 

They decide to start tapping away on the table. 

Then you get a phone call. 

Now one of those other two people has asked you to read them something. No reason. 

You have just remembered you are cold and want to put a jumper on so you start to do that. 

You’re on the phone, writing your list, trying to put your jumper on and those people are still talking and trying to get your attention while tapping away.  

It’s very hard to multitask. Being Dyspraxic is like multitasking all the time. You never get a break because everything takes so much effort and it is exhausting. 

Some things that can help those of us who are Dyspraxic are: 

Making a lists. 

Visual Reminders. 

Breaking information down into small chunks. 

Allow us extra time. 

When thinking about how you can help a person with Dyspraxia remember to be kind to them. Don’t over whelm them. When we get overwhelmed we become very stressed out. Help us to become better at organising our time. This can really make  difference to us. When we feel we are on top of things we are a lot more confident and can succeed. 

We may take a little longer at doing something, but thats OK because we have a very different mindset to everyone else. We are quite creative and you will see that is evident in our work. 

Don’t dismiss us because we appear to be all over the place. W jesuit struggle with organisation at times. But when we do get organised and sort out what needs doing and we plan. We are very efficient because we know what we’re doing when. 

Dyspraxia Awareness Week is every year 5-11th October. Celebrate our Differences and lets work to build a Dyspraxia Friendly World.