A cup of a tea, a sunny morning, and an inch closer to disability inclusion .... its a beautiful day.

Its Saturday morning and I’m sitting in my kitchen, drinking a brew, and thinking about the last few weeks in which I have met some incredible people, not least Dr Lucy REYNOLDS and Julia James of the We are all Disabled CIC, Charlie Beswick of Our Altered Life, and Katy Talikowska aty Kalowska of the Valuable 500.   What do these people have in common?    At the risk of stating the obvious, first and foremost they are fearless women with a story to tell, worthy of our attention.  Secondly, they are putting themselves out there every day to fight – and yes, it is a fight – to fight for disability inclusion.

So, imagine, I’m at my kitchen table, cuppa in hand thinking about these great women, and the difference they are making in the world.   I’m also thinking about my little grandson who I’ve written about many times now – he’s an autistic child, with many challenges – and two things happen.

Up on the news flashes a piece about introducing essential health checks into schools. Wow.  This is amazing.  I’ve been trying to get my grandson into the dentist’s chair for three years now.  The first time we didn’t get in the building.  The second time, we got into reception and the terrified dentist looked in my grandson’s mouth each time he opened it to scream.  We got nowhere near the dentist chair.  The third time, the dentist surgery accommodated us by giving us the last slot of the week, so there was no-one else around, and whilst there were tears, we got into the dentist room, and we even got the little mirror into his mouth.  The dentist was far less traumatized than he had been on our last visit – and so was my grandson.  I am used to these big events now so the trauma I’m pleased to say just brushes off me!

I cannot tell you the difference it is going to make to SEND children to be able to have dental, sight and hearing tests in their school environment undertaken by people who know them and where they are comfortable and professionally supported.   It is a gamechanger, and I couldn’t be happier.  I might even grab a Danish pastry to celebrate.

Hot on the tails of the item on SEND health checks comes another gamechanger for disability inclusion – M & S have developed Stoma nickers!   Oh yes, they have.  Stoma nickers that provide extra support and help to keep the stoma bags in place as they expand.  There are thousands of people in the UK who live with a stoma.  If you don’t know what this is, a stoma is a surgically created opening in the abdomen that connects the bowel to the outside of the body.  It can be permanent or temporary and is used to diver waste away from the body.   People who experience severe colitis, bowel ulceration, or bowel cancer may have a stoma.

These two things don’t miraculously give us disability inclusion, but they take us a step closer and if everyone helped us to move an inch ahead imagine what a glorious inclusive world we would have, because when we have an equal society, where everyone is valued, cared for with dignity and respect, we have a great society.

What a glorious morning it is!

To read the BBC news article on essential health checks in schools click on this link:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c9vp7wdnpz8o

To buy Stoma nickers click on this link

https://www.marksandspencer.com/3pk-cotton-rich-full-brief-stoma-knickers/p/clp60677967

To hear more from Charlie Bewick visit her website https://www.ouralteredlife.com/ and listen to our conversation on my podcast This is the North https://shows.acast.com/this-is-the-north/episodes/ep-19-strength-in-adversity-charlie-beswicks-journey

To hear from about the work of the Valuable 500 visit their website https://www.thevaluable500.com/ and to listen to my conversation with the Titan that is Katy Talikowsa click this link https://shows.acast.com/this-is-the-north/episodes/ep-20-driving-disability-inclusion-in-business-a-conversatio